Laura Kelland-May Expert Equestrian Coach, Knitting Enthusiast, and World Traveler: Equipping Riders for Success In and Out of the Saddle. Laura takes great pride in developing all types of equestrians. “I specialize in developing adult riders into confident equestrians”. She draws on her experience as a NCCP Certified Coach, Equestrian Canada Senior Judge and horse owner to provide a safe and supportive environment for riders of all levels. People come to me and say, “flatwork is too boring. I don’t know what to do”. Or, “I’m worried I’m doing it wrong, and I’ll ruin my horse.” Hi, I’m Laura When I was twelve I knew for certain I was going to the olympics. After all, I did have my own horse and I won a lot of trophies and championships at the local fair. I rode a lot and jumped over the fences rather than open the gate to leave the paddock. What happened? As a young adult, I got a reality check when I left my small town in eastern Canada to train in England. I figured I was still at the top of my riding game but I became more interested in teaching, coaching and developing other riders and horses. As I pursued my coaching and teaching I trained my eye by going to the best trainers and watching, learning and asking questions. I could see a trend and a foundation that was required for being an effective balanced rider. I also applied my formal education as an engineer to the science of riding. Figuring out angles, balance and centre of gravity and applying it to rider bio-mechanics. It became clear to me that people could become more effective with their riding if they understood that how they sat and used their bodies could be a benefit or a hindrance to their horses. It was one of those light bulb moments. I wondered why no one had shared this before. That’s when I started to develop my own systematic training process, developing a plan to bring riders along and blossom into effective, confident riders and trainers of their own horses. I started developing programs for people who didn’t have their own coach, or couldn’t get a coach in their area. From there I connected with people from all over the world to establish a foundation that some people were missing.The foundation of correct riding and being in balance with their horse. EXPERIENCE Equestrian Coach/Riding Instructor, Certified Coach High Performance Trained Equestrian Canada - Senior Judge, Senior Steward WHAT I DO Develop individualized training and recovery plans for each horse and rider athlete. Analyse athlete performance and monitoring progress. Prepare athletes for competition. Analyze performance and on-line position reviews YouTube. EDUCATION Nova Scotia Coach Symposium March 2024, Turo Coach Symposium March 2023, Toronto NCCP High Performance Training, Ottawa EC Randy Roy Hunter Judge Promotion and Maintenance Clinic, Royal Winter Fair, Toronto EC Lisa Osachoff Online Promotion and Maintenance Clinic for Jumper Judges, On line Judging National Dressage Tests - Judges Seminar in partnership with Black Horse One, On line