Sports Psychology for Equestrian Trainers

Want better mental skills and performance for yourself and your team?  Want to get rid of drama at your barn or increase your income by attracting more serious, high performing clients and training them to be their absolute best? Want to know how to make stress and pressure work FOR you, rather than against you? Want to do your business and horse shows without overwhelm, exhaustion, and poor mental health?

Become an Equestrian Rockstar Trainer! Get the training to not only ride your best, but to make you one of the most EFFECTIVE trainers out there. Join my former trainer clients to include Nico Gamboa, Christi Israel, Rachel Lindsey, Lori Hollands, Lindsey Ayres, and Jason Schnelle ... just to name a few of the many trainers I have coached.

See below, my 5* International Showjumper Trainer of France, Ines Joly, who does the Longines Global Tour. 

Learn how to make your riding the best it can be along with all your clients! 

Top 1% of My Peak Performers

BELOW: Ines Joly, 5* International Showjumper Trainer of France on Longines Global Tour

Update: Winning 3rd Place Podium Finish at the French National Championship! 

Below: Winning the Longines 5* Grand Prix in Monaco

Before coaching, list 2-3 of the greatest challenges in your life at that time (what types of things kept you awake at night and were pressing problems that needed to be solved in your life)?

 a) Organization of my following day / week b) Resolving money problems c) Difficulties to deal with people 

How were the above problems impacting your life (list as many as you can recall)?

A) Having a bad organization would make me feel frustrated. Not able to do everything that I would have liked to would make people around me not happy. 

B) The money side, brought a lot of stress and bad situations where people ask for it but we don’t have and trying to find solutions, feeling alone and powerless even when I was trying my best. 

C) I hate the way that I am so hard with the people I love / know well and I am too soft with the people I don’t know / care. Made me feel not in control of myself when I lose it and giving my power away when I am too soft. Need to find the middle and this is where I struggle because this bring me sadness, makes me lose a lot of energy when I over react and bite the bate, makes me feel sad stressed, feeling to lose control, angry. 

What finally had you say “enough is enough” that inspired you to work with Nancy Dye?

Feeling that I was losing myself, that I needed to change, to stop hurting myself, and to be able to deal better with emotions out of the horses specially. 

What was one of your favorite aspects of coaching? How did it change who you are, how you ride, how you ran your business, and your relationships?

I think changed how I ride cause I ride more with my brain, and I do better plans for each horses I really analyze and then work on the problem and in the day of the competition visualize. Business wise, I organize myself better, have my day better planned, and I am step by step stopping to be a people pleaser. On my relationships I try not to bit the bait. I try to don’t take things personally. To say no. To deal better with difficult situations and to communicate better.

Nancy and I worked very hard on my goal to have a podium finish for the French National Championship. I had the right horse, the right mindset, and the right plan. All our preparation came together for me to have my dream podium finish for French championship! 

BELOW: Christi Israel, Grand Prix Rider & Trainer. 


"I use to worry about triple combinations, coming out of corners, and even blanking out after I made a few mistakes. And now I just won Reserve Champion Grand Prix for the circuit! Nancy Dye is the BEST of the best!"

Below: Equestrian Rockstar Trainer, Christi Israel, is my book's cover rider model, and her incredible story about coaching with me is featured in the book.

Lori Scott Hollands, Trainer with Tina Judge Boyle at Judgement Farm in Illinois 

Testimonial Form:

Before coaching, list 2-3 of the greatest challenges in your life at that time;

Fear of inadequacy.
Fear of rejection.

These were effecting me with anxiety, excepting handing my reins over, hiding from possible confrontation, embarrassment.

What finally had me say “enough is enough” that inspired ne to work with Nancy was that I was tired of feeling that way. I knew there had to be a better way. I also watched one of my clients drastically improve after using this program.

My favorite aspects of coaching? Feeling myself become empowered and understanding my brain and how to program it in a more productive way. I have watched myself using what I have learned in this program in my coaching techniques, and I have watched them be so successful.

From Jason Schnelle, Owner of Autumn Chase Farm in TN.

Before coaching, the two real problems that I had were:

1. I just wasn’t feeling that joy that I thought I should be feeling.  My wife and I have built a great business.  We have great horses, a great farm, and a lot of great customers.  We win plenty.  But there was a part of me that felt like I was just going through the motions and trying to keep the ship steady rather than attacking every day with gusto and trying to be the best version of myself as a trainer, rider, husband, and just overall good person.
   
   
2. I always walked into the show ring trying not to lose instead of deciding that I was walking into the ring to win.

Here is how I think the above problems affected my life:

1. I often wondered if I was really in the right career.  Is this really all it is?  I sometimes found myself missing the early days when we had no money, not such great horses, and just a handful of somewhat challenging customers.  But I had big hopes and big dreams.  In some ways, you could say that my dream had come true.  All that I ever wanted in life was to be a successful horse trainer, and by all accounts I was.  The one thing I really didn’t have was something to dream about.  I was 51 years old, and I didn’t have the courage to dream about so many things that are still out there for me to accomplish and enjoy.  It’s probably no accident that every year after the Chicago shows, which happen right after my birthday, I would find myself in a bit of a depressive funk that would last about a month.  There was a part of me that wished I never had to go to another horse show. 
   
   
2.  Trying not to lose…trying not to mess up…That just made showing stressful and one of my least favorite parts of the job.  It certainly didn’t feel like sport.  The feeling in my stomach the night before a big class was more like dread than fired up.  Yet, I marched on.  I had a reasonable amount of success, but I just longed to feel like a real competitor.  An athlete that gets pumped up before a big class.  An athlete that gets fired up about the next show. 
   
   

What caused you to finally do something and to give me a call?

Last September, I think I told myself “Enough is enough” after I won a big derby on one of my really nice young horses.  It was awesome.  I felt the excitement that comes from knowing that there are newer and bigger mountains to climb.  But I knew I needed help.  No way could I get where I want go if I just kept going through the motions and trying not to lose.  Wasn’t sure where to turn until Christine Moody’s father threw your name out when we were chatting at a show in November.    

What is your favorite aspect of the coaching.

My favorite aspect of coaching was the complete transformation of my mindset about competition.  Instead of just being a part of my job that I really don’t want to mess up, showing is a sport again.  Seeing the world through my new identity gives me the fuel to get fired up before a big class, makes the wins sweeter, and makes it a lot easier to handle the classes that don’t go so great.  In fact, it makes it much easier to find those “pearls” that are sometimes hidden in those not so good classes.  Instead of beating myself up, I can put those pearls to work next time.  We always say that we learn from our mistakes, but I think it takes the right mindset to be able to let those mistakes propel you forward rather than drag you down. 

What are the tangible results of since coaching? 

Since coaching, the most important tangible result for me is that I go to the horse show in the morning excited to show.  I go to the show in the morning knowing that I can win.  I go to bed the night before a big class dreaming about knocking it out of the park.  And….since I tell myself over and over again that I am unflappable, one little misstep doesn’t wreck my day.  I’ve earned quite a few tri-colors this year even after having a bad class here and there.  Instead of walking into the ring fretting about that rail that I had in the first class, I can walk into the ring deciding to win the second class. 

Since coaching, I find so much more joy in training and showing.  I especially love walking into the ring with absolute certainty that I can win.  

 The  Trainer's Program: 

1. One-on-one phone coaching for peak performance in your riding and your personal and professional life, to include peak performance in sales and better communication/leadership skills with your riders, parents, and staff. Learn how to figure the puzzles for each of your client and how to help them become better riders.


2. Option of team coaching so all your students are on the same page with the same standards, language, strategies, and mindset skills. With permission from individual students, this may include one-on-one coaching with the trainer to discuss specific training issues with their students. Weekly or bi-monthly group coaching calls for their team. 


3. Sign-up your barn and all your students will receive a discount on their private, one-on-one coaching. 


4. More about my coaching program for riders/trainers.
  https://elitelifestyletransformations.coachesconsole.com/elite--int-l-equestrian-bootcamp.html

To set up a time to chat with me or to refer one of your students, please click on my calendar. Schedule a chat with me

If you don't see a time that works for you, please email me, and I am happy to try to rearrange some dates. 

Click here: My article "How to Believe You Can Be an Olympic Equestrian." Published in Arab Horse Couture Magazine. 

For testimonials, click here.

For an overview of services, click here.