10/ MAY 2026 THE RIDER From the Trainer’s Eye Building confidence in horse and rider
Sharon: It was one of those
conversations
where everyone pauses for a second before an- swering. Three of us at the
barn after riding together, Jen, me, and Lisa Gra- ham, another student of Jen’s. We were chatting as we often do and Jen asked a simple question: “What does confidence actually mean to you in the show pen?” You’d think that
would be an easy answer. It wasn’t. Wanting to delve in
to this further, we set up a Zoom call to discuss. Lisa spoke first. She
told a story about a show — one of those decisions that feels fine at the time. She got on a horse she didn’t really know, not a terrible decision, not ex- actly reckless. Just… a bit ahead of where she actually was. “I thought I’d be
okay,” she said. That’s usually how those stories start, and it didn’t take long before things unrav- elled. The horse reacted, Lisa reacted. And suddenly she
wasn’t riding — she was
trying to manage a situa- tion.
The kind where
your heart rate jumps, your body tightens, and your brain goes very, very quiet. “It could have gone badly,” she said. I could relate to that
– I remembered the time I didn’t know how the horse would be in the show pen, she went so fast and my saddle wasn’t tight enough so it probably looked like a trick ride. We talk a lot about
confidence in riding, we admire, chase it. We as- sume some riders just have it. But listening to Lisa’s story and relating my own, it was obvious: on both those occasions, it wasn’t confidence; it was overconfidence. And the difference
between the two? Prepa- ration. Jen said something
that stuck us: “Confi- dence is something you do. It’s not something you have.” It sounds simple.
But when you really think about it, it changes everything. Because most riders
are waiting to feel confi- dent before they act, in- stead of building it through what they do, ride after ride. I’ve seen this my-
self, moments where I’ve felt completely calm — and ridden badly. And other moments
where I’ve been nervous, aware, slightly on edge… …and ridden well. Because I was pre-
pared. I knew what I’d do if something went wrong because I’d been there before — even if only in practice. Lisa said it took her
three years to feel a real shift.
Three years. Not
three weeks, not a couple of lessons. Three years of try-
ing, adjusting, getting it wrong, getting it better.
Shari Irwin
2026 Judges Committee (905) 440-5941 email:
shari_irwin@hotmail.com
Kelly Lehman Secretary: Kit Bartle Judges List 2026 Senior Judges
Kelly Lehman Drumbo, Ontario Cell: 519-807-2660 Email:
maddavery@gmail.com
Shari Irwin Castleton, Ontario Cell: 905-940-5941 Email:
shari_irwin@hotmail.ca
Cally Jo Fritz Elliot Lake, Ontario Cell: 519-280-8169 Home: 226-289-8563 Email:
callygene@gmail.com
Brenda Thompson Waterloo, Ontario Cell: 519-577-7320 Home: 519-884-4050 Email:
bmctearnen@yahoo.ca
(519) 807-2660 email:
maddavery@gmail.com (519) 732-0263 email:
drumbolady@hotmail.ca
Anne Marinacci Smithville, Ontario Home: 905-957-5619 Email:
annemarinacci@hotmail.com
Website:
www.whao.org Junior Judges
Dave Black Fisherville, Ontario Cell: 905-921-0359, Email:
diamondbquarterhorses@gmail.com
Robyn Storey Cambridge, Ontario Cell: 519-841-3934 Home: 519-620-9015 Email:
gatorrocks@hotmail.com
Mike Tucker Fenwick, Ontario Cell: 905-984-1581 Home: 905-892-5610 Email:
m.tucker1378@gmail.com
Don Stauffer Conn, Ontario Cell: 519-604-8864 Home: 226-258-9206
Email:
thestauffers48@gmail.com
Erin O'Drowski St. Mary's, Ontario Cell: 226-377-0244 Email:
eodrowsk@gmail.com
Judy Gaspardy Acton, Ontario Cell: 905-875-9534 Email:
sunfireminis@yahoo.ca
Anna Turnbull Gores Landing, Ontario Cell: 905-376-4807 Email:
1anna.turnbull@gmail.com
Cheri Woodrow Severn, Ontario Cell: 705-321-2230 Email:
254cutter@hotmail.ca
That’s confidence
building itself, it’s the process. And then there’s the
part we don’t talk about enough. Support. Your people at the show. Lisa described a moment at a competition several years ago where she felt com- pletely alone, no one to check in with, no one to say, “You’re fine — ride your plan.” And it shook her. Since I’ve been with
Jen, I’ve competed on my own, but I wasn’t ac- tually alone, because I
had preparation, I had repetition. And I had Jen’s voice in my head — on repeat! By the end of the
conversation, we landed somewhere simple: Confidence isn’t a
feeling, it’s not some- thing you wake up with. It’s built, quietly, repeat- edly, over time. And the riders who
look confident? They’re not guessing - they’re prepared. And that’s what con-
fidence actually looks like.
Don’t miss our next issue. Deadline is May 13th, 2026!
Send us all your news and events!
barry@therider.com
to the full conversation, it’s
https://youtu.be/I_FXbY dt20s
——————
‘From the Trainer’s Eye articles written by Jen Jonas of Jonas Perform- ance Horses and one of her students, Sharon Jones of Be A Better You Inc. Both Jen and Sharon are believers in continu- ous learning - if you’re not learning you are not growing’
If you want to listen on YouTube:
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