Wednesday, 04 February 2026
On 2–3 February, high-performing coaches working within the youth development pathways for dressage, eventing, jumping and para dressage came together for British Equestrian’s fifth annual Youth Pathway Coaching Seminar. The two-day seminar was this time held at the British Triathlon hub at Loughborough University. Around 30 coaches were in attendance, following nomination by the national governing bodies of British Dressage, British Eventing and British Showjumping.
Day one focused on equestrian-specific issues. British Equestrian’s Head of Performance Pathways, David Hamer, opened proceedings with a session on the coach’s role in social licence and the social value of equestrian sport. With ongoing debate around the public’s acceptance of horses in sport, attendees were asked to consider how coaches can be ambassadors and educators in this area.
Next up was Dr. Victoria Lewis, a senior lecturer in equestrian sport science at Hartpury University. Her interactive session explained the current understanding of equine learning theory – how horses learn – and promoted discussion with the coaches on how to tailor their coaching strategies to reflect this when working with youth athletes.
The final session of the first day was hosted by vet Dr. Rachel Murray, where she shared recent research findings on the impact of tack and how it feeds into equine welfare. Rachel, who has been influential in a number of tack fit studies, spoke about how best to educate youth riders on the importance of correctly saddlery, and specifically, fitting nosebands, saddles and breastplates, and the rules around this.
The second day broadened the focus to a wider sporting context. After an opportunity to observe a swim training session with the Olympic and Paralympic triathlon team, the coaches returned to the classroom for a talk by Tom Hodgkinson, the Head of Paratriathlon at British Triathlon, which uses Loughborough University as one of its bases. Tom shared the sport’s performance strategy at both Olympic and Paralympic level, which forms the basis for the structures and processes used in their pathways. The coaches were given an insight into the athlete mapping – or profiling – model that the sport uses, which brought about some interesting discussion about the cultural differences between triathlon and equestrian.
Sports and performance psychologist Chris Marshall – who works with Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club and rugby union club Leicester Tigers – held the next session, which focused on generational diversity, how it influences performance sport and the key principles for working well with young people. Chris questioned the relevance of generational labels against the typical behaviours that characterize adolescence, which he combined with some stark data that shows the behavioural shifts in young people over time.
The final classroom session of the day was hosted by Dr. Ed Cope, a senior lecturer in sports coaching at Loughborough University. His topic was what constitutes high-quality, effective feedback and the impact that this has on athlete learning and wellbeing. The coaches were asked to consider feedback that they’d received at some point in their lives and whether it had helped them to grow or develop. The importance of the athlete-coach relationship and understanding the context of the situation were among the key ideas under discussion.
The seminar concluded with a tour of the state-of-the-art sports facilities at Loughborough University, including the swimming pool, gyms, indoor athletics centre and sports halls. The university is a training base for a number of Olympic and Paralympic athletes, including blade runner Johnnie Peacock, heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson, swimmer Adam Peaty and triathlete Alex Yee.
Showjumping coach Mia Palles-Clark, who has attended a number of Youth Pathway Coaching seminars, was quick to explain why they’re so important.
“The content is always so valuable, interesting and diverse, and it stretches the mind,” she explained. “Often, the topics we’re covering are quite deep and complex – my brain hurts from this morning! – but everyone is really open to that and tuned in. These seminars challenge your thinking and give you an opportunity to reset.
“Coaches coach, and all of those processes are relevant, no matter what sport, but it’s interesting to take what’s happening in other sports and see if I can apply that to what I’m doing. I always come away feeling really intrigued and interested. The sessions on generational diversity and giving feedback put context on what you feel and talk about in your coaching world – knowing that there’s the science and statistics to back up that feeling helps you to understand it.
“It’s also the most awesome way to get together with colleagues and organically talk about what’s going on your world, which is an opportunity we don’t often get. Coaching can be very isolated, so those conversations that you have round the table – with coaches from other disciplines as well as your own – are so important.”
David Hamer, Head of Performance Pathways, oversees the running of the seminar series. He explained: “As pathway leaders, our responsibility is to set the tone for what great coaching looks like. Bringing our youth coaches together across disciplines and sports creates a powerful space to challenge thinking, raise standards and put equine welfare at the heart of everything we do.
“This seminar was a reminder that coaching young people and horses is a privilege that comes with significant responsibility. By uniting coaches from across the equestrian pathway – and learning from world‑class environments such as British Triathlon – we strengthened our collective understanding of welfare, communication, and athlete‑centred coaching.
“Seeing our youth pathway coaches engage so openly with new ideas, science and cross‑sport best practice was incredibly inspiring. When we invest in the growth of our coaches, we elevate the entire pathway – improving welfare, enriching the rider experience and setting higher standards for the next generation. The learning, curiosity, and collaboration shown over these two days will have a lasting impact on how we support young riders, horses and future talent.”
Funded by Sport England and developed in collaboration with British Equestrian’s Olympic and Paralympic member bodies, the Youth Pathway Coaching seminar series has been designed to give coaches currently working within the youth pathways greater insight into holistic approaches to athlete development, which nurtures potential from a young age and promotes health and wellbeing.