Biography
I began riding when I was seven and my mother bought two donkeys. I followed her around the garden on the back of one and knew I had found my vocation!! My parents were not horsey at all but finally at 11 years old I was bought a pony and from there on in I rode every spare minute of the day. I was in the Pony Club and on the show jumping and event teams, later on I did Young Rider show jumping and evented to Intermediate level, whilst showing Hunters and riding side saddle, so it was all rather full on! I just wanted to do it all and was doing quite well producing young horses and even managed to be Reserve Side Saddle Rider of the Year. I was however the quintisential English rider so it was quite a left turn that brought me to Western Riding.
My sister introduced me to Quarter Horses in 1988 and I was amazed at what they could do. An eventing accident led to me having 18 months out of jumping and so during that time I became more involved in the Western side of things. At the end of that chapter I did one more BE event, then hung up my English boots, sold my eventers and hunters and concentrated on the Quarter Horses. Now, some 21 years later, I am aiming for my third WEG (2010) which is fantastic. I have seen the discipline of reining catapault from an "All American" sport to a global equestrian industry at the highest level and it has been an exciting adventure!
Reining is the fastest growing equestrian event and I would love to see it become an Olympic discipline. In 2007 I became the first European lady rider to break through the $100,000 earnings bracket and I am now working on the next $100,000! I like to set goals as they motivate me, but without a doubt one of the most exciting parts of my career has been being on the British Team. I suffer from pre show nerves quite badly but have gained help in that area from a sports psychologist and realise now how much time we spend on getting our horses ready and how little time we spend on ourselves!! It is an area I would like to investigate more and encourage anyone who suffers from stage fright to do the same.
In addition to riding, I run Sterling Quarter Horses and the Bodiam International Arena. We have built one of the largest indoor arenas in the UK and are now underway with hosting all sorts of events in it, everything from breed shows to dog agility to dressage. We also host Driving for the Disabled and I am keen to get going with RDA and Para Dressage events as, after more than 20 years in the horse industry, I want to start giving back. It might sound cheesy, but it's true. Horses have given me some of the best moments of my life, so it would be great if I can facilitate that for others.
On top of the horse business I have two fabulous children, Tabitha and George. They are my greatest supporters and my lucky mascots! Tabitha is a very keen rider and is now competing but George prefers riding the tractor, which is good as we need to keep our surface perfect! They come with me to The States in the winter to support Mummy at the big events, I couldn't do it without them.
I also oversee our family farm in Kent, and so with all the travelling to the shows in Europe and the USA it is a busy life. I think that I must be the only one who was mentally doing the Tesco online shopping list whilst warming up in Italy in '08, and I am not sure what the sports psychologist would think about that for mental preparation!