The River Tiger Podcast from Dynamics Coaching
The River Tiger Podcast from Dynamics Coaching
Marianne Davies
The River Tiger Podcast from Dynamics Coaching is a space for curious, evidence-informed conversations that sit at the intersection of learning, movement, skill acquisition, ethics, and philosophy — with a particular love for adventure, lifestyle, and equestrian sports.Hosted by Marianne Davies, the show explores what it means to become skilful in environments that are complex, fluid, and never fully controllable — where risk can be managed, but not eliminated. Each episode brings research and real-world practice into dialogue through spontaneous, thoughtful discussions with practitioners and researchers. Expect deep dives into ecological and systems perspectives, coaching practice, decision-making under pressure, and the socio-cultural realities that shape how we train, compete, and care — for ourselves, for others, and (in equestrian contexts) for the horse as a partner in the learning environment.
Forty years in search of one less paddle stroke: a conversation with paddler, designer, coach and lifelong explorer, Aled Lloyd-Williams.
In this episode of the River Tiger Podcast, I finally sit down with someone whose influence runs through much of my thinking about coaching, learning and skill development: paddler, designer, coach and lifelong explorer, Aled Lloyd-Williams. We wander through Aled's journey from teaching himself to kayak on the shores of Anglesey, to designing iconic sea kayaks such as the Romany, and more recently discovering new possibilities through stand-up paddleboarding. Along the way we explore l...
Sep 14
1 hr 15 min
How animals, humans, and environments shape each other. A conversation with Harry Heft
In this episode of the River Tiger Podcast, Marianne Davies is joined again by distinguished ecological psychologist Harry Heft for a wide-ranging exploration of how humans and other animals come to know, navigate, and participate in the worlds they inhabit. Drawing on the pioneering work of James and Eleanor Gibson, alongside the often overlooked contributions of Roger Barker, Harry discusses how behaviour emerges not simply from individual traits or internal processes but through participat...
Aug 27
1 hr 9 min
Confidence, Control, and Connection: NLP Meets Ecological Dynamics in Riding. A conversation with Dr Tracey Cole
Guest: Tracy Cole, NLP Master Trainer and equestrian mindset coach In this episode of the River Tiger podcast, Marianne Davies talks with Tracy Cole, an NLP master trainer who works with riders ranging from very nervous amateurs to elite competitors. Together they explore how neuro‑linguistic programming (NLP) is used to support riders’ confidence, mindset, and performance – and how that sits alongside an ecological approach to coaching, attention, and the horse–rider relationship. In this ...
Jun 25
56 min
Horse Welfare 12 with Dr Karen Luke: Systems Thinking, Wicked Problems, and Rethinking Equestrian Practice.
In this episode of the River Tiger Podcast, I am joined by returning guest Dr. Karen Luke to explore her new paper and framework referred to as “Horse Welfare 12”, based on Donella Meadows’ 12 leverage points for intervening in complex systems. Drawing on systems thinking and decades of hands-on experience with horses, Karen unpacks why the equestrian world is a “wicked problem” – full of genuinely conflicting stakeholder needs (riders, organisers, horses, wider horse industries) – and why q...
May 28
51 min
Response-Able: Ecological Psychology, Wayfinding, and Multi-Species Life. A catch-up with Carl Woods.
Show Notes In this rich, wandering catch-up with with Dr. Carl Woods we explore how an ecological approach to psychology, sport, and everyday life might help us live more responsibly in a time of ecological collapse. Drawing on two of Carl’s recent papers – a commentary on wayfinding (in conversation with Harry Heft and Gibsonian ecological psychology) and “Responsibility in a Time of Ecological Collapse” – we unpack what it means to pay attention, to be “response-able,” and to re‑situate ...
May 26
1 hr 24 min
How we learn to move in the real world: A conversation with Harry Heft.
In this episode of the River Tiger Podcast Marianne is joined by Professor Harry Heft, one of the leading voices in ecological psychology and a scholar deeply influenced by James and Eleanor Gibson. Harry shares how growing up amid the social change of the late 1960s, and his frustration with psychology’s neglect of real living environments, led him into a lifetime of work on environment–behaviour relations. The conversation explores the core ecological idea that perception is not about const...
May 2
57 min
Coaching Falling with Style: Affordances, safety, and skill adaptation with Danny Hatcher
In this episode of the River Tiger Podcast, host Marianne Davies speaks with Danny Hatcher, whose work sits at the intersection of sports coaching, ecological psychology, Deaf awareness, and technology/AI. Danny introduces his background in strength and conditioning and sports coaching and explains how a seemingly simple example about a table having “affordances” drew him into ecological psychology. He shares his lived experience of being half deaf and half blind, his journey into British Sig...
Mar 12
1 hr 14 min
Beyond Optimality: Embracing emergent adaptation. A conversation with Madhur Mangalam.
This podcast was recorded in response the publication of 'The myth of Optimality in Human Movement Science' by Madhur Mangalam. I recorded this episode some time ago but it has been a tough year and I have not published any podcasts. I lost my beloved River Tiger this year - it's still very raw but I do want to discuss that in another episode. My motivation is stronger for continuing to explore skill adaptation in equestrian and adventure sports so despite the need to prioritise my PhD thesis...
Dec 31, 2025
59 min
Exploring 'the affordance hypothesis' with Ed Baggs. What are affordances and are they different for non-human animals?
Ed Baggs, assistant professor at the University of Southern Denmark, joins me for a conversation about his research on affordances. I invited Ed to join me after reading his latest (preprint) paper ‘The Affordance Hypothesis. In this paper Ed and his co-author Vicente Raja delve into affordance research, using examples like an African fish eagle hunting bee-eaters to illustrate direct perception. Ed discusses his journey from traditional cognitive science to exploring affordances in lan...
Jan 25, 2025
55 min
A contemporary perspective on strength, conditioning and rehabilitation with Yuji Suzuki.
Yuji Suzuki, a strength and conditioning coach and chiropractor based in Portland, Oregon, discusses his transition to an ecological approach in his work with youth and remote clients. He explains how the COVID-19 pandemic led him to explore online resources, which introduced him to the ecological principles of human movement learning. Yuji emphasises the importance of allowing clients to explore their own movements rather than imposing rigid biomechanical models. He also highlights the...
Jan 16, 2025
54 min
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