My last pony was called Roma.  She was a 13.2hh Show Hunter Pony who had had a great deal of showing success with her previous owners and was a real 'been there, done that' type.  She had wonderful paces and wiilingly performed everything I asked of her; she was a dream pony.                                   

I started to take competing a bit more seriously with her and particularly worked on improving my dressage skills.  I had lessons with the renowned Dorothy Johnson, FBHS, who at that time was one of very few Fellows in the country.  She really brought the best out of me and Roma.  We competed for three Sundays each month for the showing season for a few years, until inevitably I outgrew her and we had to sell her on. 

I shall always be grateful to all the horses and ponies we have had over the years, and grateful to my mother, too, for having the patience,  motivation and finances to keep me in training for all that time. 

Three years ago my Mum kindly passed down to me her lovely Oldenburgh mare, Paloma, to bring  back into work and with whom to pursue my training in classical dressage.  She has always been a dressage horse and was trained to go with her head and neck a little deeper than I would like and so my goal has always been to lift her off the forehand and not let her nose drop behind the vertical.  (This is something which is widely considered desirable in dressage today but is, in fact, incorrect.  Please read 'Tug of War' by Gerd Heuschmann for more information about this.)

I spent the first year doing gentle work with Paloma and tried to fit in as much riding as possible alongside looking after my two young children.  I did not have as much time as I should have liked to devote to Paloma  but, as she was an older horse (at 17 years old),  it was no bad thing.                       

I started to read as many  books as I could find on classical dressage by the likes of Erik Herbermann,  Alois Podhajsky, Nuno Oliveira, Sylvia Loch, Anja Beran, Paul Belasik and Susan McBane (who turned out, by a huge stroke of luck, to live in Lancashire and became my teacher).

Despite having years of riding experience, my desire to acquire the 'perfect classical seat' led me to realise that I needed to train with somebody on a regular basis to help me to understand the correct principles of dressage training and Paloma made me realise that reading books alone was not going to be enough.  I searched for about a year to find somebody who taught true classical principles  but I could not find anybody near to home and wasted a good deal of time and money having lessons with people from various parts of the country who claimed to be classical.   I quickly realised that many people claim to be classical but, after spending a short amount of time with them, it was obvious that they did not teach the same principles that were set out in my classical books, so I often went home feeling worse off than when I arrived, being confused at the conflicting advice I had been given.  

 Paloma and me on an Anja Beran clinic in a good, uphill canter.  Canter is Paloma's worst gait and this is good work for her.

In May 2008, I managed to reserve a place on a clinic with Anja Beran which was a tremendous experience and gave me some new insights and techniques to work on at home.  I gained a better understanding of the work in Anja's book ('In Deference') and covered a great deal of advanced lateral work which is predominant in her training.  Unfortunately, Anja, being a very busy lady, was only able to visit the UK once a year which was too long for me to wait without instruction.  By this time I was becoming very serious about my riding ambitions and so I decided that, somehow, I would have to find an instructor, even if it meant moving house.  Luckily, my mother gave me one of  Susan McBane's books, 'Revolutionise Your Riding',  and, remembering that she used to live nearby, advised me to look her up in the Classical Riding Club Trainers Directory.  It turned out that she was only about an hour away and I have been training with her ever since - and I have not had to move house.   I was also lucky enough to train with Anja again in the UK, on her 2009 clinic and have secured a place for 2010 in Castleford.

Susan has taught me a lot more than just how to ride: she has taught me to have more compassion for the horse's feelings, never pushing him to work too hard or beyond his mental or physical capabilities.  She also emphasises the ill-effects of  incorrect training such as hyperflexion/rollkur, excessive speed and over-firm bit contact and how to recognise the results of using them when teaching and schooling.   Susan trained with Desi Lorent who was a student and friend of Nuno Oliveira for about 20 years and her work follows the exact same principles as theirs.  We spend a lot of time discussing training methods, classical principles and horse welfare in general and all this has helped me to achieve sufficient knowledge and ability to be able to offer training myself.  

I am now available for schooling and competing and can also offer rider training.  Perhaps you are not sure what classical dressage is and you would like an introduction to it.  Perhaps your current training isn't working for either you or your horse and you would prefer a more horse-friendly approach.  Whatever the problem, you can Contact Me and we can discuss the best way forward.

My training continues and I hope to train in Portugal, too, before setting up a yard with Susan, offering classical training for horse and rider from 2010.  The services we plan to offer include various livery arrangements, training for both resident and outside clients, competing, resting, retirement and rehabilitation.  Alongside teaching and schooling commitments I plan to compete Paloma at elementary level.  Further developments will be announced on this page as they occur.