Coaching, Data and Judgement: Conversations from the Dutch Masters

Exploring how technology, coaching expertise and rider insight might work together in equestrian sport.

This was my first visit to The Dutch Masters. What stood out immediately was the atmosphere.

The Coaching Forum brought together coaches and people working in equestrian technology, including Richard Davison, Di Lampard MBE, Laurens van Lieren, Wout Jan van der Schans, François Mathy Jr. and Leon Rutten of Equestic.

From the moment the conversation moved into practical examples from coaching and competition, I was completely absorbed.

What can technology tell us about what is happening in the arena?

Data can show patterns. It can record change and give riders and coaches information that might be difficult to see from a single training session.

But then come the questions.

What was the rider trying to do? What did they feel? What did the coach see? How did the horse respond?

That was one of the things I found most interesting about the forum. The technology could add information to the conversation without having to become the conversation.

Artificial intelligence came into the discussion too, including the possibility that it might one day help analyse competition performances or identify patterns within collective marks.

As a dressage judge as well as a coach, that gave me plenty to think about.

Between Lessons 

At the end of the forum, Equestic introduced Equestic Coach Co-Pilot,  designed to capture parts of a training session, transcribe key points and give riders and coaches something they can return to afterwards.

That caught my attention.

A lesson can contain a lot. There is what your coach says, what you feel, how your horse responds and those moments when something suddenly makes sense.

What happens to all of that when the lesson finishes?

I have been thinking about the spaces between rides and between coaching sessions through my work at Equestrian Heroes, so I was particularly interested to see another approach to that same space.

Technology can help us capture information and return to it. The interesting part is what horse, rider and coach do with it next.

I came away from The Dutch Masters with more questions than answers and that is exciting.