My Story

I was totally pony mad as a child and I had the wonderful support of my parents who encouraged me to ride as much as possible by going to the local riding stable.

I would be there every weekend, every holiday, absorbing as much knowledge as I could. I begged and begged my parents for a pony. They could see how committed I was, so when Dee-Jay, a 13.2 grey pony came up for sale, they bought him for my Christmas present! I was 10 years old and this is where it all started... He was a naughty pony but we built a partnership and he turned from being an unruly terror to a well-mannered competition pony, winning at all the local shows.

This led to me being introduced to ‘Bonny’ a 14.2 who had lost her way, but again we got her on the right track and won at foxhunter level show jumping and all the open cross-country hunter trials.

Being on a livery yard I found I had a knack of getting a great tune out of other ponies and an initially unpaid teaching vocation was ignited.

Competing was a natural evolution. Once I started competing I realised this was what I wanted to do. I love developing horses and fulfilling their potential. My career was defined by two amazing horses: Loughnatousa Sam and Hallo Again. Both from Ireland but totally different!

Sam was a 15.2 bay pony with a heart of a lion. He was very highly strung and nearly ended up at the knackers but Tim Beecher had seen his jumping scope out hunting and came to the rescue. Subsequently Tim began retraining him and Rachel Bayliss saw him jumping and thought he would be perfect for me.

It was with much trepidation that Tim sent him over for me as he was very tricky to handle and he fully expected him to be on the next boat back! This was not to be.

We just gelled and we did the first of everything together: 1*, 2*, Intermediate, Advanced, 3*. I had absolute faith in him and it was that belief in each other that took us to our first 4* at Burghley. I was 24 and he was 11 and we achieved an incredible double clear (Clear XC and clear SJ).

I absolutely loved the buzz and adrenaline of competing at that level, I was hooked more than ever but Sam was limited in his dressage scope.

Loughnatousa Sam

My mother has always been an incredible influence in my riding career and she spotted Hallo Again (Harry) at Shaun and Sally Parkyns as a 4 year old. Bright chestnut with flashy paces, huge jump, he had it all but again he had his quirks. Shaun and Sally had recognised his talents but with them came the price of him being a bolter and a napper! They started him and with them he was 2nd in the BYEH final but they knew he needed a certain type of rider and I fitted the bill!

Mum bit the bullet and bought him for me, that purchase moulded my career forever. We partnered each other to the prestigious Festival of Eventing at Gatcombe Park where we won the British Intermediate Championship. This led to being placed at Blenheim which qualified us for Badminton Horse Trials, the competition everyone aspires to.

Harry was only 10 when we went but he rose to the challenge and we came a creditable 16th which earned us a place on the British Eventing Squad. We were first reserve for the Europeans in 2005 with the aim of competing at WEG in 2006 but sadly after an incredible clear round at Burghley, Harry damaged his tendon and we decided to retire him from top level Eventing.

I owe these two special horses so much and I feel so proud that we were double clear at our first ever Burghley and our first ever Badminton together. Their memories are with me forever.

Finding a horse to replace a superstar like Harry is near impossible but then my life took a different twist.

II had always been too busy to have a serious boyfriend and then suddenly finding myself with no top competition horse, I instead met my future husband! His sister had a horse on livery with me and she introduced us. From the start he understood the commitment and time needed with horses and showed me his devotion by buying me a beautiful mare Isa.

She was the first horse I’d sat on since Harry that had the ‘wow’ factor. We’d bought her as a 7 year old knowing she had an old injury from her previous show jumping home. Nevertheless she competed successfully in her first season being placed at a 1* but when her old injury returned we decided to breed from her which has resulted in two beautiful horses.

My family are everything to me. From the outset, my mother and father had absolute belief in me and gave me the support and encouragement to enable me to have the strength to push myself to top level competition. They were there every step of the way and Dad always insisted on being at the start box to wish me luck as I set off and was always at the finishing line to see me home.

I have had a break from top level competition to enjoy time with my incredible husband and two children; Natasha and Jonty. We all share the same love of horses and the countryside, so we searched and found our forever home ‘Cloud Cottage.’

This is why I’m so excited to start the next stage in my career. We've found a place where people can come and train with me and share all that Cloud Cottage has to offer. A place where I can share all my knowledge and experience to fulfil you and your horse's potential.

Training partnerships in the right way is important to me!

I believe it is crucial that an ethos of training builds from a solid foundation so that you can work in a system with your horse that links the phases together: dressage, show-jumping and cross-country.

This wonderful system was taught to me by Christopher Bartle. It gives a clear understanding of what’s required to achieve optimum potential at a competition and helps the rider to be able to work things out for themselves when the trainer isn’t there.