Nicole Burnett Mental Coach

One of the most emotionally brutal parts of riding is watching your horse go beautifully for someone else 😅

Especially when you KNOW your horse is capable of it.

You’ve felt the good rides before.
You’ve seen the softness.
You’ve seen the potential.

So when your trainer gets on and suddenly everything looks smooth and easy… it’s really easy for your brain to start making it mean something personal.

Like, “Maybe I’m just not good enough for this horse.”

And honestly? I think a LOT more riders struggle with that thought than they admit out loud.

That’s exactly why I made this carousel.

Because what’s happening in those moments is usually way more about clarity, pressure, timing, and mental noise than riders realize.

A lot of riders are trying SO hard to make the ride go right… that they accidentally make the ride harder for the horse to understand.

And horses respond to that immediately.

If this is something you’ve struggled with, swipe through this carousel 🤠

I promise this conversation will help you stop taking every hard ride so personally.

And if you want the deeper breakdown, this is EXACTLY what I unpack in the newest Resilient Reiner Podcast episode:
👉 why horses often go better for trainers
👉 how pressure changes your cues
👉 and what your horse is ACTUALLY responding to in the ride

👉 COMMENT: 210 and I’ll send you the episode.

And if you want help staying calmer, clearer, and more confident under pressure, my 5 Days to Confident Competitor audio series was built specifically for riders who are tired of overthinking every ride.

👉 COMMENT: WINNER and I’ll send you the link.

SAVE this post for the next time your brain spirals after a tough ride 🤍

What should you do if you want to make better runs?

a) Work on your horse?

b) send your horse off to training

c) buy a better horse

d) other???

The riders I work with are incredibly capable.

Good horses.
Good trainers.
Good fundamentals.

They know what they're doing.
And yet they'll walk out of a run frustrated because they know they didn't show up the way they wanted to.

It can feel like they forgot how to ride.
It can feel like they suddenly lost all their skills.

Because pressure has a funny way of changing the conversation happening inside your head.

And if you've ever felt like you ride differently at home than you do when it counts...
You're definitely not the only one.

🐴 That's why I wanted to make this carousel.
Because I think a lot of riders are measuring themselves against an impossible standard.
One that says you should always feel confident.

Always feel focused.
Always have it together.
Real riders know that's not how it works.

Swipe through. I think you'll see yourself in this one. 🤠

👉 COMMENT: WINNER if you want my 5 Days to Confident Competitor audio series to help you stop overthinking, regulate your nerves, and ride with more confidence when the pressure is on.

👉 COMMENT: RIDE for the latest Resilient Reiner Newsletter where I share the simple skill most riders overlook—and why it matters far more than trying to feel confident all the time.

SAVE this post and send it to your riding buddy who is way harder on themselves than they need to be. 🐴

This one usually makes riders REAL uncomfortable… 👀

But sometimes the horse isn’t the inconsistent one. The rider is.

Not because you’re lazy.
Not because you’re “bad mentally.”
And definitely not because you don’t love your horse enough.

But because pressure changes people more than they realize.

One ride you’re loose, present, and trusting your feel.

The next ride?
You’re thinking ahead.
Trying not to mess up.
Micromanaging every stride.
Bracing after mistakes.
Second-guessing your decisions.

And your horse feels ALL of it.

👏 Horses are incredibly honest mirrors of the nervous system sitting on top of them. 👏

That’s why so many riders get stuck in this frustrating cycle:
➡️ Horse feels amazing at home
➡️ Horse feels tense or disconnected at the show
➡️ Rider blames the horse
➡️ Pressure gets worse next time

Meanwhile, the horse is often reacting to a rider whose focus, breathing, timing, and energy completely changed under pressure.

And honestly?

Once riders understand this, it stops being about blame.

Now we can actually work on the thing that’s affecting the ride. 🐴🔥

This is EXACTLY what I’m breaking down in the latest podcast episode—why confidence feels solid at home but disappears when the pressure hits.

👉 COMMENT: 209 and I’ll send you the latest episode of the Resilient Reiner Podcast.

And if you want to actively train this skill, I created 5 Days to Confident Competitor — a $33 audio experience designed to help riders stay calm, clear, and organized under pressure.

👉 COMMENT: WINNER and I’ll send you the link.

SAVE this post for before your next horse show and SHARE it with a rider who needs this perspective shift.

I think horse people deserve an Olympic medal for the amount of mental gymnastics we do in the feed room 😂

Because somehow it starts with:
“maybe my horse just needs a little extra support…”

…and suddenly you’re researching magnesium at 11pm while holding three different supplement scoops and questioning your entire existence 😅

THAT is why I loved this conversation with equine nutrition consultant Rachael Haar .0nutrition on the podcast this week.

Not because she came in screaming:
“your horse needs more stuff.”

Actually… kind of the opposite.

This episode was such a good reminder that riders can care deeply about their horses and STILL accidentally overcomplicate things trying to help them.

And honestly? As a mental coach, I see riders do this to themselves too.

More tools.
More hacks.
More pressure.
More trying.

Meanwhile the real issue is usually sitting quietly underneath the surface asking for attention.

Swipe through this carousel because Rachael shared some perspective that I genuinely think western riders NEED to hear 👏

👉 COMMENT: 208 and I’ll send you the latest Resilient Reiner Podcast episode where Rachael and I talk about horse nutrition, recovery, hydration, gut health, hauling stress, and what riders may be overlooking underneath performance issues.

SAVE this post and SHARE with the horse friend who has 14 supplement tubs in their tack room right now 😂🤍

This is what most riders aren’t seeing!

Overspin penalties don’t come from the stop.
They start when you leave the turn too early.

The spin kicks off.
Your horse is right there with you.
It finally feels like one you can build on.

And then you start thinking about the stop.

Not in a big dramatic way—
just a quick “don’t miss it this time.”

That’s enough.

Your body changes.
Your timing speeds up.
Your feel drops off.

And now you’re no longer with the spin you’re trying to manage what’s coming next.

That’s where it slips.

Not because your horse couldn’t finish it right…
but because you stopped riding the part you were in.

The riders who keep their spins clean?
They don’t rush to the end.
They stay with the turn until it’s actually time to finish it.

If this has been happening to you, go swipe this.

This is one of those small shifts that makes a big difference in the pen.

🎧 In the newest Resilient Reiner Podcast, I break down why riders feel like a completely different rider at shows and what’s actually happening inside your brain when pressure hits.

👉 COMMENT: 207 and I’ll send you the episode + the newsletter that explains why this happens in the show pen.

And if you want to actively train this skill, I created 5 Days to Confident Competitor — a $33 audio experience designed to help riders stay calm, clear, and organized under pressure.

👉 Comment WINNER and I’ll send you the link.

SAVE this for your next show reminder.
And SHARE it with someone who’s been stuck in that overspin cycle. 🐎

Hot take: If one mistake can ruin your whole ride, the mistake is not the real problem.

The real problem is that your brain does not know what to do next.

That is why “just let it go” usually does not work.

Most riders would let it go if they knew how.

But instead, after a mistake, they start replaying it.

They miss a lead and immediately think, “Why did I do that?”

They over-spin and think, “Great. There goes my score.”

They feel their horse get tight and think, “Don’t mess this up.”

And now they are not riding the next moment.

They are mentally stuck in the last one.

That is when one mistake turns into three.

Not because they are bad riders.

Because they have never trained the reset.

A real reset routine helps your brain and body understand:
That moment is over.

Come back to your breath.

Find the next cue.

Ride the next stride.

That is the skill most riders are missing under pressure.

And it is exactly what we start building inside 5 Days to Confident Competitor.

5 short audio trainings.

5 days.

So you can stop letting one mistake take over the whole ride.

Hot take: if your horse feels harder to ride in the show pen… it’s probably NOT your horse.

That’s the part most riders don’t want to hear.
Because it feels like something changed.

So you start fixing.
Adjusting.
Trying to get control back.

But from a coaching standpoint?
That moment usually has nothing to do with your horse.
It’s what just shifted in you.

Your body tightens.
Your breathing changes.
Your focus narrows.

And now you’re not just riding, you’re trying to make sure everything goes right.

That’s when a good horse starts to feel like more work.

Not because he is…but because you’re showing up differently in the saddle.

And it happens fast.

Fast enough that most riders miss it and go home thinking they need more practice.

👉 Swipe this. You’ll see exactly where that shift happens.

🎧 In the newest Resilient Reiner Podcast, I break down why riders feel like a completely different rider at shows and what’s actually happening inside your brain when pressure hits.

👉 COMMENT: 206 and I’ll send you the episode + the newsletter that explains why this happens in the show pen.

And if you want to actively train this skill, I created 5 Days to Confident Competitor — a $33 audio experience designed to help riders stay calm, clear, and organized under pressure.

👉 Comment WINNER and I’ll send you the link.

SAVE this for your next show reminder.
And SHARE it with someone who keeps blaming the horse when something feels off. 🐎🔥

I can’t be the only one who’s done this…

“I’ll go ride in a minute.”

…and then somehow that minute turns into
scrolling
random barn stuff
literally anything else 😅

And the whole time you’re like,
“why am I putting this off? I want to ride.”

If you’ve been stuck in that loop lately… this one will make sense.

👉 Swipe through. There’s a reason this keeps happening—and it’s not what you think.

🎧 In the newest Resilient Reiner Podcast, I break down why your brain resists riding—and the quiet shift that turns “I should” into actual follow-through.

👉 COMMENT: 205 and I’ll send you the episode + the newsletter that shows you how to stop fighting yourself and start showing up.

And if you want to actively train this skill, I created 5 Days to Confident Competitor — a $33 audio experience designed to help riders stay calm, clear, and consistent in the saddle.

👉 Comment WINNER and I’ll send you the link.

Save this for the next time you say “I’ll go ride in a minute” 🤠🐴