Do THIS for More Speed + Confidence With Your Horse

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If you want more speed, stop training your body to believe speed is a threat.

That’s the work.

Not just “kick harder.”
Not just “trust your horse.”
Not just “be brave.”

Because a whole lot of riders say they want more speed… right up until the second their horse actually offers it.

Then the hand gets busy.
The body tightens.
The brain starts predicting disaster.
And suddenly the same rider who wanted more is now accidentally or on purpose shutting it down.

If that’s you, you’re not broken. You’re not weak. 

And you’re not the only one.

And you definitely do not need to turn into some reckless, wild, hang-on-and-hope kind of rider in order to go faster.

But you do need to understand this:

If your nervous system reads speed as danger, you will always struggle to ride it well.

That’s true if you’re a barrel racer trying to run harder.
It’s true if you’re a reiner trying to truly ride a plus-one circle or stay committed through a stop at top speed.
It’s true if you’re a ranch rider trying to add more pace without feeling like everything gets messy.
And it’s true if you’re just at home, trying to lope forward with more confidence and less mental drama.

Because speed is not only a physical issue.

A lot of the time, it’s a mental and nervous system issue first.

Why adding speed feels so hard

Here’s what a lot of riders miss:

Wanting more speed is not the same as feeling safe at more speed.

You can want to go faster with your thinking brain… while your body is still going,
“No thank you, ma’am. This feels like a terrible idea.”

That disconnect matters.

Because horses are incredibly good at reading what you’re actually saying with your body, not just what you intended to say in your head.

So if your leg says “go on” but your upper body says “absolutely not,” your horse feels that.

If your cue says “more forward” with your legs, but your breath, your hands, and your tension say “I am bracing for impact,” your horse feels that too.

And then riders often make it mean one of three things:

• my horse doesn’t want to go

• I need more confidence

• I just need to push through it

Sometimes those are part of the picture.

But very often, the deeper issue is this:

Your body still associates more energy with less safety.

So the second things start to feel faster, bigger, or more committed, your system responds like it needs to protect you.

That protection can look like:

• holding your breath

• locking your lower back

• getting too busy with your hands

• pinching with your knees

• leaning forward

• trying to micromanage every stride

• mentally rushing ahead

• pulling without realizing it

• backing off right when you needed to stay committed

And the tricky part is that a lot of riders do this so automatically, they don’t even realize it’s happening.

They just know they want more speed… and somehow never seem to get a clean, confident version of it.

Speed doesn’t create the problem. It exposes it.

This is one of the most useful mindset shifts a rider can make.

Speed usually is not the problem.

It exposes the problem.

If there’s hesitation, speed exposes it.
If there’s tension, speed exposes it.
If there’s anticipation, speed exposes it.
If there’s a lack of trust in yourself, speed exposes it fast.

That’s why some riders feel fine until the energy comes up.

At a slower pace, they can kind of hold it together. They can think through it. They can manage it. They can still feel in control.

But once the pace increases, there’s less room to overthink and more sensation in the body.

And if your body has learned to interpret that increased energy as a threat, you will start reacting instead of riding.

That reaction might be subtle. It doesn’t have to be dramatic.

It can be as simple as:

• getting tight

• backing off

• becoming hesitant

• starting to “babysit” the horse

• taking away the very motion you were asking for

So if you’ve been wondering why you can’t seem to go faster with confidence, this may be the answer:

You are trying to create more speed while also protecting yourself from it.

That never works well.

The real goal is not “more speed”

This is where I think riders sometimes chase the wrong target.

The goal is not speed at any cost.

The goal is speed you can actually ride.

Cleanly.
Clearly.
Without mentally leaving your body.
Without feeling like you have to panic your way through it.

Because there is a big difference between:

“I can make my horse go faster for a moment”

and

“I can stay present, organized, and effective when the energy comes up.”

That second one is what actually creates confidence.

Confidence is not pretending you’re fine while your whole body is in a stress response.

Confidence is teaching your system that you can stay grounded, clear, and capable even when the pace increases.

That is a very different thing.

And honestly? It’s way more useful.

So what should you do instead?

If you want more speed, do this:

Stop training your body to believe speed is a threat.

That means a few practical things.

1. Start noticing what you do when the energy comes up

Before you fix anything, you need awareness.

What happens in your body the moment your horse gets more forward?

Do you hold your breath?
Tighten your thighs?
Get stiff in your back?
Grab with your hand?
Start mentally rushing?

Most riders have a pattern here.

And until you see it, you’ll keep repeating it.

A lot of the time, the rider thinks the issue is speed itself. But really, the issue is the body’s reaction to speed.

That reaction is what scrambles the ride.

So your first job is not to judge it. Just notice it.

Because you can’t change a pattern you’re still unconsciously running.

2. Add speed in honest increments

This is a big one.

If your body already thinks speed is dangerous, going from zero to chaos is not usually the move.

What helps far more is building capacity gradually.

Maybe that looks like asking for just a little more pace at the lope, then checking: can I still breathe? Can I stay soft in my body? Can I keep my hand quiet? Can I stay with the ride before asking for more?

That is the practice.

Your at-home checklist:

• Ask for a little more.

• Stay present at the new speed.

• Breathe.

• Soften what wants to tighten.

• Keep your hand quiet.

• Stay mentally with the ride.

• Come back down before you hit panic or bracing.

• Repeat.

This is the kind of thing you can absolutely start practicing while you ride. But your ability to actually stay soft, present, and mentally with yourself when the energy goes up is not built only in those moments. It is also built outside the saddle, by training your nervous system to be less reactive and more regulated in the first place.

That repetition is what teaches your nervous system that more energy does not automatically mean danger.

What you are doing here is teaching your nervous system:

“I can experience more energy without losing control of myself.”

That matters.

Because riders often think confidence comes after they finally force themselves through something big.

Sometimes it does not.

Sometimes all that happens is they reinforce the belief that speed is intense, scary, and something to survive.

A better approach is to build repeated evidence that more motion does not automatically mean danger.

That is how confidence actually gets installed.

3. Focus on organization, not drama

A lot of riders accidentally think “faster” should feel huge.

Messy.
Explosive.
Wild.
Like a movie scene.

But good speed is often much less dramatic than people expect.

Better speed usually feels more organized, not less.
More committed, not more chaotic.
More intentional, not more emotional.

That’s true across disciplines.

The barrel racer who runs well is not just throwing caution to the wind.
The reiner riding a true fast circle is not just hoping for the best.
The ranch rider showing more expression is not just chasing energy with no structure.

The rider who can really ride speed is usually the rider who can stay with themselves while it’s happening.

That’s the difference.

So instead of asking:

“How do I make this faster?”

Try asking:

“How do I stay organized as the energy comes up?”

That question will get you much farther.

4. Stop waiting to feel fearless

This one matters because a lot of riders think confidence means no fear.

It doesn’t.

Confidence means you know how to stay with yourself when the sensation shows up.

Because speed creates sensation.

It creates motion, momentum, uncertainty, and a level of energy your body has to learn how to handle.

If your standard is “I need to feel zero nerves before I add speed,” you may be waiting a long time.

A better standard is:

“Can I stay present and ride well even when this feels a little vulnerable?”

That is real confidence.

Not absence of sensation.
Capacity inside it.

Different discipline, same issue

This shows up everywhere.

The barrel racer wants more run, but starts protecting before the turn even happens.

The reiner wants bigger circles, more expression, more stop, but braces the second the horse truly lifts and covers ground.

The ranch rider wants more pace, more feel, more freedom, but tightens as soon as the ride gets more energetic.

The rider at home says, “I just want to lope with more confidence,” but mentally checks out once the horse gets more forward.

Different version. Same pattern.

The body interprets increased energy as increased threat.
Then the rider starts managing discomfort instead of riding the moment.

That is why this work matters so much.

Because when you fix that piece, a lot changes.

A better question to ask yourself

Instead of:

“How do I go faster?”

Ask:

“How do I stay present when things get faster?”

That’s the real question.

Can you breathe?
Can you soften what does not need to tighten?
Can you stay honest in your cueing?
Can you let the energy come up without mentally abandoning ship?

That is the work that creates both speed and confidence.

You do not need to become more reckless.

You need to become more available to the ride.

The truth most riders need to hear

A lot of riders are not lacking speed.

They are lacking the ability to stay relaxed+regulated enough to allow it.

That’s not an insult. It’s actually good news.

Because it means the answer is not always “more horse” or “more force” or “more guts.”

Sometimes (almost always) the answer is:

• a steadier body

• a calmer brain

• better awareness

• more nervous system regulation

• more practice staying present as energy increases

Because when your body stops treating speed like a threat, you stop sending mixed messages.

And when you stop sending mixed messages, your horse often gets a whole lot clearer too.

That is where speed and confidence start to come together.

Not in panic.
Not in forcing.
Not in pretending.

In safety, clarity, and commitment.

Want more speed and more confidence when the energy goes up?

If you’re realizing the issue is not just “going faster,” but what happens in your brain and body when things start to feel faster, 5 Days to Confident Competitor is a really good next step.

It’s 5 short audio trainings to help you regulate your nervous system, stay present under pressure, and build the kind of confidence that makes it easier to actually use these tools when the energy goes up.

Because the same skills that help you ride with more confidence in the show pen are also the skills that help you ride with more confidence at speed.

So if you are tired of hesitating, bracing, or accidentally putting the brakes on the very thing you want, start there.

[Grab 5 Days to Confident Competitor here]

Ride on with confidence,

Your Mental Coach,

Nicole