Strides To Solutions

Every warm-up ring is a social comparison environment. The hierarchy is visible, the evaluation is constant, and the gap between where you are and where the professionals are is impossible to ignore. What most riders don’t know is what that gap is actually doing to them, psychologically and physiologically, before they have even picked up the reins. This episode covers the research on upward compa...

There’s a word that quietly follows a lot of equestrians around. It shows up before introductions, softens accomplishments before they can be claimed, and apologizes for a passion before anyone has asked for an explanation. The word is just. As in, “I’m just an amateur.” This podcast exists because that word has consequences. Specific, documented, psychologically measurable consequences. And most...

Open-skill sports don't just build faster bodies, they reshape the brain's prediction machinery. But what happens when uncertainty becomes too much, and can lab training ever match the chaos of real competition? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit esthernava.substack.com

The neuroscience of pet attachment reveals we're using the same bonding circuitry for our animals as our children but the patterns aren't quite identical. What does this mean for how we understand love across species? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit esthernava.substack.com

Sports psychology research shows that outcome-focused goals actually increase rider anxiety, which the horse feels and mirrors right back. The very goal that's supposed to motivate you is making your horse tense. This episode introduces an anti-fragile approach to goal-setting: vectors instead of targets, floors instead of all-or-nothing, and if-then plans that pre-program your brain to soften whe...

New Year's resolutions fail for a reason and it's not your willpower. This episode breaks down why specific, measurable goals can actually backfire when life gets unpredictable, and what the research says about building goals that stay meaningful when circumstances change. Plus a simple protocol: pick a vector, set a floor, write three if-then plans, and actually follow through. Download the proto...

“I’m doing everything right—the hard work, the responsibility, the drive, the character—and nothing is moving.” If you’ve ever felt this specific agony, this isn’t about you being entitled or not trying hard enough. It’s about the collision of two incompatible truths: you’re operating with high integrity and high effort, AND you’re living in a world where effort doesn’t guarantee outcomes. This pi...

There’s a weird moment in riding where everything feels harder than it should. You know more, but perform worse. You’ve trained harder, but feel like a beginner. Welcome to the equestrian growth spurt — awkward, emotional, often ugly. In this episode, we unpack why things get mentally messy right before major breakthroughs. If you’re stuck in that in-between phase where you feel like you’re regres...

What if resilience after trauma isn’t about strength of character, but about dopamine? In this episode, we explore groundbreaking research showing that the difference between bouncing back and staying stuck often comes down to how your dopamine system responds during and after traumatic experiences. We’re not talking about the “feel-good chemical” you’ve heard about. We’re talking about dopamine a...

The transition from sympathetic survival to parasympathetic collapse isn’t a single threshold—it’s a dynamic integration of threat imminence, internal arousal, and contextual cues processed by your amygdala, PAG, and hypothalamus. This episode synthesizes cutting-edge research on how the nervous system determines when to let go, why some people snap from high-functioning to shutdown while others d...

Forgot the next movement in the middle of your dressage test? If you’ve experienced this, you know how frustrating and embarrassing it feels. And if you haven’t experienced it yet but you’re terrified it will happen, that fear itself might actually be making it more likely to occur. Today we’re going to dig into the psychology and neuroscience of why memory fails under pressure, specifically in th...

You’ve put in months or years of focused practice. You were getting better, steadily improving, and then... nothing. Week after week of the same effort producing zero visible progress. Every practice session becomes a catalog of everything you still can’t do. This is where most people quit. But research on expertise development shows this plateau period is exactly where mastery gets built—if you k...

You’ve been doing everything right. Tracking religiously. Exercising consistently. Then the scale just... stops. And suddenly, all that iron discipline evaporates overnight. If you’ve ever wondered why motivation collapses so completely at weight loss plateaus—or how to restart it without relying on willpower or toxic positivity—this deep dive into the psychological research will change how you th...

For decades, we’ve been told that excellence requires constant striving, that mental toughness means pushing through exhaustion, that champions are made by those who want it most. But groundbreaking research from sports neuroscience labs is revealing something counterintuitive: the athletes who last longest at the top aren’t the ones grinding hardest—they’re the ones who’ve learned to perform from...

Millions of people lie awake at night, caught between physical discomfort and exhaustion, wondering why pain seems worse when they're tired and why sleep becomes impossible when they hurt. What most don't realize is they're trapped in a neurobiological cycle that goes far deeper than simple cause and effect. In this comprehensive exploration, we uncover the fascinating science behind the pain-inso...

Learn why your self-talk patterns determine your success more than talent, luck, or circumstances. Discover practical tools to rewrite the narratives that shape your life. The BIG Book of Reframes available on amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FRZNFN1J This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit esthernava.substack.com

In this episode of Strides to Solutions , Esther Adams unpacks the surprising science behind horse-human connection. Drawing from nearly a thousand research studies, she explores how horses read human emotions with uncanny precision, why they act as honest mirrors of our inner states, and how this dynamic feedback loop can foster self-awareness, emotional regulation, and resilience. You’ll hear ho...

Behind the glamour of international competition lies a mental health crisis that's destroying careers and endangering horses. While the NFL spends millions on athlete mental health, equestrian sport's governing bodies offer little more than a phone number and up to 3 calls. Esther Adams opens the door to a conversation on shocking gaps in support that are driving riders to breakdown and reveals th...

Horse trainers ride 8-12 horses daily, each demanding the cognitive load of a complex surgery. Esther Adams reveals the shocking neurological reality facing professional trainers: by horse number six, error monitoring systems fail, decision-making deteriorates, and safety margins collapse. Discover why the industry's scheduling practices are backwards, how cognitive overload creates dangerous ridi...

Esther Adams takes you inside the neuroscience of why equestrians excel at executive function, bilateral coordination, and performance under pressure. Learn how your daily schooling sessions are creating neural connections that transfer to every area of life and why your horse (and instructor) might be the best brain trainer money can buy. USDF First Level - Test 1 https://www.usdf.org/docs/showfl...

Traditional parent training assumes cognitive abilities that ADHD parents may not have. Discover how parental attention challenges, emotional dysregulation, and memory issues undermine even evidence-based interventions—and what families can do instead. References Bhatt, S., Jogy, S., & Puri, A. (2024). Parenting styles and ADHD severity: Leveraging AI to understand their relationship. Internationa...

Scientists finally understand how recreational screen time rewires ADHD brains, creating cycles of worsening symptoms through a specific neurological pathway that most parents don't know exists. Here are 5 viral title options for your podcast episode: 1. "Screen Time Is Hijacking ADHD Brains Through This Hidden Brain Pathway" Subtitle: New research reveals why impulsivity—not attention—is the real...

The neurological reason why self-care feels impossible and emotions hit like lightning bolts when you have ADHD. References Bruton, A., Levy, L., Rai, N., Colgan, D., & Johnstone, J. (2025). Diminished interoceptive accuracy in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A systematic review. Psychophysiology , 62 (2), e14750. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.14750 Christiansen, L., Beck, M., Bilenberg,...

Revolutionary neuroimaging reveals ADHD brains develop 3 years behind schedule in crucial areas, explaining why typical behavioral expectations are setting kids up for failure. References Al-Kafaji, G., Jahrami, H., Alwehaidah, M., Alshammari, Y., & Husni, M. (2023). Mitochondrial DNA copy number in autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: A systematic review and meta...

Examines research showing that passive rest can actually worsen symptoms in CFS due to rumination and default mode network overactivity. Presents interventions that improve rest quality and reduce the cognitive burden of constant symptom monitoring. Here are the APA references and disclaimer for the podcast: References Barton, A., Sheen, J., & Byrne, L. (2024). The restorative and state enhancing...