On Wednesday 3 April, riding instructors from across the country converged on Bishop Burton College for the Pony Club Annual Instructors’ Conference 2013.
Over 350 instructors joined the day of talks and demonstrations, entitled “Life is a Matter of Balance”. Top international coaches Eric Smiley FBHS and Chris Bartle FBHS led a packed day of demonstrations using Pony Clubs riders and horses. Sessions covered flatwork, dressage, jumping and cross country, with a Q&A at the end of each one.
Jenny Yates, Training Officer for the Pony Club, was delighted with the turnout for the Conference. She said,
“Our aim is to inspire. We have two Olympic coaches here and hopefully all the instructors will take away what they learn today to their separate areas and pass it on even further.”
On the theme of balance, Chris Bartle talked about the importance of dressage training for all disciplines, advising riders to ride their show jumping round like a dressage test, breaking it down into movements. During the dressage session, Eric Smiley challenged the prioritisation of bend, saying that straightness was the most important aspect of a horse’s movement.
Freelance Pony Club Instructor and Examiner, Christine Freer, attended the conference and said,
“It has been a very interesting day. The two instructors have been excellent, with a depth of knowledge and I’ve got more and more into it as the day has gone on. The challenge for us as instructors on the ground is to find ways to translate what we’ve been shown to the riders we teach. We pick up tips here that we can use and adapt to our own situations.”
Eric Smiley has represented Ireland at all levels of international competitions throughout Europe, the World Equestrian Games and been on four Olympic Teams. A passionate and enthusiastic teacher, he was coach to the 2012 Belgian Eventing Team.
Chris Bartle has competed internationally in both dressage and eventing, including as a member of medal-winning teams at Olympic and European Championship level. He is currently National Coach to the German Olympic Three Day Event Team, as well as coaching many individual British riders.
