Discipline: Dressage/breeding
Current Horses: Agent de Jeu, Revelwood Amaretta and Royal Ballet RW
What are your top 5 best performances? Equitana FS 2012 with OO Seven, Winning the GP and the GP Freestyle in Melbourne on OO Seven with 73.5%, Winning the Intermediate I Freestyle on Agent De Jeu at DWTS on over 74%, Scoring a 10 on Royal Ballet (in a novice test… but still… a 10!!).
Who has had the biggest influence on your career to date? A number of people – it’s hard to name just one. For training; early on it was Edgar Lichtwark and Carolyn Lieutenant, then more recently Kristy Oatley and Lone Joergensen. But outside the arena, my family, friends and support crew.
Was it always your plan to work with horses professionally? Mine – yes, my parents – no!
What made you choose your current discipline? Strengths and weaknesses….
What qualities do you look for when choosing a new horse? A sound mind, good type, willingness to work and of course, good mechanics.
What is your favourite training exercise? Not really an exercise… but the importance of having your horse in front of your leg. So, ‘go/forward’ and ‘stop/slow’ would be my favourite things to do!
What gets you out of bed every morning? Knowing I didn’t get everything done yesterday!
How do you deal with the lows of the sport? There will always be lows…. but if you continue to think about competing against yourself, or simply bettering yourself on your journey, then it’s easier to rationalise the lows. Keeping things real. We’re dealing with horses, not machines. Things will go wrong… but it’s good to have perspective and a healthy view on life.
Your most embarrassing career moment? Only one? Maybe falling from Agent De Jeu in the prize giving at Dressage With the Stars. He won the freestyle and absolutely hates prize givings…. let alone being ridden with a rug on. Needless to say, he thought it was better that I stand on my own feet!
What would your advice be to an aspiring professional? Keep things real. Set goals, aspire to be better and more efficient in everything you do. Work hard, focus and be determined… but all the time while doing this, remember that it’s an enjoyable journey. Don’t let it become a chore… take the time to enjoy the simple things our sport offers.
What do you like about Proteq Equine Bedding? Loads of things – we no longer need a massive shavings pile, the stables are cleaner, fresher, are far less dusty, and are really easy to clean. They look great and the horses are very comfortable and happy!
What would you say to anyone who is hesitating to make the change over to Proteq? You won’t believe the difference until you try it. Try one stable first – I am absolutely sure people will change over to Proteq once they’ve experienced the product first hand. We did!
Ultimate goal? Wearing the Australian flag at some stage in the not too distant future.
