Deena Cooper - Equestrian Performance Psychologist

Deena Cooper - Equestrian Performance Psychologist I help riders of all levels, all disciplines, & all ages build confidence, reach peak performance, & achieve their goals. Clinical Psychologist.

Individual Sessions, Mindset Coaching, & Workshops. Book free 15 minute call: https://lnk.bio/deenacooper

๐‘ฐโ€™๐’Ž ๐’•๐’‰๐’Š๐’๐’Œ๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’๐’‡ ๐’‰๐’๐’”๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’‚ ๐‘ญ๐‘น๐‘ฌ๐‘ฌ ๐’๐’Š๐’—๐’† ๐’˜๐’†๐’ƒ๐’Š๐’๐’‚๐’“ ๐’”๐’๐’๐’ ๐’•๐’ ๐’‰๐’†๐’๐’‘ ๐’“๐’Š๐’…๐’†๐’“๐’” ๐’ˆ๐’†๐’• ๐’”๐’•๐’‚๐’“๐’•๐’†๐’… ๐’˜๐’๐’“๐’Œ๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’๐’ ๐’•๐’‰๐’†๐’Š๐’“ ๐’Ž๐’Š๐’๐’…๐’”๐’†๐’•, ๐’ƒ๐’–๐’• ๐‘ฐ ๐’˜๐’‚๐’๐’• ๐’•๐’ ๐’‰๐’†๐’‚๐’“...
30/04/2026

๐‘ฐโ€™๐’Ž ๐’•๐’‰๐’Š๐’๐’Œ๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’๐’‡ ๐’‰๐’๐’”๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’‚ ๐‘ญ๐‘น๐‘ฌ๐‘ฌ ๐’๐’Š๐’—๐’† ๐’˜๐’†๐’ƒ๐’Š๐’๐’‚๐’“ ๐’”๐’๐’๐’ ๐’•๐’ ๐’‰๐’†๐’๐’‘ ๐’“๐’Š๐’…๐’†๐’“๐’” ๐’ˆ๐’†๐’• ๐’”๐’•๐’‚๐’“๐’•๐’†๐’… ๐’˜๐’๐’“๐’Œ๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’๐’ ๐’•๐’‰๐’†๐’Š๐’“ ๐’Ž๐’Š๐’๐’…๐’”๐’†๐’•, ๐’ƒ๐’–๐’• ๐‘ฐ ๐’˜๐’‚๐’๐’• ๐’•๐’ ๐’‰๐’†๐’‚๐’“ ๐’‡๐’“๐’๐’Ž ๐’š๐’๐’–! ๐‘‡๐‘’๐‘™๐‘™ ๐‘š๐‘’, ๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘โ„Ž ๐‘ก๐‘œ๐‘๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘ค๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘™๐‘‘ ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข ๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ก ๐‘š๐‘’ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘๐‘ข๐‘  ๐‘œ๐‘›?

Usแด‡ แด›สœแด‡ ส€แด‡แด€แด„แด›ษชแดษด ส™แดœแด›แด›แดษด แดส€ แด„แดแดแดแด‡ษดแด› แด›แด แด แดแด›แด‡:

๐‚๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ž๐ญ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ž๐ซ๐ฏ๐ž๐ฌ ๐Ÿ‘
Focus: ๐‘€๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘Ž๐‘”๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘๐‘’๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ฅ๐‘–๐‘’๐‘ก๐‘ฆ ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘š๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ ๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘’.

๐‚๐จ๐ง๐Ÿ๐ข๐๐ž๐ง๐œ๐ž ๐Ÿ˜ฒ
Focus: Rebuilding confidence after a fall, injury, or a long break.

๐’๐ข๐ฅ๐ž๐ง๐œ๐ž ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ˆ๐ง๐ง๐ž๐ซ ๐‚๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐œ โค๏ธ
Focus: Overcoming perfectionism and that "Iโ€™m not good enough" voice.

๐Œ๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐š๐ฅ ๐…๐จ๐œ๐ฎ๐ฌ & ๐…๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ ๐Ÿ˜‚
Focus: Mental focus techniques to stay present and connected with your horse

๐‡๐จ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐•๐จ๐ญ๐ž:
Comment with your preference, or use the reaction button ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ˜ฒ๐Ÿ˜‚โค๏ธ
Comment ๐Ÿ”ฅif you want them all ( I see you, overachievers)!

29/04/2026

Thanks so much for having me UQ Skills!
15/04/2026

Thanks so much for having me UQ Skills!

A huge thank you to Deena Cooper - Equestrian Performance Psychologist, for sharing her expertise with our Diploma of Equine Management students today! ๐Ÿ™๐Ÿด

Deena covered some fascinating topics, including the science behind the human-horse bond ๐Ÿง ๐ŸŽ, effective breathing techniques to help regulate the nervous system (and why itโ€™s important to practice these strategies before anxiety hits!) ๐ŸŒฌ๏ธ, and the key factors that make up the healthy mind platter for riders.

Weโ€™re so grateful for the valuable insights and practical advice Deena provided. Looking forward to seeing how our students apply these skills in their equine journeys!

๐Ÿ“ทTall Timber Studio

30/03/2026

๐‘บ๐’•๐’๐’‘ ๐’๐’†๐’‚๐’—๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’š๐’๐’–๐’“ ๐’ƒ๐’†๐’”๐’• ๐’“๐’๐’–๐’๐’…๐’” ๐’Š๐’ ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’•๐’“๐’‚๐’Š๐’๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’‚๐’“๐’†๐’๐’‚. ๐Ÿ›‘๐ŸŽIf youโ€™re winning at home but struggling at shows, the missing li...
30/03/2026

๐‘บ๐’•๐’๐’‘ ๐’๐’†๐’‚๐’—๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’š๐’๐’–๐’“ ๐’ƒ๐’†๐’”๐’• ๐’“๐’๐’–๐’๐’…๐’” ๐’Š๐’ ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’•๐’“๐’‚๐’Š๐’๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’‚๐’“๐’†๐’๐’‚. ๐Ÿ›‘๐ŸŽ

If youโ€™re winning at home but struggling at shows, the missing link might not be your training - itโ€™s could be your mental preparation.

Try using these strategies to ensure your mindset is as prepared as your horse. Itโ€™s time to bring that 'home' confidence to every show day.

๐‘Œ๐‘œ๐‘ขโ€™๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘‘๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘ค๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘˜ - ๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘ค ๐‘™๐‘’๐‘ก ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘™๐‘“ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘‘๐‘’ ๐‘™๐‘–๐‘˜๐‘’ ๐‘–๐‘ก.

26/03/2026

๐“๐ก๐ž ๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ž๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ž๐ฌ ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐š ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง; ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฌ๐š๐๐๐ฅ๐ž ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐จ๐ง๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ. ๐ŸŽโฃ
โฃ
Social approval anxiety pulls your focus away from your horse and puts it on the "judges" in the gallery. But hereโ€™s the truth: Your horse's performance is relying on you being you present and that is a distraction.โฃ
โฃ
๐˜š๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ถ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ. ๐˜Œ๐˜บ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ถ๐˜ฑ, ๐˜ฆ๐˜จ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ฏ. ๐Ÿ‘‡

๐ˆ๐Ÿ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฌ๐ž ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฃ๐จ๐ฒ, ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎโ€™๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ฎ๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฌ๐ž ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฉ๐ž๐ซ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐š๐ง๐œ๐ž, ๐ญ๐จ๐จ. I know it because I've lived it. Itโ€™s easy to get bu...
24/03/2026

๐ˆ๐Ÿ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฌ๐ž ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฃ๐จ๐ฒ, ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎโ€™๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ฎ๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฌ๐ž ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฉ๐ž๐ซ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐š๐ง๐œ๐ž, ๐ญ๐จ๐จ. I know it because I've lived it. Itโ€™s easy to get buried under the weight of "perfect" in a high-stakes show season, and the constant pressure to progress can feel relentless.

And in my opinion, this goes for the horses too. ๐Ÿด If they no longer enjoy the job, their performance suffers.๐Ÿ˜”

๐‚๐ฅ๐ข๐œ๐ค ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ค ๐ข๐ง ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐›๐ข๐จ ๐ญ๐จ ๐›๐จ๐จ๐ค ๐š ๐Ÿ๐ซ๐ž๐ž ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ“-๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ฎ๐ญ๐ž ๐œ๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ. ๐˜“๐˜ฆ๐˜ตโ€™๐˜ด ๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ค๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ค๐˜ณ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ด, ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ง๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ข ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต, ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฉ-๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ'๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง.๐Ÿ’ช๐Ÿง ๐Ÿ’ช

23/03/2026

๐“๐ซ๐ฒ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐จ โ€œ๐ ๐ฎ๐š๐ซ๐š๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐žโ€ ๐š ๐ฉ๐ž๐ซ๐Ÿ๐ž๐œ๐ญ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐›๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ข๐œ๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ๐š๐ง๐š๐ ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ž ๐š๐œ๐ญ๐ฎ๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐š๐›๐จ๐ญ๐š๐ ๐ž๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ง๐š๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐š๐ฅ ๐Ÿ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐›๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ž๐ซ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐š๐ง๐œ๐ž ๐ซ๐ž๐ฅ๐ข๐ž๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง. Choking happens the moment we shift from performing to protecting.โฃ
โฃ
If you find yourself trying to force or control perfection, youโ€™re overriding the years of muscle memory youโ€™ve worked so hard to build. ๐˜š๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ. ๐ŸŽโœจ

20/03/2026

๐„๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐ž๐ž๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ž ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ซ๐ข๐›๐›๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐š๐ซ๐ž๐ง'๐ญ ๐ž๐ง๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฅ๐ž๐ง๐œ๐ž ๐ญ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ข๐ง๐ง๐ž๐ซ ๐œ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐œ? In the equestrian world, we see a lot of "insecure overachievers"โ€”riders who are incredibly driven but fueled by a fear of inadequacy rather than the joy of the sport.

๐˜ž๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ค๐˜ถ๐˜ด ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฐ๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ข '๐˜ฃ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ' ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ข ๐˜ฃ๐˜บ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ต, ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ข ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด.

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Brisbane, QLD

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https://lnk.bio/deenacooper, https://www.deenacooper.com.au/courses, https://www.ahpra.g

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