Coach of the Month - September 2023

Sarah Venamore is an EA Level 1 General Coach, Level 2 Dressage and Vaulting Coach as well as being a Coach Educator and has been nominated as our EA Coach of the month.  We caught up with Sarah to find out more about her background and coaching philosophy:

How did you get involved in Equestrian?
I started trail riding at a riding school when I was 17, and was definitely one of their most terrified riders! Also, however one of their most committed riders and realised that conquering my fear led to an amazing enjoyment and endless new experiences.

What inspired you to become a coach?
My parents were probably not terribly thrilled that I was heading down this track, however they were wonderfully supportive once they realised I wasn’t going to give up and sent me overseas to train with Molly Sivewright  where I improved my riding and started my coach training. I had always enjoyed sharing knowledge, so to have a clear technique was wonderful for me. I returned home and ran a riding centre in Queensland where I started my EA coaching career. I also starting teaching Vaulting in Qld, and then progressed to my Level 2 Vaulting. I had been doing some Jumping, completing my Level 1 General while I was up there. I then moved out west before moving to the Southern Highlands and running an Equestrian Center there continuing the Vaulting coaching and moving to mainly Dressage coaching. I was asked to be the NSW State Pony Club Dressage Coach at this stage, I accepted and still hold that position to this day. I then moved to Armidale, running the NEGS Equestrian Centre and completed my Level 2 Dressage at the same time. I now live in Leeton and coach from there and around NSW and Australia.

Where do you coach? Club/Venue?
I run my own business, Equiste and have done for 30 plus years, without giving the age away!  Equiste is an agistment centre and where I take horses for training, give private lessons, run Ladies Camps, Young Riders camps, and EA Coach Educating Clinics. My business has morphed into online training and I take many PIVO lessons during the week and weekends as I can then teach wherever I am.

What is your coaching philosophy?
From my website, I promote passion, growth, and devotion leading to success, as I find with these at the fore front of, mine and my students mind we train with the horse’s welfare which leads to a cohesive partnership between us all.

What is the most important lesson you can teach a student?
We say ‘use the exercise to train the horse!’, don’t get involved with your emotions when the horse is having trouble, just work through the exercises your coach has given you, it keeps everyone happy and improving. As my students often hear –‘ If you fail to plan…..you can plan to fail’, your horse needs a clear plan so you both enjoy the pathway to success.

What keeps you coming back for more?
It’s my life drug!! I love showing students a pathway and hearing of their success, and I have a range of riders- so it’s a range of different teaching techniques I use. I have riders who are nervous about getting on a horse again to those winning at state level and national level.

What coaching challenges have you overcome?
I have had a couple of heart in mouth moments from teaching a lovely girl with no arms and legs vaulting to many riders who have intellectual disabilities and as that is something we haven’t specifically been trained in, I found I had to develop a system that was progressive yet fun. I used my EA training as a basis and now have quite a few riders who are happily training with me is this area.

One of the challenges that I came into fairly early on as I was running riding schools, was finding exercises to keep the ride working successfully as a group and improving their riding at the same time. Í researched exercises and then started making up my own, which culminated in my two books “The Right Track 1 and 11“. I still use the exercises with my groups and individual lessons (and my own horses when they need to have another ‘Right Track’ reminder. 

What advice would you give to those thinking of becoming a coach?
I love it, but it’s a way of life. It’s not about the money, and I regularly wish that I didn’t have to charge for lessons and clinics, as I truly enjoy what I do. There is nothing better than watching riders have ‘a light bulb’ moment, and the many hours you put in are well worth it.

I would say it’s a journey you need to travel with an open mind, ready to learn more techniques to share with others. You need a thirst for knowledge as many coaches have great ideas and new exercises, I embrace these and work through them to decide if they fit with my ethos and then accept and adapt for my clients and myself.

It’s the life skill balance that becomes tricky, I love competing, but have found my coaching takes over partially because I also enjoy that too, so it’s a 7 day week for me. If you enjoy being with people and horses, and working all sorts of hours, then this is the job for you….but be prepared, I did get a phone call one Christmas morning booking a lesson! 

Just to finish on a positive – you can mix business with pleasure, as this year I won the Leeton Micro Business Award and was a finalist in the Australian Women’s Business awards in the Education Section and am now a finalist in the Riverina Micro Business Award Section. Strive for Success!!