Most riders spend years guessing what's holding them back instead of actually testing it. The Rider Reset is a free 5-day email course built around one simple idea: before you can improve, you need to know where you actually stand. Five videos, five tests, and by the end you'll know exactly where to focu, without spending a dime on a lesson.

There's a question every rider eventually asks, usually after a frustrating ride or a disappointing show result. Am I actually getting better?

Most riders never actually test it.

They ride, they take lessons when they can, they watch videos and read articles, and they hope that somewhere in all of that the progress is happening. But hoping isn't the same as knowing. And lucky for you, you found this blog and an easy way for you to test where you are for yourself!

That's exactly why The Rider Reset exists. It's a free 5-day email course built around one simple idea: before you can improve, you need to know where you actually stand. Not where you think you stand. Not where your last trainer told you that you stood three years ago. Where you stand right now, today, with the horse underneath you.

Each day delivers one video, one key insight, and one test you can do on your own at home. No trainer required. No arena fees. Just you, your horse, and a roadmap to improvement.

That line came from my trainer and it reframed everything for me. Because following instructions will take you pretty far. Understanding your horse, reading them in real time, communicating clearly enough that they can actually do what you are asking — that is what closes the gap between pretty good and genuinely great.

The Rider Reset is five days of building that understanding, one honest test at a time.

Before you can fix anything, you have to know what is broken. And most riders skip that step entirely.
They work on their position without testing whether their seat is actually influencing movement. They drill dressage movements without checking whether the horse is doing them or just tolerating them.

They push through groundwork without ever asking whether the horse is genuinely responding or just going through the motions. The Rider Reset covers five areas that most riders either overlook entirely or only address in formal lesson settings. 

None of these are advanced concepts. The tests in The Rider Reset do not require a trainer, an arena, or any special equipment. What they require is honesty. And that turns out to be the hardest part for most people, including me.

We start with the mindset shift that reframes everything else. Most riders are focused on executing correctly. Great riders are focused on the horse in front of them, this specific horse, today, in this moment.

Day 1 draws that line clearly and asks you which side of it you are currently on. The answer might surprise you.

After fifteen years of training horses, and the same three mistakes show up over and over.

One is mental.
One is emotional.
One is physical.

All three are fixable. Day 2 is the most honest conversation most riders have never had with themselves, and it covers everything from riding from a place of fear — which your horse feels whether you admit it or not — to the physical demands of riding that most people dramatically underestimate.

Spoiler: carrying horse manure is heavy and yes that is relevant.

Day 3 is a barn day. You will meet Gemini, a six-year-old mare I trained from the ground up who keeps things very real, and work through three exercises that test your horse's responsiveness and your communication in ways most riders never think to check.

Bending while standing still. Moving off the leg. Backing up.

None of these are about dominance.

All three are about whether you and your horse are actually speaking the same language because when you do a small fraction of these in the saddle, the difference is night and day.

Spoiler: backing up is not a punishment. It is a training tool.

Fair warning: this one is humbling.

You are going to isolate your seat, take your legs and hands almost completely out of the equation, and find out whether you can actually influence your horse's movement from your seat alone.

My trainer has always told me my rear end is a weapon — her words, not mine — and it took me years to figure out how to use it intentionally rather than accidentally.

If you pass this test you have a tool most riders do not know they are carrying. If you do not pass it, now you know exactly what to work on!

This test comes from a Grand Prix dressage rider and the question it asks is deceptively simple: when you are riding your dressage movements, are you doing them or is your horse?

First time I tried this I gave myself a 60% and that was generous.

What it reveals is whether your horse is holding the movement or whether you are holding it for them, and once you know the answer, you cannot un-know it. Which is the whole point.

It is that revealing, and that useful!

Before your next ride, pick one thing from this list and test it. Just one.

Bend your horse from a standstill and notice how quickly they respond.
Sit a few strides of canter without using your leg and see what happens.
Take a breath before you mount and notice whether your horse notices.

Sometimes the smaller tests will tell you more than any hour lesson ever could...

That's the whole premise of The Rider Reset — and it's free!

If you want a clearer picture of exactly where you and your horse stand, sign up for The Rider Reset here →

✅  The Rider Reset is five days of honest self-assessment.
 ❌ Not five days of being told you are doing it wrong.
❌  Not five days of tips you have already heard somewhere else.

Each day builds on the last, and by the end you will have tested your groundwork connection, your seat influence, your horse's responsiveness in dressage, and the mental game sitting underneath all of it.

Most riders spend years not knowing which of those things is the actual problem. After five days, you will know. And knowing is where real improvement starts.

​Sign up, show up for five days, and find out exactly what you're working with. That's where improvement actually starts.

Not at all. These tests work for every riding level and every discipline. If you ride a horse, they apply to you. Whether you are preparing for a competition or just trying to have better rides on a Tuesday, the tests will show you something useful.

Each email delivers one video and one test. The videos are under fifteen minutes and most tests fit into a regular ride you are already doing. It is designed to work around barn time you are already spending, not add more to your plate.

Good. That is the point. Failing a test means you have identified something specific to work on instead of just guessing. Nobody passes everything the first time — definitely not me — and the ones you do not pass are the most valuable information you will get out of the whole course.

No equipment and no trainer. These are designed to be done at home on your own horse. A phone propped up to record yourself is helpful but not required.

That depends on what the tests told you.

If your biggest gap turned out to be your mental game, The Rider Mental Game course goes deep on everything the bonus day introduced — visualization, the five-second rule, overcoming fear, goal setting, constructive criticism, and failing forward, all built from years of competing and a background in gymnastics that involved way too many scary skills on a four-inch beam.

If you want personalized feedback on your actual riding, The Ride Review gives you a voiceover video analysis of your own footage so you can see exactly what is happening in real time.

Either way, you will know where to go because the course will have told you.