I was fortunate enough to be brought up around horses, with my father previously competing at CCI5* level and an aunt, Karen Dixon, who went to multiple Olympic Games. I was first put on a pony aged around two – I could probably ride before I could walk! As children, my siblings and myself all did a huge amount of hunting and were very involved in the Pony Club. In fact, I was a member until I was 24 because I loved taking my young horses to rallies – it was a great way for them to be introduced to somewhere new with other horses, but without the pressure. My first taste of eventing was through the Pony Club because, prior to that, I did a lot of working hunters showing. My first BE event was when I was 14 and I wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, but after my first season, I was obsessed with the sport and disappointed I had to wait until the next March to compete again!
I was very fortunate to have been selected to do the Junior Europeans when I was 16 at Bishop Burton. It was only my second season competing, but I had a fantastic horse who had lots of talent to go win medals. He jumped a lovely double clear and it was a huge experience that taught me a lot and I was very grateful for it.
I think a huge turning point in my career was when I started to take Fever Pitch up to the CCI4* level – I learned so much in this process, probably more than I had in the previous 10 years! A highlight with him has definitely been winning our first CCI4*-L together and going to CCI5* level – hopefully, with many more CCI5*s to come!
I’m lucky to have a fantastic set up at home – my parents have been extremely supportive throughout the years, and I will always remember the excitement when we finally put in an arena and didn’t have to train on really wet ground in the spring leading up to events! I have a fantastic team behind me and couldn’t do it without them or my groom, Mark, who runs everything seamlessly when I am away competing! My coaches are Nicola Naprstek and Chris Bartle, and I’m very lucky that both of them are so local – Chris is a bit further away, but Nicola is only 10 minutes down the road so I couldn’t ask for her to be in a better location!
I’d like to try to get onto a senior team at some stage in the long-term, although horses are very unpredictable! Over the next couple of years, getting a few more CCI5*s under my belt would be my aim – getting some experience at that level while my younger horses work their way up would be beneficial for us as a team in the long run. I’m lucky to have some very talented young horses that I think a huge amount of, so focusing on bringing them up through the levels with as much confidence as possible is going to be key for their future.
I think the areas that will benefit me most will be the coaching and also the sports science aspect. I am really looking forward to learning more about how sports psychology can help me as I progress into more pressurised situations as well.