I've been around horses practically my whole life, but after a 13-year break, I only returned to riding as an adult. I began competing in show jumping shortly before my thirtieth birthday.

I currently live in the Netherlands, where I train intensively and regularly compete in international competitions. Despite this, I still describe myself as an adult amateur. I don't have a childhood spent at competitions behind me, hundreds of classes, or experience gained over the years on many different horses. I never had the opportunity to gradually get used to the pressure of competition and learn to manage stress from an early age, the way most professional riders do.

An additional challenge is ADHD. I'm a very emotional person and I get distracted easily. In everyday life, this means a tendency toward overstimulation and difficulties with winding down or sleeping. In sport, it translates into problems maintaining concentration and quickly regaining focus after a setback.

The biggest challenge for me was never the pre-competition stress itself. The problem arose when something unexpected happened during a round: a rail down, a bad distance, a refusal, or a fall. In such situations, my brain would very quickly spiral into emotions. Instead of immediately returning to the task, I would analyze the mistake, frustration and tension would build, and that often led to further errors.

I started using Easy Rider both in a sporting context and in everyday life. I also reach for it when I feel overstimulated, when I'm under a lot of pressure, when I'm having an exceptionally stressful day, or when I need help winding down before sleep.

What surprised me most from the very beginning is that the product doesn't cause any feeling of dullness or drowsiness. It doesn't drain my energy, slow me down, or change the way I think. When nothing is happening, I barely notice its effects at all.

I only notice the difference in situations that previously triggered a sharp emotional reaction in me. Where a spiral of stress and frustration used to appear, today I find it much easier to stay calm. I still feel emotions, because they're a natural part of sport, but they no longer take control of my decisions.

I would best describe it as creating space between the stimulus and the reaction. When a mistake happens, instead of immediately going into emotional mode, I have a moment to consciously return to the task. For a rider, this is incredibly important. On a jumping course, you can't stop and analyze the previous fence. You have to focus on the next one immediately.

I observe exactly the same mechanism outside of sport. In stressful situations, when overwhelmed with responsibilities or overstimulated, it's much easier to maintain emotional balance. I don't feel like my emotions disappear. Rather, I have the sense that they're no longer at the wheel.

So for me, the greatest value of Easy Rider isn't calming or sedation. The biggest change is the ability to maintain clarity of thought and quickly return to concentration in moments when emotions used to take over. Both during a round on the course and in everyday life, it gives me a greater sense of self-control and allows me to focus on what really matters.