"A confident rider is vital to the overall performance of the horse/rider partnership and John Haime’s RIDE BIG is a great tool for any rider to help improve their confidence in equestrian sport.” - Oliver Townend FEI #1 World-Ranked Eventer, Olympic Eventing Gold Medalist Tokyo 2021
An easy-to-implement framework proven to grow rider confidence, tested by the world’s leading equestrian athletes.
Without confidence, achievement in competition is unattainable. When confidence is lacking in any sport, equestrian included, chances are your career will be short. Renowned performance coach John Haime has written the book to counter this challenge, providing the mental tools riders need to be better under pressure of all kinds and consistently succeed.
Haime invites readers to dive into three clear and informative areas of exploration:
- The Confidence Base: Firm up the fundamentals
- The Confidence Builders: Systems and tips to help you build confidence
- The Confidence Threats: An inside look at what to watch out for in riding and in competition
Throughout, those who have reached the highest levels on horseback in a number of disciplines share their stories, including Oliver Townend, Michael Jung, Beezie Madden, McLain Ward, Laura Tomlinson, Harry Meade, and Beth Underhill. These Olympians, champions, and medalists explain what they do in the saddle and how their techniques for performing under world-class pressure might help other riders develop a similar kind of confidence. Perhaps even more valuable are the struggles these top competitors share, giving readers the rare opportunity to see how even “the best of the best” are human, too.
The way riders develop confidence in their equestrian lives is transferable to everything they do: a confident rider can be a confident business person, confident worker, confident spouse, confident parent, and confident friend. In this way, Ride Big!™ instills a skill of worth and promise that extends far beyond the show ring.
Endorsements
"This guide from John Haime will help equestrians build their confidence, handle their emotions, and deal with pressure. I highly recommend it to competitors looking to take their riding to the next level." - Beezie Madden, Olympic Gold Medalist, Show Jumping
"In equestrian sports there are so many variables making it easy to find an 'out' or an excuse for failure. But when the rider chooses to take responsibility, Ride Big, and all the athletes in it, will share the secrets and home truths that allow equestrian athletes to unlock their full potential. And on those occasions when things do go wrong, they will know how to genuinely learn from their mistakes and do better in the future." - Laura Tomlinson, Olympic gold medalist, Dressage
"Equestrian sport is complex and individual for all riders. Ride Big will help you be better equipped to solve problems, be more confident when confronting challenges, and better enjoy your experiences with horses. Read this book." - Michael Jung, Individual Olympic Gold Medalist 2012 and 2016 in Eventing
John Haime is a former tournament professional golfer who left his life as a professional athlete to first produce workplace learning programs and eventually blend his areas of experience and knowledge into an innovative system of performance coaching. He has helped some of the world’s top performers in sports, business, and entertainment build mental and emotional muscle so they can maximize their abilities, creating a winning formula of sport psychology, emotional intelligence, performance psychology, neuroscience, and executive coaching.
For the past seven years, he has worked with dozens of equestrian clients, from young hunter riders and adult beginners to the world’s top show jumping, dressage, and eventing athletes. He has coached Nations Cup winners, Grand Prix winners, and national champions, and has worked with individuals competing at top events like the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) in Florida, the American Gold Cup in New York, and the Badminton Horse Trials in England.
