Kill International Equestrian Centre in the village of Kill, County Kildare was the place today if you have any interest in horses at all - whether you are a full time Coach, a competitive rider, a pony club or riding club rider or a parent of a rider or have any other interest in horses the Equestrian Federation of Ireland's Spring Workshop was incredibly informative and useful!

Let me start with a bit of background for those who do not know what the Coaching Scheme is all about - in 1991 the National Coaching and Training Centre was established in Ireland at Limerick University campus and one of its main objectives is to provide support for the development of coaching. In 1993 the National Coaching Development Programme was established and the EFI is one of 60 governing bodies in Ireland that have become part of the developing NCTC programme.

Worldwide, equestrian sport is recognising the need for fully trained coaches/tutors, in line with so many other sports. For many years equestrian sports have been run and coached by a dedicated band of parents, volunteers and general supporters many of whom had no formal training themselves and of recent times, and for many reasons which can be, and are, debated in many communities around the world it has been recognised that this had to change.

In Ireland the Coaching Scheme had it's beginnings in 1996 when the EFI offered it's first Introduction to Coaching Seminar and in 1998 the first Level 1 coaches were trained and accredited and it is going from strength to strength and having watched todays workshop and chatted at length with the lady who is "in charge", Allison Corbally I realised that the Irish system seems to be way ahead of many other countries even though they may appear to be behind! The Scheme in Ireland will eventually see a four tiered structure from Level 1 through to Level 4 bt at present they only offer Levels 1 and 2 as they are keen to ensure that they have it right at all levels, with all coaches coming through the system being trained to the same standard.

What I have noticed in some other countries is that they have brought in these Coaching Schemes for all Levels and many people were perhaps given a Level higher than they perhaps really were ready for as the syllabus was not fully thought through.

The EFI see the progression of a coach with the required skills from Level 1 through to 3 will take a minimum of four years. Level 4 is for International Coaches and obviously this will have a high requirement of International competition attached to it.

So to the format for today - we started the morning in the Indoor arena where Gisela Holstein "taught" a lesson to daughter, Heike Holstein, who will be representing Ireland in Athens in August this year in the Dressage and son, Eric Holstein who was one of Ireland's top International showjumpers prior to hanging up his spurs. Both riders were "taught" by Gisela, who would then take a break from "teaching" and address the participants of the workshop discussing what had just happened in the "lesson". It was a brilliant way to "learn to teach" as both Heike and Eric are exceptional riders and were able to "make mistakes" as required for the benefit of the aspiring coaches. This gave a very hands on feel to the session and you were learning both from the way Gisela herself coaches, picking up a huge number of tips for making things work and also learning how to "caress a student into learning".

a qualified coach and gave example of this by discussing with the participants how one goes about finding out "why would such a top International showjumper as Paul come to a dressage trainer like myself and what does he hope to achieve from his lesson" - I will not go into the details of what was discussed - this is something which you must make a point of not missing next time one of these workshops comes around - then you will see first hand how informative and worthwhile the day is for you, whatever your interest in horses is!

After Gisela finished her sessions, Gerry Mullins took over - and his first lesson of the day consisted of a Riding Club rider, who I suspect had not before had training from someone like Gerry before - and again this was in the interests of the participants - as it showed how a well trained "trainer" can coach at any level, from the beginner through to the International competitor. The improvement in Claire's work was noticeable at the end of the session - so there was the proof of the difference coaching of exellence can make.

Everyone enjoyed a lunch break then and an opportunity to discuss what they had learned in the morning and then it was to the outdoor we went to see Gerry work with three showjumpers, Paul O'Shea, Lt. Brian Curran-Curnane and Ronan McLaughlin and they were on three very different horses - one a 5 year old green horse, a 12 year old Irish horse and an experienced German bred horse. Gerry began with a track of "poles on the ground" which then progressed to a full course and again the improvement in all three horses was remarkable.

Left we see Gerry Mullins giving some "hands on" teaching,k showing Paul exactly what it is he is asking for and right we see Gerry in the "teaching mode" as he helps a rider through the grid he has set up.

Gerry Mullins was not only one of Ireland's top International showjumpers but he is also an exceptional coach - I have had the privelage of watching this man coach "for real" and he is a master and the proof is in the huge success of the Irish Army's School of Equitation successes at National and International level

And now you may be wondering what on earth the title of this report means - well the philosophy of the EFI Coaching Scheme is to teach by the IDEA - which is one of those little "buzz calls" - but it is one which makes enormous sense and both Gisela and Gerry showed how it is used in training riders. IDEA stands for I = Introduction (introduce the topic to yur student - make sure they understand and you understand what it is to be achieved by the end of the session) D = Demonstration (either by way of a more experienced horse and rider combination, video, using your own body to demonstrate etc) E = Explain (explain how things are to be done and achieved) A = Analysis (analyse whether the horse and rider are doing things correctly and analyse what can be done to improve things) .

Well I certainly feel like I have an IDEA now - do you? If not make sure you make the time to attend the next EFI Coaches Workshop - and for those who think this whole experience may simply be too intimidating because you might not be an International or National rider or coach - forget it!!!! This was the most friendly and inspiring Workshop I have ever attended and I could not recommend it highly enough!

For those not living in Ireland but perhaps planning a holiday here I would even go so far as to suggest that you get in touch with the EFI and find out when the next Workshops will be held and plan your trip around it - you will be pleased you did it!!!!

For further information about the EFI and their Coaching Scheme click here to go to their web site.