Background:

"It has been quite a journey thus far - from starting at Pony Club at age 8 to now riding Grand Prix Dressage at age 19, and having my name among those who have represented our country at the Olympics.  I have loved every single moment of my equestrian career so far, and regardless of where it takes me……I’m along for the ride!

Although I grew up competing mostly in show riding and in the Arabian show scene, dressage is certainly where I am supposed to be.  I love the challenge of doing something correctly, and really don’t mind someone judging me on it!  I know there’s always going to be an element of personal preference in any type of equestrian judging, however, that’s part and parcel of the sport –and I take it in my stride.  Dressage is challenging to me at whatever level it is that I’m riding…whether that’s Prep on a young horse, or Grand Prix – as long as I’m riding and competing, I’m in my happy space.

I am fortunate to compete at the highest level of two fabulous Warmblood horses - one (CP Dresden) owned by Jane Bruce of Neversfelde Stud (who I compete at Grand Prix level), and the other (Revelwood Quidam) owned by myself (who is just at Novice level as he’s a baby).   I regularly compete on CP Dresden now that COVID has enabled competitions to start up again - with my most recent competitions being Willinga Park Dressage By The Sea and the Sydney CDI-Lite.  My results were better than I thought they would be at the start of this new partnership.  I placed in the top 6 in the Open Grand Prix and the Freestyle at Willinga Park, and won the u/25 Grand Prix at the CDI Lite.  It's one of those things that I know will live with me forever.  I was lucky to get quite a few articles written about me during this time, so I've kept those in the drawer for when I'm old and I can show people that I actually did some amazing things when I was young!

I am always off competing, but I can only do this due to juggling the rest of my life around it.  I work for PB Dressage in Berry as a stable hand, I am studying my Bachelor of Pharmacy (Hons) via correspondence, and ride six days per week.  I have a very supportive family, and am also fortunate that I have an extremely supportive crew of like-minded people around me – but it still takes lots of work and time.  I wouldn’t swap it for the world though.

I have recently been invited to join the Dressage NSW Young Rider Performance Squad, which means that I will have the opportunity to attend invitation-only coaching clinics with the best in the business, which will do a lot for my continuing education as an equestrian rider.  I am still a member of my local pony club (Shoalhaven), and time permitting, attend hacking/showing events with my young horses for some socialising.  I really enjoy catching up with all of the friends I have made over the last decade – as equestrian sports can be quite insular.  I have also begun my dressage judge qualifications, and regularly judge at local events (both hacking and dressage) to ensure that I give back to those events that have always helped me out.

Being the Dressage sponsored rider for Illawarra Equine Centre is something I am quite excited about.  I adore horses, thoroughly enjoy anything within the local equestrian community, and have such a great relationship with the amazing vets employed at IEC.  We’ve had many emergency 4am visits in the last eight years we have lived in the area – and they always arrive with welcoming, calming presence.  I hope to be just as positive as your ambassador, and look forward to keeping everyone up to date with my competition results, my training sessions and everything else that I get up to with my Equestrian partners Des, Que and Russell.