STORY

Equilibrado Equestrian founder Amberley Marsden started training horses in the early 90's and began coaching professionally in 2003. She has an extensive background in a variety of disciplines, including Horsemanship, Dressage, Jumping, and Three-Day-Eventing. Amberley's passion lies in Dressage, through which she has developed and shown horses from Introductory through to FEI Level. She holds Bronze, Silver, and Gold Equestrian Canada Achievement Medals from Training Level through FEI Small Tour and is an Equestrian Canada Licensed Coach. Amberley has spent many years working with a variety of breeds, and her training program is now primarily focused around building the mind as well as the body through Groundwork, In-Hand Work, and Dressage. She primarily trains out of Limited Edition Farms and regularly travels to stables within the Edmonton area for lessons and clinics.

As a coach, Amberley’s primary focus is always on safety. While she teaches her students how to have a correct position that will help them to ride effectively, Amberley also believes that good riding goes beyond “looking pretty” in the saddle. A skilled rider not only has a correct and effective position but also has the ability to safely deal with situations that can arise while riding and working with horses. In her lessons, Amberley focuses on teaching overall horsemanship skills, not just equitation. After years of studying and applying natural horsemanship principles, she has incorporated many of them into her coaching program and teaches her students about the equine psychology or the “why” behind everything they learn. She believes that for a rider to be effective, they must understand why they are doing something, how to do it correctly, when to apply it, and what the result should be.