10/09/2025
🏃🏼♀️🏃🏼♀️🏃🏼♀️20 Life lessons from running that can be applied to horses! 🐎 🐎🐎
As I reflect on the past 9 months since applying for the GNR I can't help but draw parallels between running and training for a race with training horses. So here are 20 thoughts I've noted that i think you need to hear.
➡️Drop your ego.
Sometimes people will be better than you even if they're double your age, just starting, or carrying a shed on their back. This is between you and your horse, nobody else.
➡️Run your own race.
People chose to approach getting to the finish line in different ways. Some run fast, some run slow, some do abit of both, but we all get there in the end. Do the same with your horse, there is no rush.
➡️Negative thoughts will only slow you down.
You can't change how somebody is breathing, if they're running too close. Move away from the source of anger and let them. A great bit of advice for a stable yard environment.
➡️Consistency is key.
Fitness increases with consistency. I know on weeks I have gone to park run consecutively, my time has improved, my aches have become less and gradually my body has become stronger and fitter. Don't expect to turn up to the yard and your horse be performing like a Ben Atkinson horse, that s**t takes time and consistency.
➡️Even though you train consistently, it doesn't guarantee a win.
I have trained consistently for the best part of 6 months. Yet i have friends who have barely trained at all and still beat me. That's just how the cookie crumbles, you're at where you're at, run your own race. .
➡️There are no short cuts to good training.
If you want to improve fitness and performance there are no short cuts. Training correctly and consistently over weeks/ months/ years will get you results, not showing up once a blue moon and expecting it to just happen or using gadgets to make it happen.
➡️Some days you just don't feel like it.
Some days I have woken up and just not felt like it. Some days I've talked myself through that and others I've just let it be. Both are absolutely OK. Some days I've felt great but run s**t, other days I've felt s**t but run great. Our horses are also allowed to feel like this.
➡️Hormones effect you massively.
My strength and speed varies significantly throughout the month. During the first half of my cycle I can run and lift about 10% than the dreaded luteal phase of my cycle. I'm not weak or s**t, I'm just hormonal! Give yours and your horses hormones some consideration.
➡️Rest is just as important as the training itself.
If my body hasn't felt 100%, I've had a busy spell of training or I've had a ni**le I've allowed myself to rest. Did this hinder my training or fitness? No. I know it made me come back physically and mentally stronger. Allow your horse periods of rest! They need it both physically and mentally just as we do.
➡️Injuries take TIME to heal.
Give injuries time to heal, not until they just feel a little bit better, wait until they feel properly better! I always think of an injury like glue, it may look like its glued back together after an hour but give it a day and that repair will be so much stronger!
➡️Doing things that aren't the norm are frowned upon
I run in barefoot shoes which is frowned upon by most (even though we weren't born with shoes on our feet). However I've owned it and ran the race just as well as anybody else. Again, let them. If you do things a little differently with your horse, keep doing that s**t, it may just be the inspiration somebody else needs to follow you.
➡️You need a good support team around you.
I have had the best support team around me from fixing my body, training me and uplifting me and have got through this experience positively and relatively injury free. Choose yours and your horses support team wisely, ideally the ones that really lift you up!
➡️Positivity gets you through.
This is not woo, the energy of everybody cheering on the day, well wishes, donations and positive thoughts in my head really did get me through. I hit a wall at mile 9 and its because i got in my head, i flipped that, gave myself an affirmative pep talk and finished the race. Speak positively about yourself and your horse.
➡️Bodywork is essential.
I would say that! But it really is. I've had weeks where I've noticed my footfall has changed or ive got a slight ni**le. We've nipped it in the bud early and likely prevented an injury in doing so. The body must be in alignment to function optimally, same applies to our horses.
➡️You need fuel in the tank.
Nutrition and when you eat is so important for how your race goes. How often do we consider how well we are fuelling our horses for the work ahead of them?
➡️Cross training increases your fitness and strength.
I have mixed my workouts up with a combination of weights, cardio and yoga. I have also mixed my runs up with sprints, slow pace, fast pace and varied terrains. This has strengthened me and conditioned me so much better than just doing the same thing repetitively - same applies to our horses!
➡️Your equipment is so important.
I thoroughly tested everything i wore on race day to make sure i would be the most comfortable I could be. Apart from a soggy bra that rubbed me, i suceeded in this. However i saw many people with very sore feet, if the equipment doesn't fit perfect, this will hinder performance! I'm looking at your saddle!
➡️Sometimes we get it wrong.
Look at this years medal. 60000 medals and t-shirts have gone out with the wrong river on (The river Wear not the Tyne) . Nobody spotted it, and in time nobody will care. Same applies to us and our horses!
➡️Running is meditative.
As much as some people find the word meditation a bit of a cringe word, running (and riding) is meditative. It creates a place where you are present in your body and focused on the here and now. It's why these things become addictive to so many, it puts us in a good place. So don't poo poo the meditative!
➡️Find the joy.
Lastly find the joy in what you're doing. Life's too short to be miserable. Don't loose the enjoyment in the process because you're super focused on the outcome. Enjoy every moment, take it all in. The views whilst you're riding, the feelings within you.
Ive run in some lovely places over the last 9 months. I've played music, smiled, laughed and felt so bloody good about myself. After the race I danced for 3 hours. My joy cup was well and truely full. That's how it should be with our horses.
