Mental Health Matters
At the NSBA Foundation, we recognize that mental health is just as vital as physical well-being—especially in the equestrian world, where the demands of competition, training, and everyday life can take a toll. Our mission is to foster a supportive environment for our members by providing access to mental health resources, promoting awareness, and encouraging open dialogue within the equestrian community.
Mental health challenges affect individuals from all walks of life. Stress, anxiety, and burnout are common, but they don’t have to be faced alone. By prioritizing mental well-being, we can create a stronger, more inclusive community.
Resources
Whether you’re seeking immediate support or looking to deepen your understanding of mental health, the following resources are here to help:
- Immediate Support
- National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: Call or text 988 for free, confidential support available 24/7. Visit 988lifeline.org for additional resources.
- Substance Abuse Resources
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration: Access information and resources for individuals living with mental and substance use disorders and their families at samhsa.gov.
- Crisis Resources
- Mental Health America: Get help and information about maintaining mental health at mhanational.org.
- Educational Materials
- Headspace: Explore articles, tips, and guides on maintaining mental well-being while navigating the demands of life at headspace.com.
- Find A Therapist
- Use Psychology Today’s Therapist Directory to find licensed mental health professionals in your area at psychologytoday.com.
Featured: Ali Hartman's Top 5 Tips for Optimal Health and Well-Being in 2025
By Ali Hartman of EQFit
The new year is a natural time to think about your health and well-being for the year ahead. It can be tempting to set highly ambitious goals, get overwhelmed by all the ‘trending’ topics in health and wellness, or simply have paralysis by analysis. It’s not always the most exciting, but sticking to ‘the basics’, and starting with small, sustainable changes is often the best route to go if you want to make changes that you can stick with!
Our team at Pro-Activity has been studying how to optimize health and well-being for over two decades. We have boiled down ‘the secret sauce’ to what we call ‘FIVE ELEMENTS’ of health - MOVE, FUEL, RECOVER, ENDURE, and CONNECT. Read below for Ali’s top tips for improving your health and well-being across these five areas in 2025!
1. MOVE
Engage in a regular movement routine. Although the ideal is 75-150 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity exercise (not including work tasks!) per week, starting with as little as 3-5 minutes of vigorous exercise per day has been shown to have a meaningful impact on health. Exercise packs more than a physical health punch - routine exercise is a powerful mental health strategy as well. In some research, exercise even performs as well or better than medications in the treatment of depression!
- Start small - add ‘Movement Snacks’ into your daily routine - get your HR up for 60 seconds at a time (run up the stairs, do 1 minute of air squats, pushups, or high knees) 3-5x per day, and mix in some mobility work as well!
- Build - find a type of exercise that fits your lifestyle that you ENJOY, and commit to 2-3 days a week to start. Focus on consistency, then frequency (add more days), then intensity. And remember - the best type of exercise is the one you will DO!
2. FUEL
The foods we eat play a MASSIVE role in both our physical and mental health and wellbeing. Impacting everything from aches & pains, risk for lifestyle-driven chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, many cancers and more, and even our mental health through a connection between our gut and brain (see ‘gut-brain axis’ or ‘gut microbiome’)…the fuel we put in our body has the power to significantly help or harm. Fiber through whole food sources (fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds, etc.) has been consistently shown in the research to have a positive impact on all of the above. The good news - small changes add up!
- Start small - count your servings of fruits/veggies in a day, or track your fiber intake from whole food sources. Try to add 1 serving per day or 5 grams of fiber per day, slowly adding until you reach 5-7+ servings of ‘plants’ per day or 35-40+ grams of fiber!
- Build - eat the rainbow! The more variety (colors and kinds!), the healthier your gut. Try our infamous ‘High Fiber Smoothie Recipe’ to pack a bunch of ‘the goods’ into one meal/snack!
3. RECOVER
Sleep impacts EVERY SINGLE system in the human body. Skimping on sleep is detrimental to physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing…both now and later in life. If you are not getting 7-9 hours of uninterrupted sleep per night, evaluate how you can prioritize this important ELEMENT!
- Start small - set a consistent sleep/wake schedule
- Build - Try ‘sleep hygiene’ tactics like taking a hot shower/bath, turning down lights + avoiding screens 30-60+ minutes before bed, maintaining a cold + dark room, and engaging in paced breathing or similar nervous system ‘wind down’ activity before bed
4. ENDURE
Managing the inevitable stressors of life (and horse showing) are skills that can be practiced and improved. Building resilience helps create a ‘stress buffer’ when the storms of life - big or small - hit.
- Start small - experiment with ‘positive psychology’ tactics that have been proven to work - gratitude journaling, “What went well” exercise, mindfulness/mediation/prayer, exercise, time outdoors…experiment and find what works for you!
- Build - get some professional guidance! There are many virtual therapy services available to help you through current issues and prevent future ones. On the performance end of the spectrum or if you need help on the ‘mental game’ side of our sport, check out Mental Athletics!
5. CONNECT
Our social connections play a major role on our health and wellbeing (so much so they have a 50% influence on our risk of all cause mortality2!). Auditing our inner circle, investing in relationships that feed us positivity, and at times setting boundaries around those that don’t can go a long way in improving our physical and mental health. The research suggests it is not about number of connections, rather depth and quality of relationships that seem to matter most.
- Start small - take a break from social media and trade that time for reaching out to someone you care about that you haven’t connected with in a while.
- Build - protect time for the relationships that matter most. This looks different for all of us, but it usually means saying ‘no’ to something to say ‘yes’ to time with our loved ones (or even ourselves!).
Consider picking ONE area to focus on, setting a sustainable goal, and chipping away! Once you make ground, slowly build into other ELEMENTS. And of course, don’t hesitate to reach out for help!
