AMW Equine

07/03/2025

Why does my showjumping go so wrong⁉️

You’ve done your prep, your showjump lessons have been great, and you *should* (that word is your first 🚩!) be brimming with confidence. But you’re worried that you’re going to get blindsided by disaster in the ring – you’ve had a couple of experiences where, even after warming up great, you couldn’t see a distance to save your soul once in the comp arena. 👀

So…
1. What the hell happens?
2. Why does it happen to me?
3. How can I stop it?

The answers to the above questions are *not* (although I don’t know a single rider who doesn’t go here!):
1. Dunno.
2. Cos I’m a s**t rider.
3. It will never stop and I’m forever doomed.

Lemme explain, because there’s good reasons why it happens. Also – and I cannot stress this enough – it does NOT just happen to you!! It happens to all of us, to varying degrees according to our strengths, weaknesses, and our in-that-moment capacity, but it’s waaaay worse when it’s happening to you, aaaand you don’t really notice it happening in someone else.

One reason that things may be going to 💩 in the showjumping is your nerves. Now, competition nerves get an undeserved bad rap – they are actually necessary for optimal performance. The adrenaline we produce when we’re nervous wakes up the flight/fight/freeze response, which can sharpen focus, improve prioritisation, boost motivation, and increase courage and determination. This is where our lives.

But flight/fight/freeze also produces some effects that can *REALLY* get in the way once you’re in the arena, especially if you’re unaware they are happening. One of those is the ol’ *My LeG iS On!* mind trick.

Brains that are nervous like feedback, and they look for stability and security. They can get all of that from pressing down onto the stirrup tread, instead of wrapping around the horse. So, you FEEL all your muscles working really hard, and but instead of squeezing, you’re bracing. Sometimes,

From your horse’s POV, his rider used their legs like a normal person a few minutes ago, but he cantered into the ring and the go-go aids just disappeared.🤷The activity drops out of the canter and the stride is just a little bit slower and shorter – just enough to ruin your distances, but mostly not enough that you, dear rider, pick up on the difference. And even if you do detect it, your brain *SWEARS* that you do have leg on!

Solution – Focus On Your Butt.
The action of wrapping your leg around the horse starts with your glutes, the big muscles of your butt. If you concentrate on activating your glutes as you , it will make it easier to override any sneaky subconscious bracing, and it’s a more effective/secure leg aid anyway. WARNING - it does burn like fire… 🔥

Remembering to at a few key points on course – such as exiting corners, approaching a line, or when you notice that the activity has dropped – can make a huge difference to your round and therefore, your weekend. Nerves are to be expected and welcomed, just don’t let them tell you “My leg IS on!”. 🤪

21/01/2025

In 2025, Marcia returns to providing high-quality equestrian coaching and support full-time! She is available for:

🦄 Dressage and jumping lessons for novice to advanced adult riders (1hr):
o At AMW Equine - $110
o At your home (Upper Hunter area) - $132
o At your home (outside Upper Hunter) - by negotiation, minimum numbers may apply.

🦄 Dressage, jumping and horsemanship lessons for kids (45min):
o At AMW Equine - $88
o At your home (Upper Hunter area) - $110

Timeslots currently available through school-hours most days, and Mon, Wed, Thurs afternoons for after school/work timeslots.

Booking is super easy, follow the link! https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=16965732&appointmentType=category:Riding%20Lessons.

🤩 Sports Mentoring calls for high performance support, confidence re-building, anxiety management, neurodivergence support and advice (60-90min):
o Via Zoom or phone - $150
o In-person (event support) – by negotiation.

🤩 Kids Sports Mentoring calls for building confidence, resilience, self-awareness and healthy self-esteem for competitive riders, 12yrs and under (45 min).
o Via Zoom or phone - $132
o In-person (event support) – by negotiation.

Timeslots currently available through school-hours most days, and most evenings (except Tues). After-school timeslots for kids mentoring available by request.

Booking is super easy, follow the link! https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=16965732&appointmentType=category:Sports%20Mentoring%20Calls

🐴 Pony Club instruction, clinics and workshops – by negotiation.
🐴 Horse sales and purchase support – by negotiation.

30/12/2024

I'm on for two special unicorns! 🦄🦄

I've got two clients needing a nice, safe, genuine horse, who will look after them - maybe ignore a case of nerves from time to time - and be fun and rewarding to ride and compete. Both ladies have a good budget for the right horse, will provide an A1+ home, and both are far more competent than they believe.

Horse 1 - All-rounder who is quiet enough for trail-riding, lovely enough to dressage, and could calmly pop around some jumps or a working equitation course.
🎀 15.2hh to 16.1hh.
🎀 Needs to be a gelding.
🎀 Temperament more important than breed or age, but nothing that is green, spooky, or requires riding down/lunging.
🎀 Competition outings (with good scores and relaxed behaviour) preferred.

Horse 2 - Sound, safe fun eventer who has *really* big horseshoes to fill.
😇 No bigger than 16hh, probably ideally around 15.3hh mark.
😇 Gelding or mare ok.
😇 Around 10yrs, but flexible (if sound) according to experience.
😇 Breed and looks not important, but quality is - client deserves a really nice horse that she can be super proud of.
😇 MUST have competed several EvA95 (or higher), with good scores, and clear XC and SJ.
😇 MUST be confident, straightforward, snaffle ride on XC.

If you have a horse that you think might fit the bill, feel free to post some pics and info/link to an ad below, so my clients (and potentially other buyers) can have a little look. Alternatively, send me a private message on my personal page Marcia Williamson if preferred.

29/10/2024

🦄Riding (and life) According to The 4 C’s🦄
~~~~Part 1~~~~
⏳4 min read⏳

In addition to equestrian coaching, sports mentoring, and studying psychology, I’m also the mum of two neurodivergent boys. I’m neurodivergent myself, and my husband is not exactly off-the-hook there either😜, so our life gets pretttty wild sometimes!

The upside of this chaos is that I am forever looking for different resources and strategies, then my brain finds creative ways of applying them. Soooo many resources, (once I’ve used hubby or kids as !!) actually work as well with the riders and horses I support, as they do at home.

🤩The 4 C’s of Behaviour 🤩
~~~From Empowered Neurofamilies With Autistic Mama~~~

The 4 C’s framework is four step-by-step questions, designed to help parents of autistic children work out why their child isn’t following rules or observing a boundary. 👉Only if the first three can each be answered with “Yes, beyond a shadow of doubt!” FROM THE POV OF THE CHILD, should consideration be given to the possibility that the child made a choice to be defiant👈.

1. 🧠Comprehension – Have they understood what I wanted?

2. 💪Capability – Are they capable of this task?

3. 😵‍💫Capacity – In this moment, have they got the capacity to do this task?

4. ❌Choice – Are they making an active choice to not follow instructions?

I’ve found myself asking these same questions when I am having a schooling problem – perhaps the horse is consistently behind the leg, frequently resists the hand aid, is overly reactive, or their training is not progressing as expected. If, after a frustrating session, I stop and ask the 4 C’s, I get a clearer *understanding*, I feel *capable* of thinking rationally, and have more *capacity* for handling my emotions. In short, I can make better *choices* (see what I did there??).🤣🤣

The 4 C’s also help challenge our (very normal) human tendency to think that the horse is *choosing* to behave badly. As with children – and TBH, most adults as well – horses *RARELY* choose to be ‘naughty’ (this kind of judgmental language is a super important discussion for another day). Nearly always, the answer to why my horse (or my kiddo... or me…) just lost their💩 over “a simple request” is found in the first three questions:

❓Did they really comprehend the task?
❓Are they actually capable of doing the task?
❓Do they have the capacity for the task right now?

I firmly believe that, for a multitude of reasons, our horses would prefer to do the thing that we are requesting of them . So if they aren’t, why not?

With kids, after the first 3 questions have been satisfied, I will entertain the notion that they are making not-so-good choices😬. However, on countless occasions, I’ve asked for the why behind their choice, only to be blown away with perfectly legit reasoning which changes my mind about the whole event (even if I still don’t agree with the choice itself). And I’ve felt like a complete schmuck for making assumptions that they are being somehow nefarious🤦‍♀️.

With our horses, if we get to the question of choice, we actually need to consider the horse’s *conditioning*. Has the horse given up trying, because correct responses have previously gone unrewarded?🤔 Has the horse been conditioned to expect under or over-reaction from the rider?🤔 Is the horse used to the aid going away, if he/she waits long enough?🤔 Is there a mismatch between the training of previous riders, to my own?🤔

In the next post, I’ll break down each of the 4 C’s, so that you can apply them to a ? that’s cropped up in your riding. I’ll give you some ways to rebuff the inevitable “My horse is being a jerk!” narrative (while also not tearing up your own confidence🤗), and then we can talk about a range of solutions that you can use - in the moment or afterwards (wine, cheese and bikkies🍷pair nicely with a solutions session! )

👀and feel free to ask questions in the meantime!

Link to OP Article: https://autisticmama.com/reasons-autistic-child-doesnt-follow-boundaries/

17/10/2024

Calling all awesome graphic designer and cartoon artist peeps! 📣

I’ve got a couple of graphic design jobs that I’m not talented enough to do justice to:

1. Logo and branding/style guide design for my new coaching and sports mentoring business.

2. Design of a series of 3 to 6-panel comic strips, in a similar style to the Footrot Flats comics, for shareable content. Depending on budget and what works for you, this would be at least 1 per month ongoing. Happy to discuss a range of options, from old-school pen and paper drawing, development of a vector elements package, incorporation of AI, etc. Again, happy to be led by you.

I know there’s apps like Fiverr and the like, but I’d much rather give my money to a friend or a local (or a friend of a friend! 😇), or a young, up-and-coming artist who could use a little support.

All recommendations and advice sincerely appreciated! ☺️

14/07/2024

Hi (eventing) party people!!

I’m going to be at Tamworth International Eventing on Friday, teaching a couple of lessons… would anyone else like to join in with a last minute flatwork brush-up, course walk or pre-comp Sort-My-💩-Out session??

PM me if you’re keen and we tee up some times around everyone’s arrival 😇

05/05/2022

👉🏽The AMW Equine whiteboard is back!!!👈🏽

Prompted by a discussion re: one of my favourite pieces of theory- Operant Conditioning, which I prefer to call: How to train your h̶o̶r̶s̶e̶, h̶u̶s̶b̶a̶n̶d̶, k̶i̶d̶s̶ 🤣🤣🤣

Yes, the language of operant conditioning is a little hard to get your head around at first. But I promise it’s worth it- firstly, if you ride a horse, YOU ARE ALREADY USING OPERANT CONDITIONING(!!😱!!) and I’ll show you why the words ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ are used in their science-y 🧬 meaning.

There is such a rich understanding to be had in operant conditioning- which aids are effective and why, which strategies are ineffective or even downright unethical.

https://youtu.be/Bd-hEp2AYJU

Don’t mind my bad jokes and poor filming, been a while since I’ve done one of these and I’ve clearly forgotten some stuff- like ‘always film in landscape’!! 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

Anyway, happy learning, and as always, I’m always up for a discussion in the comments!

Cheers,
Marcia

The principles of operant conditioning actually underpin everything YOU ALREADY DO with your horse (and, other members of your family, even if it is frowned ...

05/07/2021

The feels when… you own the best pony in all the land!

09/06/2021

How clever is my beautiful little ?? Not only can she jump, she can dressage, she teaches a better lesson than me and is a masterclass in knowing your own self-worth!

Me, not so much. Let’s call it a work in progress. Caramello and I are working really hard on our , and while I can see and feel the huge progress we have made, what is also painfully obvious to me is the distance between where we are, and where we want to be. That gap (more like yawning chasm) hurts my soul.

But I’m telling myself that . And it’s *enough* (apologies to my fellow perfectionists, that is like a cuss word!!). I’m working out that I don’t have to be so driven toward the end goal, that I miss all the little wins on the way.

So yes, there’s technical issues in these pics that for me, may as well be lit up in neon. Yes, I’m super unhappy with how I look, and *that helmet* has gotta go(!!) but I bought the photos anyway because, firstly they are stunning!! Thank you !!

And, secondly, if I can see past my own , they capture the essence of Caramello and I - , doing and very much !!

And the picture of her leaning into my pat just melts me. 💜