Biography
Coming from a horsey background I shared my first pony with my sister when I was eight years old, although Mum soon got a second pony for me so we could both ride at the same time rather than one after the other.
I was a member of the Pony Club from day one but as I wasn't really brave enough to do the 'jumping thing' and didn't have much interest in flatwork, Mum was always on the look out for alternative activities for me. I played Pony Club polo for seven years which I adored but I had to give up when I went to university. Whilst I was at uni' Mum read about TREC in the BHS Horse magazine and gave it a go. She enjoyed it so much that at the next competition I decided to try my hand at it and beat Mum to take first place; I haven't looked back since then.
Put simply TREC can be described as orienteering on horseback, although there is a little more to it than just map reading. The competition is designed to test a horse and rider combination through a whole range of activities rather than focusing on one particular discipline. The sport requires versatility and training, combining the requirements of trail riding, with jumping and correct basic flatwork.
A full outdoor competition will comprise of three phases over one or two days. The first phase is the map reading where you follow a set route at set speeds suitable to the terrain. Control of paces is as close as a TREC competition comes to dressage, as the horse must canter up to 150m as slowly as possible then walk the same distance as quickly as possible. Finally the third phase is the obstacle course, similar to a cross country course but it only has up to three jumps with the remaining obstacles (up to 16 in total) designed to simulate natural terrain and hazards that you might come across whilst on a hack, such as a gate, low branches, and riding up and down inclines.
I've been competing in TREC for eleven years now and have been riding my current horse, Wizzy, at the top level for six years. We are members of the GB Development Squad and were first a part of the national squad for the 2006 European Championships, where we finished 10th on our debut when Wiz (a Connemara cross) was just 6! We were then selected for the British team for the 2008 World Championships and the 2010 European Championships (international competitions are held every two years, as with eventing). We are two times British Champions (having first won the title in 2007 and the second in '09), two times Open League Champions (’09 & ’10 seasons), Welsh Champions ('09 & '11), Scottish Champions ('11) and we've finished in the top six at all domestic championships that we've entered.
We won a number of major UK titles in 2011 and achieved a personal best at Level 4 (the highest grade) when we took the Welsh TREC Championships! I am looking forward to my next international competition, which, selection dependent, will be the 2012 World TREC Championships in Portugal.
In order to pay for my horse hobby I have a full time office job working for National Grid. I joined the company on their graduate scheme and have been off the scheme and in my current role for five years now, leading a team that design and analyse the UK gas transmission network - but please don't blame me for the gas prices, that's not my fault!
