Clayton Ridge Riding School

09/01/2025

In riding, we’re often quick to replay our mistakes and slow to recognize our achievements. Tonya Johnston, Mental Skills Coach says that celebrating your wins, especially the small ones, can change your riding for the better.

On a recent episode of The Plaidcast, Johnston shared why recognizing your progress isn’t just feel-good fluff. It’s a habit that builds confidence, motivation, and resilience

When you acknowledge a success, no matter how small, you trigger your brain’s reward system and reinforce the behaviors that led to the win. Over time, your mind starts looking for more opportunities to repeat those behaviors.

“It’s so important for motivation,” Johnston explained. “It helps you remember the things you did well so you can do them again.”

The opposite is also true. When you focus on mistakes, you reinforce the habit of self-criticism. The more you practice negative self-talk, the better your brain gets at it and the harder it becomes to stay confident in the ring.

Johnston encourages riders to broaden their definition of a win. Maybe your horse stayed relaxed in the corner where he usually spooks. Maybe you remembered to breathe down the last line. Maybe you finally got your lead change on the first try.

Wins can happen at any stage of your ride—at home, in the schooling ring, or in the show ring.

“They don’t have to be huge. They don’t have to be a ribbon,” Johnston said. “A win is anything that moves you forward in your riding.”

🔗 Continue reading the article at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2025/08/27/how-to-celebrate-your-riding-wins-even-the-small-ones/
📸 Photo © Carly Nasznic

01/08/2025

Things your riding instructor wants you to know:
1. This sport is hard. You don't get to bypass the hard…..every good rider has gone through it. You make progress, then you don't, and then you make progress again. Your riding instructor can coach you through it, but they cannot make it easy.

2. You're going to ride horses you don't want to ride. If you're teachable, you will learn from every horse you ride. Each horse in the barn can teach you if you let them. IF YOU LET THEM. Which leads me to…

3. You MUST be teachable to succeed in this sport. You must be teachable to succeed at anything, but that is another conversation. Being teachable often means going back to basics time and time and time again. If you find basics boring, then your not looking at them as an opportunity to learn. Which brings me to…..

4. This sport is a COMMITMENT. Read that, then read it again. Every sport is a commitment, but in this sport your teammate weighs 1200 lbs and speaks a different language. Good riders don't get good by riding every once in awhile….they improve because they make riding a priority and give themsevles opportunity to practice.

5. EVERY RIDE IS AN OPPORTUNITY. Even the walk ones. Even the hard ones. Every. Single. Ride. Remember when you just wished someone would lead you around on a horse? Find the happiness in just being able to RIDE. If you make every ride about what your AREN'T doing, you take the fun out of the experience for yourself, your horse, and your instructor. Just enjoy the process. Which brings me to...

6. Riding should be fun. It is work. and work isn't always fun.....but if you (or your rider) are consistently choosing other activities or find yourself not looking forward to lessons, it's time to take a break. The horses already know you don't want to be here, and you set yourself up for failure if you are already dreading the lesson before you get here.

7. You'll learn more about horses from the ground than you ever will while riding. That's why ground lessons are important, too. If you're skipping ground lessons (or the part of your lesson that takes place on the ground), you're missing out on the most important parts of the lesson. You spend far more time on the ground with horses than you do in the saddle.

8. Ask questions and communicate. If you're wondering why your coach is having you ride a particular horse or do an exercise, ask them. Then listen to their answer and refer to #3 above.

9. We are human beings. We make decisions (some of them life and death ones) every day. We balance learning for students with workloads for horses and carry the bulk of this business on our shoulders. A little courtesy goes a long way.

Of all the sports your child will try through their school years, riding is one of 3 that they may continue regularly as adults (golf and skiing are the others). People who coach riding spend the better part of their free time and much of their disposable income trying to improve their own riding and caring for the horses who help teach your child. They love this sport and teaching others…..but they all have their limits. Not all good riders are good coaches, but all good coaches will tell you that the process to get good is not an easy one.

*thank you to whoever wrote this! Not my words, but certainly a shared sentiment!

07/26/2024

Sharing...

A small stab in the heart is what you feel when you put up the day's riding list and you see riders sinking heavily in their shoulders when reading which horse they are assigned for the lesson. A small stab in the heart for that horse that for an hour will carry around a rider who has already decided that he does not like his horse. A small stab in the heart for the horse that did not choose the rider himself but still does his best, lesson after lesson.

Riding is a privilege and something you have chosen to do. If you chose to ride at a riding school, your instructor assumes that you actually want to learn how to ride. The instructor's highest wish is that you get good at it.

Often there is a plan and a thought as to why you are assigned to that exact horse. Before you mount up next time, ask yourself "what can this horse teach me today?" All horses have something to give, a feeling or a new tool in the box.

The art is actually in being able to get a lazy horse to move forward, to get an uncertain horse to gain confidence, a naughty horse to focus or a tense horse to be released. It takes work. If you think a horse is boring, it's more likely that you don't ride the horse as well as you think! It's not easy to be confronted with your own shortcomings, but it is in that very situation that you get the chance to truly grow as a rider.

The excuse that "it's not my kind of horse" is actually a really bad excuse. A good rider can ride any kind of horse. A good rider has trained many hours on different types of horses to become a good rider. A good rider can find and manage the gold nuggets in every horse.

If we absolutely want to ride, it is our duty to strive to do it as best as possible, even if it's only for fun. We owe it to every horse that carries us upon it's back.

Copied and shared with love for all of our horses, ponies and riders 🐎❤🐎

07/16/2024

07/02/2024

04/12/2024

Spring cleaning is upon us! 🌺🐴 Check out these new tips to get your grooming brushes ready to give your horse that perfect show ring shine. 💫🏅

03/09/2024

Baltimore County 4-H is partnering with Harford County 4-H for a horse workshop on April 28th at the Harford County Equestrian Center from 9:00 am - 4:00 pm. Topics: How to take (TPR) temperature, pulse & respiration, what are normal TPR's, internal parasites, deworming practices, how the digestive system works, equine dentistry and more! Registration & fee due April 15th. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QOo-YbJaAoBXkamjtj_wqg3KZyqAkDMy/view?usp=drive_link

10/30/2023

One of the many brilliant costume ideas. Happy Halloween 👻👻👻