Horses are not machines: An equestrian sports pedagogy needs to reflect the relational and co-adaptive nature of skill acquisition in showjumping dyads.

Much is changing in our understanding of animals in relation to acknowledging their non-humancentric intelligence and sentience. Alongside emerging attitudes toward animal welfare, these changes have led to criticism of traditional coaching pedagogies in equestrianism. Elucidating an ecological process of learning in horse-human dyads may be valuable for guiding the development of a contemporary equestrian pedagogy. This study used thematic analysis to identify influential constraints on eleven elite showjumpers in the United Kingdom. Thematic analysis revealed common themes of: (i) Becoming attuned to horses (organismic constraints), (ii) Becoming skilful through active problem solving (task constraints), (iii) Pervasive socio-cultural and historical narratives influencing affordance salience (environmental constraints), and (iv), Participants’ perceptions of current trends in coaching. Results suggest that socio-cultural and historical narratives, rather than a lack of care or attentiveness, may shape affordance perception in learning and coaching, perpetuating many practices currently embedded in British equestrian sports. Participant insights suggest that the development of a pedagogical framework for equestrian activities should foreground the relational and problem-solving nature of the horse-rider dyadic system. These perceptions imply that skill development is a process of ongoing co-adaptation between horse and rider with riders both learning from, and teaching, horses.