Hello, my name is Leanne Wall. I am 38-years-old and I was born in Devon, but now live in Kent.

I specialise in dressage. I am a British Dressage list one judge and a British junior and young rider team selector. I train a wide variety of clients, from grass roots to International Championship level.

I am passionate about improving the education and understanding of our young riders. They are the future of our sport and it is imperative that we continue to raise standards by offering encouragement, advice and clear teaching.

Both at home and abroad, in my roles as judge and selector, I am always questioning how we can be better, what we can do differently, and how can we attract more support? 

I try very hard to ensure that my clients understand why problems occur and how to correct them. I work on giving riders the tools they need to assess what is happening with both themselves and the horse in partnership. This allows riders to consider what they need to do differently in the future in order to improve the horse’s reaction or movement the next time they ride it.

If you always ask something in the same way you are likely to get the same response – or an irritated horse who is attempting to tell you that he does not understand you! A rider should be continually questioning how they are applying their aids and how their position and seat is influencing the horse.  

I encourage clear goal setting, both short and long term. I suggest using individual, tailored progress charts, so that both strengths and weaknesses can be accurately monitored and assessed.

It is not all about winning; the key word, in my view, is improvement. Determination, working hard and being positive will all help riders to achieve their goals, and I aim to emphasize and indeed demonstrate these qualities in my training.

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