I’m Not Here To Talk About The Super Bowl

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I know, I know… not everyone spent Sunday watching football. (But I am convinced everyone ate chips and dip… right?! I am obsessed with jalapeno potato chips. Obsessed. And yay guacamole!!) 

On Superbowl Sunday maybe you were at the barn. Maybe you were catching up on Netflix. Maybe you were happily ignoring the chaos of sports fans yelling at their TVs.

Either way, let me fill you in on one interesting little detail:

The team that won? They completely shut down one of the best quarterbacks in the league… without even using the most common defensive strategy. (No blitzing. Not even once.)

(If you don’t follow football, just know that’s like winning a reining class without ever picking up your reins. 🤯)

But this email isn’t about football.

It’s about something WAY more important…

The War Between Your Ears

See, today, every sports analyst is obsessing over the external mistakes.

The dropped passes.

The missed blocks.

The bad play calls.

And this is exactly what most riders do when they struggle in the show pen.

You mess up a lead change and think, I need to practice my cues more.

You hit the pen and get flustered, thinking I need more saddle time. I should show more.

You see another competitor outscore you and tell yourself, I just need to work harder.

But here’s the thing…

What if the problem isn’t your riding—but what’s happening inside your head?

The Moment I Realized We Are Coaching Riders All Wrong

I used to think helping riders improve meant making them better riders.

💭 “Drill your spins more.”
💭 “Fix your seat.”
💭 “Tweak your timing.”

(Which, sure, is part of it…)

But I was one of those riders who could execute patterns perfectly at home, and then… completely unravel in the show pen. ( 🙋it’s me-riders is me). And I wasn’t the only one. 

And no amount of extra saddle time could fix it.

That’s when I had MY wake-up call.

👉 Most riders don’t need more time in the saddle. They need a mental strategy that actually works when the pressure is on.

So I threw out all the “just ride better” advice and built a real system for training your brain—just like you train your horse. 

Nicole’s 4 Steps to a Bulletproof Mental Game

If you want to perform like a pro, you need a repeatable mental strategy.

Here’s what that looks like:

1️⃣ Lay the Foundation – Train Your Mind For Success

Most riders don’t even realize how their mindset is holding them back. Before you can ride with confidence, you need to rewire the beliefs and habits that are sabotaging you.

Before you can ride with confidence, you need to train your mind for success.
🔹 Pinpoint the mental roadblocks that have been quietly limiting your progress.
🔹Set crystal-clear, achievable goals that align with your riding dreams. Oh, and I have a whole foolproof system that makes goal setting go from “I wanna ride better and do better” to “here's my action step for today to make success inevitable.” 🫡
🔹 Establish daily mental training routines so confidence becomes second nature.

2️⃣ Build Unshakable Mental Strength – It’s A Trained Skill

Confidence isn’t something you wait to feel—it’s something you build. Just like refining your riding skills, you train your mind for focus, resilience, and success.

Confidence isn’t just a feeling—it’s a trained skill.
🔹 Learn visualization techniques that create muscle memory for success.
🔹 Master laser-sharp focus on demand so you can shut out distractions.
🔹 Rewire self-doubt into unshakable confidence so you ride like you belong in the pen.

3️⃣ Perform Under Pressure – Stay Ice-Cold When the Heat is On 🔥

You can have all the skill in the world, but if you don’t train your nervous system, it will betray you when it matters most. When the stakes are high, your body needs to default to calm confidence—not panic.

I want you to be ice cold when the heat is on. This is how to control nerves and execute.
🔹 Train your nervous system to stay rock-solid under pressure so you ride with control, not chaos.
🔹 Lock in a pre-show mental routine that flips the switch from nervous to dialed in—every single time.
🔹 Master the Anxiety Slayer Strategy so nerves don’t just fade—they fuel your best performance. 

4️⃣ Unlock Your Flow State – Ride “In The Zone” Every Time

This is where everything clicks—effortless, automatic, and consistent. The best riders make it look easy for a reason.  This is where the magic happens—when everything clicks, and riding feels effortless. The best riders don’t overthink, hesitate, or force it. They tap into flow—where instinct, skill, and confidence take over.

When all the pieces come together, riding becomes effortless.
 🔹 Silence the overthinking and hesitation that’s been keeping you stuck.
 🔹 Tap into peak performance on demand.
 🔹 Ride with clarity, presence, and complete confidence—every single time you step in the stirrup.

This Is the Exact Framework I Teach Inside MGE

This isn’t a bunch of “mindset hacks” or motivational fluff.

This is my exact, proven system for mental fitness for riders.

I built this framework to help riders train their brains like they train their horses—so they can ride with focus, confidence, and consistency every single time.

And that’s exactly what I teach inside The Mental Gym for Equestrians (MGE).

This is how top riders train their minds. And now, so can you.

I’ve designed the Mental Gym for Equestrians to be the complete system for training your brain like a pro. Because the difference between riders who perform under pressure and those who crumble?

💡 It’s not talent. It’s mental training.

Here’s the truth…

Your ability to perform under pressure has nothing to do with talent and everything to do with how you train your mind.

So, if you’re done letting fear, doubt, and inconsistency control your rides—and you’re ready to start riding at your highest level…

Just reply to this email or DM @nicoleburnettmentalcoach on IG and let’s talk.

💪 Nicole