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About Me
As a young girl I was a keen and competitive horse rider. However in my thirties I suffered a polio like illness and was unable to continue. Despite this difficulty I never lost my interest and love of horses, and it was at the 1993 Horse of the Year Show that I came into contact with the Riding for the Disabled Association.
In 1995 they found me a place with a North London Group, but I found it impossible to ride astride. At the trot my legs went into painful spasms and all control over the horse was lost. Utterly frustrated I had given up the idea of ever riding again, but a chance introduction to 76 year old Mrs. Cecily Fryer, a founder member of the Side Saddle Association changed my life. I instantly found that this elegant method of riding suited me admirably.
On my horse Lucky
Time passed and I progressed from horse to horse and instructor to instructor in pursuit of ever higher goals. However financial constraints prohibited the purchase of trained dressage horses, so I had to train my horses myself, bringing them on from almost complete ignorance to Medium Level in dressage.
No mean feat for an able bodied rider, let alone a disabled side saddle rider!
Being a skilled musician I also devoted a great deal of effort to the Kur (dressage to music).
In a dressage to music competition riding Lucky
It was
at the 1996 Side Saddle National Competition held at Malvern that
I became particularly excited by the Historical Costume Class.
Having achieved a City & Guilds diploma in fashion design
and tailoring , and with experience restoring costumes for Sotheby’s
and Vestments at Westminster Abbey, I felt well qualified to
take on
this very lovely
Side Saddle Class. My great attention to detail and research
of the subject has placed me first in many national competitions
including
the International Championships in France in 1999.
Dressed as Queen Marguerite of Spain riding Barbarella
at Highclere Castle in September 2001
I have also been invited to many high profile venues, such as National Polo Week at Cowdray Park, the Celebration of the Horse at Highclere Castle, Sotheby’s Open Day at Billinghurst and the Weald Historical Museum in Sussex, to give displays riding and also demonstating Dressage to Music in my costumes.
On
my horse Star dressed as Henrietta Maria,
the 16 year old bride of Charles 1