April Coach of the Month: Jamie Smith

Each month we recognise and celebrate one of the amazing coaches in our Equestrian community.

This April, we look to Tasmania, where Dressage Coach, Jamie Smith recieves the Coach of the Month Award.

Jamie's coaching journey stemmed from a non-horsey background. You can read the interview here.

How did you get involved in Equestrian?

I’m from a non-horse background. My sister got into horses first, her best friend in primary school, her grandfather bred Welsh mountain ponies and my sister used to go to the farm with her and ride the ponies.

We grew up in suburbia, my next-door neighbours ended up with a horse and I used to follow them around everywhere on foot until I was brave enough to hop on and have a ride.

A pony became available at the farm of our friend’s grandfather, so I started going up there and riding. We would catch the bus to the farm after school, and on weekends we would walk the 5-6km to the farm to ride and spend the day there, feeding out, fencing, handling young horses etc. Mum would come and collect us at the end of the day.

Our friend’s grandfather would take us all in the horse truck to Pony Club. We were only allowed to have saddles for Pony Club, it was bareback riding the rest of the time.

I somehow became the person who rode all the crazy/naughty horses and ended up breaking horses in and schooling them. That’s partly how I ended up coaching.

What inspired you to become a coach?

I started coaching a bit at pony club rallies, often after the lunch break, due to no coach being available- mostly with the younger riders. I never really thought ‘I’ want to be a coach’ it just sort of happened.

That rewarding feeling and the smile on a rider and horses face when something improved made me want to help riders more.

Where do you coach? Which Club/Venue?

I coach regularly at a few Pony Clubs in the Northwest and Northern Tasmania, as well as the occasional event in Southern Tasmania. I coach at training days for Dressage Tasmania as well.

I’m lucky enough to have access to 2 fantastic local indoor facilities owned by close friends. I conduct private lessons from these indoors a few days per week. 

What is your coaching philosophy?

Everyone can improve- every rider and every horse!! You just have to have a growth mindset and not give up.

Any improvement no matter how small, is still improvement. I want riders to think like a horse, be empathetic and clear to the horse regarding what they want the horse to do.

What is the most important lesson you can teach a student?

Be patient, and see things from the horses point of view and not to ‘humanise’ the horse or the experience (don’t take it personally when a horse offers resistance)

Be a horseman first and rider second.

What keeps you coming back for more?

Seeing horses and riders grow in confidence and improve their skills. The smiles and the light bulb moments.

What coaching challenges have you overcome?

Coaching can always be challenging dependant on the horse and rider and situation you have in front of you. However, that’s the part I enjoy.

I have coached riders who ‘hate’ dressage or flatwork…..showing them that it can be fun and giving them a bit of knowledge can make such a difference.

Conducting pole lessons at a big agricultural field day here in Tassie with a larger and non-horse related audience was a personal challenge for me.

What advice would you give to those thinking of becoming a coach?

Go for it. There can be challenges and times when you may question why you do it, but coaching is so rewarding, the good always outweighs the negative.

Find a good coach educator to help you get started.