join
me on

MY BACKGROUND & TRAINING

  • I was not lucky enough to have my own pony as a child and so I had lessons at my local riding school. I worked for a lot of my rides, often riding quirky young or new horses and ponies. I relished the challenge and it helped to me to develop my stickability. My interest in schooling and training had been sparked.

  • From a very young age I knew I wanted to be an instructor and took every opportunity to broaden my knowledge and experience of all things equine. I trained and eventually taught under the supervision of senior instructors whilst still at school.

  • I went on to college and completed a National Diploma in Equine Management. This enabled me to study in depth many areas of the equine industry. I particularly enjoyed the modules in equine science, where I was able to really get to grips with a horse’s physiological make up and relate this to the husbandry and equitation modules to form a more detailed and rounded view. Alongside my Diploma I achieved my:

    • •  BHS Stage 1 (riding and care)

    • •  BHS Stage 2 (riding and care)

    • •  Riding and road safety

    • •  BHS Stage 3 (groom’s certificate)

  • I was in fact the only student on my course to achieve this number of exams. After college I was lucky enough to be accepted by two of the top BHS “where to train” equitation centres. I enrolled at The Huntley School of Equitation as a senior working pupil (due to exams already achieved), for one year to intensively train for my BHSAI. I chose Huntley because of their renowned reputation for traditional training and high standards.

  • After achieving my BHSAI I worked at Summerhouse Equitation and Education Centre where I really honed my craft. Working at summerhouse also gave me the opportunity to continue to further my own personal development and training. In addition to regular in house instruction I received training from various trainers who included: dressage rider Pammy Hutton and show jumper Rolland Fernihough. I taught an amazing variety of people and there was often a waiting list for my lessons.

  • I also ran the centre’s pony club, fun days and dressage clinics. At this time I was still very interested in horses that were a little quirky and I often took on extra projects with horses that needed help to readjust to their new jobs or be schooled up to sell on. During this time I owned Bounty, a youngster I had brought on for my mum to progress with.

  • Whilst at Summerhouse Bounty and myself managed to squeeze in becoming Cotswold Novice Dressage Champions, Win the UK Chasers regionals and Come 9th at the Nationals. A very clever horse!

  • After Summerhouse I took on the running of the livery yard at Warren Sport Horses. I had great fun training with them all, going to competitions and eventing the awesome character that was Rusty Bad Pants!

  • Another achievement that really stands out was competing a livery horse that had developed a really bad habit for rearing. Getting him to the point where we were happily and successfully competing at BD was brilliant.

  • Tim & Toni Warren gave training sessions to their riders and pupils and I was lucky enough to train alongside them. Their no-nonsense and “to the point” approach, combined with riding some real quality horses really took my riding to another level, in particular my show jumping.

  • Being involved with Team Warren gave me a real insight into how the professionals do things. Watching Danni Evans pack her Union Jack-plastered trunks to set off for the Europeans was immensely exciting. It also helped to put my own first affiliated events into perspective!

  • I then managed a small livery & stud. I really enjoyed putting the knowledge I had gained about breeding to practical use! I handled and broke in youngsters including the stud’s 4-year-old stallion. I showed off foals and young stock at the BEF Futurity and rode in the stallion parades. I successfully retrained the pony stallion to event (he was previously pure dressage), once he got over the fear of leaving the ground and his friends! I competed him and another young mare that I had backed and brought on. These two very different horses started their B.E. careers with me, and having both been placed regularly were ready to move on.

  • During my time there I was exposed to more open-minded techniques such as riding and competing horses barefoot, treeless saddles, the use of acupuncture and occasionally physiotherapy. I was able to see first-hand the effects these systems & therapies had for different horses that were in my care.

  • I am now working freelance and have returned to my first love, of training both horses and their riders. I bring with me a wealth of knowledge and experience but I aim to continue learning and improving my whole life through.