With a range of world-class speakers and insightful demonstrations, make sure you don’t miss the 2018 Pony Club Coaching Conference, and if you reserve your place before 12 January you will go into a draw to win a Neue Schule bit.

Taking place at Bury Farm Equestrian Centre, Leighton Buzzard, on 12 February 2018, the event promises to be full of information for Coaches of all levels. It will count as CPD for Pony Club, British Horse Society (BHS) and British Eventing (BE) Accredited Coaches, but is open to all; you don’t have to be involved with The Pony Club, the BHS or BE to come along.

Expert speakers are confirmed as:

• Equine biomechanics expert Russell Guire, founder of Centaur Biomechanics, will be leaving no stone unturned in his talk about optimising horse performance
• Performance psychologist Charlie Unwin will be demonstrating how parents can help with their child’s mindset; how to deal with failure and success, and bad days or competitions which don’t quite go to plan
• International show jumper and trainer Matt Lanni will be running two sessions; the first dealing with issues such as rhythm, straightness, rushing and refusing, and the second, which will follow on from the first, will cover jumping exercises to create a better way of going over a course of fences
• Caroline Benoist, Manager of Research and Education at the Neue Schule Academy will be discussing how bits work from a mechanical and scientific perspective, with a focus on how bits apply poll-pressure and work on the tongue. She will then explain how the bit and bridle affect the whole horse
• Stephanie Bradley from the Society of Master Saddlers will be demonstrating how to assess whether the saddle, bridle and accessories are aiding or impeding the horse and rider

The theme of the event, which has once again been generously sponsored by The Worshipful Company of Saddlers, is ‘small change, big difference,’ and the aim is to show coaches how they can view their own training from a different angle; enabling them to get ahead and discover new ways of assisting others to reach their goals.

The event is open to all and tickets are just £40 from http://events.pcuk.org/