Creating Your Horse Show Avatar
Episode Summary
What if confidence isn't something you have to wait for? In this episode, Miranda introduces the idea of creating a Horse Show Avatar—an intentional version of yourself that reflects who you want to be when you step into the arena. By identifying the qualities, beliefs, and habits of your best self, you can begin building confidence before you ever swing a leg over your horse.
Through personal stories and practical exercises, Miranda explains how small, intentional actions can help your brain recognize that you're becoming the rider you want to be. The goal isn't to become someone else—it's to show up more authentically, confidently, and with purpose.
Key Takeaways
What a Horse Show Avatar Is.
How to create your own Horse Show Avatar.
How to work towards living your most confident life.
Transcript
Hey there, it's Miranda Allyn and welcome back to Horsemanship, Growth and Gratitude.
The other night I had the opportunity to do a presentation to a 4-H club about rider mindset. And we did this really fun activity. It's something that I've actually picked up from learning from business leaders who use this type of technique.
And this is a technique about creating an avatar of sorts of who you want to show up as on stage or in the spotlight. So the goal is not to become somebody else or a fake character, although you can have a fun stage name if you want to. But it's about becoming more intentional about the version of you that you want to show up on in that particular situation.
It allows you to separate, you know, performance Miranda from at home Miranda and it takes the pressure off of you feeling like you always have to perform and it separates the fear of judgment from others.
That show Miranda that you didn't like, you know, how I dress, how I wrote or what I said, that's fine. That's okay because she's strong and confident. She can handle that and she don't take no smack. But you know, at home Miranda, she might be a little bit more laid back and might bother her a little more.
So this is, there's a fun little way to create an avatar of how do I want to show up with and then then we're going to take it a step further of how can we pull energy from this avatar to create that person that we want to be.
Now I realized once I learned about this, having an avatar or a site type of persona that you want to portray when you're on, right? When you're on duty on the spotlight, I realized I kind of did something along the lines of this in college. It is extremely silly and a little embarrassing, but hey, that's what this podcast is about. It's about being real and if I can tell you about something funny that I did that really helped me and if it can help you, that's what it's about, right?
So when I was in college, I attended the University of Montana Western. I've always wanted to be a professional barrel racer. Going to college, did the rodeo team freshman year when I had a more finished horse and I was doing the natural horsemanship program.
Well, Montana Western was one of the top college rodeo teams out there. We had some phenomenal cowboys and cowgirls on our team and I wanted to be a professional cowgirl one day, just like the path that they were on.
So at that time, I didn't really feel like I was there, right? And I wanted to feel like I could fit in. So at that time, for whatever reason, barrel racers were really known for having like big gaudy earrings and they were a lot of vests. Like that was just the fashion that was in.
So I had these pair of probably three dollar earrings from Claire's. They were tarnished nickel, right? And I, they're little medium sized hoop and I wore these earrings all the time. I wore them every time I rode because barrel racers have earrings, big dangly earrings, I want to be a barrel racer.
So this is all I could afford on a super tight college budget. So I had these earrings and I wore them all the time. And same thing, whenever the weather would allow it, I would always wear this vest too, because if I could dress the part, you know, you dress for the job you want, if I could dress the part, I could borrow confidence from that to give myself, my brain evidence of looking for proof that I am on the right track to be that, that professional barrel racer one day.
And I didn't realize it, but what I was doing is I was using the, the reticular activating system of my brain. I was using it to look for evidence such as it noticed that I was wearing those earrings every time I rode my horse and barrel racers wear earrings, big dangly earrings when they compete. And it was using my conscious part of my mind to train my subconscious.
So by the end of the school year, I didn't need those earrings. I didn't need that vest to feel the confidence of, I was a good horseman and I was on the path to my goals that I wanted to achieve.
Fast forward. When I hear about this avatar of sorts that these, a lot of these business professionals will do for their, who they want to show up on and stage is kind of along the lines of, you know, what is your personal brand? What are your colors? What are, what are your values? What are your pillars? That sort of thing.
Creating the avatar. It's a great way to identify who you want to be, right? For me, it's more of who do I want to be as a professional horsemanship coach, because when I first started giving lessons, I had an immense amount of imposter syndrome and, you know, fear of like, Oh my gosh, do I really know what I'm talking about? Who am I to be saying this? Who am I to be helping others?
And it's something that I mentioned at this presentation is never doubt you being meant to be there and you being meant to teach, because I promise you there's going to be a way that you say something, that you portray something that is going to click and resonate with somebody that it would have never clicked had anyone else said it, right?
There's something about your voice, your energy, your personal experiences that they're going to be able to relate to. And it's going to click with, I just keep reminding myself of that.
There's, for me, there's a lot of more so middle aged women who are returning to horses and they might've taken a break for a career or for having a family and they have new fears, you know, new levels, new devils, they have new fears that they've never had before, such as, Hey, I can't afford to get hurt anymore. I used to jump on any horse that was right in front of me. And now like, I can't, I got kids to take care of. I'm a primary caregiver. I can't afford to get hurt.
I need to be more aware of what I'm doing and why that seems to be who I click with, because there's a lot of people that if you don't have kids or, you know, you've never given birth to kids, you just, you just don't get it. I'm sorry. You just, you don't get it.
So it's so important to know that you are meant to have a voice and just share your voice. For me, this avatar that I created for being a professional horsemanship coach or trainer or whatever you want to say, it looks totally different than who I wanted to be as a professional barrel racer, but that's okay.
So for this activity, I created up a little worksheet, which I will link in my show notes below. I will link the worksheet. I'll post the worksheet on my website. I'll post the link in the show notes to take you to that worksheet.
For this horse show avatar worksheet, the first one is how does this version of you show up? Choose three to five words that describe the version of you. For example, this version of me is confident. It's calm, bold, professional, kind, grounded, patient, authentic, courageous. It could be any number of these, but just write three to five words.
For me, I wanted to be confident. I wanted to be not afraid to speak what I felt was my truth. And I wanted to be authentic and grounded. The next one was what does this person believe? Complete the following statements.
So the first one is when challenges come up, this version of me believes. For me, it is, I believe that I can figure it out. And if it's something that I don't know, I will be able to find the resource of somebody who does.
Next question. When people judge me, this version of me believes they are going off of their own limiting beliefs, their own fears that has nothing to do with me. That is not my responsibility to worry about their lack, their lack of limiting beliefs or where they're coming from.
If they're judging me, I don't care if as long as I am aligned with my values and I'm on track for what feels right to me, that's all that matters.
And also let me hear your podcast. Let me see your training videos. Let me see your website because unless you have done the thing, you have no place to judge. Right.
And that's where I have found a lot of true professional horse trainers. They are so willing to help those who are trying to work their way up. And they're trying to put in a genuine effort to learn because they know, they remember what it was like to be in that spot.
They are not the ones who are judging. Next question. When I make mistakes, this version of me believes, Hey, we're all human. It's okay. As long as you learn from it and you do your best to align with your values and to do what's best by the horse and by the client, that's what's important.
The next question is what does this person look like? You know, this isn't about impressing others, but it's about helping your brain recognize that you're stepping into this specific role. Clothing, for example, what type of clothing would this version of you wear?
Now I'm going to be the first one to say, I don't like the idea of lucky socks, a lucky piece of jewelry, lucky boots, whatever, because you're going to put all of your value, your, your worth into that item and, and that's not the case because you are the source, not that the pair of socks, you are the source creating the energy, creating the experiences.
And plus once that pair of socks gets lost or worn out, you're going to have to throw it away. You can have a pair that you're like, okay, these are cute. I feel good in, but you're not tied. You're not married to them.
You're just, Oh, I like them because they're fun, but when they're done, they're done, like I'm okay because I am the source. You know, what colors make you feel powerful, confident, or authentic? Um, what accessories do you wear and why? You know, is it a specific hat or jewelry or boots? Maybe a pair of glasses or a belt buckle.
For me, I love hot pink. It is, it's like my power color. It's the best way to describe it. So I have a hot pink t-shirt that says Miranda on horsemanship on it. And I, there's so many times when I go to give a lesson or like a clinic, I just kind of want to wear it like a dark t-shirt and just kind of blend in. But then I say, no, no, that's not how Avatar Miranda would show up.
So I forced myself to wear that hot pink t-shirt because then obviously all eyes are going to be on me. And it just makes me step up to a whole new energy level.
Also, I love turquoise jewelry, but I make sure I don't have a specific like favorite earring or necklace. So that way, if it gets lost, I'm still the source.
Another thing I personally hate wearing cowboy hats. They just, they don't fit. They don't always look that great on me. I can't keep them on when I'm riding a horse, which doesn't matter because now we're at Helmut again, but cowboy hats, they just, they have been a struggle. They just don't fit my head.
But I do have a beautiful chocolate Rodeo King cowboy hat that fits me pretty well. And it looks pretty cute on me. So I always make sure that I wear my cowboy hat when I am doing a clinic or a big presentation, because that is part of my image, my brand. I'm a cowgirl. Therefore, I got to wear my cowboy hat.
Another thing is belt buckles. I haven't won a belt buckle per se yet. My three year, my daughter did when she was three, but I have not won a belt buckle yet. But I do have a belt buckle that was gifted to me. And this is a very special belt buckle to me because it was gifted by somebody who I went out of my comfort zone to befriend them. And we ended up developing a beautiful friendship.
They're actually the ones who kind of got me started in giving the lessons and they've always believed in me. And so when I wear this belt buckle, I'm reminded of, hey, remember that time you went out of your comfort zone to make a new friend and look how beautifully it paid off and look how much you were able to give back to the world now.
So I always wear that belt buckle. Another thing is body language. How does this person stand? What carry themselves? This is, I lean a lot on kind of my rodeo queen years and I was competing for rodeo queen. Of, Hey, this is how I stand. This is how I present myself.
Next thing is, is when I step into this version of myself, I become somebody who, for me, it's somebody who I want my client to feel like I genuinely care about them, I genuinely care about the horse, what's best for the horse. And then I'm absolutely not judging them because I always say, trust me, there is nobody out there who has made more of a fool of themselves in front of their horsemanship heroes than I have.
Also, lastly, what is one action I will take today towards becoming this person? So something that I told these, uh, writers in this presentation is like, okay, you want to be a showman, right?
You want to show your horse this year at fair, but you don't really feel very confident in the arena, but you want to say, I'm a confident showman. What is one thing that you can do today that can help you start building up that confidence and, and borrowing, borrowing that confident energy.
So I said, get a pair of really sparkly cute earrings that you would wear in the show arena. And then every time you go to the barn, I want you to wear those earrings, especially when you're riding, just like I did with those hoops, because that is going to start leaving breadcrumbs for your brain of signs of looking like, Oh, Hey, guess what? I am a showman.
What's my power color? Well, if I like the color purple and my, my show outfit is a purple shirt, guess what, get another purple shirt and wear that every time you go to ride your horse, lean on those breadcrumbs as ways to start to convince your brain that, Hey, I am aligned with this because affirmations don't work.
If you're subconscious does not truly believe it. Cause you can say, I am powerful. I am strong. I am wealthy. I'm a millionaire a hundred times a day, but if you don't subconsciously believe it, you're never going to have that million dollars.
So this is where you need to start looking for the positives of this is how I actually am working towards that goal. And I promise the more you practice stepping into your avatar, the more comfortable you will be in the more confident overall you will be in all areas of your life. You need to remember being ready is a decision.
It is not a feeling we are leveraging the energy from performance us. So in my case, performance Miranda to give me the ability to make a decision to do the thing. And we're choosing to be ready and entering that show arena and figuring out as we go.
My suggestion is just take one or two things from your show avatar list and incorporate into your daily life. And then please let me know how you felt about doing this exercise. What your answers are, what your show avatar is, you know, did you name it, that sort of thing and how it worked for you? Cause I'd love to hear.
