Equestrian Masterclass Review

Both logos edited together by myself. Nonetheless:
Photo Credit: Noëlle Floyd

I couldn’t tell you how many times I thought to myself “I would just love to sit down with (insert equestrian professional's name here) and pick their brain”. There are so many things I would love to ask them. I’d love to know what they think of the industry and how we can improve it. I’d love to know the mental, physical and emotional challenges they face every day. I’d love to get their advice on how to train or move up the levels. But most importantly, I’d love to know if they have any advice on how to make riding or horses a career when you’re not part of the upper class.

I love to spend hours talking and listening and observing. Just to spend time in their world. More so than just walking past them on the show grounds and asking for a picture. I want to get to know them on a more personal and intellectual level.

What drew me to the Equestrian Masterclass was that it offers some of those discussions that I always wanted to have. No, it’s not the same as a one on one conversation. But it’s much closer than what I might be able to achieve on my own.

What made me hesitant about signing up was the price tag. $199 (USD) greatly increases when converted to CAD. It adds about $50 to the price. And although I knew that the price reflects the content being created. I just simply couldn’t bring myself to spend that much. So when the Equestrian Masterclass went on sale for 50% off, I had to sign up.

So far, there are 18 courses available. Each course has numerous video lessons guided by the professionals. They also include downloadable workbooks to get a more in-depth learning experience. The videos vary in length depending on the content. Some are 10 minutes. Some are 25 minutes long.

I personally absorb knowledge like a sponge. Especially when it’s on a topic that I’m interested in. I was surprised at just how many courses I went through and barely noticed the time flying by! I decided that I would run through each course without referring to the workbooks first. Then, when I found a course that I wanted to review a little more thoroughly, I would go back to it later. To give you an idea of the courses I’ve already gone through here is a list (in no particular order):

1. Max Corcoran Teaches Leg Protection 101 (super short course)
2. Ian Millar Teaches the Foundations of Success for All Equestrians
3. Annette Paterakis Teaches Becoming a Confident Rider
4. Missy Clark Teaches Recognizing & Riding the Distance
5. Max Corcoran Teaches Horse Care for All Seasons
6. The Rich Fellers Method | Part 1
7. The Rich Fellers Method | Part 2
8. Archie Cox Teaches How To Win

So far, my favourites were the Ian Millar, Rich Fellers and Annette Paterakis masterclasses. I won’t go into detail about what was spoken in each one. I don’t think that would be fair to the Noëlle Floyd team. They clearly put a lot of time and effort into producing these courses and making them available to the public. If you want to know more, I suggest that you sign up.

So far, I learned the most from Annette Paterakis’ masterclass. As a mental coach, she shares many techniques that riders can work on to become more confident riders. She also explains things in ways that are easy to understand. I plan on going back to this masterclass and studying it a little more.

What I enjoyed from the Ian Millar and Rich Fellers masterclasses was their commentary on the showjumping industry. I especially enjoyed listening to their philosophy on training their horses and their equine management. I wouldn’t necessarily say that their practical exercises/demonstrations were new ideas to me. But I did find the sit-down conversation parts of the masterclass insightful.

The Rich Fellers Method | Part 1 & 2
Photo Credit: Noëlle Floyd

Annette Paterakis Teaches Becoming a Confident Rider
Photo Credit: Noëlle Floyd

Ian Millar Teaches the Foundations of Success for All Equestrians
Photo Credit: Noëlle Floyd

With all of that being said. I’m still a little less than halfway through all of the masterclasses. I still have 10 more to go. I’ll include them here (again in no particular order) so that you can see all of the courses offered with Equestrian Masterclass.

1. Carolyn Cohen Teaches Saddle Fit & Anatomy 101
2. Dr. Jill Copenhagen Teaches Riding for Soundness
3. Anne Kursinski Teaches Bringing Out the Best in Your Horse
4. Archie Cox Teaches the Art of Perfecting the Hunter Ride
5. Tonya Johnston Teaches How to Be a Consistent Rider
6. Tik Maynard Teaches Understanding Horse Behavior
7. Tik Maynard Teaches Solving Common Training Problems
8. Dr. Jenny Susser Teaches How to Control Fear and Anxiety
9. Tik Maynard teaches Training the Young Horse
10. Tik Maynard teaches Training the Spooky or Anxious Horse

The courses that I’m most excited to start next are the psychological courses. So all of the courses instructed by Dr. Jenny Susser, Tonya Johnston and Tik Maynard. I find that this is the area that I struggle with the most. My mental game. The horse management and riding side aren’t as big of a concern to me.

I’m excited to see how Dr. Jenny Susser and Tonya Johnston can help me. I would like to work on being able to relax my mind as I face new challenges when I ride. I normally tense up and my mind starts to race. This is my biggest hurdle when it comes to my riding progress. I’m hoping that by combining all of the tools from Susser, Johnston and Paterakis’ masterclasses, I’ll be able to progress more positively.

I’m also very interested in equine psychology. I love watching horsemanship trainers like Warwick Schiller, Monty Roberts and Tristan Tucker. The way they can explain how horses think and why they react the way they do is such a skill. Their explanations help me to become a more sympathetic horsewoman. So for that reason, I’m interested to see what all 4 Tik Maynard courses are about.

Dr. Jenny Susser Teaches How to Control Fear and Anxiety
Photo Credit: Noëlle Floyd

Tonya Johnston Teaches How to Be a Consistent Rider
Photo Credit: Noëlle Floyd

Tik Maynard Teaches Understanding Horse Behavior
Photo Credit: Noëlle Floyd

The positive and negative thing that I can say about these courses is that they’re for everybody. They’re for all horse lovers, all equestrians, all ages and all levels. Which is great! But that also means that not every piece of information will be new information. Especially if you’re someone that likes to do their own research. A lot of the information shared are things that you could find online with a little bit of effort. The nice thing about the Equestrian Masterclass is that all of the information is packaged for you in video form by professionals you know and respect. And for that, the Equestrian Masterclass is great.

I will say that I am glad that I signed up for the yearly membership when they were offering it at 50% off. I plan on finishing the rest of the courses soon and then revisiting the ones that I really want to work through. I’m hoping that they’ll be adding some more courses next year. Depending on what gets added next year, I’ll probably download the workbooks that I want to work through, document the additional information shared in the videos on a Word document and cancel my subscription. Not because I don’t think that Noëlle Floyd should be supported with her Equestrian Masterclass, but because I got all the information out of it that I could. If further down the road a new course is advertised that piques my interest, I’ll probably sign up again whenever they have another sale. (Just being honest here!)

I’d love to know if you’ve signed up for the Equestrian Masterclass. If so, what courses were your favourite? Will you renew your subscription? If you haven’t signed up for the Equestrian Masterclass, do you plan on signing up in the future? What courses would you like to listen to? Let me know your thoughts!

Until next time, happy riding!

Disclaimer: Please know that this post is just to showcase the Equestrian Masterclass. The opinions are my own, but the images belong to the company (refer to the photo credits for each image). I am not paid by nor do I have an affiliate contract with this company.