Early impressions

Thankfully I was undaunted, at the age of six, by the experience of being summarily disposed of by the first pony I ever sat on! The next door neighbours soon disposed of the pony, realising that it was not able, on its own, to teach their very young children to ride.

There followed a year or two of hacking round suburban streets from a very poor establishment, before moving to west Wales and discovering a tiny riding school with a German proprietor, Mr Yung, just outside Haverfordwest. Tragically he was later killed in a riding accident on someone's problem horse (no headgear in those days other than a flat cap), but not before I was inspired by the nonchalant ease with which he rode a seemingly unstoppable pony at a slow canter round the field, with the reins knotted on the neck and his arms folded, smoking a cigarette!

Basic training

For many years I was left to make my own mistakes, until after a further relocation and a hitch in my career path, I decided to indulge myself with a six month gap to do my BHSAI as a working pupil at nearby Moat House, Benenden in Kent. I'd had no intention at the outset of continuing with horses, but looked forward to being able to ride "really well" by the end of the course! Needless to say, as a newly qualified assistant instructor I had caught the bug. Despite the poor image in the early 1970's of working with horses, I continued to gain experience in various equestrian environments including teaching, showjumping, hunting and National Hunt racing.

Nethybridge Riding Centre

In 1975, an opportunity arose to move to Scotland and open a pony trekking centre at Nethybridge, near Aviemore. One season's trekking taught me that I was far to interested in teaching to allow the beginners on my horses time to look at the scenery! Thankfully, this version of trekking did not produce too many dissatisfied customers, instead enthusing many with the desire to become regular riders and even horse owners, who returned in subsequent years.

With emphasis continuing on instruction and training, I developed Nethybridge Riding Centre into a BHS Approved student training and BHSAI examination centre, with approval to teach dressage to Medium level. This accreditation and the brand new facilities attracted Highland Region grant aided students, who from 1985, provided vital income outside the tourist season. Nethybridge "graduates" were sought after for the soundness of their training and their ability to hit the ground running in the outside world.
Holiday courses
During the summer months, holiday courses at Nethybridge attracted visitors from all over the UK and sometimes from Europe. They came for the one-to-one instruction on good schoolmasters, that would ensure they transformed their riding during their week's stay. Many from within Scotland brought their own horses with them for a specially "Taylored" course. If necessary, I would teach the rider initially on my horses and work their horse myself, reuniting them with their own towards the end of the week to establish an enhanced partnership before they went away.

Further qualifications

Personal development was a priority throughout. Although training was difficult, if not impossible, to come by in the north of Scotland, motivation to seek help and some mileage on the car enabled me to achieve my BHS Intermediate Instructor's Certificate in 1984, and BHS Stable Manager's Certificate in 1989.

The Bill Noble years

There is no doubt that the greatest influence on my development came from Bill Noble, BHSI. Whilst he "commuted" from the south of England to New Zealand to coach their Olympic Three Day Event team, through Mark Todd's double gold medal years, he also began holding regular clinics in Scotland, and I was fortunate to meet him in 1985.

Without a proper horse at the time, I was working a Highland pony mare that was made available to me as an 11 year old. She had done very little previously other than trekking and some ridden Highland classes, but soon swept the board in all three disciplines at Riding Club level, and was performing Medium dressage movements, though without the carriage of a Medium horse. It was unusual in those days to be taken seriously on a Highland. However, Bill Noble was interested in the way the horse worked rather than what it was, and took a personal interest in achieving the maximum available before the mare ran out of years. She retired in 1988, aged 17, and graded Advanced Medium.

I was also fortunate to work with Bill Noble with a 16.3hh, Irish, three-quarter bred gelding with big paces. This was a very exciting horse who upgraded to Medium in two short seasons and won his last Medium test by a margin of 25 marks under a List 1 judge. Sadly, I did not have the financial means to continue to compete him and he went south in 1989.

Degree course

Student training eventually moved on from private establishments to the new, college based equine courses, and the Highland Region grants were inevitably withdrawn. That sounded the death knell for a serious, training centre so far north, and I decided to join other students at college. I relocated to East Yorkshire and embarked on an honours degree in Equine Science at Bishop Burton, graduating with upper second class honours in 1996.

Freelancing

Although I had imagined I would seek a college position after graduating, I decided to move out of the equine industry for my principal employment, but maintain links, and develop through freelance teaching. Thus for the next nine years, I made regular weekend trips to help contacts in Aberdeenshire, and occasionally Ayrshire, whilst working full time for a computer company in East Yorkshire!

Despite the punishing weekend schedule some eight times a year, the experience of riding hundreds of different horses whilst delivering private lessons over that period, has been fundamental to my development. Since moving back to Scotland in 2005, I now enjoy helping many new, and many very long-standing clients, but much closer to home.