OHL Groups
Magdalena Mękal

Meet your instructor

Magdalena Mękal

Magdalena Mękal is a OneHorseLife PRO Teacher based at OneHorseLife Headquarters in the Netherlands. With a background in competitive show jumping at national level, she helps horse owners bring conscious relaxation into their training, supporting both their horse’s well-being and their riding ambitions.

Teaching languages
  • English
Explore courses

About your instructor

Experience

Horses have been central to Magdalena’s life since childhood. As a young competitive rider, she was determined to ride better and compete higher classes. But recurring injuries and training difficulties with her own horses led her to question how she could build lasting progress while keeping her horses comfortable and happy to participate. In 2020, she discovered OneHorseLife and the Optimal Performance Program. Teaching her horses conscious relaxation brought life changing results in their movement, behaviour and willingness to work with her. That experience fundamentally reshaped her understanding of training and led her to become a teacher herself. Magdalena has been a OneHorseLife PRO Teacher since 2023. She is certified in the Optimal Performance Program and Relax Now and is completing her SpookyLess PRO certification. Based at OneHorseLife Headquarters, she continues to develop her practice under Anna Marciniak’s guidance. She has worked with hundreds of clients through seminars, clinics, individual sessions and online guidance. In 2023 alone, she delivered more than 40 educational events across Poland. Her teaching has also taken her abroad, including to Denmark and Qatar. Her experience as both a competitive rider and a horse owner gives her a practical understanding of the challenges riders face when their horse feels tense, anxious or reluctant to go forward. She helps owners bring OneHorseLife methods into everyday training, supporting movement, greater confidence and consistent progress towards their riding goals. Her daily work with horses at OneHorseLife Headquarters connects her teaching with ongoing practice and learning.

Learn together

Available courses

Conscious relaxation in stillness and movement · English

Optimal Performance Program

Explore the Optimal Performance Program™ by OneHorseLife with Magdalena Mękal. Learn through the shared OPP lessons, practise with your horse and receive instructor-led group support in English. The 12 modules are released in three monthly batches of four according to paid attendance. The course uses the original English learning texts, videos and workbooks.

With Magdalena Mękal

Course overview

Understand stress, tension and relaxation. Develop conscious relaxation in stillness and movement. Practise observation and training skills with guidance from Magdalena Mękal.

Teaching, exposure and gluing phases of relaxation · English

Relax Now

Become the person your horse turns to in moments of stress. Explore Relax Now by OneHorseLife with Magdalena Mękal and learn a groundwork approach centred on connection, body guidance and a calmer response to challenging situations. Developed by OneHorseLife, Relax Now teaches the horse to look to your body for guidance when stress appears. The course presents an approach beyond pressure and submission, with theory and practical demonstrations involving young and mature horses. Teaching Phase: introduce your horse to following your body and finding guidance in you. Exposure Phase: introduce challenges gradually while maintaining connection. Gluing Phase: connect the experience of stress with the response of looking to you for guidance. Going Deeper: explore different people, environments and practical situations. Bring the learning into everyday challenges such as distractions, preparation for loading and veterinary visits. Share your questions and practice videos in the course group and receive guidance from Magdalena Mękal in English. Includes a welcome lesson and four main modules, containing 19 original Vimeo videos. The first four sections open in month one of paid attendance, and Going Deeper opens in month two. Course materials and instructor support are in English.

With Magdalena Mękal

Course overview

Understand how to offer your horse guidance when stress appears. Practise the teaching, exposure and gluing phases step by step. Observe demonstrations with young and mature horses. Explore connection during distractions and everyday challenges. Receive instructor guidance on your own practice.

Automatic behaviour and building new responses · English

SpookyLess

Explore SpookyLess by OneHorseLife with Magdalena Mękal. Discover the program’s approach to automatic behaviour and building new responses through neuroplasticity, with step-by-step video lessons and instructor-led group support in English. Follow the complete original course: Welcome, Going Deeper, Modules 1–6, Extras, and Building towards the Full Session. The ten sections contain 11 original Vimeo videos, presented in the same order as the OneHorseLife course page. Bring your questions and practice to the course group. Share your progress and receive guidance from Magdalena Mękal as you work through the materials. Materials are released in monthly batches of four, four and two sections according to paid attendance. Course access follows your OHLGroups subscription.

With Magdalena Mękal

Course overview

Explore the SpookyLess approach to automatic behaviour and new responses. Follow the original video lessons step by step. Work through the extras and build towards a full session. Discuss your practice and progress with Magdalena Mękal.