Hi, lovely riders.

  I haven’t sent out a newsletter for ages, so I decided to make use of the time as I sit on a flight to Darwin for the last of my three trips up to the beautiful NT this year.

I love these trips to work with the riders up there. All these away from home trips have gifted me so many fantastic opportunities, friendships and adventures. I’m thrilled we managed to get the three trips in after our first one got cancelled at the last minute due to our constant struggles with Covid outbreaks. My first trip to NT ended up in quarantine at home for 14 days due to an episode breaking out in Darwin while I was there. Merlot loved me being in quarantine, the horses not so much because I got to ride every day!

 I have missed travelling and long to see my students and friends on the East coast and NZ again. At this stage, those venues are too risky as we play this game of covid roulette in our crazy new world.

Meanwhile, I keep shapeshifting and re-inventing how to offer lessons, clinics, and, as most of you know, I have gone online to reach my students who can’t get to me. And now, I stepped into a whole new area by offering nurturing retreats for horses and riders. Our first one was last week, and it sold out in 18 hours. Due to so many contacting me disappointed that they did not get a place, I put on a second retreat in October, which also booked out very quickly. The idea was dreamt up when I was on a yoga retreat myself earlier in the year. I so enjoyed unwinding and allowing myself to STOP for a few days. On the way home in my brainstorming capsule ute, I had time to think and plan what I wanted to provide.

The retreat was a space to slow down, unwind, notice the detail of both the patterns of thought and behaviour in the attendees and their horses. Allowing space to think, chill, & hang out with your horse, alone or with others. It’s was a place of minimal rules, that they had the choice to join in with what was offered because it is nurturing what they needed on that weekend, day or hour.

When I brainstormed this, three people immediately leapt into my head, and it was as if they were jumping up and down, saying pick me, pick me. Kaysa Wevel started the weekend with a beautiful meditation to set the intent for the weekend. Michelle Nord was gold by my side every step of the way, assisting and helping. Michelle was a big hit with the attendees and their horses as she delved into the mindset of the riders and horse communication. Diane Jones presented a thoughtful yoga class with chanting and mediation, and it sent us all into a magical zen space. I will be holding these again next year and will be planing them into my 2022 calendar. 

  With its wet Winter woes, this Winter has certainly had its challenges in WA, and I can’t remember such a long wet winter. I have had so many lessons and clinics cancelled due to a lack of numbers. With soundness issues a problem for some with a multitude of abscesses, and then the issue of dark mornings -nights as an added problem for others. After all, why would you have a lesson or go to a clinic if you haven’t ridden? My positive on this is I love my crackling warm fire lit snuggling up with my lovely little dog Merlot. But we are in spring now, and the sun is rising earlier and setting later.

My trees are popping tiny buds out, and flowers are erupting out of the ground. It’s time to get organised and riding again, dust off that saddle and bridle (or clean the mould off depending where you live!). Members of the sound system of training subscription now have so many lessons to access, including (Level 1) Coming back into work. You could plan a month or two with all the content you now have available. As you work through the levels offered, you increase your horse’s training and fitness.


This year in “The Sound System of Training”, there has been many amazing guest speakers, with a wealth of knowledge shared. This was a great addition to the programme and there is an exciting lineup of future speakers to come. For our busy members, all zoom meetings are recorded and available for you to watch later. So far, we have had;


  Andy Wearing, My equine dentist Amy ONeill human and equine bodyworker qualified in Bowen and DNS exercise Sarah Williams Equine hoof care practitioner, On hoof secrets Louise Goundry on riders Mindset Andrea Parker “The equestrian athlete” dietitian for riders nutrition Kelly Wilson of the Wilson Sister (NZ) on the horse’s communication and energy Dorothy Marks “The Back Lady” on what affects the horses back from the UK  Our next speaker is Jill Davies from “Feed your Steed”, who will discuss in part the horse’s nutrition as this is such a massive subject.    Now that it is spring and you have survived Winter, you may like to join my audio lesson subscription, “The Sound System of Training”. To be part of an amazing supportive community, with access to varying levels of audio lessons, question and answer sessions and guest speaker talks on many topics. Here is the link to join our happy Tribe – https://annmontgomery.podia.com/tsst-membership    Did you know I opened a new Facebook group a few months ago called “The Mindful Community”? You are welcome to join, and it’s a place where I put up little snippets, mindful musings of my thoughts, amusing posts and news on my clinics and the venues. You will get to know me better in this group and understand my ethos, passions, desires for training both the horse and rider. Here is the link if you would like to join our community. https://www.facebook.com/groups/mindfulriderscommunity/ 


You can also sign up for the free taster lesson if you are curious about an Audio lesson works and sounds.
Free taster lesson https://annmontgomery.podia.com/free-taster-lesson Once signed up, you will receive the lesson plan and audio file to download. We do add you to the emailing list, and you will receive three emails from us to see if you want to join the sound system of training subscription and then later our newsletter when it comes out.    So this leads me to my next set of thoughts. I am in constant struggle with the marketing of my business. This is a constant internal struggle, I look at it from many angles and have done a lot of courses in marketing. A lot of these courses are in the USA and I have learnt a lot. I have tried some of the things they have suggested, some sit well with me and are great, but others don’t sit well with me and my belief system. I am torn as I watch others flood FB with paid marketing that I can’t afford and often false brash advertising. It churns me up inside, as I think, “shouldn’t I be doing that too…..” But this feels so uncomfortable to me and my inner voice.

Every time I sign up for one of these courses, I am inundated and bombarded by emails afterwards. This is part of the marketing strategy I am recommended to follow. My inbox is flooded, a lot of these courses are free, so this is the pay off I guess. After all, most of us are trying to make a living and survive to pay the Morgage, rent and bills, and they are in the same place. But the truth is I don’t even open them, and I just hit delete as it is too much. I have started to unsubscribe from them, and I don’t have time to read them all. I find it intrusive and annoying.

Do you feel the same, or is it just me. If I have annoyed you in the past, I am sorry, as I was negotiating the minefield of information. I found myself working through what works for my clients and me and what doesn’t. It’s a tricky balance to let people know what I offer and who I am as a person and coach but not be annoying. So for the next few months, I will market with what feels right to me.


I will still do my little videos giving information, I have enjoyed doing that, and it comes from the authentic me. What you see is the true me. I will still do the occasional FB posts on “The Sound System of Training” to remind you I am still here. I will post on FB when I’m doing a clinic or opening a new online course. I will send my newsletter out to you via email. If you ever get tired of my emails, you can unsubscribe at any time. If you have any suggestions at what you would like to read, see and hear from me, please let me know.

  Thank you for reading my long newsletter with lots of thoughts, ramblings all wrapped up in love and care.

 Love and best wishes   Ann Montgomery “The Mindful Rider”