Each coach will have their strengths and different emphasis on skill sets. What is important when choosing coaches is to choose one that has both you and your horse’s interests at heart.. That your training philosophies match and that he or she teaches you the correct things.

Riders often get themselves into a muddle when they have different coaches in quick succession, without allowing time for the process of learning and training to take place… Or they choose coaches that have very different approaches.

We as riders have to remember that when we are trying to gain a new skill or to make a change in our horse or ourselves, things may go a little downhill for awhile. It is for us to decide if it is the coach’s fault or is it because both horse and rider are a tad confused with the new skill that is being asked of them and hence not always achieving great or consistent results.

In any sport with any athlete, you can have good training days and bad training days, and there will be times when you just hit a plateau. Patience is and persistence will get you through this!

I am lucky to have had many good coaches. Peter Abisheganaden coached me many many years ago and he was very specific about how to improve my position and my horse’s jump. Nowadays Pete rarely has time for lessons but I can always rely on Pete for an honest precise opinion on how to improve something.

Husref Malek has coached me with many different horses over the years in many different disciplines. Husref has also known Cavi since Cavi arrived in Malaysia and he knows the horse almost as well as I do. I swear there are days where Cavi likes Husref more than he likes me. As Husref is so familiar with the horse, he is a good coach to have as he is very quick to pick up when things are a little off. Having known Husref for a long time, Husref has become like a brother to me and sometimes that familiarity in the coaching can make things a little tense as I would be more inclined to argue with Hus than with anyone else, simply because that’s what families do!

Recently I’ve been fortunate enough to have Peter Winton give me a few lessons. His instructions are very clear and concise. I chuckle quietly when he says “mmm, that was OK”… And that’s OK with me. I want to learn and not to be told that everything I did was great (when it wasn’t). My position is the big thing that we are currently working on and that is in line with my training philosophy too – our horse can go so much better if we ourselves are in the correct position.

So this should answer the question to why I have different coaches. Sometimes it simply is who can fit you into their schedule or who you can fit into your schedule. With work, there are days where either party is unable to find a suitable slot.

Cavi arrived in December 2016. In 2017, we were jumping small fences probably nothing more than 80cm or so.

Last weekend, we jumped our first 1.10m course.

Cavi is definitely more than capable to jump a lot higher but a little tricky and sometimes I feel that I am not a good enough rider for him, but with the help of all my 3 coaches, I find that slowly slowly, I am more confident in my abilities and the trust in Cavi is definitely growing. There has been a few teething issues in our relationship that we have slowly ironed out. These warmblood horses are a different kettle of fish altogether.

I am grateful to all my coaches, past and present for making me into the rider / coach / trainer that I am now. I always have said that everyone has something to teach you (even if it is, mmm that didn’t work for my horse) . It is how much you want to learn!