ERIN CRAIN
RIDER PERFORMANCE COACH
RIDER RESULTS
Better understanding
changes more than
the way you ride.
Rider First isn’t about chasing perfect rides or collecting more corrections.
It’s about helping riders understand what’s happening, recognize what needs to change, and create results they can actually carry into the next ride.
More clarity. More confidence. Better communication. Happier horses.
“I wish I’d found her years ago.”
CLARITY
“It’s like a lightbulb switched on in her brain.”
UNDERSTANDING
“Every time I leave a lesson I think I am on a different horse.”
CHANGE
RIDER STORY 01
“Every time I leave
a lesson, I think I am
on a different horse.”
“No band-aids—back to basics.”
BEFORE
Ten years out of the saddle. A sensitive OTTB. Jigging, tense, and a rider trying to find her way back into riding.
THE SHIFT
Instead of adding more corrections, we went back to the foundation—helping horse and rider find relaxation, balance, and clearer communication.
AFTER
After just three lessons: a calmer horse, no more jigging, and a horse who began meeting her at the gate.
The result wasn’t more control.
It was more understanding.
DIFFERENT RIDERS. DIFFERENT PROBLEMS.
The result isn’t always the same.
The shift is.
Rider First coaching can look different depending on the rider. Sometimes the change is physical. Sometimes it’s confidence. Sometimes it’s finally understanding something that never quite made sense before.
But the goal is the same: a rider who understands more and has another option when the old pattern shows up.
01 — CONFIDENCE
“It’s the least stressed and tense I’ve been at a show.”
02 — POSITION
“The weight on my pinky toes changed everything.”
Rounds felt calm and in control. She stayed present and used the tools from her Reset when she needed them.
A small change in how she organized her body helped her soften through the knee and inner thigh and use her leg more effectively.
CALM · PRESENT · IN CONTROL
BALANCE · SOFTNESS · CONNECTION
03 — UNDERSTANDING
04 — THE MENTAL PATTERN
“You pinpointed my body position and explained WHY and HOW.”
“I understand now that the problem is starting way before I think it does.”
Targeted explanations and exercises gave her a clear understanding of what was happening—and what to work on next.
CLARITY · WHY · HOW
She learned to recognize the beginning of the spiral sooner, slow the pattern down, and start again before it took over the ride.
RECOGNIZE · INTERRUPT · RESET
IN THEIR WORDS
Sometimes the best explanation
is simply what riders say afterward.
“I have finally figured out how to address things I’ve struggled with for years.”
“I’ve had many trainers tell me to open my shoulders and unlock my hips, but I was never successful in breaking my bad habits. Erin identified the root cause of my struggles immediately; my leg placement was keeping me from achieving the results I had been trying to obtain for so long.
My horse is so much happier now that I’ve finally been able to change my body, and I feel so much more capable having this knowledge.”
“She will find new ways to explain something until we find a version that clicks for me.”
— ALISON N.
VISIBLE CHANGE
“The detail you call to alignment borders on magical.”
“And then for even me to see it flow through to the movement of the horse is really incredible.”
— BRANDY B.
Parent of a rider · self-described “non-horsey” mom
THE WHY BEHIND THE HOW
“You’ll learn more than just the ‘how,’ but also the ‘why’ behind everything.”
“She considers the horse’s perspective entirely. Erin’s truly the epitome of the good side of horse training and riding.”
— ANNIE N.
RIDER FIRST, FROM ANYWHERE
The arena doesn’t have to be in the same country.
Rider First coaching is designed to create change that carries back into the saddle—even when I’m not standing in the arena with you.
These riders worked with me virtually. What happened next happened in their own rides.
AFTER A RIDER FIRST RESET
AFTER A RIDER FIRST RESET · AUSTRALIA
“I’ve had more confidence and appreciation for my horse.”
“Neither of us were looking for danger.”
“We tackled the third and final jump in our ring that I’ve been afraid of since April. I asked if we could jump it… I went into the jump with the mantra ‘we can do it’ in my head. I was very conscious to breathe and exhale as I came into the jump.”
“I’m trusting that we can handle anything together.”
“I got so many moments of him properly pushing from behind and being ‘through’ and generally feeling fantastic. And not one spook, even though there were horses playing in the paddock next to the arena—which I didn’t notice until someone pointed it out.”
“The police came today and were doing their training cantering all around us and neither of us paid any attention.”
“He did some of his best work and it felt so easy.”
“No matter what happens next, I’m enjoying riding.”
YOUR RIDE, NEXT
You don’t need another list of things you’re doing wrong.
You need to know what changes everything else.
The riders on this page didn’t all need the same thing.
Some needed a physical change. Some needed confidence. Some needed to understand the pattern they couldn’t see yet.
The starting point is different. The goal is the same: clarity about what’s happening and what to do next.