Liz Madeley Equestrian Coaching - LMEC

31/12/2024

25/12/2024

Merry Christmas 🎄

25/12/2024

Merry Christmas

25/12/2024

24/11/2024

Graduated on Friday with a Master of Science Professional Practice in Sports Coaching with a fantastic cohort of coaches. Onwards now to the next chapter.

04/11/2024

Please be aware that horse riders sometimes ride in double file to protect novice riders or nervous horses, are often able to see and hear further ahead than a motorist, and may signal to you. The riders may be children or young people. Horses are powerful animals that are easily frightened and can panic in traffic. Please slow down and give them plenty of room when overtaking.

30/10/2024

This image captures the essence of the relationship between a coach and an athlete. It shows how coaches invest pieces of themselves—knowledge, experience, passion—into their athletes, helping them grow, excel, and reach their full potential.

Behind every great athlete is a coach who believed, guided, and gave more than just instructions. They pour time, energy, and heart into molding not only the athlete’s skills but also their character, resilience, and mindset. Coaches are mentors, motivators, and sometimes even life-changers. They give so much of themselves to see others succeed.

To all the coaches out there—thank you for your selflessness, dedication, and unwavering support. You shape not just athletes but also leaders and strong individuals for the future. 🙏

28/10/2024

🔸Appointments🔸

November appointments are now filling up and I’m starting to book in to December. If you would like a Physiotherapy appointment then please get in touch

01/09/2024

Working with young horses is tough.

And not just in the "hold on and hope you stay in the saddle" kind of way.

No one warns you how challenging it truly is. How often you'll doubt yourself, wondering: Am I doing this right? Am I moving too fast? Too slow? Is this too much? Not enough? You'll constantly be questioning your approach, trying to figure out the best way forward while tuning out the opinions of the trainer down the road or the livery next door, who throws judgmental glances every time you do groundwork.

No one tells you how, on some days, you'll feel like you're failing. You'll question if this horse would be better off with someone else, convincing yourself you're either wasting their potential or outright ruining them. After all, there are four-year-olds excelling in young horse classes while yours is still struggling to trot in a straight line.

No one tells you how attached you'll become. This horse is your baby, maybe one you helped bring into the world. Every setback feels personal, like a wound to your heart. You care so deeply about their well-being that it physically hurts when things go wrong. You’ll also become fiercely protective—God help anyone who dares to criticize your horse.

No one tells you how humbling, even brutal, these horses can be. They'll expose every weakness you have and practically shout it from the rooftops. While they are forgiving, they have a way of knocking you down a peg, reminding you there's always more work to be done.

No one tells you how these horses will change you. They'll force you to look inwards, to question everything you thought you knew. If you thought you had everything figured out, this horse will quickly show you that you don't. But they'll also ignite in you a fierce determination to prove everyone wrong and show them what you saw in this horse from the very beginning.

No one quite tells you how difficult young horses can be, but anyone who's been through it knows...

As tough as they are, they’re absolutely worth it.

28/08/2024

I did not write this, but everyone needs to see it...

When we rush our horses in their training, we aren't expediting their fitness or building muscles faster - we are breaking them down and rushing to a place that will require more veterinary intervention, more alternative therapies, more time off, more risk of injury, more wear and tear on the fragile structures, and a quicker end to the riding career and soundness of our equine partners.

You cannot rush fitness, you cannot rush collection, suppleness, relaxation, it's impossible. Wherever you do rush and cut corners, you will end up with holes and issues in other areas of your riding and the overall health and welfare of your horse.

Don't want to take the time to teach your horse to collect, and instead just force him into a false frame? Well, you're going to be stuck with fixing the slew of problems that come with the tension that was just created.

Don't want to work your way up the scale to create true endurance and stamina? You now risk your horse pulling a muscle or injuring themselves from overexertion and being pushed too hard for too long when the body simply isn't ready for that workload.

Don't want to get a saddle fitted to your horse? Your horse will suffer the consequences of altering his posture and way of going to alleviate the pressure and pain caused by something that isn't suited to his build, even going so far as risking injury to yourself when he can't pick up his feet enough, causing a stumble which can be catastrophic.

Don't want to do boring small jumps to build up to the larger ones? You risk your horse not being able to find a good take-off spot, knocking rails, refusing and even crashing through the jump. You will also make the horse more nervous, anxious and again, tense and sometimes unwilling to jump again.

Don't want to waste time working up the scale of collection to achieve the proper head set without force? Let's just throw a harsher bit in his mouth, maybe tie the nose shut with both noseband and flash to get him into "frame". You've now lost all relaxation, the wrong muscles are activated and depending on how deep you yank the horses face in will determine if he's even able to swallow. Tension throughout the jaw and neck translate all the way to the hind legs, so zero collection is possible, even the slightest bit of engagement and lift of the back cannot be achieved.

Rushing will lead you nowhere except to more problems that could've been avoided had you taken the proper time for development.

📝 Unknown

📸 Sister

20/08/2024

A Council Licence is required if a person or business hires out horses for riding and/or instruction in riding. This could include:

🐴 Riding schools
🐴 Loan horses
🐴 Hunter hirelings
🐴 Pony and donkey rides
🐴 Polo instruction
🐴 Pony parties where the ponies are ridden

British Equestrian have relaunched their Find a Centre online tool to make it easier for riders to see what facilities a centre has and to ensure it has a council license.

The tool also shows whether centres are approved by one of the BEF's member bodies such as the ABRS+, The British Horse Society,The Pony Club, or the RDA.

Centres can also check their listings and contact BEF with any edits. - https://rebrand.ly/u9x8byl

04/08/2024

Make Them Carry Their Saddle

A father of a darling girl and I were talking last week and he said that he wanted his daughter to ride more and not have to do the work part of the catching, grooming, and saddling. I smiled as I explained.

Riding horses is a combination of strength, timing, and balance. Kids in this country are physically weak (unless they are actively involved with weight training and physical conditioning 4+ times a week.)

When you walk out to the field, you are clearing your stress from being under fluorescent lights all day; feeling the sun soak into your bones. As your body moves on uneven surfaces, it strengthens your legs and core.

When you groom your horse (especially currying), you are toning your arms and stabilizing your core.

When you carry your saddle, your arms, chest, and back are doing isolated strengthening work.

Being near horses, calms and makes you tune into the splendor of these empathetic animals.

When you ride at a posting trot, it’s equivalent to a slow jog calorie burn wise.

After a lesson, the riders are physically tired and mentally quiet and balanced.

Horses feel your heart beat and mirror your emotions back.

Riding large and somewhat unpredictable animals makes you resilient and pushes your expectations.

Working with horses is so much more than learning how to ride.

So parents, make your children carry their saddles. Don’t do the hard parts for them, as long term it actually hurts them. To advance with their riding, they must get stronger. You can help by doing the high parts.

I love having you all at the farm, and am so grateful to get to share these fascinating animals with you.

Hannah Campbell Zapletal

19/07/2024

☀️HEAT STROKE ☀️

I hope everyone is enjoying the sunshine! However, it is very important to also know the risks to equines with temperatures >25 degrees paired with direct sunlight.

Darker coloured Bay or Black equines are at greater risk due to the absorption of heat from their coat. Heat stroke is a common condition where the internal body temperature of the horse rises above 39.5 degrees C.

Watch out for some of these signs of your horse suffering from the heat:

- Sweat marks along Neck and Flank region
- Inappetance
- Muscle fascicultations (tremors)
- Walking 'drunk' and unable to place feet in a coordinated way
- Increased respiration
- Dullness and Lethargy

In severe cases:
- Collapse

Please feel free to contact us on our 24/7 emergency line 01652 240071 if your horse is showing any of these symptoms, and we have a vet available for advice and/or visits.

HOW TO KEEP YOUR HORSE AT LOW RISK:

* Keep horses in shade, inside a well ventilated stable, or a shaded field for the heat of the day (it is often cooler in a stable than outside!) and put them out at the end of the day/overnight.

* If the stable is hot, consider use of a fan

* Wash your horse with cool water for 10-15 minutes if you notice sweating/any symptoms.

* Ensure if your horse is turned out, there is areas of shade

* For darker coloured horses, a reflective fly sheet can
sometimes help reduce the absorption of heat from the sun.

* Lots of access to water, and can add in an apple into the water to encourage drinking (chopped up, to prevent choking hazards!)

* Rehydration/recovery mash provided at the end of the day. Often these have helpful electrolytes encouraging them to drink/rehydrate.

* Try to ride before or after the heat of the day, out of direct sun

18/07/2024