International equestrian performance · horse · rider · mind · body · team · performance
One philosophy connecting horse, rider and performance.
For more than three decades, I have watched riders and horses train, compete, succeed, struggle and grow.
Again and again, talent, training and ambition were present — and still something was missing. Technique alone is never enough.
The horse is an athlete. The young rider is an athlete. Both carry tension and respond to pressure, trust, clarity and mental readiness.
Every performance is created by two athletes. Both experience pressure, carry physical and emotional states, and respond to confidence, timing and trust.
Elite performance begins when two athletes stop performing beside each other — and begin performing as one.
A rider can hide fear from a trainer, pressure from parents and uncertainty behind a smile. The horse still receives the message through breathing, posture, tension, tempo, attention and trust.
The real performance begins before the jump.
An integrated performance methodology for developing the horse, the rider and the system between them.
Condition, behaviour, readiness, welfare, recovery and individual character. Each athlete carries a condition through the system.
Many performance breakdowns are not caused by a lack of technical ability. Under pressure, breathing may change, heart rate may rise, attention may narrow and decision-making may shift.
The horse does not only respond to the rider's hands and legs. It responds to the state of the person sitting in the saddle.
Young riders do not only need better technique. They need to understand what happens inside them when pressure rises, expectations increase and the result suddenly matters.
A rider who learns to regulate the inner world performs differently in the outer one.
True performance appears when communication becomes clear enough that neither athlete needs to fight the other. Timing becomes shared. Trust replaces tension.
Most people see the rider. Martina sees the system around both athletes — and the conditions that shape what becomes possible.
Experience across elite competition, national team and large-yard environments.
FEI Showjumping European Championships, FEI Showjumping World Championships and Longines Global Champions Tour competitions.
Swiss Children, Young Riders and Senior team environments, alongside UAE and Saudi Arabia national team work.
More than 15 years in the field, including large stable facilities and years of responsibility for high-value horses and teams.
In high-level competition environments, care is not background work. It is the first performance decision. Martina learned to recognise quiet changes before they become visible problems — in the body, behaviour, energy and the way a horse meets the world.
“Care and compassion for horses, yard facilities and people alike.”
A horse cannot be cared for in fragments. Body, mind, environment, recovery, nutrition, movement, trust and the people around the horse all belong to the same picture.
From the stable to the showground, Martina's experience is shaped by detail, preparation, honest communication and respect for the horse and the team.
You cannot change what you cannot see.
Young riders, junior competitors, parents, horse owners, trainers, grooms and performance teams all influence what happens in the ring. Martina looks at communication, expectations, routines and pressure around the rider — not only the rider in isolation.
Mentorship is not about making a young rider into someone else. It is about creating enough safety, support and direction for them to become more fully themselves — in the saddle, in the stable and in the moments when confidence is still forming.
Through international competition environments, team settings and years beside riders at different stages, Martina has seen what changes when a young person feels safe enough to ask, feel, try and learn.
This is Martina's father. His presence continues through her — not as a memory kept still, but as knowledge made useful. It lives in the way she cares for horses, supports riders and protects the standards that matter.
Legacy is not only what we leave behind. It is what we make possible for those who come after us.
Some need to understand what is actually holding the system back.
The assessment is selective. It is designed to understand the rider, the horse, the current environment and the desired next level before any programme is proposed.
Begin with a private performance assessment of the horse, rider and system around them. You do not always need more training. Sometimes you need to see what others have missed.