Sally Ede - Horse and Rider Coaching

09/01/2026

I have last minute availability tomorrow (Sat 10th) from 11am onwards for coaching /healing in Surrey/Hants
areas.
🦄🐴🦄

16/09/2025

When Carl nicks one of Mary Wanless’s most used questions to help the rider become more aware! 😜
“If your horse was taken out from underneath you, how would you land on the arena surface?”
Anyone who works with me will be familiar with realigning their posture to a very accurate shoulder- hip -heel, and this imagery is a great way to improve your awareness of yourself. If you’re not sure where you are, get someone to take a picture of you because often people are not where they think they are!
So glad that Carl using it to improve awareness, because it’s such a game changer for horse welfare.

05/09/2025

Still recovering from a fabulous and inspiring three days of Ride With Your Mind teacher training with Mary Wanless and Ali Wakelin, and a group of the most brilliant and supportive coaches.

I took Hugo, to help him gain experience in a new environment and also for other coaches to ride him in their lessons and give me feedback on his development.

He was a super boy and I’m so pleased with his progress. Slow to the outside world, but very very solid.

I came away with lots of new learnings on rider biomechanics and asymmetries, and I was very lucky to get a lot of input for my own riding too.

Most of all, it’s always a privilege to be part of a network of coaches where the collaboration and teamwork fosters such a safe and professional learning environment, and the learning is therefore exponential 💪🏻

I can’t add a video to this post but will put in the comments if I can.

04/07/2025

This is a really important message about saving your life.

I’ve always felt very uncomfortable about people riding without a hat, no matter how well you trust your horse, or how deep the partnership is, the there is always a possibility of something happening that is not under the control of the horse or the rider, and as it demonstrated by this incident this lady was very lucky to survive.

Tuesday evening I took Mouse to the beach for an evening ride. We had a few lovely trots and a gentle canter which she behaved perfectly. We turned back, and instead of moving forward and following the experienced lead horse she threw herself up and went over backwards in the air. We hit the ground with such impact she couldn’t survive it. I was knocked unconscious by the impact but my riding hat made the difference between an acute head injury and a fatal one.

I was cared for by an amazing group of people - three very good friends who were with me on the beach, outstanding passers who did everything they could to help, the brilliant coast guard team and the rapid response paramedics. They kept me safe until I was airlifted to hospital where another super team were waiting for me. With the majority of the trauma to my head, my body escaped with just a fractured foot.

Watching a horse have a fatal fall is horrific and I know will haunt those on the beach that evening - but I am very glad I didn’t subject my close friends to watching my death. I think that’s something those who forgo a riding hat maybe don’t consider - whether the people in their life deserve to be put through that.

I was wearing a modern hat (2024) with the latest safety technology that had been expertly fitted in the local tack shop - and that was absolutely key. An older hat or one that didn’t fit 100% wouldn’t have stood up to this kind of impact. I was still knocked unconscious and 3 days later I’m still bed bound, but I will make a full recovery.

It will take some time processing losing a horse like this. I’m so sorry to have lost her and it’s something I still need to privately come to terms with.

I am so grateful to everyone that evening who rallied round to help me and took care of Mouse’s body, working hard to ensure we both left the beach before the tide came in.


RIP dear horse 🕊️🌊

04/07/2025

** now booked**
I have two last minute spaces tomorrow for lessons or healing/communication (sat 5th ) in the afternoon -Surrey/sussex

03/02/2025

Really important fascia fact ! Stress is stored in fascia. Hugo has made big improvements since being treated by Justine.

F A S C I A F A C T S: Stress, be it physical or emotional (including from posture), can get caught in the fascia, causing it to contract, like a muscle. But the speed of contraction (and relaxation) is much slower - in fact it could be over months, or years. This can then lead to fascia sticking together and delayed pain or dysfunction. Equine Touch helps to smooth out adhesions which we may not even know about.

24/01/2025

This is a huge step forward, and gives me hope that change may eventually happen.

Now it needs the BHS, BRC, BE, BS, and BD and all other organisations to do the same put this information right in front of members so that it becomes mainstream knowledge and impossible to ignore when relating to equines.

If more people had a clear understanding of the science of how horses learn, and what causes them stress, and how to avoid stress, we could rapidly improve the lives of many horses.

We’re excited to announce the release of our How Ponies Learn: Equine Learning Theory Workbook, now available on Amazon! 🐴✨

Packed with valuable information and interactive exercises, this workbook will help you understand how ponies learn and the important connection between training and welfare. Evidence-based ethical training has been given even greater importance in the latest Pony Club Tests syllabus; the information in this workbook is designed to ensure that candidates are well-prepared for the additional elements up to the C test Level.

Even if you are not planning on taking your Pony Club Tests, this workbook is a great place to find out more about how ponies learn and best practices in equine welfare.

Order yours today and start exploring the fascinating world of equine learning! 📚💡

Available here: bit.ly/4jtLqha

21/01/2025

⭐️🐴Brilliant Basics : Breathing 🐴⭐️

🫁Our breathing, both mounted and dismounted is hugely influential on both horse and rider biomechanics, and on the emotional connection between ourselves and our horses.

🫁The most important fact to bear in mind is that your horse will mirror your own breathing, both good and bad.

🫁Even with a very steady, grounded sort of horse, if that horse spends enough time with a human who has shallow, inconsistent breathing, that horse will soon pick up on the human and mirror them. And vice-versa, the outlook of an anxious horse can be dramatically improved by the influence of a human handler or rider that is breathing well. The scientific word for this is entrainment, and the process is called co-regulation.

🫁Also, a very interesting fact; horses cannot conceptualize their breath like we can. For example, we can use our pre-frontal cortex to make decisions on how many breaths to take, how deeply to breathe, and in turn we can positively take control of our own emotional state. In comparison, a horse cannot make decisions to change his breathing rate. He responds via environmental input to his central nervous system, and breathes accordingly. So, if others are calm, he is calm. If others are triggered by a threat, he is also triggered. A good example of this is how a young horse will stay calm in traffic around an older horse who is not in fear of the traffic. So, as best as we can, we have to be the ‘reliable external modulator’ in the relationship.

🫁This means that if we can master good breathing, then we have a very powerful tool at our disposal for regulating ourselves and our horses and improving performance.

🫁Not only are there emotional benefits to good breathing, but also postural benefits. The muscles that are involved in inspiration and expiration also have a dual function in core stabilisation and are very useful for promoting human and equine self-carriage.

So how do we do it?

🫁First of all, take some slow steady breathes and notice how your ribcage and lungs expand on the in breath. Do you breathe mostly into your upper chest? Does your shoulder girdle lift with each breath, lengthening your front in the process? This would indicate your breath is fairly shallow. As your front lengthens, you are losing some of your strength and core integrity. It might help to sit in front of a mirror to gain clarity on this.

🫁Instead, can you breathe into your belly, expanding your ribcage outwards instead of upwards. Can you keep your front the same length, with your breath going down and outwards instead of remaining in your upper chest?

🫁To test yourself, place your hands on your waist, and squeeze your waist inward so that there is some resistance given to your breathing (a bit like a tight belt or corset). Then notice as you breath in, can you start to push your hands outwards against the resistance. Repeat this until you get the hang of expanding your ribcage and belly against a resistance.

🫁Next, notice what happens on the outbreath. Does your ribcage and belly contract, or can you keep pushing out against the resistance, even during the outbreath? This starts to raise intraabdominal pressure and contraction in the muscles of both inspiration and expiration.

🫁Can you increase your resistance against your hands on the in breath and the outbreath, until there becomes no difference in your tone as your breathe in and out. You are now starting to breathe diaphragmatically.

🏆Well done!

Want to experiment further with the amazing influence of your breath? Click below for my free guide to calming breathing techniques for your horse ⬇️

https://www.horseandridercoach.co.uk/pl/2148359070

20/01/2025

A scientific study on how the separation of horses affects their health.

When we do this, they may appear to cope on the outside, but there will always be compromises to long term health.

It’s an oxymoron that in our culture, the more valuable a horse is, or perceived value to someone, the more likely it is to be separated from other horses.

INDIVIDUAL STABLING FOUND TO ALTER IMMUNE RESPONSE

Research has found that horses moved from group housing to individual stabling showed changes in their white blood cell counts and plasma cortisol levels. These changes could mean they are at a higher risk of infectious disease.

Equine scientists at the University of Hohenheim in Germany studied 12 warmblood geldings aged 2-3 years old during several management changes, monitoring their behaviour and immune response.

The horses used were all living in a group, turned out at pasture. For the first part of the study the group was then split into two, each kept in a separate paddock so that the horses in one group could not see the others. After a trial period of eight days all the horses were returned to their original group, living together. They were then were left out at pasture for eight weeks.

For the second part of the study the horses were all moved into individual stables, where they could see and touch their neighbours through bars. During the first week of being stabled, the horses were given 30 minutes of turnout in an indoor area. From the second week onwards, the horses were lunged.

Throughout the study the research team collected blood samples from the horses to analyse their immune cell numbers and cortisol concentrations.

The results showed that moving the horses to individual stabling led to acute stress-induced immune changes. However, dividing the larger group into two smaller groups at pasture did not.

“The number of eosinophils, monocytes and T cells declined, whereas the number of neutrophils increased resulting in an increased N:L ratio. This pattern of change resembles the well-known picture of an immunomodulation induced by acute social stress."

The plasma cortisol concentrations didn’t change after dividing the group into the two smaller groups at pasture, but there was an increase in cortisol concentrations one day after stabling which then returned to the previous levels eight days later. However, the researchers reported that “Although cortisol concentrations returned to baseline level after 8 days, the alterations in most immune cell numbers persisted, pointing to a longer-lasting effect on the immune system of the horses."

The team also found that some of the horses started to perform stereotypical behaviours as soon as one week after stabling.

The team reported that the results “strongly indicate that social isolation is a chronic stressor with negative impact on welfare and health of horses and highlight the advantage of group housing systems in view of immunocompetence."

The researchers concluded that “relocation to individual stabling represented an intense stressor for the horses of the present study, leading to acute and lasting alterations in blood counts of various leukocyte types. In contrast, fission of the stable group did not result in behavioural, endocrine or immunological stress responses by the horses."

This sudden change from group turnout to individual stabling with training being introduced is a very common scenario for horses being started for the first time. This study gives us yet more evidence that stabling horses individually is stressful for them and detrimental to their physical and psychological wellbeing. The majority of the horses I see are stabled for the bulk of the day. I do wonder how much evidence is needed before horse owners, yard owners and professionals act on this information and change their management to increase turnout and group living...

The research is free to access and is a very interesting read: Schmucker S, Preisler V, Marr I, Krüger K, Stefanski V (2022) Single housing but not changes in group composition causes stress-related immunomodulations in horses. PLoS ONE 17(8): e0272445.