| Hobbies |
Piloting aircraft. (Twitter profile, 27 Jan 2023) |
| Memorable sporting achievement |
Coaching at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, and competing for Ireland. (Athlete, 03 Jul 2012) Coaching Tina Cooke for the London Games and now for WEG in Caen |
| Most influential person in career |
Dressage trainers George Theodorescu and Siegfried Peilicke, and German equestrian Harry Boldt. (Athlete, 03 Jul 2012) |
| Hero / Idol |
US boxer Muhammad Ali. (Athlete, 03 Jul 2012) |
| Sporting philosophy / motto |
"Be better than I am." (Athlete, 03 Jul 2012) |
| Other sports |
He competed in boxing at amateur level. (Athlete, 03 Jul 2012) |
| Famous relatives |
His brother Craig has been involved in dressage and has served as director of Stal Korenbloem in the Netherlands. His father won several amateur boxing tournaments and was also a boxing judge, while his daughter Anne-Marie has competed in dressage for Ireland. (stalkorenbloem.com, 01 Jan 2019; horseandhound.co.uk, 12 Apr 2011; horseytalk.net, 01 Jan 2009; timesonline.co.uk, 12 Aug 2003) |
| Other information |
FROM GREAT BRITAIN TO IRELAND
Born in England, he represented Great Britain before deciding to begin competing for Ireland in 2011. The process of switching nationality was made easier by his wife's dual British and Irish citizenship. "I had the opportunity to change so decided I needed to get out there. It wasn't an easy decision but I'd encourage others to do it if they are thinking about it. Dressage Ireland is great and very welcoming." (horsesport.com, 18 Sep 2020; horseandhound.co.uk, 12 Apr 2011)
PIONEER
Together with Egon von Greyerz he founded the British Young Riders Dressage Scheme [BYRDS] and the British Dressage Premier League. He also set up Dressage at Hickstead, which ran international and national competitions in England. In August 2020 he announced the closure of Dressage at Hickstead after 27 years. "With all the continued support, each year there is a large financial shortfall that has to be met by my family and me. This at times has been significant and, therefore, I have concluded that economically I can no longer continue to carry that financial burden. I am very proud of all that has been achieved over the last 27 years." (dressage-news.com, 11 Aug 2020, 30 May 2017; Twitter profile, 07 Jul 2020; eurodressage.com, 21 Feb 2020; horseandhound.co.uk, 27 Jun 2018; outandaboutdressage.co.uk, 12 Oct 2015; horseytalk.net, 01 Jan 2009)
BOXING
He competed in amateur boxing when he was younger. "I got into horses through boxing. My family has been heavily involved in boxing forever and naturally I boxed a bit. I wasn't very good but I enjoyed it. And then my sister wanted to go for a riding lesson for her birthday. We had a family friend who knew a guy who owned a riding school. The guy was also involved in boxing. She wanted me to go along with her, so I went. For some reason I got stuck into it and she didn't." (Olivia Towers Podcast, 02 Dec 2020; Athlete, 03 Jul 2012)
OTHER ACTIVITIES
He is a certified List 1 dressage judge and has served as a judge at international level. He has also coached dressage and eventing riders, including at the Olympic Games in 2000 and 2012 and at the World Equestrian Games [WEG] in 2014. (eurodressage.com, 14 Oct 2022; theirishfield.ie, 12 Jun 2022) |
FEI Database
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