The BIG Interview with Pam Millar ...

Classical trainer's unconventional route to dressage success

Dressage instructor and rider, Pam Millar recounts her journey from a riding school childhood to classical trainer, teaching all grades of riders and now bringing Formation Riding to the North-east of Scotland, as she tells The Equine Times how she went from office job to living the dream.

By Kirsten Binnie

Pam in classical costume.

CLASSICAL dressage trainer Pam Millar has not taken the standard route to success in her equestrian career, she came to the North-east of Scotland from Northumberland as a job hunter fresh from University with plans for a career in computers, not horses.

But as she trained and produced her own horse from a raw five-year-old youngster to competing at Prix St Georges, she found that as equestrianism took over, she was teaching more and working less in the office and eventually took the plunge to coach riders full-time.

Pam grew up in a suburb of Newcastle, not the ideal place for a horse-mad child, but her parents joined her in her riding endeavours and every few weeks they had lessons at Allendale, near Hexham, at a trekking centre where clients were able to ride in the school, try out hacking and jump ditches and logs.

At this stage that Pam was more interested in the jumping aspect. She learned with other children how to groom and tack up and says,"mum and dad gave up pretty quickly, but I just wanted to be around horses, and I loved jumping! I was 7 or 8 years old and was riding there when I was at school, then I joined the University riding club."

She studied Maths and Computer Science at Newcastle University and then came to Aberdeen to look for work as a 21-year-old and joined BP.

Out of hours, she rode at Grove Riding School, Whiterashes, with Eleanor and Roger Taylor and at Gordon Barbour's yard at Fintray, but a career with equines was still years away and not even considered by Pam as she did not yet have her own horse.

"I was just a girl from Newcastle, we just didn't have horses! But Eleanor pushed me and helped me get my first horse and he changed my life," says Pam.

This horse was Odin of Valhalla, a Danish Warmblood bay gelding and at five years old and described by Pam as "I suspect he'd been a problem" it was possibly not the ideal start, but after looking at several horses in the south of England, Pam and Eleanor tried him twice and decided he was the one.

Odin and Pam took each other to PSG under the guidance of Eleanor and Roger Taylor as they changed Grove, originally an ordinary riding school base, into a classical riding centre and it was high achievers like Pam and her young bay who showcased the centre's classical principles.

"He was a character, " says Pam of Odin, "he had ability and talent and he taught me a lot and enabled me to do a lot, we worked up to PSG and that was the start of it, although I didn't teach at that point.

"Eleanor and Roger gave me the opportunity to do competitions, they supported me and also got me into Formation Riding. We created teams - all of us liveries - and we had classical costumes, blue velvet coats, and we co-rdinated the displays. We would go to riding clubs, Roger would do a demo and then we would do a drill."

Pam and Venturoso.

Meantime, Pam and Odin were still competing and worked for two years at PSG level before an injury put paid to Odin's career and he stopped competing, having a long retirement and passing away aged 27 - but not before qualifying at Advanced Medium and travelling down to Birmingham to championships, something which was practically unheard of then.

"If you wanted to ride at that level you had to travel. Then later we had dressage at Straloch, the Dietsmann, there were no judges up here for that level, so they had to bring them up," says Pam.

Around this time, she started training with List 1 judge and top rider Debby Lush, who again came up from the south but now lives on the Black Isle and still rides and teaches from her base there.

Pam trained regularly with Debby when she was in Sussex and she came up to Aberdeenshire for clinics, first teaching Pam with Odin until he retired, and then with Havanna, a Hanovarian mare Pam competed up to Medium level before she retired to be a broodmare.

A project horse, Phoenix, followed and this introduced Pam to the Spanish/Portuguese breeds as the Lipizzaner taught her much about how to deal with horses with quirks.

"He just couldn't cope with dressage, but he was super hacking and herding sheep! Then fortunately his owner took him back and he is happily doing what he wants."

Pam's path crossed with the Lisbon-based Portugese School of Equestrian Art rider and coach Rui Almeida at a riding school in Portugal, where she met Rui and his wife, Jenny, and asked them if they could find her a dressage horse.

Now she was matched with her equine partner of 10 years, Venturoso, a grey Lusitano stallion.

Rui Almeida in a demo (horse at the front of image).

He had been well trained and was born at a stud where Rui and Jenny had worked in the past. After Venturoso moved to a riding centre, he was bought by Louis Valenca to ride in a show team, but when the planned show fell through, Jenny and Rui heard he was for sale and persuaded Louis to sell him to Pam.

"I've had him just over 10 years now and we are at PSG level, he's got Piaffe and Passage and tempi changes, though they are variable but he is willing and obedient. My riding had been changed by Phoenix, but Venturoso has sorted out my riding along with Rui and Debby."

Soon equestrianism was taking over more and more, and Pam was gradually becoming a classical dressage trainer, "I cut my hours in the office and did more teaching and less office hours, then I went full-time," she says.

Venturoso.

Classically trained rather than using the British Horse Society teaching framework or the coaching grades, Pam explains why classical riding through her training with Rui and Debby is her preferred way to coach.

"Classical training means I can use my own style. I am not knocking the training system, if the BD training system had been on the go I would have done that," she says.

"But I have learned about training in other situations. For example with my volunteering in scouting I have trained leaders as well as scouts. The technical knowledge came from Rui and Debby. I appreciate my style does not suit everybody but I like to be empathetic - I don't learn by being shouted at so it's not a shouting, pushy style I have. I encourage interaction and I encourage people to ask questions.

"In my clients there is a wide range and variety and I am happy to work with people who lack confidence, I like to help people develop their confidence or have a horse that is slightly quirky. I like a challenge and to help people understand and learn."

When Pam came to the North-east, she rented a cottage in Udny Green "with no heating, it was freezing!" and after marrying husband, Keith, in 1995, they moved to Oldmeldrum and still live there, with Venturoso just a few minutes down the road at Ladyleys Equestrian Centre, where Pam has regular Tuesday clinics for clients.

Not only has Pam changed her work life from computing to equine, but Keith, who worked as an accountant in the oil industry for years, has now re-trained as an ambulance driver in a similar career turnaround.

"We both got to change from doing office jobs to doing jobs we throughly enjoy which we are very lucky to do," says Pam.

It has also allowed Pam to take her various greyhounds with her on her coaching travels over the years, the current one being Scooby - her passion for the breed developed after a meet and greet with Aberdeenshire rehoming charity GAGAH (Give A Greyhound A Home).

In the last few years Pam has also 'gone back to her roots' in a way by becoming involved in the All-Steps Formation Riding Club, set up by Senga Riches in 2017 after discovering formation riding in Devon when she moved there from Scotland.

Sarah Hosea joined her in 2022 and together they aim to make formation riding accessible to everyone and work with coaches who provide clinics all over the UK and run four competitions each year under the All-Steps banner.

Points gained at the competitions count towards final placings annually. The next competition is on 15th June and entries are submitted by video after riders pick their level and then their test. It is free to join.

All-Steps have also worked with the Portuguese School of Equestrian Art to host masterclasses and demonstrations and they have a demo team based in Devon, coached by Senga.

"We love having a diverse range of horses in the team as it helps to promote how accessible the sport is. We want to promote inclusivity in the equestrian landscape and show that our sport is for everyone," said Senga.

Pam recalled how she found out about All-Steps: "They had set up a demo team and were recruiting coaches and I went for a gala weekend, they brought the Portuguese School over to do a demo and had a workshop at Hartpury. I said I had done drill riding on and off and would like to be a formation riding coach." Pam's formation clinics run regularly at Ladyleys, Oldmeldrum, and at Swanley, near Stonehaven, and she is now training a team of miniature Shetlands who are long reined by their handlers through the formation tests.

"So it is partly in-person and partly online and there are four online competitions a year and the formation tests - all named after Lipizzaners - are similar to dressage tests," said Pam.

"Some of the people just do this for fun, the minimum is two - so a pairs test - and it's up to eight riders. They can ride in competitions and we do a Christmas one where we can dress up in Christmassy costumes too."

Pam with Venturoso and greyhound Scooby.

Regular Formation Riding client Annella Cowan takes part with Dornroeschen (Rosie) who is 26 but competed to Advanced Medium, and Topaz Gold (Leo) who is 16 and working at PSG, and says competing in the arena with others is a fun way to be challenged in her riding now.

"We have to concentrate! I love the sessions. There is always something new and new riders and horses to meet. It suits us very well, good exercise in a fun environment without pressure," says Annella.

"We have competed and will do again. I definitely plan to continue and would love to try some of the more advanced movements. Pam is such a positive coach, nothing phases her and she always finds a way to encourage and bring out the best in horses and riders. "Formation riding is about 50 minutes of solid work. It's also a good way to introduce riding in company without the pressure of a warm-up arena."

Pam organises regular clinics bringing Rui to Aberdeenshire. He is back in the North-east at Ladyleys Equestrian Centre from 22nd to 24th May.

The Formation Riding sessions take place regularly and there is Facebook page for All-Steps Formation Riding and Formation Riding with Pam Millar.

Contact Pam Millar: 07740116336.

Pam Millar Dressage can also help with Dressage to Music tests and there are Facebook pages for Pam's coaching and clinics.

Contact All-Steps Formation Riding at: https://allstepsformationriding.com

Rui Almeida also has a Facebook page.