Jessica Bryce Classical Dressage Coaching

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Jessica Bryce Classical Dressage Coaching

Softness ~ Balance ~ Harmony
Equestrian Coaching & Horse Training Jessica also takes horses for training/re-training or rehabilitation.

Jessica is based in Ballan, Victoria and offers lessons in riding, groundwork, work in hand and liberty. It is her philosophy to bring horses along at their own rate in order to develop them as willing partners that are enthusiastic about their work. Jessica's coaching follows classical principles with a strong focus on building balance, feel and confidence in both her equine and human students.

18/06/2025

Meet Echo, he likes to lick people 👅
Some years ago when he was but a wee foalie, he licked my face in such a way his tounge lifted my eyelid and touched my eyeball! 👁 it was equal parts disgusting and amusing 😲 and at the time I thought it was one of those unique, omce-in-a-lifetime events... nope, today the little fluffer did it again!
Meet Echo, he knows what eyeballs taste like 🤣🤣🤣

12/06/2025

I normally advocate for rugging horses less... but I'll admit that sometimes it's a good idea! ❄🥶❄

11/06/2025

It's graduation day for young Oliver 🎓 he's been wearing a hand-me-down old rug that was a size too small for the last few weeks. He's prooven he can take care of his rug while out in the big paddock so now the probationary period is over and he gets a new one all of his own! 🥰

09/06/2025

While tyre feeders may not meet the requirements for a standardised rainfall measuring device, I think it's fair to say: we've had good rain!

06/06/2025

One Bear 🐻 and one Boof 🦄 took a short trip to some long grass in their new winter paddock.
Boof's days of retired luxury contine, and Bear is having a spell from riding while we try to work out why he's sore. Both boys seemed quite content when I went back later to check on them and put their rugs on, full bellies and warm rugs, who could ask for more 💜

14/05/2025

Some happy snaps from last weekend's Young Horse Social Day - Obstacles Edition here at home.

The unofficial theme for the day was to simply allow the horses more processing time in between each task we asked of them. To let go of any expectations of how it "should" be done. Instead, asking the horse to show us how they feel when presented with a question they don't know the answer to.

It's always nice when the Social Days come home, back to where it all started, but I'm out and about again soon an you can join me:

Sunday 25th May Young Horse Social Day - Little River VIC
Sunday 22nd June Young Horse Social Day - ROMSEY VIC

04/05/2025

I had a lovely day coaching at Ballan Pony Club yesterday. Riders of all ages and abilities did some in-hand work with their horses/ponies, to have the opportunity to look at their horse's back in motion, without the saddle on.

We also learned about the different muscles involved in raising/lowering the horse's neck, how different neck postures effect the rest of the horse's body and movement.

We learned to recognise when the horse's under-neck is softly swinging, as demonstrated by one of my former school horses in this photo. Nowadays most of my students are adults, so teaching at Pony Club is a lovely reminder of the curiosity, openness and enthusiasm for learning that the young riders have.

A reminder to bring that "beginners mindset" and sense of play and exploration to my own work with the horses, because if you're only looking for what you're expecting to find, that may well be all that you see!

22/04/2025

Young Horse Social Day - Obstacles Edition at Springfield in March. What a fun group of riders who genuinely love working with their horses and are in no hurry to get across the finish line, because the joy is in the journey.

The next Social Days coming up are:
Saturday 3rd May at Gordon https://www.facebook.com/events/1352598652738188/

and Sunday 25th May at Little River https://www.facebook.com/events/676303724755942

12/04/2025

How do we get from "green as grass" to a calm and reliable riding partner that you can take anywhere?

It can feel like such a long journey that you're missing out on doing the things you want to because your horse isn't ready yet. Or maybe you thought your horse was ready so you gave it a go but it didn't work out and now it feels like you've gone backwards, or stuffed it up, and don't know how to get back to good.

Pictured below is a horse I've been working with for the last few months, called Polly. She's not a young horse (in her teens, in fact) but had been out of work for several years and we didn't know if she'd been to Club rallies before.

I wanted to take Polly to a clinic with one of my favourite trainers, but it was an expensive clinic, over 3 hours drive away and we'd have to camp overnight there. It was a big commitment of resources to get us there and I didn't want to "waste" my time and money if Polly was too stressed or unsettled to be able to participate in our lessons or learn anything while we were there.

Here's what I did: I booked us in for a lesson at Riding Club, planned to allow the whole day so we wouldn't be rushing to get there on time, or needing to get home again to do something else (aka set myself up to be calm and present). I made sure we arrived really early, so Polly would have plenty of time to relax in the yards and take in the busy atmosphere, and for me to walk her around the grounds before our lesson time to let her become familiar with the environment. (aka set my horse up to be calm and present)

Before our lesson started, I explained to the coach my intention was just to give her a positive experience out and about and be able to ride calmly in the arena, and that we weren't all that fit and may not last the full hour. (aka I pre-set the expectations with others involved).

I reminded myself to listen to my horse as she showed me how she was feeling and how equipped (or not) she was to take on this kind of outing. I reminded myself not to get caught up in wanting to achieve anything in particular, and not to compromise on my horse's wellbeing for my own ambitions. (aka. pre-set my own expectations).

As it turns out, Polly was a superstar, she stood calmly in the yard munching on her hay bag and she was calm enough walking around the grounds that I felt it would be okay to attempt the lesson.

Polly was somewhat distracted by the horses showjumping in the next arena while I was riding, but otherwise took everything in her stride. We didn't finish the lesson because I felt she was getting tired and becoming resistant to moving forward (which she never is at home) so I politely excused myself from the lesson at that point.

Success! We went home feeling like winners! Feeling like it would be okay to book in for the clinic away from home, and feeling grateful for the experience and that I stayed true to my principles and held my horse's wellbeing as my highest priority even while expecting her to cooperate and participate in activities that were fulfilling my human ambitions!

The HOW is much more important than the WHAT that we do with our horses, and finding that harmony between participating in our chosen activities/equestrian sport and respecting our horse's half of the partnership can be like walking a fine line, not always easy!

My four keys to feeling like a winner no matter what are:
🤩 setting myself up to be calm and present
🤩 setting my horse up to be calm and present
🤩 pre-setting expectations with others involved
🤩 pre-setting expectations with myself (and sticking to then!)

If you've got a young (or not so young but still green) horse and you're looking for a low-fuss outing to give him positive experience going somewhere new, that's what my Young Horse Social Days are all about 🤩 If this sounds like something that could help you, see the Events page for upcoming dates and locations.

31/03/2025

What a super club Working Equitation Geelong! Despite the wind, I had a lovely day coaching and meeting a great group of riders and their lovely horses.

Shoulder-In turned out to be the unofficial theme of the day, in various forms to suit various horses and riders based on their capabilities on the day, current fitness, education level and other individual circumstances.

Sometimes we have to be content to ask for only as much as the horse can offer on the day, if we get too greedy and ask for more, tension and brace appears in the work and the quality is lost.

Thanks for having me, Working Equitation Geelong, hope to see you again soon :)

28/03/2025

Could your horse be softer to your aids? It's been a bit of a theme that's popped up several times in my coaching lately. Horses that aren't so accepting of the riders aids; bracing the ribs against the rider's leg, running away from the led aids (ie going faster instead of activating the hindleg) and even to the point of pinning their ears and getting defensive when the rider puts their leg on.

Of course, there's all kinds of resistances and tension responses to the rein aids as well.

Wouldn't it be nice if your horse was accepting of the aids, so that you only had to use one, soft, correctly timed "ask" and your horse gave you a soft and buttery response? If you've been having trouble with this, my upcoming Schooling for Softness Clinic might be just what you need to turn dull and heavy into light and free, so you can stop working so hard for minimal results and get your riding back to being fun and rewarding.

The clinic is open to English and Western riders of all levels, horses must be a minimum of 4 years old and helmets are compulsory. Here's the link to find out more: https://www.facebook.com/events/1006610204661892

23/02/2025

Softness and lightness in the ridden horse comes from healthy movement, stability and balance.

Simple, but not easy. Often times we're getting in the way of these things without even realising it. Through unnecessary tensions in our body, poor timing with our aids, or sitting crookedly, we're inadvertently hampering the very things we're trying to establish.

Biomechanically correct movement takes time to develop, as we can only go as fast as the body's physiology as it adapts to new ways of moving and working. Care must be taken not to overdo it, and patience is required to be satisfied with incremental improvement.

For most horses, I find the 4-6 week mark is where the results of consistent and conscientious effort begin to be seen. Although skeletal adaptations take much longer, so the work needs to be maintained or the improvements will be lost since the underlying structural changes haven't completed their process yet.

Did you know? As well as giving lessons, I also take horses for schooling/training horses. I've got one spot available now, and another coming up next month, so if you'd like some help getting your horse going down the path of improved movement, balance, suppleness and/or training the lateral movements, send me a message to find more.

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Our Story

Jessica combines Equestrian Coaching with Equine Body Work offering services in and around Ballarat, Macedon Ranges, Greater Melbourne and Geelong. Jessica's coaching follows classical principles with a strong focus on building balance, feel and confidence in both horse and rider.

The principles of classical riding are concerned with improving the horse’s physical abilities to allow him to perform his work with balance, suppleness and strength. However; we also place great importance on preserving the temperament of the horse and maintaining him as a willing partner. By working our horses in a bio-mechanically sound way and maintaining them with regular bodywork we can create a long-lasting partnership and enjoyable and successful working relationship with our equine friend.

Jessica offers both massage and myofascial release for horses and combines this with a sound knowledge of horse form and function, able to provide sports massage to performance horses with specific issues, regular body maintenance for working horses of all disciplines and wellness sessions for aged/retired horses as well as working with your vet to be part of a rehabilitation program after injury.

Please be in touch for further details or to make an appointment.