COACH OF THE MONTH Nadine Merewether
COACH OF THE MONTH is a regular Education series on our website. It is a way of highlighting the EA coaches and educators who work with dedication and passion all over Australia.
Nadine or 'Niddy' – as she is known, is married with one child, 2 grandchildren and is probably one of Western Australia’s most credentialed equestrian coaches, a former examiner and dressage judge. Although no longer competing, Nadine coaches all level competitors in a variety of disciplines. Nadine is an EA Level 3 General Coach and was previously a Level 3 Coach Educator.
Although now retired from these roles, she has been an EA National ‘A’ Level Dressage Judge and Judge Mentor. Nadine holds certificates with the British Horse Society (BHS) for the BHSI Stable Management and Equitation and has the British National Pony Society Diploma.
Nadine, who comes from a farming family in Bridgetown showed an interest in riding at 5 years old and was rapidly given an old stock horse to start riding. However, the little girl didn’t receive a saddle until she was 7 so that gave her very good riding skills at a young age thanks to the bareback riding around the farm!
She became involved with the Mayanup Pony Club and was a member of the team representing Australia that competed at the Inter-Pacific Exchange in New Zealand and was the third Western Australia to be chosen to take part in this prestigious bi-annual International event, and two years later, was the second person in WA to achieve their Pony Club ‘A’ Certificate and it was within Pony Club that the interest in coaching began.
Nadine competed successfully in Show Horse, Dressage and Eventing before specializing in Dressage and produced a number of successful horses. She has also ridden successfully in competition at state and national level. She trained and rode the Lipizzana stallion 'Pluto Nimo XII ' owned by Georgina Beard, through to Prix St Georges and gave many memorable long reining dressage displays with him.
Robert van Helvoort, owner of Barrabadeen, first Warmblood Stud in WA, contacted Nadine to ask her to train and compete the Holsteiners that had been breed at the stud from imported stock by his late father Andre Van Helvoort.
Nadine produced and rode a number of successful Barrabadeen dressage horses including ‘Barrabadeen Kadett', who was successful up to Advanced and 'Barrabadeen Andre'. However, the horse Nadine will always be remembered for was ‘Barrabadeen Troubador’. He was the first Warmblood Holsteiner to win at Grand Prix level in Australia. Winning major competitions they competed in the 2002 Australian Dressage Championship in Sydney and were on the National Dressage squad list.
As a coach, Nadine enjoys seeing people improve their knowledge and riding skills and is known for her observation skills and a keen eye for detail. She enjoys seeing how far she can motivate riders to be the best they can be; "as riders, judges or coaches we must all be committed to improving our knowledge and skills for the welfare of the horse and progression of our sport; to be responsible for our own development in or out of the competitive field."
Nadine is the author of Ground Plan Lessons for Coaches and Riders workbook, which was developed with the Pony Club Association of WA Coaching Panel to assist their Coaches in planning and making lessons more interesting for riders, preparing their lessons ahead of time and setting-up an arena in which riders can be challenged to improve their riding skills whilst enjoying their riding.
In her spare time, Nadine plays with her grandchildren around the farm, with their Appaloosa Mini pony, 'Sammy' the wonder pony, and ‘Chief’ the family goat. "There's a huge amount to do on the property, it keeps us all very busy".
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