Wiola has an informative blog and website in England.  Her blog is at freelanceinstructorsdiary.blogspot.com and her website can be found at equestriantrainer.co.uk.   Check them out – we think you will enjoy them!

Wiola’s Bio:

I was born in February 1979 in Lodz in Poland. It wasn’t until I was about 14 years old that an injection of finances allowed me to take a greater interest in the equestrian sport. After spending some time helping out in a local riding school I went on to train with one of the best Polish show jumpers, Grzegorz Kubiak based at the Boguslawice Stud at the time. With my own Trakhener stallion and other horses from the Stud we trained and competed in show jumping up to the 1.20m and I completed the third sport class in 1998.

Serious knee problems forced me to back off the competition arena. I concentrated on work behind the scenes, produced my other young stallion, Szafir, worked as an instructor, yard manager and schooled other people’s horses. After graduating in 2003, I took a year out and travelled around the UK. I wanted to experience equestrianism abroad so I could go back richer in knowledge and skills. I planned to set up a competition/training livery yard upon my return. This has never happened as while in London in November 2004 I met my partner and we decided to settle in the UK. Despite my initial worries about a permanent life in England and about abandoning my plans I could not have imagined a better turn of circumstances. Finding the best man in the world does not happen very often!

Coming back to show jumping after 6 years of flatwork proved a hard test and made me think more about various training methods and coaching principles in equestrian sport. I decided to take British Horse Society exams to qualify as a BHS Equine Coach. I received the Level 3 certificate in 2006 and I am planning to take further exams in 2007. This has given me much needed confidence to teach in English! It can be a very frustrating experience not to be able to express yourself and explain things with a quality you are used to. Many times I have felt like a layman among professionals and struggled to pass meaningful comments. There are still moments I wished I could communicate better but I am glad the worst period is over and things are getting easier when the right words are more familiar.

In order to take my knowledge and skills to the next level I decided to study part-time on BSc (Hons) Equine Sports Science at Hartpury College (University of the West of England).

Education, Experience etc in a nutshell:

• Involved in the equestrian world since 1987
• Teaching riding since 1996
• BHS Level 3 Equine Coach
• Trained with an Olympic rider and competed in show jumping (1996 – 2000)
• Livery Yard Manager – 2.5 years
• MSc (Dist.) Management & Marketing (dissertation on Public Relations matters) (1998-2003)
• Part-time student on BSc (Hons) Equine Sport Science, Hartpury College