I started riding before I can remember. That being said, I remember the day that this photo was taken as if it happened yesterday. I am four years old here in a lead-line class with my instructor at the time, Anne Creek, and I am sitting on the back of “Tina”. This was my very first horse show and the very first ribbon I ever won, and it was second place in the days when they actually placed every four and five year old in the class from first place to fifteenth place. I was over the moon. It hung around my neck for the rest of the day. I took it to bed with me that night, wore it to school that Monday and that moment inevitably cemented what would be a life long love affair with horses.
I grew up through the ranks of the British Pony Club in Bermuda, then went on to riding competitively in the various horse shows in Bermuda which included some dressage. Much later on, my thoroughbred jumper and I boarded a container ship for a four-day, trans-Atlantic crossing to reach the shores of the United States where we both relocated to Ontario, Canada. At that point, I focused solely on competing, first in the Hunter ring, then moving into the Jumper ring as an amateur. I retired “Bugsy” my faithful travel companion and the most beloved athletic partner I could have ever asked for, in 1996 and stepped away from being a horse owner and competitor. It was incredibly hard to walk away from a sport and a life with horses that had consumed my every waking moment for most of my life, but now I find myself drawn back in, returning to an environment that I know and love, but this time with a camera in my hand. It is truly the best of both worlds.
Currently, I live in southern Vermont with my husband, two energetic black labs and an undeniably affectionate and vocal coon cat. I spend as much time as I can combing countrysides and barns for horses to photograph, looking for unique perspectives and unseen moments.