Biography

I started riding when I was about four years old and it was purely through jealousy! Having seen my older sister go off for lessons, I announced one day in the car (I still remember!) that I too was going to ride! I always considered myself quite ‘gutsy’ and brave - I really enjoyed those small pony club rallies where control was not obligatory! However, I then started showing classes where control and showmanship were key. I would say this is where I learnt the importance of commanding the arena for dressage.

I started to move into dressage through Pony Club and BYRDS. I really enjoyed it and knew I wanted to do it as my equestrian sport. It was when I was ten and I won the under-21’s fledgling talent spotting that I realised I wanted to do the sport seriously. At the age of twelve I became the youngest individual winner of the Pony Club Dressage Championships. This was my first big win, and the next year I was the only person to win it twice in a row with the same pony.

Last year is when things really started to get serious. It was my first year of internationals and over a period of six months I built a strong partnership with my pony though training with Peter Storr, consequently leading us to the European Championships in Germany and winning team bronze. This is my final year at Pony level and I hope to go to the European Championships repeating and furthering the success of last year. I have also just acquired my Junior horse, Desert Dream, from Germany and I hope to campaign him next year internationally.