Kirsten is a professional international dressage rider based at a private yard in Cambridge where she combines riding and producing high quality competition horses alongside her role as a specialist dressage horse sales agent connecting private buyers and sellers. Kirsten has competed up to Grand Prix and has a range of horses from novice to Grand Prix level in training and competition. Training with top European and Olympic riders she has a wealth of knowledge and experience
Tell us about you and your horses
Kirsten with Tormento Liv winning the Grand Prix recently at Silver Leys Polo Club in Hertfordshire. image courtesy of SMR Photography
Hi I’m Kirsten. I’m a dressage rider from Cambridge. I have a busy sales and competition business with nineteen horses. We have a mixture of warmbloods and Iberians and love the dynamic of both breeds.
How did horses come into your life?
I started riding from the moment I could walk. Mum used to ride at a local riding school which was at the end of our road. I spent every moment I could at the stables when growing up. Mrs Craze owned the stables and used to let me sweep the yard for a free ride on top of my lessons.
When and where do you ride?
Kirsten working at home with Glocks Toto JR. One of the many top quality competition horses that Kirsten has produced
I ride daily. I normally start with the three horses in Newmarket then go onto the yard in Cambridge to ride the rest.
Who do you train with?
I train with Nicky Barrett Dressage now known as Nicky Pasco. We started training about a year ago when I was looking for a trainer who could understand the Iberians as well as the warmbloods which is not an easy find. Nicky has such an incredible depth of knowledge and I’m yet to have a session where I’ve not learnt something new which after this many years is still such a fun thing to do.
What are you and your horses currently working on?
Kirsten riding Habano GR during his first go at elementary level. He won both of his classes. What a star!
So, on the 4/5-year-old horses I generally work on developing the straightness building up stamina and teaching them the basic exercises whilst starting the development of the transitions with maintaining the welfare of the horse for future Grand Prix level.
The horses that are developing towards PSG we are mainly working on the strength and the flying changes and gaining experience at shows with confidence at larger venues.
The Grand Prix horses we hardly do any of the movements on, I spend most of my time working on maintaining the suppleness and lightness of the work. We pick them up once or twice a week and work on transitions in and out of the movements more than the movement itself. We do lots of work on straight lines to ensure that we keep the balance within the paces.
What do you love about riding?
Competing is my main love but I also love training the horses at home up the levels. I absolutely love getting a horse and taking it up the levels and people seeing the progress.
What would you like to be doing in the future and do and do you have any goals?
Top goal is obviously red pocket badge on a self-produced horse. Smaller goals are to take one of the young horses up to GP level. Compete at the world breeding championships.
It takes a team to do dressage, who is in your support team?
We have a lot of support. Jo Skelton is the boss of the yard she makes sure everyone and everything is running smoothly and has done for seven years now. We have some lovely grooms who do some riding and lunging. Farrier Chris Gates does an amazing job. Pippa Winkworth is their physio. We have a wonderful team of vets from Rossdales, who we work closely with. An amazing group of owners who none of this would be possible and my mum who has gone back to being designated show groom and has come out of retirement to attend countless shows!
Have you ever had to deal with nerves in riding?
When I was younger yes but when I turned professional, I competed weekly on so many horses it just became like another day.
How do you deal with them?
Now I don’t have any. When I was younger, I used to just run through my test religiously in my mind so I knew I had that part sorted. The rest is in the hands of the gods.
Do you have any rituals before competing?
Wash all my gear and double triple check I’ve packed everything.
Your Top Tip
No one’s perfect. Ride each movement as an individual mark. Make a mistake move on don’t dwell on it. It’s one mark.
What is the best piece of advice that you have ever been given?
Not sure its PC enough to write. So probably the second best is. Not everyone will like you…. Just do you.
Down the Centre Line
Who would be your dream horse to ride?
So many to choose from so probably a past horse I’d love to of ridden would be Salinero ridden by Anky van Grunsven. A current horse I’d love to ride would be Mount St John Freestyle ridden by Cathrine Ladrup-Dufour. The mare is the most incredible horse and has no weaknesses and with a rider like Cathrine is such a magical combination. Theres also a Spanish horse ridden by Daniel Martin-Dock called Malagueño who is just a pocket rocket and I’d love to sit on him.
Who is your equestrian hero?
I think hero maybe the wrong word but someone I look up to as a rider would be Isabelle Werth. She has trained multiple if not hundreds of horses to GP level over such an expansive career. She has horses that are not always functional pretty or the best conformation and just produces 80% Grand Prix tests over and over again.
If you could have five people to dinner, who would they be?
Five horsey people? I’m not a brilliant cook I don’t think five people would want to come eat at mine. I have some amazing friends I’ve met through the sport and who have been friends for years. They know who they are.
Favourite colour horse?
I don’t care what colour they are. If they are good at their job and want to work, the colour is the least of my worries.
Favourite horse event?
The Olympics. Nothing compares
Favourite food?
Thai food. Healthy quick and easy to make
Favourite way to relax?
Watching Greys Anatomy
Favourite film?
Big Disney fan so any of them
Want More?
If you enjoyed meeting Kirsten you might like to view more dressage rider “chatting with” interviews here . You can keep up with Kirsten’s progress and check out her instagram page here