A New Year and a New Member of the Team!

At the end of November I received an early Christmas present! I’m excited to introduce the newest member of the team, a 9 year old mare from Hawtins Stud - Belle. The Lady Joseph Trust have kindly purchased her for me to ride and I am incredibly grateful to them and Henrietta for their continued support. Belle is another pocket rocket and I’m excited to continue working with her and build our partnership.

As we head into the 2024 season I feel very lucky to have these 2 stunning horses to ride and compete who are not only talented but will tolerate being dressed in Christmas attire for the purpose of these photos and are both the sweetest characters to work with.

So to everyone, Happy New Year, let’s see what we can do in 2024…

2023 - A Year in Review!

2023 flew by in a bit of a whirlwind. After selling Loki at the end of 2022, I found myself without a horse to ride for the first time in over 10 years! Sophie very kindly offered to let me have a sit on Nero her young horse and we clicked straight away. It was supposed to be a temporary thing to keep me riding while I looked for a new horse, but I haven’t given him back yet and we now share him to compete. Over the winter we were invited to ride in demonstrations at the BD Nationals at Somerford, Your Horse Live and the London International Horse show! He quickly became a very experienced 6-year-old and we even managed to get selected for a Para International after just a few weeks of being together.

 In 2023 he continued to excel winning all 3 National titles, 3 International classes and we were selected as reserves for the European Championships - what a little star!

 Although we didn’t end up riding, I was still involved in the Europeans in some way as I was asked to commentate again following my debut in 2022! This year was a little different as I was doing it remotely, so it was strange to be part of the live stream from my home back in England and not having the same tech support next to me or in my ear but as always, the onsite team were great at prepping me. I missed being out there to show my support in person, but I must say what a fantastic job the British Team did with a brand-new team of young horses and new riders – they all pulled out PB’s and outstanding performances to bring back Team Bronze and individual medals. I was desperately doing calculations at home alongside commentating to try and work out how the Team competition was playing out and it was a very welcome and well-deserved surprise for the team. I was also particularly nervous on Freestyle day as Sophie (Wells) had asked me earlier in the year to put a freestyle together for Diana (LJT Egebjerggards Samoa) her young horse. Diana could get a little hot in competitions and the music could make her a little over enthusiastic so we changed it for the Europeans to something lighter in the hope that it would help to keep her settled. I was literally still tweaking it at the pre-Europeans camp days before so Sophie hadn’t ridden to it in competition yet – so I was hoping it all went OK! When they managed to complete a clean test and come back with a bronze medal I couldn’t be more proud (and a bit relieved), she’s a super talented horse and still has so much potential.

In February, following the sale of Loki, the Lady Joseph Trust purchased Dora Bella, a 9 year old mare by Damon Hill. She had beautiful movement and a lovely temperament, but after a few months of working together we decided that unfortunately my original worry that she wasn’t quite hot enough for me was correct. It’s always a difficult decision to sell a horse and I don’t like giving up but she quickly found her new home and seeing her with her new young rider and how happy they were together gave me a lot of confidence that it was the right decision - that’s not to say I didn’t get watery eyes when she left!

Off horse it’s been a busy year, my first year as part of the FEI committee, and alongside the regular meetings I was invited to attend the IPC (International Paralympic Committee) Athlete’s Forum in Incheon, South Korea. The forum took place at the end of June which was the week before I was running an event for over 1,200 people for work and was due to leave for Hartpury CPEDI with 2 horses, so it wasn’t ideal timing! However, it was an amazing opportunity and so with a lot of planning and very little sleep I managed to squash in the 3-day trip where we stayed at the bespoke National Paralympic Training centre. It always feels like such a privilege to be part of these discussions and influencing the future of the Paralympics and I really feel lucky to be able to raise issues and work to find solutions to make Paralympic sport and Para Dressage better for my fellow athletes.

This year I’ve also enjoyed supporting my clients at competitions and at home with their coaching and training. Whether it’s being at an International or just helping to understand their horse and find a new approach to improve, whatever their goals it’s equally as rewarding when you see that light bulb moment.

A huge thank you to all my sponsors, my team and everyone who continues to support me.

Au revoir to my happy, bouncy pony

Just a few weeks ago I made the tough decision to put Loki - LJT Diamond Crusador - on the market to find his next home. I've had the privilege of riding him since he was a bouncy 6-year-old and although he is still bouncy, he's changed so much in the last few years. We've taken part in demos (including one at Your Horse Live), travelled around Europe (Belgium, France and Holland), had wins at National and International level and been selected as reserves for the Tokyo Paralympics last year when he was just 8 years old.

Although Para was always my priority, we managed to fit in qualification for the BD Winter Championships at Elementary and Medium after being reserve Regional Champion at both levels. But away from the arena, we've grown together and built a partnership that I will definitely miss.

I'm thrilled that he's found the most amazing new dancing partner and home. I know he will continue to be the happy, bouncy pony we all love and I look forward to following them on their journey.

I am so grateful to HC Dressage and Lady Joseph Trust for the opportunities and support I've been given, Sophie Wells OBE Dressage for joining me on this journey and all my sponsors and supporters who have made everything possible.