In the beginning...
I first fell in love with horse riding way back in 2003 when I sat on Rocky.
At five years old I started riding properly at a local yard, and soon began helping out every weekend to learn more about these amazing animals. I mucked out, helped with grooming and tacking up to gain as much experience as I could.
In 2009 I had my very own pony, Moonfairy - an opinionated mare who definitely knew she was pretty. She was super sharp and soon taught me how to ride mainly from my seat through subtlety. We were soon competing at prelim level. We’d take part in show-jumping and cross-country, as well as dressage.
Quickly outgrowing Moon, I got my second horse, Ellie, with whom I could compete with in tougher competitions.
I quickly realised that horses were becoming a passion rather than a hobby and I wanted to progress further. Unfortunately coming from "normal" family and frugal means meant we could only afford an Irish ex-racer, Willoughby, that I found skin and bone at a dealers yard. Over the next couple of years through nurturing him, our partnership blossomed. This led to amazing success through the eventing levels.
Willoughby and I had memorable few years competing in BE100 tracks across the country until around 2016.
Focussing on dressage
In 2016, I decided to focus entirely on dressage. Despite Willoughby being a thoroughbred and not particularly suited to this discipline, I spent many hours training to improve our dressage skills. We quickly progressed from prelim to competing PSG level, not so bad for an ex-racer.
The experience I gained in producing my own horse was invaluable and the bond we grew is indescribable!
Going national
Experiences like this toughened me as a rider - physically and mentally.
And this mental strength is a huge part of my coaching. Sometimes all we need is determination and self-belief to not give up when things aren’t going our way!
Training was hard and intense, I went through many barriers of "I nor Willoughby can do this". With Willoughby contending against 'the dancing horses' - warmbloods and myself being on a horse genetically designed to run, my confidence took a massive knocking. This is when I decided to put myself forward for a sports psychology course to try and see how I could overcome these mental blocks myself.
By 2018 we were competing regularly and qualified for our first National Championships.
Performing for Royalty
In 2019, I was given the most astounding opportunity (by Dane Rawlins and Jennie Loriston Clarke) to be 1 of 10 British Young riders that would perform at the Royal Windsor Horse Show in the evening Gala Pagent.
And now in the present day, we compete at High Profile and Premier League national level with some of the biggest names in the sport.
And through it all we’re still learning, still progressing!
