Silvia Rizzo has spent years working in environments where pressure is unavoidable, mistakes are visible and decisions often have to be made quickly. As an international professional horse rider, she has competed across different countries, built a career around horses and developed an approach to life shaped heavily by what happens in the arena.
In this episode of Peek Inside, Arky Jones speaks with Silvia about her journey from enjoying sport as a hobby to building a professional career in equestrian competition. The conversation moves beyond riding itself, exploring trust, responsibility, pressure, self-awareness and what it means to keep improving when things do not go according to plan.
How Horse Riding Shaped Silvia Rizzo’s Approach to Pressure
Silvia explains that elite horse riding leaves little room for distraction. When working with an animal weighing hundreds of kilograms, she says she has to remain focused on what is happening in the moment.
For her, that experience has become a useful comparison for everyday life. We cannot control everything around us, she argues, but we can work on how we respond.
Arky challenges this idea by asking whether being around horses has also changed the way Silvia experiences the wider world. Is there something about working closely with animals that makes a person more grounded or present?
Silvia says presence has become natural to her rather than something she consciously practises. The horses require her attention, particularly when their energy, behaviour or confidence changes from one day to another.
She also describes each of her horses as having a distinct personality. Some are naturally shy, others highly energetic, and some need considerably more time before they feel comfortable. That difference, she says, means a rider cannot simply force the same approach onto every horse.
Trust, Mistakes and Taking Responsibility
One of the strongest themes in the conversation is trust.
Silvia tells Arky that a horse cannot be forced into genuine cooperation simply because a rider wants it to comply. In her view, long-term performance comes from developing mutual trust, respect and communication.
That idea leads naturally into a broader discussion about mistakes.
Silvia regularly competes in situations where an error can be seen by judges, spectators and other riders. Rather than treating mistakes as disasters, she prefers to view them as additional information.
Her argument is straightforward: if something goes wrong, ask why it happened and what could be changed next time.
Arky pushes the conversation towards personal responsibility, asking what happens when people blame circumstances or other people instead of examining their own contribution to an outcome.
Silvia is critical of that tendency. In her view, refusing to acknowledge a mistake can become a way of protecting the ego. She believes admitting what happened is more useful because it creates an opportunity to analyse the problem and move forward.
This does not mean she sees every setback as insignificant. Instead, she separates the mistake itself from what someone chooses to do afterwards.
Competing With Yourself and Staying Present
Later in the episode, Silvia talks about success and competition. Even after winning, she says her attention quickly moves towards what could be improved before the next event.
Rather than measuring herself entirely against other riders, she prefers to compare her current performance with her previous one.
That mindset connects many of the themes running through the conversation: self-responsibility, adaptability, trust and the willingness to keep learning.
Arky also raises an important contrast. Silvia works in a highly competitive world where results matter, yet much of what she describes involves patience, connection and accepting that complete control is impossible.
That tension makes the conversation particularly interesting. It is not simply about horse riding. It is about how people respond when the stakes rise, when something goes wrong and when the outcome cannot be guaranteed.
Silvia Rizzo’s experiences in international equestrian sport provide the starting point, but the discussion reaches into everyday questions about pressure, decision-making, resilience and personal growth.
For anyone interested in human behaviour, performance under pressure or the relationship between people and animals, the full conversation offers plenty to consider.
Watch the full conversation on Peek Inside:
