The 5-minute mental routine I give my busiest riders

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A rider messaged me recently and said:

“Nicole, I love your stuff… but I barely have time to ride as it is. In fact, I’m so busy I just put my horse into full time training!
Do I really have time to add mental training on top of everything else?”

If you’ve ever thought a version of that, you’re in very good company.

The doubt isn’t “Am I committed enough?”
It’s, “If I add one more thing, what breaks?”

When your whole life feels like a sprint

This rider is a busy non-pro.

Job. Family. One nice horse.
By the time she gets to the barn, she’s already lived three lives that day.

On show weeks, the pressure cranks up even more:

• Work still needs her.

• Kids or grandkids still need her.

• The horse still needs to be legged up.

• And now there’s stall rent, patterns to memorize, and a warm-up plan to figure out.

She told me, “Honestly, some days I’m impressed I made it to the arena with my boots on the right feet.”

Same, girl. Same.

I get this on a very personal level.

There’ve been seasons in my life where the idea of adding one more thing—even a good thing—felt like trying to stack a brick on top of a Jenga tower that’s already swaying.

Kids, activities, house, bills, my own horses, clients, shows…

In those moments, “I don’t have time” doesn’t feel like an excuse.
It feels like protecting yourself from collapse.

So if that’s you? I’m not here to argue with your calendar.

I’m here to show you something it can’t show you on its own.

The myth: Mental training = big, extra routine

Most riders picture “mental work” like this:

Journaling for 30 minutes.
Then a loooooong meditation.
Then affirmations.
Then visualization.
Then maybe a breathwork session…

Basically, an entire second training schedule.

Honestly, as a type-A, Virgo, eldest daughter, I’m prone to throw up my hands in disgust that the day is ruined if I didn’t do the “perfect” 4 hour grounding routine before 8am. (Sorry, it’s embarrassing but it’s true. I am my own first client 😆). 

No wonder your brain vetoes it.

But here’s what the pros understand that most busy riders don’t:

Pro-level mental training is built on small, consistent reps—not massive, perfect sessions.

Why is that so painful for me to type? Probably because I love the idea of fixing everything in one Saturday session, than committing to ten minutes a day consistently. 

But it’s not about carving out an hour of quiet time in a life that rarely offers it.

It’s about rewriting the way you think in the cracks that already exist.

• In the truck.

• In the barn aisle.

• In the five minutes before you get on.

• In the thirty seconds after you step out of the arena.

This is exactly what I work on with riders inside The Mental Gym for Equestrians. I took all my best, rider-tested tools and turned them into simple “in-the-cracks” protocols so it’s actually easy to stay on track. One of my clients told me, “For the first time, it feels like my brain is training with me, not against me”—and we did that in tiny reps woven into truck rides, barn aisles, and post-ride resets, not 2-hour routines.

Because the truth is, we all have busy lives—and even having a horse in full-time training doesn’t magically hand you extra hours. The riders who make the biggest jumps aren’t the ones with the emptiest schedules… they’re the ones who learn to train their brain in the moments they already have.

As a matter of fact, my average client has a horse in full-time training, a job, a family, and a love for the horse and our sport. 

Your life doesn’t have to shrink to make room for your mental game.
Your mental game can move into your life as it is.

And when it does?
Oh baby, every ride you do get suddenly works a lot harder for you.

Now we’re cooking with gas! As they say.

“5-Minute Mental Training for Busy Riders”

Here’s a simple framework you can steal today. Cowgirl, I got you!

None of these take more than a few minutes.
Individually they’re tiny. Together, they compound like crazy.

I’m going to show you five specific pockets in your current routine where you can start training your mental game like a pro.

You don’t have to do all five. In fact, please don’t.

Start with one tiny habit, in the spot that fits your life best, and let that become “just what you do.”

1. Before you mount: 60-second reset + give yourself a job

Right before you put your foot in the stirrup:

• Take 3 slow breaths: in through your nose, out through your mouth.

• Then give your brain one clear job:

“Today my job is to ride this pattern with my hand staying at my horn.”
“Today my job is to ride my corners and breathe.”
“Today my job is to keep my eyes up and sit deep.”

You’re telling your nervous system: We are safe. We have a plan.

Time: 60 seconds.

2. In the truck: one power question

On the drive to the barn or the show, ask yourself:

“What would the rider I’m becoming focus on today?”

Let your brain answer without overthinking it.

Maybe she’d:

• Focus on her transitions instead of replaying last week’s mistake.

• Focus on breathing in warm-up instead of comparing herself in the warm-up pen.

• Focus on riding this horse, today, not the future version in her head.

That one question quietly shifts you out of “I’m behind. Oh crap.” and into “I’m becoming.”

Time: However long the drive is. Even 30 seconds counts.

3. After you ride: 90-second “3 wins + 1 focus”

Before you untack, grab your phone or say this out loud:

• 3 wins:

  1. “We nailed that first stop.”

  2. “I stayed with him when he spooked.”

  3. “I remembered to breathe in my circles.”
     

• 1 focus for next time:

  1. “Next ride, I’m going to really set up my lead change.”

That’s it.

You’re training your brain to see progress, not just problems.
That pattern alone will change your confidence faster than almost anything.

Time: 90 seconds.

4. Cooling out: 2-minute future self ride

While you’re cooling out or hand-walking, run this tiny visualization:

• Picture yourself at a show 3–6 months from now.

• See you and your horse walking calmly toward the arena.

• Feel your shoulders relaxed, jaw unclenched, breathing easy.

• Watch yourself ride your pattern clean. Not “perfect,” just present, prepared, and in charge of your brain.

You’re not begging your brain to believe in a fantasy.
You’re giving it a preview of where you’re headed.

Time: 2 minutes.

5. Chores: one identity statement

Pick a line that feels true enough to grow into, and say it while you’re doing barn chores:

“I’m the kind of rider who shows up for my horse even on busy days.”
“I’m the kind of rider who rides the pattern in my mind before I ride it in the pen.”
“I’m the kind of rider who keeps my head clean under pressure.”

You’re not trying to hype yourself up.
You’re reminding your brain who you are practicing being.

Time: Woven into what you’re already doing (zero “extra” minutes).

Same life. Different rider.

Here’s what changes when you start doing tiny reps like this:

Before:

• You pull into the show already frazzled.

• You feel behind on practice and behind on mindset.

• One bad warm-up spirals into, “Why do I even do this?”

After:

• Same job. Same family. Same number of hours in the day.

• But you walk into the barn with a clear job, a calmer body, and a brain that’s been training with you in the margins.

• When something goes sideways, you have a way to reset instead of crumble.

It’s not about magically winning every class.

It’s about finally riding closer to your actual ability…
instead of letting stress and self-doubt hijack the reins.

I see this over and over and over again with the riders I coach. Same horses. Same lives. Different results. Because their brain is finally training with them, not against them.

If you’re thinking, “Okay… I could do that…”

That little opening in your brain?
That “maybe this is possible for me”?
That’s the door.

If you want some help walking through it, that’s exactly why I created:

🎧 5 Days to Confident Competitor

It’s a short, punchy experience designed for busy riders who don’t have hours to journal and meditate, but do want:

• A calmer body when you show up to the pen

• A clearer plan for your brain on show day

• Simple, done-for-you mental reps you can plug into your real life
  

Each day, you get a focused audio training you can listen to in the truck, in the barn aisle, or while you’re tacking up—plus a simple action to take that day.

No 45-minute modules.
No perfection required.
Just bite-sized, high-impact mental training you can actually do.

👉 If your biggest doubt has been “I don’t have time,” this was built for you.
[Grab 5 Days to Confident Competitor here]

You don’t need a different life to grow a different rider.
You just need to start using the minutes you already have in a new way.

I’m in your corner (and so is your future, calmer self),

Nicole 💛