As a coach and facilitator of high performing individuals and teams in stressful business environments, I have years of experience helping people overcome their fears, find their focus and set healthy and sustainable goals. I’m also a fiercely competitive sportswoman who also happens to love horses and riding. I wanted to combine my experience with my passion.

Having ridden as a teenager and young adult, I took a 15 year break to raise my children and have a career. During that time, I was fortunate enough to represent South Africa in my age group for triathlon, as well as run several Comrades, complete 2 full Ironman and multiple half and olympic distance triathlons, as well as several other rather extreme events. After a decade of training hard as an endurance athlete, I found my re-entry into the world of equestrian competition more challenging than I had anticipated.

I discovered that just pushing myself harder wasn’t producing the results I wanted. No matter how many hours I practiced, or how much equipment I bought, or how well my training was going at home, I felt anxious and unprepared at shows. My confidence took a nose dive and my horses sensed it. I had always believed I had great Big Match Temperament, so I couldn’t work out why my horses didn’t seem to agree. My previous mental strategy clearly wasn’t working for me anymore.

So I delved into my knowledge base of coaching for enhanced performance, looked at all the material I had gathered about how adults learn, and began to research the specific issues that riders face. I realised that I’m not alone, that most of us face our physical fears before we are willing to address the ones in our head and that riding truly is a sport where the balance between body, mind and soul is crucial to success.