With all the event announcements for Myrddin's lecture series floating around facebook, and other media, I thought it would be nice to post some background on a teacher I have enjoyed learning from! Not sure if this will be reach anyone who is interested in knowing more about a remarkable coach, but its worth a try...

MYRDDIN EQUESTRIAN CENTRE Head Coach Bio:

Margie Godson is National Level 3 Coach; With a Pony Club A, she was longlisted for the Olympic Eventing team and has obtained Senior Instructor and Horse Master Certificate from Potomac Horse Centre.  Marg shares a depth of knowledge and experience with a horseman-generation that is disappearing, yet she is still learning new things all the time.  Today she runs a current, accurate, balanced and reputable business that adheres to the complex, ever-evolving laws, government and insurance regulations. 

Margie's calm, skillful coaching insists on the best of each horse and rider (as well as herself), at all times. She is consistent, compassionate, tough, fair, hardworking and honest. So that every step of the way, your best is what you thrive on giving, not just for yourself, but for the horse, and for her.   

Saddle as yoga mat? Not only has she learned the mechanics of developing muscles and balance, she's instinctive about alignment, the emotion we carry in the body, natural remedies and nutritional healing, both humane and equine.  With her amazing eye, ear, and intuition, she analyses what is happening with the rider's body and sees the mirrored response in the horse, and communicates invaluable guidance and encouragement. Through her talent and dedication, you can reach rare, mutually beneficial levels of trust not found elsewhere.  

The length of the history and the depth of loyalty of her student base speaks volumes about the level of dedicated, professional instruction offered at Myrddin.  Even for those equestrians with their own lifelong involvement with horses, Marg's stable provides esteemed barn management, as well as talented, well schooled, well cared for  horses that do their jobs well.  Lessons are kept to a reasonable number of riders. employ the varied terrain and obstacles across a well developed eventing facility, and are always appropriately challenging, and fun. The friendly yet professional small barn atmosphere is conducive to Margaret's personalized, all-level coaching and mentoring style, and she has developed many confident and accomplished horses, riders and coaches over the years.

She began riding in the Guelph pony club, and accompanied her mother to dressage lessons.  Those were the days that sitting trot could be mastered with no girth on the lunge line and XC meant sliding down the bluffs and fording the Grand River. Margie can thank Joseph Thauer for her great seat.  While participating with the Wellington Waterloo hunt field, she also qualified and rode at the Royal, with an unusual then 14.3hh palomino in the hunter division! 

Becoming more interested in dressage lead Marg to ride with Ed Rothcranz. "Ed's greatest lesson to me was that if it doesn't work, try to figure out how to explain it to your horse in a different way." recalls this lifelong horsewoman, "Not always does the tried and true work with every horse." 

She is an EVENTING oldtimer who started Preliminary, when Prelim was the entry level of Eventing!  As an older teenager Marg joined the Ontario Young Riders' team and met Michael Gutowski. Position, position, position and the horse is valued above everything else, especially your aspirations, were key messages he taught.

Repeatedly throughout her career, Marg returned to theses two mentors for their perspectives.  When Marg was awarded the Potamac scholarship through Pony cub, she packed up Spider, her young riders mount and best-ever-mentor and travelled.  She came to see the value in a structured lesson program. She also got to watch Nino Olivera school his client's horses and wanted to be like him and Ed, and make horses dance, willingly. She also decided that she was as interested in teaching as riding, and that's when she first began to consider it as a full time career.

In her lifetime she has bred, raised and trained some very good horses, and had her share of good students. Says Marg "It's a gift to be given a truly dedicated, natural rider to work with and I hope I have more to come. I also enjoy seeing the average person catch the moments of what its truly like to dance with the horse and that's what keeps me teaching!"