If It’s Worth Doing, It’s Worth Doing Right: Helpful Advice or Harmful Myth?

“If something’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right.”

Have you heard that one before? I definitely took it to heart growing up.

And on the surface, it sounds like solid advice: do a good job, care about what you do, put in the effort. Very Western, right?

But lately, I’ve been catching myself in this particular limiting belief and realizing there’s another side to it.

Because “if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right” can quietly turn into perfectionism and all-or-nothing thinking. And that can absolutely hold you back in your riding.

When “do it right” turns into all-or-nothing thinking

All-or-nothing thinking is basically black-and-white thinking. Either something is perfect, or it’s a complete failure. There’s no middle ground.

In riding, that might sound like:

• If I’m not the best in my field, I’m nothing.
• If I’m not winning, I’m failing.
• If this ride isn’t really good, it didn’t count.
• If I don’t have time for my full ride, there’s no point going to the barn.

The problem is that this mindset completely ignores all the progress sitting in the middle.

You can absolutely be making progress and still have a messy ride. You can get 1% better and still fumble through part of the maneuver. Both can be true.

And honestly? That’s pretty normal when you’re learning and training horses.

You can absolutely be making progress and still have a messy ride. Both can be true.

Perfectionism can keep riders from even trying

This belief gets really sneaky because it can lead to procrastination and avoidance.

If you can’t guarantee success, maybe you don’t enter the show. Or you enter at a lower level than you’re actually capable of riding because you’re worried about how you’ll place. Maybe you don’t ride at all because you don’t have enough time to complete your “perfect” routine.

That’s the trap.

If something only counts when you can do it perfectly, there are going to be a whole lot of days where you do nothing.

And riding horses is a very messy business. You’re learning. Your horse is learning. You’re developing skills, and your horse is developing skills.

It is not going to be perfect every day.

A 20-minute ride can still be valuable

Working with my young horse has been SO good for me in this area.

Because of his age, I’m not going out there and working him for an hour. I might spend 10, 15, or 20 minutes with him. And sometimes? We’re done in five.

If I go out there, ask for a couple things, and he’s soft and giving, great. We’re done.

That has been such a reset for my brain.

Growing up, I was taught that you always had a 10-minute walk warm-up and a 10-minute walk cool-down. That’s 20 minutes right there. Add your actual riding and training, and suddenly an hour feels like the standard.

Then life gets busy and you think, I only have 30 minutes. Can I even accomplish anything?

Yes.

A shorter session could mean you:

• Get on and work on softness.
• Move body parts at a slower speed.
• Lunge.
• Do groundwork.
• Pick ONE small goal and work on that.

You can absolutely do something valuable in 20 minutes.

Stop throwing away the ride because it isn’t perfect

Here’s the mental shift I want you to make.

Instead of thinking, I don’t have time to do this right, so what’s the point?

Try asking:

This is the time I have. How can I use it in a healthy and effective way?

That question gives you somewhere to go.

And honestly, I think horses appreciate the variety too. Some days you might ride for 20 minutes. Some days, 40. Some days, an hour. Some days, your horse gets the day off.

You don’t need the exact same perfect routine every single time for the work to count.

Perfectionism erodes your resilience

This is the Resilient Reiner podcast, so we have to talk about resilience.

Perfectionism and all-or-nothing thinking can really tear away at it because when you believe failure is catastrophic, there’s no room to bounce back. There’s no room to learn or to say, Okay. That didn’t work. What did I learn?

Around here, I don’t really believe in failure.

You’re either winning or learning.

But that requires you to see mistakes as part of the process—not proof that everything is ruined.

Growth is not linear

This is something riders need to hear over and over.

Growth doesn’t look like a perfect straight line where every ride gets exactly 10% better. It goes up and down. You have breakthroughs. You have weird rides. Something clicks, and then the next day your horse acts like they’ve never heard of it before.

That’s part of training.

When you make perfection the only acceptable outcome, you set yourself up for anxiety, burnout, self-criticism, and a big hit to your confidence.

Especially with horses.

Because this is supposed to be our heart space. We love this. And it’s heartbreaking when perfectionism turns the thing you love into something you dread.

So how do you stop chasing perfection?

There isn’t one magic mindset shift that suddenly makes perfectionism disappear. But there are four things that have helped me change the way I approach progress with my horses.

1. Embrace a Growth Mindset

Growth and learning happen incrementally. Every effort contributes to your development, regardless of whether the outcome was perfect.

You are not going from an unbroke two-year-old to a futurity champion overnight. You are not going from beginner rider to world champion overnight.

It happens through little steps.

I am such a huge proponent of 1% improvement. Just get 1% better. Then do it again.

That compounds.

2. Practice Self-Compassion

Perfection is an unattainable standard. It can be your direction, but it does not have to be your minimum requirement for every ride.

Instead of beating yourself up because you weren’t perfect, acknowledge the effort. Acknowledge your progress. And acknowledge your horse’s effort too.

Your horse is usually out there doing their best with the information they have.

You can appreciate that without lowering your standards.

3. Redefine Success

Success is not just the final outcome. It is also the journey.

And I know that sounds cliché. Sorry, guys. 😂 It’s true.

This does not mean I don’t care if I win.

You can absolutely want the check, the buckle, or the championship. But if that is the ONLY thing that matters, the whole experience can start to feel uncomfortably hollow.

Success can also look like:

• You and your horse improving.
• Your timing getting better.
• Your communication becoming clearer.
• Your horse gaining confidence.
• You staying calm in a moment where you usually would have spiraled.

That counts too.

4. Seek Balance

Find the middle ground between effort and excellence.

I like to think of it this way: Excellence should be a guideline, not an unyielding rule.

Let’s say you’re working on a flying lead change. You know what an excellent one looks like. That’s the standard you’re working toward.

But do you ride every day until you produce an excellent lead change? Or do you ride until you and your horse achieve meaningful improvement?

Those are not the same thing.

Use excellence as the direction. Don’t turn it into a requirement that says every maneuver, every ride, every day has to be perfect.

Progress over perfection makes better riders

The belief that something is only worth doing if it’s done perfectly isn’t just limiting. It leaves out so much of the human—and horse—experience: learning, trying, messing up, adjusting, trying again, growing, and building resilience through imperfection.

When you shift your mindset toward progress over perfection in riding, you create space for more balanced, fulfilling, and mentally healthy experiences with your horse.

And funny enough?

When you stop obsessing over perfection and start valuing the process, that’s often when the show-pen results start improving too.

Ready to stop letting perfectionism run your ride?

If you know you’re capable but perfectionism, overthinking, or self-doubt keeps getting in the way when the pressure rises, 5 Days to Confident Competitor is your next step.

You’ll start training the mental skills to stay steadier, trust yourself more, and recover faster when the ride isn’t perfect.

Because confidence is not “I always get it right.” Sometimes, it’s I know what to do when I don’t.

Join 5 Days to Confident Competitor →

Happy Trails,
Nicole Burnett
Mental Coach & Founder, Resilient Reiner

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