Discipline: Dressage
Current Horses: Ferrero Rocher (Grand Prix), Revelwood Destiny (Small Tour) & Noble Dancer (Elementary)
What are your top 5 best performances? Winning the Australian 5yo and 6yo YH Pony at DJWTS and Champion of Champions twice; Competing Ferrero Rocher at Brisbane CDI & placing in Grand Prix (my first GP at a CDI); Winning a National Gold performace medal with Ferrero Rocher & Being named on the NSW High Performance and National Squad with Revelwood Destiny
Who has had the biggest influence on your career to date? Definitely my husband David. We ride together each day and are each other’s “eyes on the ground”. Sometimes it can be tricky training with someone you live with (!!) but in other ways its great as we can help each other at home, warm each other up at Competitions and we also know each others horses really well.
Was it always your plan to work with horses professionally? Ive always loved being around animals which lead me to my degree in Veterinary Science. I couldn’t imagine being a small animal vet as I was always drawn to horses! As I started riding more it became evident that I was hooked and it was a natural progression to work with them on a day to day basis. I really couldn’t imagine doing anything else!!
What made you choose your current discipline? I did a little showing and eventing as a teenager but I love the quest for perfection with dressage! The horses I had were great allrounders so I guess I could have gone into another discipline but for me dressage always presented the biggest challenge and gave me the most satisfaction!
What qualities do you look for when choosing a new horse? I look for a few different things. I like a horse that’s appealing to the eye (perhaps that’s some of my showing history coming out), with good basic paces and a willing to please attitude. You can have the flashest moving, fanciest horse around but if it doesn’t want to do its job then you don’t stand a chance! A lot of my riding horses are youngsters that we have bred so its nice to know them right from the start!
What is your favourite training exercise? I don’t really have a single exercise as such but when I train the horses its all about consistency and repetition. I like to try and be very logical and straight forward with them so that there’s no confusion about what Im asking for.
What gets you out of bed every morning? Im surrounded by a great family & supportive friends, live on an amazing property with super horses and have the best job in the World….. what more could a girl want??!
How do you deal with the lows of the sport? I think its like most things, you just have to keep on keeping on! If I ride a bad test then I have to think about my training and preparation and what I could have done differently to be more on top of my game. Unfortunately Dressage is a subjective sport and sometimes there can be big variations between judges. That is a lot harder to deal with!
Your most embarrassing career moment? In 2012 down at DJWTS I was riding Ferrero Rocher in the Inter 1 Freestyle. We were so pumped up as there was a big crowd and Ferrero Rocher loves nothing more than to perform! The music started and we came up the centreline, trotted across the first diagonal and Boom! Out went the arena lights!!! All I could think was just keep riding (!!) so I managed to ride the next 2 or 3 movements in complete darkness before I realised the power wasn’t coming back on any time soon!! As it turned out a car had hit a power pole and they had to cancel the freestlye and reschedule for the morning!!
What would your advice be to an aspiring professional? Get as much help and advice as you can! Its ideal to base yourself with someone you respect and admire who is currently out there in the sport. They will teach you their routine and training schedule, which is invaluable in producing top level competition horses. Once you fall into the pattern of regular training and competition it all becomes second nature!
What do you like about Proteq Equine Bedding? Everything! I love the smell of the fresh pine in the stables, the cleanliness and freshness of the bedding and also the fact its easy to clean and store!
What would you say to anyone who is hesitating to make the change over to Proteq? Try it! You will be surprised at the difference it will make!
