Key points

Train your brain to support the sport of your choice.

Good hands are a rider's best tools, but we have to learn not to overuse them.

Practice light movements throughout your body to train your brain.

Every sport demands physical changes from its athletes. Tennis players have to teach their bodies to accelerate a ball from 0 to 120 mph in a second or two. Judo players learn to be thrown to the ground again and again without harm or pain. Ice skaters practice spotting the same location with their eyes to keep from becoming dizzy while spinning. All of these changes occur in the muscular contractions of the body—but they depend primarily on changes in the grey matter of our brains.

Equestrians are no exception. Our brains learn to isolate specific muscles living in large group

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