04/09/2025
Professional Amateurs, Amateur Professionals.
Over the last 10 years, I’ve been lucky to spend a lot of time shadowing some of the best coaches in the world, and watching how the best riders in the world train and work with their horses.
Officially, the difference between an amateur rider and a professional rider is that one rides for pleasure and one rides for payment - but I’m a massive believer in that amateur riders can ride like professionals.
The key differences:
1️⃣ Stay in the moment.. Amateurs are led by emotion vs Professionals are led by logic.
2️⃣ Choose your hard.. Amateurs want it to feel good/easy now, which can make for hard later down the line vs Professionals will work hard now with the hope it’ll make the next ride easier.
3️⃣ Setting yourself up for success.. Amateur riders usually wait for an opportunity vs Professionals create opportunities, they make things happen.
4️⃣ Pilot/passenger.. Amateurs are usually led by the horse vs Professionals lead the way.
5️⃣ Forward thinking.. Amateurs are usually 1 step behind the horse, or the course, vs Professionals are usually 2 steps ahead.
6️⃣ Ready4Trouble.. Amateur riders start to anticipate an issue vs Professionals acknowledge there may be an issue, are ready for it, but stick to the plan until it happens.
7️⃣ A good dressage judge.. Amateur riders tend to sit on a 6.5 pressure scale (not enough when needed, too much when not needed) vs Professionals will go up to a 9 and down to a 3.
8️⃣ Subtlety.. Amateurs will often use 1 big aid, wait, then apply 1 big aid vs Professionals will continuously be working the power, balance and softness every stride.
9️⃣ Expectation.. Amateurs will often settle for ‘good enough’ vs Professionals will always strive for 1 better.
🔟 Balance.. Amateur riders will be dependant on the horses balance vs Professionals will be completely independent.
1️⃣1️⃣ Stick to the plan. Especially XC and with young horses, Amateurs will try to put the horse on the line and go with them vs Professionals put themselves on the line, and bring the horses with them.
1️⃣2️⃣ Reaction time. Timing of an aid is critical, by the time an Amateur has applied an aid or corrected a mistake, Professionals will have already moved onto the next thing.
1️⃣3️⃣ World Class Basics. Horses learn by repetition, often we think as you go up the levels it’s all about fancy movements and jumping big jumps, but 90% of the time Professionals will continuously be chipping away at the basics.
I asked Chris Bartle last year what makes the guys at the top so good, and he said ‘in the moment, they are willing to do what is necessary, not what they would like to do’.
A BE90/100 rider that has a full time office job outside of horses can ride like a professional, whilst still riding for pleasure (and I’m lucky to work with lots of them).
Having 20 horses in your yard does not make you a professional.
👊🏽
‘That makes you look like an amateur’
‘You rode that like an absolute pro’
