Biography
My ‘first life’ was as a Junior Showjumper, I won two BSJA Championships then got to HOYS as a Young Rider and won several classes at Hickstead. Then I became a lady jockey both over jumps and on the flat. I retired after winning the Ladies European Championship in Vienna in 1995. I actually met Monty Roberts in 1993 and started learning his methods by helping him put problematic (often terrified) racehorses in the starting stalls. He is recognised in racing as the best in the world for this work – getting the horses to focus on him and overcome their fears.
I come from a very practical horsemanship background. There probably are people still out there who think Monty and my work is something ‘fluffy’; the fact is we work with every type of issue. We fully appreciate that many people want to compete or keep their horse at livery where they can’t be as involved as they’d like. But it’s our job to work with people to help them gain the best results, not tell them how they’re doing everything wrong! This often includes ‘untouched’ horses and ponies and those at rescue centres. I have also worked with several of the big equine charities and been out to Jordan and India as a consultant for The Brooke Hospital for Animals, advising their vets on horse handling.
Intelligent Horsemanship has spread to Ireland, Holland, Denmark and France through 36 associates I have trained to carry on my work. I have written three books - Perfect Manners - How You Should Behave So Your Horse Does Too; Perfect Partners – How to Be The Horse Your Horse Would Choose for Himself and Perfect Confidence & Overcoming Fear, Gaining Confidence and Achieving Success with Horses.
In May 2009 I came back to competition after being invited to compete in the SEIB Pro-Am TREC challenge at Royal Windsor. We donated the £1000 prize money to our Intelligent Horsemanship Charity of the Year as we did in 2010 when I finished 2nd on borrowed horse, Jock. I feel incredibly lucky to have made a career out of something that I love so much and it's great to get opportunities to give something back.