About Me

I started riding at around 9 years of age. I started at a little riding school where they had advertised a free lesson in the paper, and after that, mum and dad had difficulty trying to stop me going. I spent most of my first few years riding any pony / horse that I was allowed on, and soon found that riding the naughty ones were so much more fun!

I was allowed to start Pony Club at around 11 years old, at a tiny little club called Truganina Braybrook, which had about 30 members at the most. I quickly learnt to jump, and once I started, although my pony disagreed with me, I never wanted to stop jumping.

After going through a couple of horses, and learning that off the track TB's are not the best for 12 year olds, I was lucky enough to lease an amazing little Arabian mare who taught me to jump up to around 1m, before I grew too big and moved on yet again. Unfortunately we couldn't afford many lessons, so up until that point, I had mostly learnt everything I knew from Pony Club and falling off. However at around 14, mum started helping me get lessons every 2nd week for a few months with a local riding instructor, and she established all my basics that I should have learnt 5 years earlier!

At 15 I found a lovely TB who had a great temperament, but had the worst ground manners, and so after leasing him for a month, I bought him. Not long after, I moved out of home and went to work full time at a horse property in Winchelsea, with a dressage rider (Scarlett Blakely) and Dirk Dijkstra on the property across the road. With their help, together Gary (the horse - I didn't name him!) and I have gone from basically nothing (me having competed no higher than Intro level, and him never having jumped) and worked our way to Pre-Novice.

Unfortunately I was unable to stay in Winchelsea, and after staying with Vanessa Hawkins for around 6 weeks whilst she was overseas, Ness very generously offered me to take home ESB Irish Legacy, a beautiful grey gelding who taught me to showjump. I no longer have Legs, as he was not quite brave enough to compete in the higher levels of eventing, but yet again, Ness has been very generous to me and I now have ESB Irish Visitor, who is very green, very shy, but extremely talented. Hopefully in time, we can make Ness proud :)