Biography
I started riding at the age of two. By the age of six, I was doing a lot of showing. I qualified for HOYS every year from 1996 to 2003, winning in 2001, 2002 and then winning the Supreme Pony Championship on my last visit in 2003.
At the end of 2002 I decided I wanted to do something more exciting than showing, so we bought a 14.2hh, 5 year old called Noble Springbok. Springbok and I went on to win the area trials in 2003 and qualified for the Pony Club Championships. Over that winter I was lucky enough to be offered the ride on Walnut… the PERFECT schoolmaster! In 2004 I contested the FEI pony trials on Noble Springbok but unfortunately an injury early on ruled him out for the year. But Walnut won the PC Championships and then gave me my first win at a junior international 3DE at Weston Park.
In 2005 I was selected for the World Class Start and Development Programme and, consequently, made the decision to leave school to do horses full time. Walnut retained his Pony Club and JRN Championships in the same year. Soon after that, Fernhill Sox came to me and together we ended the year winning Weston Park CCI*. My main achievement in 2005 was winning Team Gold and Individual Bronze at the Pony European Championships on Noble Springbok.
In 2006 I was the youngest ever winner of a CCI** on Fernhill Sox. He then went on to win Individual Gold and Team Silver at the Junior European Championships. The next year (2007) we won our first Advanced. Rayef, my next partner, made a dream come true when he won double Gold at the Junior European Championships, making me the first British Rider to win back to back titles. In 2008, my biggest result was probably 6th at the 3* World Cup qualifier at Chatsworth on Rayef. But I also won the Advanced U25 at Withington Manor, the U21 Young Rider Trial and was 2nd at the Young Rider Final at Gatcombe. Fernhill Sox jumped the only clear round in the showjumping at the World Cup Final and finished in 13th place. We also won the Under 21 Championships when we were the only combination to finish on our dressage score in the CCI** at Weston Park.
2009 was a fantastic year. I moved to a fabulous new yard and had one of my most successful years yet. I won at Hartpury CCI* on the up and coming Vancouver. I then had a 14 point margin win in the CCI** on a new ride, Libby Soley's Kachemire le Beau. My season ended on a complete high with Rayef winning Team and Individual Gold at the Young Rider European Championships in Waregem, Belgium.
2010 saw me completing my first CCI**** on Ginger May Killinghurst and winning Team Gold at the Young Rider Europeans on Fern Hill Crystal. The 2010 season finished really well with winning the under 21s CCI** on Noble Bestman. I'm hoping for a good run at my first Badminton on Rayef in 2011!