(Below) Mario Soto works with Caroline Freeman. (Inset) Rider JJ Torano with John Brennan and Missy Clark of North Run.
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SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY CONSULTANT MARIO SOTO WORKS WITH TOP WELLINGTON EQUESTRIANS BY SYDNEY DURIEUX
For the past 17 years, leading sports psychology consultant Mario Soto has been helping top riders and trainers — many based in Wellington — reach their goals, both in the show ring and in life. Soto, a professor of sport psychology and performance at California Baptist University, works with elite athletes and coaches in a variety of sports, from baseball and martial arts to water polo. But it is the equestrian world, especially in Wellington, that has turned to Soto to help maximize performance and give them a winning edge. These include top trainers and riders like Missy Clark, Steven Bluman, Tanner Ko-
rotkin, Maggie Jacobs, Matt Cyphert, Ali Sweetnam, Sam Walker, and Jimmy and Danielle Torano, to name a few. Embracing Sports Psychology Consulting (SPC), which is designed to assist athletes to become better in their sport, takes a leap of faith, but Soto’s equestrian clients leap over fences, sometimes as high as 1.60 meters, regularly! It was an unlikely beginning for someone with little experience in the saddle. “I received a call from someone who had a few bad falls while riding. We met for lunch at a horse show, and a gentleman overheard us and came to
introduce himself,” Soto recalled. “His name was Robert Ridland, who I later learned was the chef d’equipe for the U.S. show jumping team. He said he had someone he wanted me to meet. It was Olympic gold medalist Will Simpson. Will was my first equestrian client, and he was literally at the top of the sport. But he knew that he wanted to stay there. Athletes don’t have to have ‘issues’ to seek out a performance coach; they just need to want to continue to grow and get better.” Bluman, a Grand Prix rider and trainer, recently started working with Soto. “For someone to truly help equestrian athletes with their mindset, they WELLINGTON THE MAGAZINE | January 2026 31