The Mindful Equestrian: Exploring Athletes' Experiences in Competition

This project explores five adolescent equestrienne athletes’ experiences of using mindfulness practices in competition. The girls use mindful practices to address stress and maintain focus when navigating complicated courses of jumps in order to achieve pivotal moments regularly. The stories of these girls are intricately woven throughout the analysis that reveals the nuances of their relationships with their horses and trainers as well as specifics of horse show culture. The girls’ interviews are unpacked with narrative analysis methodology that distills themes from each interview and blends the collected themes into a composite narrative with overarching common themes. This work not only explores mindfulness as a key to positive experiences in competition but also explores the nuances of the horse-human relationship. Findings may reveal phenomena that could increase understanding of the multiple layers of peak performance.