Me……… I am very passionate about my horse Super Cooper – he is the horse of my lifetime. I have been in the Industry since the age of 16 (definitely not saying how old I am now) and have learnt many different ways to train and teach both humans and horses. I simply love helping horses and riders build confidence in themselves and their abilities. Seeing a person or horse achieve their goal – no ma
tter what it is – brings a huge smile to my face. I’ve worked in racing, showjumping, backing, dealing (yep learnt a lot there), Dressage, Eventing and more. I managed Quob Stables in Southampton for 5 years with up to 70 horses; a riding school; competition yard; livery; breeding; backing and producing; BHS exam centre with horse therapy and rider training tools. I have been trained by riders such as Matt Hicks, Jennie Loriston -Clarke, Kay Barnacle (Waterman), and Coaches such as FBHS Robert Pickles, Heather Ashley BHSI, Kim Clarke, Rosie Moss. Somebody said to me once ‘you are obsessed with suppleness’ like that was a bad thing….I am glad I am obsessed with suppleness. My goal with horses…….I hope to never let my own ego get so big to succeed when I ride them, it comprises the horses welfare and has a detrimental affect. I am training and re-training a few horses at the moment that have had bad experiences with riders. The horses have been misguided in their work, to much pressure to soon, its not challenging enough, they haven’t had the variety of work they need mentally or they just don’t want to be a ‘Dressage horse’ and actually they have found galloping and jumping much more fun. I feel great satisfaction when they begin to enjoy their work and become happy in their job and future – they then don’t object so much when the pressure comes back. I guess my approach to teaching changes depending on the horse and rider and what they need. I will always be honest, much to the annoyance of myself sometimes as I tend to open mouth …engage brain as an afterthought!! I help a range of children and adults from explaining and demonstrating how to sit to the trot and canter, learning how to jump, ride courses, go to their first dressage competitions to coaching clients at Medium Dressage and Discovery/Newcomers BS. I also have clients that are competing at BE100/Novice Level – I never just stick with one discipline ….they are all enjoyable and every horse has a different path to follow! When coaching people with how to improve their riding I try to break problems down into manageable pieces and think outside conventional ways to achieve the goal we are looking for – whatever works.
