On 29 and 30 October 2026, Vonfidel Ranch took part in the FEI Introduction to Coaching at the Sri Lanka Army Equestrian Squadron in Diyatalawa. These are the Ranch's notes from two days in the coaching ring.
The arena at Diyatalawa sits high in the Uva hills, ringed by eucalyptus and pine. For two days it served as a coaching ring, with horses, riders and a long rail of people watching every exchange between them.
The course was conducted by the Sri Lanka Equestrian Association under course director Roy Ibrahim, and hosted by the Sri Lanka Army Equestrian Squadron. The FEI describes the Introduction to Coaching as the first step in its coach education system, the common foundation that comes before any coaching qualification. The group was large, with riders and instructors drawn from across the country's equestrian community.
How the two days were built
The classroom sessions dealt with planning: what a coaching session is for, how it is structured and how a coach decides what one rider needs on one day. Most of the learning happened outside, in the ring. Participants took turns coaching one another and coaching mounted riders while the rest of the group stood along the rail and watched, so every decision a coach made was seen and discussed.
That format is demanding. A correction given at the wrong moment, or in words the rider cannot use while moving, is visible to everyone at once. It is also the quickest way I know to find out whether an instruction actually works.
Why the Ranch took part
Coaching happens at Vonfidel Ranch every day, though rarely in an arena. Ranch staff are brought off kicking and pulling and onto the seat and lighter aids before they ride with guests in open country. Visiting riders, many of them trained in arenas abroad, are helped to loosen a fixed position so that they move with the horse over uneven ground. The course gave that work an outside standard to be measured against.
What it reinforced
What stays with me from Diyatalawa is how much of good coaching is watching. It begins with the horse, with how it is carrying itself and what it is telling the rider before the rider notices. The Ranch already depends on that habit in the field, where a horse's condition and temperament on the day decide what is asked of the rider, and it was good to see it treated as the starting point of coaching.
The second lesson was timing. In open country an instruction has to arrive early enough to be acted on, well before the stopping point or the place where the footing changes. The arena exercises made the same demand at a smaller scale, and that discipline carries straight into the briefings our riders receive before and during a ride.
The vote of thanks
At the closing ceremony I delivered the vote of thanks. It was the second year running that Vonfidel Ranch has done so at an FEI course hosted by the Sri Lanka Army, following the FEI Certified Groom Course at the Sri Lanka Military Academy in 2025. Our thanks go to the Sri Lanka Equestrian Association, to Roy Ibrahim, and to the officers and staff of the Sri Lanka Army Equestrian Squadron, whose horses and arena made the course possible.
For guests, the effect is practical. The same attention to observation and timing shapes the Horsemanship Training Holiday, the Ranch's pathway for newer riders, and the field briefings on every Signature Riding Holiday. The Ranch's education record and press coverage are kept on Press & Recognition.
