About Amanda
Amanda Barton
Amanda believes that working successfully with horses is like a 3D puzzle where many types of information and a wide range of skills need to be drawn together.
Ultimately, most people want a horse to work willingly, to understand aids and for mutual trust to exist in the partnership. In order to achieve these results riders need to start by working on themselves. This means improving riding skills and coordination, understanding how horses learn and behave and learning how to control negative emotions, such as fear and anxiety.
The welfare of the horse is paramount. Tilefield offers the opportunity to learn about anatomy and biomechanics and what this means for long term soundness. At clinics, evening talks and webinars subjects such as bodywork, rehabilitation, equine neuroscience, saddle fit, hoof care, dentistry and nutrition are discussed in relation to the welfare of the horse and his willingness to work with us.
The ultimate goal of Amanda’s teaching is to bring this knowledge together to help riders establish a deep, calm connection with their horses and to learn to communicate effectively with them.
Amanda has diverse experience as a BHS Accredited Professional Coach, a UKCC Equine Endurance Coach and a Pony Club Coach. She has attended the National Development Programme for Coaching Excellence and has gained National awards in 2019 and 2020 for both her coaching and her facility. She has experience with most equine competitive disciplines as well as western riding, Icelandic gaited horses, carriage driving and natural horsemanship. She has been an instructor recommended by Mark Rashid for the last 17 years and is his only recommended instructor in Europe.
She has a BSc and a PhD from Southampton University as well as a Postgraduate Diploma in Animal Behaviour. In addition she is a qualified human coach (Life Coach and NLP Master Practitioner) and qualified Equine Sports Massage Therapist and a Gold level Franklin Method Equestrian trainer with three specialised diplomas in Rider Biomechanics.