Articles by Tonya Johnston
Mental Skills Training Articles
Long Standing Student-Trainer relationship
What are the most important things you can do to keep your relationship with your trainer going strong? Perhaps you have an annual goals meeting. Or you make sure to let her know what you appreciated most at the end of a lesson. There are so many facets to a healthy,...
Take Full Advantage Of Your ‘Why’
How to create and utilize a motivation statement Exercept from Tonya's column "Why do you ride?” “Why do you compete?” Ask two people those questions and you are sure to get different answers. We each have our own personal passion that keeps us involved in this...
Eric Navet
Eric Navet is featured in my next article for Practical Horseman Magazine “I think one mistake people make is to try to go faster than the other people [in the class]... Don’t try to do better than the others, do the best you can on your horse in the moment. When it’s...
Tonya is a Guest on the High Performance Mindset Podcast with Dr. Cindra Kamphoff
I really enjoyed being on Dr. Cindra Kamphoff’s podcast! She is the author of "Beyond Grit" and her podcast is a good one to put into your rotation, it is called: High Performance Mindset. She is a positive, energetic high performance coach and she has very...
Find the Right Coach
When, how and who to hire as a mental-skills professional "As you zipped along the highway going home from the barn today, you had some time to reflect on your riding. It was exciting and a little bit intimidating to realize that you feel ready to get some personal,...
The Superpower called Self-Talk
“We talk to ourselves all day long. We can’t go more than 11 seconds without saying something. It’s usually something harmless, but when it’s negative then you are undermining yourself. You need to learn to be aware enough to censor your own speech because those...
Airplane Mode
In this column, I discuss why we may want to rethink our phone use while riding - and share some positive ideas on how to change phone habits at the barn texting browsing FB checking email scrolling Insta taking a cute pic I have occasionally done all of these while...
Tonya named a Clinician for the 2018 USEF George H. Morris Horsemastership Training Session
Lexington, Ky. - US Equestrian (USEF) is pleased to announce the participants for the 12th annual USEF George H. Morris Horsemastership Training Session presented by the United States Hunter Jumper Association (USHJA). "Designed to develop the next generation of U.S....
Yes, Teamwork Does Make the Dream Work
Mental skills coach Tonya Johnston and Olympian Allison Brock share tips for enhancing group cohesion at your barn. Absolutely great time of year to think about building/rebuilding/strengthening/appreciating all of your relationships at the barn! Thanks to Olympian...
Inside Your Ride: Harnessing the Power Of Observation
Inside Your Ride: Harnessing the Power Of Observation Enhance confidence and abilities with active visualization and the outside-in principle. As we all hunker down into fall and winter weather at the barn, it may be a good time to think about your riding...
Practical Horseman Column: Fun as a Key to Success
How to enjoy and succeed during the big moments " ... their desire to actually relish and enjoy the experience of finals was also quite significant in the biggest equitation victories of their careers." Last year, TJ O'Mara and Hunter Holloway-Schuknecht each won two...
The Plaid Horse’s “The American Tradition of Excellence Equitation Challenge by Whitethorne LLC”
Tonya's Plaidcast Podcast was quoted in the below profile on Georgy Maskrey-Segesman of Whitethorne LLC, who trains top hunter, jumper, and equitation horses and riders out of Somis, California. Read the whole article, click here.
Inside Your Ride
