I always loved horses.
Mum paid for lessons when I was a child and at 14 I shared a pony; I did all the jobs and they let me ride him. A chance meeting with a local trainer led to me riding out for him. Walking into his yard and seeing head after head of shiny horses, I wasn’t interested in anything else, I only cared about horses. I don’t know what I’d have done otherwise.
I was there all the time, until I moved on to a bigger yard and then Newmarket. The trainer’s wife there was a mentor to me, and he was a major influence but he was so difficult to work for! I wanted to leave, he was hard on me if a horse wouldn’t go on the gallops, but that makes you tough and nobody has that any more. You need that tough love to set you up for life.
Kelly Harrison, a fellow jockey, talked me into giving presenting a try.
We were at Wolverhampton one night, both waiting to ride the last race at 9pm, and she told me about her being on William Hill TV. I did a few days and I hated it. I cried one day and it was a pre-record! After a few months I said, "Thanks but not for me", but they said, "We're not letting you go, you're great".
I was getting fed up with racing.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة September 21, 2023 من Horse & Hound.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة September 21, 2023 من Horse & Hound.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Jappeloup
A small horse who looked like two halves put together’, Jappeloup nonetheless proved to have a big heart and a huge talent”.
Collett takes two
A bumper fixture hosts 12 intermediate and open intermediate sections, as Paris contenders blow away the cobwebs
Capitalise on buyers' remorse
Equestrian properties might be in short supply, but prices are back to normal after the Covid frenzy as the capital lures buyers again
Games making
Equestrianism will be in the thick of the action in Paris, but the logistics of hosting Olympics in the heart of an iconic city are a challenge. Kate Johnson asks organisers, riders and grooms for their memories of urban Olympic sites
On the bench
Being picked as the \"fourth man\" to support a three-man Olympic team, ready to step in at any moment in the competition, requires a resilient and unflinchingly sportsmanlike mindset.
A brush with the Games
Want to know what really goes into preparing an Olympic campaign? Bethany Stone speaks to top industry grooms with star-studded CVs for the scoop
One moment in time
The Olympics is the zenith of an athlete's career but precious few scale those giddy heights. Sue Polley asks four British Olympians about their most memorable experiences
'Pride? I just felt relief
Blyth Tait on jumping barn roofs, \"freezing\" in the Atlanta heat and the day his eight-year-old prodigy won Olympic gold
Mental health advocate
Harry Dunlop retired from training in 2022, having held his licence for 16 years. He founded the Trainer Support Network in 2023
Hugo Simon
The six-time Olympian tells Bernard Bale about his \"extraterrestrial\" string of horses, changing nationality and his success at the boycotted Games