Online Coaching

 

figure-man-stand-back-pain

6 Week Strong & Stable Back Support Package

Thousands of riders struggle with back pain and injury.  Is your back letting you down or keeping you from riding like you really want to?  

Imagine riding without back pain, supporting your horse with your seat so that he is light and off his forehand. Imagine clearer, stronger aids improving your harmony with your horse, and his performance.

With this training program you will:

  • Identify your unique compensating patterns 
  • Pinpoint your strategic training areas
  • Develop physical skills for protecting and supporting your back
  • Integrate a stronger core with your riding

Training is suitable for and has been successful with riders across disciplines, from amateur to professional.

Package includes:

  • Analysis of your riding video
  • Personal assessment and training program
  • Copy of Killer Core Workout for Riders ebook
  • Weekly one-on-one online coaching with rider fitness expert and certified riding instructor, Dr. Heather Sansom (sessions can be rescheduled past the 6 weeks if necessary)
  • Email support between sessions

$897 Cdn (value $1200)

All Fees are in Canadian Funds

(American and European amounts: over 30% lower !)

CONTACT HEATHER to ask Questions

 

Complete Training up the Rider Fitness Training Scale

 

 

 

FittoRideFinalFrontRIDER FITNESS Training Scale (Compatibility Mode)

12 Week Rider Fitness Transformation

Have you paid hundreds or thousands of dollars on new equipment, treatments for your horse, and riding lessons that feel like the same riding lesson over and over? You are stuck, can't seem to shift the needle on your progress, and are not ready to give up on your horse or yourself? 

Imagine being fitter and more in tune with your horse than you have in a long time. Imagine riding smarter, instead of harder just by adjusting yourself and the way your body works in the saddle.

This program is a companion to the internationally popular text by Dr. Heather Sansom, Fit to Ride in Nine Weeks.  You will get personalized support to prepare you to take on the training plan, and ongoing personalization as you adapt the program to your unique needs.  This will give you more time to adapt and adjust at your own pace.

With this training program you will:

  • Clearly identify and prioritize your physical fitness, wellbeing and mindset goals 
  • Develop strength and stamina as you rise through the rider fitness training scale
  • Create strategies for playing to your strengths and maintaining fitness in the future

Training is suitable for and has been successful with riders across disciplines, from amateur to professional.

Package includes:

  • Analysis of your riding at several intervals (video, or live online)
  • Personal assessment and personalized training plan adjustments throughout
  • Up to 8 one-on-one online coaching sessions with rider fitness expert and certified riding instructor, Dr. Heather Sansom 
  • Email support between sessions

$1197 Cdn (value $1500)

All Fees are in Canadian Funds

(American and European amounts: over 30% lower !)

CONTACT HEATHER to ask Questions

Recover or Manage Conditions, Improve Your Balance & Coordination

COVER Gentle Workout for Mature Riders-4

8 Week TLC (Training Learning Compassion)

Are you a rider who has struggled with a chronic condition? Recovering from injury? Never thought of yourself as an athlete?

Imagine finding muscles and skills you never knew you had, improving your balance, and making some of your riding dreams come true even though you don't fit the mainstream fitness mould.

This program draws on Dr. Heather Sansom's extensive experience in therapeutic recreation, back care and rehabilitative conditioning. You get highly individualized support that helps you take care of your unique challenges while steadily moving closer to the effectiveness and comfort you'd like to have in the saddle.   

With this training program you will:

  • Integrate your mindset and physical health limits and needs to be a better rider
  • Improve flexibility, co-ordination, and balance
  • Learn strategies for managing and adjusting your training to your needs in the future

Training is suitable for and has been successful with riders across disciplines, para-equestrians, riders with injury, older ('mature') riders, and riders with chronic health conditions.

Package includes:

  • Analysis of a riding video or photos
  • Personal assessment and personalized training plan adjustments throughout
  • A copy of the rider fitness ebook that best matches your needs
  • Up to 8 one-on-one online coaching half-sessions (or 4 full sessions) with rider fitness expert and certified riding instructor, Dr. Heather Sansom 
  • Email support between sessions

$597 Cdn (value $900)

All Fees are in Canadian Funds

(American and European amounts: over 30% lower !)

CONTACT HEATHER to ask Questions

Rave Client Reviews- all over the world

Did you know I've worked with clients successfully all over the world? Online coaching even uses technology in ways that can make training BETTER than in person training, because you can see yourself in the Skype image. And, I can freeze frame video you send me to show you exactly what I'm seeing.

"This is GREAT! I can see where this is going. It makes a lot of sense. I'm really looking forward to this." Online Client, France (dressage)

"I watched a recent video of myself riding and was shocked at the positive changes in my lateral stability and leg position over the fence. I feel much more solid in the saddle and my horses are grateful for it!"  Katie, online client, USA (professional show jumping rider, talking about some asymmetries and leg position issues her fitness program was addressing)

READ MORE RIDER TESTIMONIALS

 

Customized Online Coaching is an Option

online coachingNow that you are clear on  your needs (have you identified your rider profile?), it's time to chat because the thing standing between you and moving forward is a plan. And some accountability to keep you on track, with frequent changes to keep you moving forward. How long do the benefits of a clinic last? Not that long, usually. I've done it: fly in, really help..and then  you're on your own.  When the clinician is gone, what gets you your results is the training that happens every week.  How much would it cost you to have a physio therapist or personal trainer drive out every week to your stable or home? And what about when you travel? 

Guess what?  You don't have to wait for or pay travel expenses for Heather to come to your area physically.  Using Skype or other technology, you can bring her in for a workshop, talk, small group or personal one-on-one coaching.  And, travel doesn't matter. You can keep progressing, wherever you are: stable, horse show circuit, home or in a hotel room abroad. Accessing a specialist to help you reach your goals was never this easy! Actually, it’s the perfect solution for when you can’t ride. By keeping your own physical training up, you’re ready to go the next time you’re in the saddle- and you'll make the most of it.

Online Training: Personalize Your Progress

Unless you are participating in small or semi-private online coaching groups, your training plan and coaching emphasis will be highly personalized.  Think of it like ordering a coffee at your favourite high end café: while everyone is different, there are some standard variables that shape your training solution.  With rider fitness, some of those key variables are : your age, medical conditions, riding discipline, level of fitness, time available, and where you are on the amateur-to-professional spectrum in terms of experience in the saddle and amount of time spent working with horses each week. (Have you identified your rider profile?)

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All these variables are the reasons that explain why personalized training is always more effective. It’s just like your training plan for your horse.  Group programs can be very effective as well, and Equifitt will be offering some soon. However, a personal program helps you really target your needs and get momentum in your riding.

Heather has worked successfully with clients across the US and Canada, and in 5 other continents.    Contact Heather to discuss your needs and her availability.

An initial conversation is complementary, and will give you the information you need to know if online coaching is the right next step for you.

 

Some Online Coaching FAQs

Away for Vacation or Need More Time? No Problem!

All Equifitt personal online coaching packages can be used as once weekly training, biweekly, or even longer intervals to stretch out your dollar, depending on what will be the best way to support your progress.  You can interrupt  your training for vacation…or bring me with you virtually on the road so that travel and competition schedules do not have to slow your progress.  Assuming that cancellation and rescheduling are respectful, your sessions aren’t lost when the time period indicated in the package is over. Most clients actually stretch their training packages.

A Stitch in Time (saves nine)…You are Giving Yourself Freedom

The reason you are investing in yourself this way, is to see progress.  You can think of coaching in a similar way to investing on a better quality roof or paint for your house- it helps you get more out of your other investments.  When you have more stamina, better posture and body-awareness, and clearer aids, you make every minute in the saddle count more.  You get more out of your time in riding lessons and  on your horse, and more out of your money spent on competitions.  Even if you are not a competitive rider, you put a lot into riding, and you want to ride and enjoy your horses for as long as possible.  As long as the training is balanced and matches your needs, it is an investment in your own quality of life for the next decades.

So How Does it Work?

  1. Decide which coaching package most describes your situation below. Ie: Urban Rider, Rural Rider, etc…
  2. Figure out ideally how long you’d love to have coaching support…and then balance that with your budget. Keep in mind all fees are in Canadian dollars, which means an instant discount for American, European and Australian clients.
  3. Contact me and let me know a bit about your riding and what you are hoping to accomplish. We’ll set up a Skype call to discuss your needs, and so you can ask questions. 
  4. If you’re ready to go ahead, we’ll go from there.

What About Discipline?
I work with riders in almost ALL disciplines.  I am a certified riding coach AND Centered Riding instructor (in addition to fitness coach and outdoor leader), so I am trained to work with you in the saddle as well as on the ground. Mounted sessions focus more on how you are using your body than the average riding lesson does, where the trainer is more focused on what you are getting the horse to do.

However, the purpose of fine tuning your movement and carriage is to have an impact on the horse. Horses always show us when we are being more effective.  When your body usage improves, the horse’s performance also improves.  What I do is complementary to your horse trainer or riding coach’s instruction, even if you ride a different discipline than I do. In addition to body-work for riders, I can also coach basic equitation and horsemanship skills for leisure riders, and coach Dressage.  More info about my background.

Because I am qualified to coach riders in the saddle, the ground exercises I select for clients link directly with your riding needs.  Also, the reason some riders who do fitness activities feel that their fitness is not linking directly to their riding, is because the mind separates the two. When you are in the gym, you might have great abs- that don’t seem to engage properly when you’re riding.  I work with riders to bridge that gap.

What About My Favourite Exercise Class?
You can read more about the Equifitt approach to fitness and conditioning on the Fitness page, and the Equestrian coaching and fitness page.  To summarize it here, your Equifitt program might INCLUDE you continuing to do favourite activities you are already doing, and then fill in the puzzle pieces you are missing. Or, you might get a whole new training plan that covers strength, cardio-vascular fitness, flexibility, balance and co-ordination. It all depends on what bases you have covered well already, and where the gaps are.

What if I Don’t Have a Gym at Home?
Again, you can read more on the fitness and Equestrian pages, but the short answer is that you don’t need to. Your program is designed to work with the spaces and equipment that are accessible to you. In fact, MOST Equifitt clients train in small home based spaces with inexpensive and light equipment because driving to a gym or buying machines is just not going to work for them. If you do go to a gym, hourah! We can design your plan to incorporate the things you can do there as well.

CONTACT HEATHER NOW