21/10/2026
**I was a novice dressage rider. I never thought I'd jump again. And then I accidentally fell in love with eventing.**
When I started riding again after a 15-year break, I had no grand ambitions.
I was a novice dressage rider, trying to find my feet again in a sport I loved. I was tense and anxious at dressage shows, and if I'm honest, I wasn't always having as much fun as I wanted to.
Jumping? That was something I'd more or less put behind me.
And then I started taking my dressage horses for jumping lessons.
Just for cross-training. A bit of variety. Something fun to do.
I had no intention of competing in show jumping. None whatsoever.
For months, I went to my lessons, worked on my jumping, and went home again. No plans. No targets. Definitely no jumping show on the calendar.
Then came our first away show after Covid.
I entered dressage, of course. I also entered showing classes, including working hunter and working riding, with my very spooky dressage horse, Jazz.
And, almost as an afterthought, I entered ONE jumping class.
A 70cm Welcome class.
One.
My coach didn't say anything, but I suspect she may have been wondering what on earth I was thinking.
Anyway, we won six out of the seven classes we entered, including the jumping.
I still have a photograph of all those rosettes hanging on Jazz's stable door. And every time I look at it, I'm reminded that sometimes the things we think are beyond us turn out to be the beginning of something wonderful.
But the real story started at the next show.
It was an eventing competition.
I'd fallen in love with eventing years before, but I hadn't imagined I'd be doing it again. This time, I entered the smallest class available: 65cm.
I didn't sleep the night before cross-country.
I walked around that showground for hours, trying to manage the anxiety that seemed to grow with every passing minute. I was doing my best to get my head in the right place, to settle myself, to stop my thoughts from running away with me.
And when we finally competed?
Jazz and I finished second.
I was hooked!
Over the next few years, we entered every suitable event we could. We moved up through the grades, and what had once seemed completely out of reach gradually became our new normal.
Eventually, Jazz and I tackled our first 95cm event, with show jumping at one metre.
Think about that for a moment.
The woman who thought she'd never jump again. The novice dressage rider who was anxious at competitions. The person who entered one little 70cm jumping class almost as an afterthought.
There we were.
Now, I wish I could tell you that I discovered the secret to confidence and never looked back.
I didn't.
I had to work on my mental game. Hard. At every single show.
Breathing exercises. Visualisation. Positive self-talk. Managing my expectations. Learning to recognise when my thoughts were helping me and when they were getting in the way.
The whole nine yards.
And that's the bit I want you to understand.
It wasn't that I suddenly became fearless. It wasn't that every competition went perfectly. It was that I began learning how to manage myself, even when I was anxious, uncertain or out of my comfort zone.
**My riding improved. But I also had to learn how to ride the mind I brought with me.**
That's why I do what I do today.
As a mental skills coach, I know how much we invest in our horses, our lessons, our fitness and our technical development. Yet we often leave the mental side of our sport to chance.
We hope we'll feel confident on the day. We hope we'll stay focused. We hope we'll be able to cope when things don't go to plan.
But mental skills are skills. They can be learned, practised and strengthened.
And you don't need to be a professional rider or an ambitious eventer to benefit from them.
Perhaps you're anxious at competitions. Perhaps you keep getting in your own way. Perhaps you're ready to take the next step but can't quite bring yourself to do it. Or perhaps you'd simply like to enjoy your riding more.
This is why I've created the **Forging Ahead Academy**.
I've brought together hours of practical course material that you can work through at your own pace, in your own time.
In *Back to Basics*, we explore the interplay between body, mind and soul, and how to prepare yourself to ride under pressure.
In *Foundations of Focus*, we work through the nine essential mental skills that underpin sporting performance.
And in *Happy Horse Shows*, we explore personality through the Enneagram, helping you understand yourself, your responses and the differences between you and your horse.
There are monthly Toolbox Talks too, where we discuss relevant topics together, share experiences and explore the things that matter to riders like us.
You can work through an entire course, or watch one short video when you need a reminder. You can return whenever you need to.
Because your mental game isn't something you sort out once and never revisit.
It's part of being a rider.
I went from believing I'd never jump again to competing in eventing at 95cm. Not because I had everything figured out, but because I kept learning, kept practising and kept taking the next step.
What might become possible if you gave your mental game the same attention you give your riding?
Come and join me in the Forging Ahead Academy.
Let's work on that part of your riding together.
https://forgingahead.co.za/academy
From Doubt to Triumph in Equestrian Sports.
