The Rider Behind the Psychologist

The Invisible Battle

If you had met me years ago, I might have looked "fine" on the outside. But inside, I was battling a paralysing narrative of fear that was stripping away the joy of the sport I loved.

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My journey into sports psychology didn’t start in a lecture hall; it started in the dirt. After a series of bad falls and an injury that left me with chronic pain, I faced a choice point. Medically, I was fit to ride. Mentally, I was broken.

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When I met my husband and decided to get serious about showing Cutting horses, I found that the confidence I had as a young rider had vanished. It was replaced by overwhelming anxiety and relentless "What Ifs." What if he bucks? What if I fall again?

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I became a reactive rider—stiff, frozen, and micromanaging every step because I was terrified of losing control. I knew how to ride, but my brain simply wouldn't let my body do the job.

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The Search for a "Unicorn"

I went looking for professional support, but I kept hitting a wall. I sat with wonderful sports psychologists and counsellors who treated my anxiety like a fear of public speaking. They didn't understand that in our sport, the "equipment" has a brain of its own.  ​Trying to explain the tension of a warm-up pen and the management of a horse's behaviour to a non-rider felt like explaining color to someone who sees in black and white.

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On the flip side, the only other options I found were experienced riders who had completed minimal mental skills training. While they understood the sport, as a qualified psychologist, I was acutely aware of the limitations of this approach. True performance resilience often requires navigating complex psychological terrain that goes beyond basic mindset strategies.

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I realised that if I couldn't find the person I needed—someone who held both the clinical expertise and the equestrian understanding—I had to become her.

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From Panic to Podiums

I went deep into performance psychology as a personal lifeline. I researched, experimented, and adapted strategies to fit the saddle. It wasn't a quick fix—and as a psychologist, it was humbling to admit I needed to do this work myself—but it worked.

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Once I stopped fighting my own brain and the fog lifted, I shifted my focus from safety to excellence. I went from dreading the buzzer to chasing it, eventually winning a series of championship trophy buckles. That first buckle was tangible proof that these tools worked.

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Why This Matters for You

When we work together, I am not just quoting a textbook. I’ve lived the full spectrum of this sport.

• I know the specific hollow feeling in your stomach at the in-gate.

• I know the frustration of overthinking a run and losing your flow.

• I know the split-second discipline required to win when the heat is on.

 

Why I Do This

 I do this because I hate seeing riders suffer in a sport that should bring them joy. I also hate seeing talented riders leave championships on the table because their mindset became the ceiling on their success.

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I built this practice to offer exactly what I couldn't find when I was in the thick of it: real clinical qualifications mixed with real horse sense. No fluff, no toxic positivity, and no spammy upsells. I don't do dodgy marketing tactics that leave riders signed up to low-quality services not based in evidence. Instead, I deliver science-backed strategies that actually work in the real world.