Every prospective client asks the same questions. The objections. The concerns. The myths about getting bulky or not having enough time.
Coach Sando has trained athletes across over 30 sports. The questions never change much. But equestrian athletes have unique concerns tied to their horses, their culture, and decades of doing things a certain way.
Here are the top 10 questions riders ask before starting a strength training program. And the straight answers they need to hear.
1. “I Already Ride Five Days a Week – Isn’t That Enough Workout?”
This is the biggest question. The most common objection.
Here’s the answer: You cannot confuse skill work with physical work.
Skill work happens on the horse. There’s no such thing as a sport-specific exercise for any sport. The job of strength training is to prepare your body for the demands of your sport. That preparation can be general types of training.
What does that give you? The ability to ride more for longer periods without depleting your resources. The work becomes easier because you’re stronger.
Say you ride five horses. Without physical training, that’s a seven out of 10 difficulty. Maybe eight out of 10.
With physical training? Same five horses. Same skills. Same tasks. Now it’s a five out of 10.
That’s what strength training does. It makes you more resilient.
Skill work is not the same as physical work. Period.
2. “I Don’t Have Time to Train Off the Horse – How Do I Fit It In?”
This answer needs to be straight. It could come off insensitive. But it’s necessary.
Time isn’t the issue. Priorities are.
When you prioritize training, you’re not just training your physical abilities. You’re improving the longevity and health of your horse.
Think about it that way. Your training becomes a priority because it matters for your horse.
You’ll fit it in. Because anything that’s a priority gets fit in. Doesn’t matter what sport you play or if you play sports at all.
It gets to a point where training becomes priority enough that you don’t need motivation. It becomes something you do. A long-term habit.
3. “How Do You Handle Riders Coming Back from Injury Who Are Afraid of Reinjury?”
Great question. It highlights how the high performance team works.
Step One: Mental Foundation
When a rider gets hurt, their confidence is shook. Coming back means working with the mental performance coach first.
She sets the foundations of what the training trajectory looks like. What riders have to do off the horse mentally.
Step Two: Nutritional Support
Work with the sport dietitian to make sure riders have the fuel and resources needed to heal properly.
Step Three: Physical Assessment
It’s not just the physical work. Assess how strong they are. Assess if they went to a physical therapist.
Here’s the guess: 75% of riders when they get hurt don’t go to physical therapy.
Why? Because they’ll get told they need to be off their horse for four to six weeks.
That’s not a thing in riding.
These people have incredible passion. They’ll be in a wheelchair trying to figure out how to fit that wheelchair on top of their horse.
“My hip doesn’t hurt when I ride.” Whatever they tell themselves.
The brain is powerful. These athletes go out there and do everything while being hurt.
But here’s the reality. Even if the rider doesn’t feel it, the horse adapts or tries to adapt for the injury. The rider is putting themselves in more danger.
The injury has a negative effect on the rider when riding. It has a negative effect on the horse.
Care about both of those things.
4. “What Are the Most Common Nutrition Mistakes Riders Make?”
Undereating. 100%.
Since working with people online and asking this question, 100% of riders undereat. Not one is even at maintenance level. All undereat.
The Effects of Undereating
Especially for women, when you undereat, you start to change all of your hormonal systems. You start getting autoimmune disorders. Some women start getting premenopause earlier than expected.
The earliest case? Someone in their 30s started getting premenopausal symptoms. All from under nutrition.
She had been on a diet since she was 13.
The Cultural Root
The culture says you’ve got to be light.
There’s a question in the intake form: Have you been diagnosed or do you know if you have an eating disorder?
The licensure exists with the registered dietitian to work with this population.
It wasn’t thought to be a big thing initially. But when the learning started, the realization hit. “I can’t service these people correctly without someone on my team who can help this.”
It’s not just a little bit of undereating. It’s years of being on a diet.
The Solution
First step: work very closely with a registered dietitian. At whatever level riders are at, start to heal that symptom or disease of undereating. Get out of it in a healthy way so they can be healthier for their horse.
The Mental Connection
Here’s what the mental performance coach said: when someone undereats, it makes them more vulnerable to having breakdowns at shows. They already have the high stress of being underfed.
Tolerance to adrenaline and stress is already capped.
Then they go into a high stress environment. They lose it.
They think they need a mental performance coach. No. They need a team to talk them through it. Plus strategies on how to work their way out of it.
The fuel intake is being used properly as part of training. It’s not going to the wrong places or sources.
It goes back to time and being able to manage it well. Prioritizing having meals. That’s what makes you a good trainer of your riding and your horses.
5. “Will Strength Training Make Me Stiff or Bulky?”
Love this one. It’s in every sport.
Every single sport. Over 30 sports trained, and every sport coach or trainer says the same thing. “I don’t want my guys or girls to be bulky and stiff.”
It’s not a rider-specific thing. Every sport thinks they’re different.
Riders have a point. “Okay, you ride something that is another species. It doesn’t communicate with words.”
But a soccer player could say, “Well, I have a ball that I have to work around.”
Everybody’s got their defenses.
The Truth About Training
Training, if done correctly, helps stabilize certain joints to allow more mobility. More movement.
Stiffness happens because you start getting weaker. Your body gets tight as a defense mechanism.
The other issue? People try to train for fitness and sport using bodybuilding strategies.
Bodybuilders aren’t the most agile. Some are genetically still really good athletes. But bodybuilding itself is just about how much muscle you can build.
Not how functional. Not how limber. Just how much blood can you get in that thing and pump it up. How much can you lift at one time.
Or the iron discipline of powerlifting or strongman.
Sport-Specific Adaptations
Learning that in your sport there is strength needed. But the way you train elicits certain types of adaptations that will not be stiff and bulky.
The College Story
In college, female athletes used to say: “Coach, I don’t want to drink my protein shake after I work out. It’s making me bulky.”
Then the questions started. “Didn’t you go to that frat party? The pizza and beer didn’t make you bulky? Wasn’t that Friday, Saturday, Sunday? You don’t think I know when you guys are going out?”
Blaming the poor protein shake.
The Reality
Getting bulky is SO HARD. That’s why people take performance enhancement drugs to get bulky.
You think your little workout is going to get you to that point?
These guys work out three hours long, twice a day. You’re going to get in a 20 or 30 minute workout and get bulky?
Not going to happen.
It’s education. A lot of education.
6. “What Do You Tell Riders Frustrated by Slow Progress?”
Performance training is a journey. There are so many layers that people have to unpack or peel off to get to the results they want.
The biggest analogy? The same way horses get trained. Their process can be very slow depending on age and experience.
Riders are the same way.
Life Complexity
Riders with lots going on. Husband or wife. Professional career. Kids. Only a certain amount of resources for skill development and training.
You make adaptations. Make adjustments. Get programs that fit your schedule. They might be 15 or 20 minute workouts.
But here’s the approach: consistency.
Consistency Over Intensity
In 365 days of training, you’ll probably get around 335 or 340 workouts. Instead of going all or nothing and only doing maybe one or two per month because you’re too busy.
That stalls progress.
Defining Progress
Watch videos. Look at check-in forms. Look at all the different pieces.
Performance training has objectivity. The videos show you’re looking better riding. But there are subjective things. Take part in looking, not just the coach.
Come back and report. “Guess what? I did this. My knee is not hurting as much.”
Feel that the progress you’re making is beneficial. You’re looking in the right spot.
Perspective Correction
Some people get so lasered on one thing. “I’m not making any progress here.”
But you’ve made progress in four other areas that are important. Call them micro wins. You’re stacking them. Eventually you’ll get to the main goal.
Some people need the reality check. “You’ve been having that hip issue for 10 years and you want me to fix it in two months.”
I wish. I’m trying my best.
7. “If I Feel Stuck, Tired, or Disconnected from My Sport, What’s One Small Step to Get Back on Track?”
Take a reset.
Reset #1: Goals During Horse Downtime
A lot of times people riding tie everything to the soundness of their horse. When your horse is lame (injured, not sound), what are some things you can do to catch up to its level of fitness when it’s sound?
Reset what your goal is when you have downtime.
Reset #2: Redefine Overall Goals
You might have to reset the goal you have in general. Some people know they’ve been at a certain level and they can’t crack it. They start getting discouraged with the amount of success they’ve had.
Even though they can play it off, the effects start showing.
The reset: look at smaller scale goals that can stack up to get to the goal you want.
We’re always into this all-or-nothing mentality. Never about a process.
The Mindset Shift
Make sure you’re looking at ways to improve yourself. Setting smaller goals so those smaller goals can start stacking up to your ultimate goal.
When you have that mindset change, you’ll start feeling a bit more inspired from what you’re planning to do. Having the right tools. Having the right support staff to help map it out for you.
That way it’s not overwhelming.
Maybe all of this is just overwhelming. But when you have a team that listens to you and what you really want and understands what your values are, then you can build a program. Not just exercises. A complete program that’s going to keep you consistent.
The Focus
Yes, the exercises. That’s what you’re getting paid to do. But personally, it’s how can I help you be as consistent as possible no matter what.
If you come and say, “Right now is not the right time because I got such and such going on.”
I always got something going on. It’s never the right time to start anything.
Step one: How can we make it fit? How can I keep you consistent?
There are plenty of ways to train to keep you consistent. And consistency wins over an innovative way to train every single day.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why can’t riding five days a week replace strength training?
Riding is skill work, not physical work. There’s no such thing as a sport-specific exercise for any sport. Strength training prepares your body for the demands of riding. Without it, riding five horses might be a 7 or 8 out of 10 difficulty. With physical training, those same five horses become a 5 out of 10. The work gets easier because you’re stronger and more resilient. Skill development and physical preparation are not interchangeable.
How does undereating affect riding performance and show nerves?
Undereating changes hormonal systems and can lead to autoimmune disorders and early premenopause symptoms. From a performance standpoint, undereating makes riders more vulnerable to breakdowns at shows because they already have the high stress of being underfed. Their tolerance to adrenaline and stress is already capped. When they enter a high stress competition environment, they lose it. The solution isn’t just a mental performance coach—it’s a team approach with registered dietitian support and strategies to heal the undereating pattern.
What percentage of injured riders skip physical therapy and why?
Approximately 75% of riders when they get hurt don’t go to physical therapy. The reason: they’ll get told they need to be off their horse for four to six weeks, and that’s not a thing in riding culture. Riders have incredible passion and will compete while hurt. They’ll tell themselves their hip doesn’t hurt when they ride. But even if the rider doesn’t feel it, the horse adapts or tries to adapt for the injury, which has negative effects on both rider and horse.
Why do riders believe strength training will make them bulky?
This myth exists in every sport. Riders aren’t unique in this concern. The truth: getting bulky is extremely difficult. That’s why people take performance enhancement drugs to achieve it. Bodybuilders work out three hours long, twice a day. A 20 or 30 minute workout won’t make anyone bulky. Training done correctly stabilizes certain joints to allow more mobility and movement. Stiffness happens when you get weaker and your body gets tight as a defense mechanism, not from proper strength training.
How long does it realistically take to fix chronic issues like hip pain?
Progress depends on how long the issue has existed. If someone has had a hip issue for 10 years, expecting it to be fixed in two months is unrealistic. Performance training is a journey with many layers to unpack. The approach focuses on micro wins—making progress in multiple areas even if the main issue takes time. Riders might notice their knee hurts less or their riding looks better in videos while the primary issue continues to improve gradually.
What does a training reset look like when feeling stuck or discouraged?
A reset involves two main steps. First, when your horse is lame (injured), reset your goals to focus on catching up to your horse’s level of fitness for when it’s sound again. Second, if you’ve been stuck at a certain level, reset by looking at smaller scale goals that stack up to your bigger goal. The shift is from all-or-nothing mentality to process-based thinking. Setting smaller goals creates inspiration and prevents overwhelm when you have the right support staff to help map it out.
How do you maintain consistency when life gets busy?
Consistency beats intensity every time. For riders with demanding schedules (professional career, kids, family), programs can be adapted to 15 or 20 minute workouts. The goal is hitting 335-340 workouts out of 365 days rather than all-or-nothing where you only manage one or two per month. That all-or-nothing approach stalls progress. There are plenty of ways to train that keep you consistent, and consistency wins over innovative training methods every single day.
Why does injury affect both the rider and the horse?
Even if a rider doesn’t feel pain while riding, the horse adapts or tries to adapt for the rider’s injury. This puts the rider in more danger and creates negative effects for the horse’s health and movement patterns. Riding hurt isn’t just about the rider’s risk—it’s about compromising the horse’s wellbeing too. That’s why the team approach includes mental performance coaching to rebuild confidence, nutritional support for healing, and physical assessment to ensure safe return to riding.
What makes the team approach different from working with individual providers?
In the high performance team model, the mental performance coach knows what’s happening in training. The sport dietitian coordinates with the physical training schedule. Everyone communicates. When a rider comes back from injury, the mental coach sets the trajectory, the dietitian ensures proper fuel for healing, and the physical assessment identifies strength levels and whether proper therapy was done. It’s integrated support rather than siloed services where providers don’t communicate.
How can training improve time management and priorities?
Time isn’t the issue—priorities are. When you understand that training doesn’t just improve physical abilities but also improves the longevity and health of your horse, it becomes a priority that gets fit in. Anything that’s truly a priority gets fit in regardless of how busy you are. The goal is reaching a point where training becomes priority enough that you don’t need motivation. It becomes a long-term habit you do automatically.
Key Takeaways
Skill work and physical work are not the same thing. Riding develops skill. Strength training develops the physical abilities to perform that skill better and with less effort. One doesn’t replace the other. Without physical preparation, riding is harder and depletes your resources faster.
Time is never the real issue—priorities are. When riders understand that training improves their horse’s longevity and health, not just their own performance, it becomes a priority that gets fit in. Waiting for the perfect time means waiting forever because something is always going on.
Undereating is epidemic in equestrian culture and affects performance severely. 100% of riders working with Coach Sando’s program online were undereating—not one at maintenance level. This creates hormonal changes, autoimmune issues, and caps tolerance to stress and adrenaline, making show breakdowns more likely.
Getting bulky from strength training is nearly impossible without extreme effort. This myth exists across all 30+ sports Coach Sando has worked with. The reality: people take performance enhancement drugs and work out three hours twice daily to achieve bulk. A 20-30 minute workout won’t do it. Proper training increases mobility and prevents stiffness.
75% of injured riders skip physical therapy and continue riding hurt. They’ll be told to stay off the horse for four to six weeks, which isn’t acceptable in riding culture. But riding injured forces the horse to adapt, creating negative effects for both rider and horse health.
Progress is a journey measured in micro wins, not linear improvement. If you’ve had a hip issue for 10 years, fixing it in two months isn’t realistic. Track progress across multiple areas—better riding videos, less knee pain, improved energy—rather than lasering in on one metric.
Consistency beats intensity and innovation every time. Getting 335-340 workouts in 365 days with 15-20 minute sessions beats the all-or-nothing approach that results in one or two workouts per month. Programs can adapt to any schedule when consistency is the priority.
Blog & Guides
Are You Ready?