Anna Ross

The international dressage rider and trainer on not looking horses in the eye, listening to your backside and never getting back on for a third time

- Sarah Jenkins

EVERY horse I ride teaches me how little I know. They were all sent to make me a better person. Some teach you patience, some teach you to control your nerves. I like having ones we’ve bred as they come as they are and we have to work with who they are – each is a puzzle.

I was based with German Olympic champion Ulla Salzgeber for an intensive period of training, and she is an extraordinarily good trainer. It’s really worth investing in good training because the best thing you can have is your skill – it is not a coincidence that certain riders have produced horse after horse to top level.

Ulla taught me technique. The time I spent there was all about the German scales of training.