S4 E2: Equine Agility - with Ellen Cochrane
I’m so excited to introduce today, our first guest of our Special Edition Season on ‘What Else Is There?’ (besides riding).
I’ll be straight with you and say that one of the joys of podcasting is having a reason to speak to some awesome humans in our industry, because uh, I want to connect with them myself, and today is no exception.
Ellen Cochrane came on my radar a couple of years ago, when someone shared the footage of Ellen’s mule Inara, pushing a soccer ball around an S-bend of poles. It was posted on Ellen’s page that follow’s Inara’s journey, ‘It’s a Mule’s Life’ and it was amazing. This was clearly someone who was a very clever trainer and able to achieve awesome things, and so I started following Ellen’s work.
In parallel with this and probably even before I knew of Ellen, I had heard about Equine Agility and was captivated by the idea. There is so much I love about this as an activity we can be doing with our horses for fun, that hones our training skills broadly with lots of real-world positive impacts, and it also facilitates those who have a competitive drive to compete, while still keeping their horse comfortable as possible as the entries are submitted from home. It’s something that can be done un-mounted on lead and off-lead and also done mounted. There are so many options and the creators have made this opportunity inclusive for so many equines and their humans. I can’t wait to explore it with my equine team.
But, let me stop there as Ellen will explain so much more in the conversation you’re about to hear.
I will just say that I’ll be speaking with Ellen again soon in a future Season of An Equine Conversation as there are so many more things we want to share with you.
Ellen Cochrane:
Ellen Cochrane, based in England, first discovered Horse Agility when working with a client with a disability who wanted something safe she could do with her new horse. Ellen thought it was brilliant decided to get involved herself as a way of providing some focus into training her rescue mule, Inara, and to help build her confidence. Inara and Ellen both really enjoyed Agility and progressed through the levels with Ellen then stepping into the role of a Horse Agility Accredited Trainer. This meant Ellen could coach other people officially and run clinics. Over the years, Inara & Ellen had won a few titles, but in 2022, they hit the big ones and became Horse Agility World Champion both on-lead and Liberty. Ellen then chose to retire from competing to instead get involved from the other side, joining the Horse Agility Club as a judge, course designer and certificate course coach. Ellen also teaches Horse Agility in “real life” and runs clinics and camps. Ellen is also a positive reinforcement trainer working with various clients, and is the owner of I think it was also 7 equines, just like we have here, although unlike us, Ellen has a mule in the mix.
Photo of Ellen & Inara thanks to: Catchphrase Photography
The International Horse Agility Club
The International Horse Agility Club was founded by Vanessa Bee in December 2009, and has become a fast-growing equine sport. Horse Agility sees you navigate a series of obstacles with your horse with a focus on working together as a team. The club runs monthly competitions in both on-lead classes and liberty classes, as well as Equagility classes which are ridden. We also have a special Junior course for our young members, a Young Horse class for our young horses, and even an Any Other Animal class for anything from a guinea pig to a llama and everything in between! The main competitions are online video competitions which means you can compete from the comfort of your horse’s home. We also have special Walking Only classes for those equines or people who have difficulties going faster than a walk. The Walk Only classes are not easier – but rather focus on more technical movements. The Horse Agility Club also have a 10-level certificate course program, for those who might not want to compete, or those who want a bit more support in their journey as they work their way through with a mentor.
In this episode we discuss:
1:23 - episode introduction
3:23 - introducing Ellen Cochrane & the International Horse Agility Club
6:05 - welcoming Ellen & how clever our animals are
8:44 - what even is 'equine agility’ & how is that different to dog agility?
12:22 - competing from home versus travelling = inclusive
14:00 - how did Ellen get into agility?
18:04 - winning rosettes, Inara’s progression to the top & transitioning to the ‘other side’ of the Club
23.13 - options for competition participation
29:39 - course program
31:41 - giving training a focus & can you miss a month?
33:21 - are there equines that can’t or shouldn’t do agility - catering to different abilities
36:05 - how many people are involved & from where
37:42 - the community
39:31 - a growing activity & inspiring other people
43:20 - how the judging works
47:05 - coming up with the obstacles
49:38 - ‘real-world’ outcomes as a result of the agility training
55:21 - thanks to Vanessa for establishing the Club
56:42 - the potential for equine agility to be done within an existing group or club
57:44 - where to find out more
58:35 - episode wrap-up
59:33 - activities happening this month with Abbey’s Run Equestrian & what’s on An Equine Conversation next week
Links from Ellen:
Website: https://www.thehorseagilityclub.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheHorseAgilityClub
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/horseagilityclub/
Our links mentioned this episode:
Finessing The Fundamentals (2-day, in-person workshop on 20 & 21 April, 2024)
From Green to Growth: developing positive partnerships for the future
Abbey's Run Equestrian website
Abbey's Run Equestrian on Facebook
Thank you to Matthew Bliss for podcast production & consultation. If you'd like him to help with your podcast, get in touch by email at business@mbpod.com