Ridewell Trainwell

07/09/2026

Yesterday Jen The Rider Mechanic suggested tucking a couple of long sticks under my arms.
You can see in the photo on the left how the two sticks come together in the front, with the right one wanting to also cross over the left one.
In the photo on the right I found a way to make them almost parallel.

Overnight, to back this up, I was thinking about the muscle fibres of the mid trapezius sliding together to close across my back and open across the chest and activating the right rhomboid to keep my right arm more open.

I could really feel the right rhomboid doing some work today and felt more upright.

05/09/2026

This morning we had a little play with Abby in hand. I summoned my inner Sofia Valença and set up cones and squares to play in. Jen found this gave her a good visual to help guide the circles, leg yields etc.
We also started Abby in the classical long reins (where you walk beside the horse's hips) but no photos as it takes two people. Abby got the game pretty quickly and was soon moving off a tap from Jen's hand on his outside butt cheek. His stops were super good.

03/09/2026

So lovely to be here on Vancouver Island with The Rider Mechanic and team Derksen!
I'm heading to the Train Your Seat coaches forum next week near Calgary and what a great excuse to stop by and play with Jen and the horses for a week,
backing up some learning from our week in Portugal at Valença Classical Riding earlier this year.
I'm recovering from flu so didn't ride, but we managed to duck out and get a short in-hand session before the rain set in. Jen asked me to critique and give feedback on her work.
I noticed, that like many of us, Jen was tending to hold her breath when concentrating (hands up, who does that? 🙋‍♀️) so we worked on breathing in flow which is much harder than is sounds with a 600kg horse that's a bit worried about the wind in the trees!
Next we looked at those moments when Gracie would fall forward onto her chest over her front legs. At one point I noticed that Jen herself was falling forward and Gracie followed suit. I had Jen think about keeping her self carriage as she approached a downward transition or turn, almost a half-halt herself. After the turn, especially a lateral turn through 90 degrees we humans have to make sure we don't block the horse inadvertently by being too static in that moment so thinking about accelerating out of the turn ourselves can have the desired effect of making sure we don't get left behind.

Anyway Jen sums it up herself, so enjoy the read.

I am beyond excited to have good friend and colleague Julie Malcolm of Ridewell Trainwell here for a visit all the way from New Zealand. She is here for a quick stopover on her way to continue her coaching education at a Train Your Seat Forum in Alberta next week.

Collaborating with fellow coaches is one of my favourite things to do and our first day together did not disappoint! Julie gave Gracie and I some great tips and advice on our lateral in-hand work. I had many takeaways from today...

The three big themes were breathing, posture (mine and my horse), and connection. Julie had me breath in rhythm with Gracie. Thinking about slowing everything down really helps to ensure smooth, even and rhythmic steps in the lateral work. It is easy to lose focus on our breath when we are juggling the organization of all the things required for a good counter shoulder in, or renvers but what a difference it makes.

Next was posture - "in collecting your horse up, think about it happening in your own body first". This is such a key concept in riding and something that often goes out the window when we do our in-hand work. Horses feel us, and they definitely mirror our posture, so it becomes critical to think about our own body and what we want to transmit to our horse. We were working on a square, so as I would come to a corner, Julie had me think about half halting in my own body before asking it of my horse. We had some brilliant moments when this all came together.

Lastly, connection. The connection of my breathing, my posture and my connection through the reins to best support my horse in the movements. The steadier and more clear we can be with the connection of all three elements, the easier it is for our horse to understand and perform our request of them.

I am looking forward to incorporating the tips Julie gave me today into my regular in-hand work with my horses. I could feel the moments of brilliance in there that just take time, patience and practice to become the norm rather than the exception!❤️

03/09/2026

I'm delighted to be sponsoring the Auckland launch of Abby Letteri's beautiful book "Perfectly Themselves" in which she relates her travels and observations of various herds of wild horses around the world, in incredible and often formidable landscapes and ecosystems and what we can learn from this about our own interaction with horses.

Join me and Abby in conjuction with Poppies Bookshop for an evening of beautiful readings, evocative images, thoughtful conversations, book signing and some light nibbles.

Thursday 1st October, 6.00pm
Papatoetoe Pony Club, Clubrooms
369 Brookby Rd, Brookby

To help us with catering nibbles, it would be very much appreciated if you would drop me an email with "Book Launch" in the subject, and numbers attending to [email protected]

Books will be available for purchase at the event and there will be a draw for a copy of the book and a draw for a lesson with Julie Malcolm.

01/09/2026

Enjoying the new Koru Lookout Lounge waiting for my winged chariot to whisk me to Vancouver.

Just a tiny glass of bubbles as I'm still getting over the flu.

I'm spending a glorious week with Jennifer Derksen The Rider Mechanic and her three horses so we can coach each other and get up to mischief! There will be lots of 🐕 🐶 time too and Keith Derksen makes the bestest sourdough amongst other things!

Then it's onto Calgary, Alberta to go Dinosaur and maybe bear hunting with Trish Tweddell . I'm looking forward to meeting her horsey gang and her crazy cat and chatting about wildlife with her other half. Then Trish and I are attending a forum with other Train Your Seat coaches. Lots of experimenting, swapping ideas, learning new tips on Racewood simulators and some real horses.

I'll Be back in Auckland on the 16th and kicking straight back into local lessons, a Clinic at Henderson Valley on the 19th and Judging/coaching at the AMDG training day on Sept 20th in Clevedon.

25/08/2026

Wow! It's such a privilege to work with other coaches and I'm gob smacked at this review.
I have gained a lot of horsemanship tips from Amanda watching her work in the round pen at Equifest and I'm in awe of her style and acumen over jumps. One of these days I'm going to get the opportunity to have some training with Amanda too! But it won't be over jumps 🤣😜

Last week I had the opportunity to attend another incredible clinic with Julie Malcolm from Ridewell Trainwell, a biomechanics coach whose work has completely changed the way I think about our position in the saddle, and perhaps more importantly, what that position is communicating to the horse.

At its core, biomechanics is about understanding how the rider’s body influences the horse’s body. Julie teaches you to become incredibly aware of your balance, pelvis, seat, weight and alignment, and how even the smallest change in the way we carry ourselves can completely alter the way a horse moves beneath us.

What I find most fascinating is the subtlety of it. Rather than adding stronger aids or more pressure, Julie teaches you how to refine your own body so the communication becomes quieter, clearer and easier for the horse to understand. A tiny adjustment in the rider can create a remarkable change in balance, straightness, engagement and movement.

It also makes you question how often something we perceive as a training issue in the horse may actually begin with a position issue in ourselves (I know this has been very true for myself!).

If you ever have the opportunity to have a lesson with Julie, or even spend some time watching her teach, I couldn’t recommend it more ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

24/08/2026

A lovely parcel arrived from teQ this morning. Very swift as it was only packed yesterday!
Let's see what's in it!
There is also some black teqfit shorts for my spring/summer rider fitness workouts. I love the high waist and the just above the knee length!

22/08/2026

Lovely morning at the West Auckland RDA indoor arena in Henderson Valley which included fine tuning a couple of young students for North Island Secondary Schools competition which starts next Sunday in Taupo.
Home to play with my ponies and Jezzie is not impressed he is not the centre of attention!

20/08/2026

Gorgeous late winter morning in Whitford. I'm off teaching at Bartley Riding Academy arena this morning. The view from my kitchen window and Bartleys is under that mist!