WEG Kentucky 2010

Welcome to THINK EQUESTRIAN, my name is Kim Ratcliffe. Formerly a City Corporate banker, I escaped the rat race in 2001 to take up coaching (both equestrian and human) full time. A List 1 dressage judge and British Dressage (BD) trainer, many of you will have heard my voice  from running the Radio Nationals radio station and commentary team. I also enjoy sharing my enthusiasm for the sport when training judges around the country.

 

I am now mainly in a judging and training role although I  did make a short return to the competition arena and qualified for 2 Winter Championships at Hartpury, various regional and area finals and represented Essendon & Epping Forest Dressage Group in the National Riding Club finals. My main successes were  in Dressage to Music classes which I particularly enjoy.

 

I also understand what it is like to be on the receiving end of coaching and teaching having taken up several new musical and sporting hobbies over the last few years.

 

For several years I have had an interest in Coaching skills and techniques focusing on Neuro-Linguistic Programming. I have trained with Ian McDermott, author of numerous books on NLP and one of the most highly regarded NLP trainers in the world.

 

My riding training has been wide and varied but I have found that, in the main, my preferences lie with trainers that have either originated or trained in Scandinavia (on the basis that Carl Hester's main trainer is Danish then that can be no bad thing!).

 

 

Think Equestrian is about bringing together the best in equestrian training with modern techniques to maximise the rider's performance. It incorporates a fusion of modern and classical principles of riding and seeks to help the rider to identify their strengths and areas of development.

 

Many riders find themselves under performing in the arena, losing confidence, lacking direction or becoming disillusioned with their riding or horse. The aim of Think Equestrian is to help the rider find a clearer direction and to maximise performance with clear goals.

 

My aim is to help the rider to build a strong knowledge base in dressage, ensuring their seat is working positively with the horse and helping the rider to use techniques to maintain focus and direction. The website will contain some ideas based on the philosophy that I use to coach and the topics will change regularly so come back every month for something new.

 

Every month there is a new "Goal of the month" in both ridden and performance areas for you to work with. I also recommend that all riders keep a journal, to keep a note of anything they have identified and learnt about themselves and their horse. It can also be the ideal place to record your goals and monitor your progress in an objective way.

 

Performance coaching for individuals is available through a mentoring scheme. An intital meeting is followed by regular telephone sessions to review progress, goals and issues that may have arisen.

 

 

 

I am available for regular or one off clinics and I also offer performance maximisation talks aimed at groups of riders, trainers or judges. I am available to give talks to groups of riders & judges about starting out in DTM classes as well as talks explaing What Thejudge is looking for . In addition, I also design dressage to Music floorplans at all levels 

 

A new innovation by Rona Willicott is Sound Schooling (see links) gives you reasonably priced lessons that you can download onto your mp3 player to help you whilst you are riding. I have written and recorded a warm up routine and 9 lesson topics for the site and more will follow. The main purpose is to give you focus in between lessons especially for people on limited budgets and also the majority of people who feel benefit from additional support.

 

In addition I am one of the judges on a new video-based dressage competition website Dressageanywhere.com (see links) where you can

download a video and have it judged in a competition format. This is ideal for those who have limited opportunity or budget for competing or issues with transport and also those people who are wanting to try out at a new level but would prefer to try out in more familiar surroundings.

 

 

Friday 3rd February(am)- Boynton Hall Clinic. Monks Eleigh, Suffolk (see links for booking details)

 

Friday 3rd (pm)-Saturday 4th (am) February- Clinic Queach Farm Nr Bury St Edmunds Suffolk (see links for details)

 

Sunday 5th February- Clinic (with option for Dressage to Music sessions) Woodlands Stables Sewardstone Road Chingford (contact me for bookings & details) 

 

Wednesday 15th February- Clinic NdL dressage Ley Hill Chesham(see links for details)

 

Sunday 19th February- Clinic Saddlesdene Nr Ashford Kent (see links for booking details )

 

Monday 27th February- Clinic Brook Farm Stapleford Abbots (see links for booking details or contact me)

 

BD inter-counties London viewing dates- Woodlands Stables 17th March & 8th April and Brook Farm 19th March- general clinic places also available on those dates

 

Friday 2nd March- Boynton Hall Clinic. Monks Eleigh, Suffolk (see links for booking details)

 

Sunday 4th March- Threshers clinic- Dressage to music/test riding or General training (see links for details)

 

Sunday 18th March- Clinic Saddlesdene Nr Ashford Kent (see links for booking details )

 

Monday 19th March- Clinic Brook Farm Stapleford Abbots (see links  for booking details or contact me)

 

Wednesday 21st March- Clinic NdL dressage Ley Hill Chesham(see links for details)

 

Fri 30th (pm)-Sat 31st (am) March- Clinic Queach Farm Nr Bury St Edmunds Suffolk (see links for details)

 

Saturday 31st March (pm)- Boynton Hall Clinic. Monks Eleigh, Suffolk (see links for booking details)

 

Wednesday 25th April- Clinic NdL dressage Ley Hill Chesham(see links for details)

 

Weekday clinics in Chingford- please contact me for dates

More Isle of Man clinics to be arranged for 2012- please contact me for details

If you would like to run a one off or series of clinics please contact me