Equestrian Inspirations: Emma Hobson
From horsey roots to Scottish educator to equine online entrepreneur...
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Continuing along the path of speaking to talented and, in this case enterprising equestrian people, I approached Emma Hobson for a chat.
Emma is a school teacher by profession, but her horsey roots got the better of her and she did her British Horse Society qualifications to become an instructor. She now teaches at Pony Club and Riding Club, as well as teaching individuals.
Emma's discipline of choice is dressage; she is riding to advanced medium level at home and competing at medium level.
She was very aware that many of the people she teaches get very stressed and nervous about dressage. So during lockdown, she came up with the idea of running dressage competitions online, where competitors could ride the chosen test for their class at home and send a video in to enter the competition.
This concept has gone down a treat and Dressage at Home and International is continuing to grow and now hosts live shows as well and even residential camps!
I was keen to find out more about Emma's horsey background, how she got into dressage and a bit more about Dressage at Home and International.
Are you from a horsey background? Do or did your parents ride or have horses?
So, yes, we are from, we're a very equine-based family. Going right back, my mum ran a riding school. This would have been in the 80s and my grandpa, her father, he was really big into hunting and eventing - he was very much ‘the bigger the fence and the faster, the better’!
So mum started up a riding school at his house and she was very much into the flat work side of things and the dressage. But dressage in Northern Ireland at the time wasn't a big thing. It was just a lot more popular across the water.
My dad, he was more into the eventing side of things as well. He was like grandpa and mummy would have done all the kind of flat work on the horses. And both mum and dad actually went over to England and they did their AI, which would be the BHS stage three.
So, I had really horsey parents, a horsey background and we always kind of had horses around us.
At what age did you start to ride?
I think I was probably born in the saddle. So I don’t think there is a specific time or period when people were like, ‘right, you're starting to ride now’. I just kind of grew up with it… But I was probably about three years old, so very young.
You just got on the pony and off you went!
Maybe it's a silly question then, but who taught you to ride?
It's actually not a silly question at all because, I'm entirely self-taught. I was never a member of Pony Club or anything like that or Riding Clubs. Totally self-taught.
I don't think either of my parents have really ever given me a lesson, like ever, even as a child or up to now, so entirely self-taught. And although we had a very horsey family, mum and dad took breaks for years from horses.
They had just kind of got to that stage when they worked with them, that they kind of had enough and they just started approaching different areas and different careers. So I was kind of left with a pony and just kind of taught myself and never was a member really of any Pony Clubs.
If I wanted to ride, I just had to get on with it myself and I think that really made me the person I am today. I'm quite determined and if I wanted to get something done, I just had to find a way around it.
I didn't have a competitive riding childhood - if I wanted to go show jumping, I would have hacked to local show jumping competitions and hacked home or gone to local gymkhanas and things like that, so we never had a horse box or I never had any lifts or parents bringing me anywhere, I just had to get on with it myself really!
Even to this day, I could probably count the amount of lessons I've had on one hand. So, I just kind of found my feet myself really.
That's very inspirational, Emma. Did you do Lead Rein or anything then or did you just go straight into hacking to the gymkhana?
I have really lovely memories of just hacking around country roads, with my brother and my sister. And we would have had these ponies and off we went for these six-hour hacks! And our parents really didn't know where we were. So I just think I kind of learned that way.
Even the ponies, we wouldn't have had fancy ponies or anything. I think my first pony, he was called Tootles. He was a wee pony we had got from the Riding for Disabled Association and he was about 30.
Everywhere you went, everyone knew Tootles. He had taught everyone how to learn to ride and everything and he was just the best wee pony.
I do have a vague memory of mum and dad taking me, when I was very, very young - probably about four - to a wee Lead Rein games competition, but I think that's the only kind of Lead Rein that I would have done. It was more that you went and you just hung on and just learned to ride yourself really.
Then my second pony was called Reddy and he was actually a wee driving pony. So he wasn't broken for actual leisure riding and we had to break him ourselves. I just got on and went with it and that was it!
What age were you when you got Tootles?
Tootles wasn't always just my pony. It would have been shared between my brother and I. Stephen would have been about eight or nine and I would have been about four and Steohen would have ridden him primarily and I maybe would have got a wee sit on him at the end or something like that and then, when I got Reddy, I think I must have been about seven or eight and again, we just had fields and would have gone out and made jumps with bits of logs or bales of hay. You would have spent your morning making the jumps and then just spent all day jumping them in the field and maybe come in for lunch and back out to the ponies again.
So, it wasn't a very regimented equestrian upbringing that I had. It was just more, there's your pony and out you go and enjoy it.
It was good, but, at that time, you were really envious. You were looking at these other kids and these really equestrian parents and they were going to Pony Clubs and obviously that was always the dream. But if I wanted to do it, I just had to get on with it, hacking places and just got on with it myself.
At what stage would you have started to compete then - what age were you when you were hacking to gymkhanas?
We lived in Benburb at the time, just a wee village really close to Armagh and I would have hacked, I think it's nine miles from Benburb to Moy jumping field and I would have done a couple rounds of jumps and hacked home again.
I would have been at that stage maybe about 13 and, if the pony needed grazing, grandpa would have had grazing - he lived over in Killyman. So that would be about maybe 12 or 13 miles and I would have hacked him over to Killyman and let him graze at grandpa's for a couple of weeks and then hacked him back home again. So that was just the way you had to do it, if you wanted to get out.
So I would have hacked the whole way to Moy, done a couple of rounds of jumping, maybe fell off and hacked home.
I remember coming home and, going back, obviously, this is a good few years ago. We wouldn't do it now, but it was getting dark and I was still hacking my pony home, because maybe I wanted to jump the 70cm class. And I was just like, no, I'm jumping this class.
And again, it would have probably been quite unsafe by today's standards, but I just cracked on and did it and had the best time.
What is your educational background? At what stage did you leave school or did you go into further education?
When I went to do my A-levels, I gave up horses entirely. So I actually had a massive break from horses. I did my A-levels and then I went to university.
I actually went over to Glasgow and I was 11 years in total over there and so I had a massive gap with horses. I'd had my pony up to A-levels and then went away from it all.
I went to Glasgow University and I started studying psychology with English and I got my honours degree. Then I decided, in my infinite wisdom, I would do a master's in English after that.
And then decided, right, I have this degree, what am I actually going to do with it? So I did another year at Strathclyde University and I did my PGDE for secondary teaching.
So I was five years over there at university and then I went into teaching. I absolutely love teaching English and I got a really good job. I was teaching English in the top state school in Glasgow, so a really high-powered school, brilliant kids, absolutely loved my job and was very much a career girl.
I got promoted to head of learning and teaching in that school and then head of pastoral care. So, I was 11 years over there and wouldn't have had a horse about me. I think if people see me now, that I would have been friendly with in Scotland, they might not recognise me now, because I had a full face of makeup, I had the stiletto heels and I would not have had a pair of boots or wellies on me or anywhere near me at that stage - so very different!
I've taken a bit of a u-turn in career, shall we say, but I absolutely loved it. Absolutely loved teaching, just loved the buzz. And I think that's why now I love when I'm teaching dressage to people, I love explaining it and breaking it down.
I just think the two things go very hand in hand together.
And when you were teaching, were you the good cop or the bad cop?
It just depends. I like to keep them on their toes!
I loved it, I couldn't do primary so much, but secondary school teaching… I got on really well with the kids and we had really good craic, but I was there to get them their grades and that's what I loved and get them through. They had these aspirations for the future or they wanted to go to this university, so it was all very much about getting these kids their exam, the best grade, and I love all that target setting as well, so I absolutely loved it… But if they crossed the line, they knew they crossed the line - but then we'd just go back to where we were again. It was brilliant, it was a really good time!
When did you come home or how did you get back into horses?
I was still in Scotland and I had got to where I wanted to be in my career and I decided, right, I'm sick of the 5am starts, I'm not getting home, I'm marking to 12 o'clock at night and I just thought, look, I've worked really hard and I'd quite like to get back into horses and back into riding.
At this stage, I thought I knew loads, but I actually didn't. I knew how to jump and go fast really and I had no fear, but I didn't really know much of the theory behind riding or how to ride correctly. So when I was over in Scotland, I decided to buy a horse. I had my own house - I bought my own flat over there when I was 17 - I had a mortgage, so I didn't have a load of money.
So I went out and I bought a chestnut ex-racer. Because again, I like the sparky ones, the ones that were a bit mental. So I was like, this will be brilliant. I can jump and do all that and then I very quickly realised… and this is how I got into dressage because I absolutely hated that when I was younger…
I was like, look, I'm all about the jumping and the adrenaline side of things. So it was when I bought Jack, who was absolutely loopy, I decided this horse actually knows nothing, because he was literally just off the track. I thought I need to do some schooling and, obviously, mummy was really into the dressage and she said look Emma, this is what you need to do, so I stabled him at Rowallan Equestrian Centre over there - I think it's now called Morris Equestrian Centre.
It was amazing and they were running competitions all the time. I wanted to do it right, so I didn't want to jump or do any cross-country or anything until I had those basics with the flat work.
And that's actually what got me into dressage initially, it was him and just the fact he didn't know anything. I had to get it right, because if I messed up, this was my own horse, I had to get it correct from the beginning and get those basics right.
There was a girl that stabled there in Rowallan and she was a Grand Prix dressage rider. I think she's one of the very few people I had a handful of lessons with. She was amazing. That's where it all started, really and it just has grown arms and legs from there.
As I say, Jack was not easy. He was not easy at all. I remember doing competitions over in Rowallan and, because we were stabled there, I didn't need to be there hours in advance or anything, but I remember getting up and going to the venue at three o'clock in the morning and riding him.
He was just so highly strung and anything I did, didn't work. The minute he had his first canter, you would see our test marks… They were all lovely sevens and eights at the start and then, the minute he cantered, he just could not cope and they just go down to threes and twos and there's just ‘tension’ written.
It was a nightmare, but I still loved him. He was basically the one that taught me everything I know about dressage. He actually came home to Northern Ireland with me.
I decided I just want to go back home to Northern Ireland and he actually came home with me.
And did you compete with him here then?
Yes, I would have done a couple of shows with him, but as I say, dressage was not for him. He was just so highly strong and he just didn't enjoy it.
So we did a couple of shows over here and we did just a wee bit of low-key jumping and everything, but when I got pregnant with my wee girl, I had to make a choice. I had two horses that stage and I unfortunately had to sell Jack, because I was just worried about managing the two of them with a baby, so we did a few shows here, but that's when Jack had to go, unfortunately. It was a hard decision, but it was just if I wanted to do dressage, he was just not the horse for dressage.
How did you get involved with dressage in Northern Ireland?
Mum and I actually went for a look at Cavan Sales one day. You know, one of those moments that you have, moments of madness probably. And we're like, we'll go to Cavan Sales for a wee day out…
I walked into the Sales, I remember it like it was yesterday, and I saw this horse. In the big ring, as you walk into Cavan Equestrian Centre and I just saw this horse… He was jet black and he was just floating along the back wall and I was like ‘look at that horse, someone is going to be so lucky to get him’!
I sat and I watched him and the guy riding him and he was just amazing. I was like, ‘what price is this horse going to go for’ and he didn't actually sell in the ring. I went home from the sales that night and I actually googled and tracked the owner down and went out and bought him. That is the horse I still have - his name is Rolando. Everyone will probably know Rolando.
It was just such a moment in time. I'll just never forget it.
Rolando was actually a Grand Prix show jumper. He is now 28 and he is still competing [in dressage]... He's up to advanced medium level and he just still absolutely floats.
I wrap him in cotton wool. I've never jumped him, because I always just wanted to look after him and look after his legs and everything. So I don't put him under any pressure and he just goes out and we just enjoy doing our wee party pieces and we'll do some unaffiliated, we'll do some affiliated.
It was really him that started being able… He had the correct temperament, he had the correct paces for dressage and it was him that really excelled the whole dressage side of things for me.
Everyone that sees him, when you say would you believe this horse is 28, they just can't believe it, like he just floats. His paces are still to die for and he's still so sound. He's just really happy. He's really healthy.
He can still be really highly strung too. Rolando is the one horse in the yard that you don't mess with! And when he gets cranky, you will know about it.
So he still has va-va-voom in him and things like that. But yeah, he's my boy and he will be here for the rest of his days. He's just, he's the best horse. And he's the one that really excelled the whole dressage side of things.
What is your favourite dressage show or venue within Northern Ireland?
Definitely Necarne, just Necarne for me… Obviously, it was closed for years and I had never been to it before. And when they were just petitioning to open up Necarne and I was like, this place must be really, really special. And I remember when they opened it up to the public again and started holding shows, I went down and I was like wow!
I had seen photos of people competing there from years back, with that really iconic walled garden behind them and it is just such a special venue for me. I run loads of live shows now, which I'm sure we'll talk about in a wee bit, but to me, there is just no other venue in the north that is as beautiful and as special and just has this really amazing atmosphere with it as Necarne, so it's just totally unparalleled. Necarne is just the place to be, absolutely.
Everyone loves that photograph of the archways in the courtyard and another photograph with the walled garden behind them. It's just so special. And there's just so much for all the riders.
I just think it's so great that they have opened that up for grassroot riders to be able to use it and everything. It's just such a special place for everybody, I just think it's fantastic that it's out there and that we all have the use of it.
What about across the UK, where would your favourite shows be?
Definitely Rowallan, obviously because I spent a couple of years there and again, just what a special place to be. So definitely, Rowallan’s just got a piece of me with it in Scotland and I love Rowallan.
Unfortunately, I've never competed in England or anything like that. We did qualify for the Hickstead Masters twice, Rolando and I. But, being pregnant at the time and just having a wee baby, meant that I couldn't actually go. So that's maybe just a wee goal for the future. Maybe we'll get back there at some stage and get across the water to compete again.
How many horses are you working with or competing at the moment, is it just Rolando?
Yeah, Rolando's still ticking over there, as I say, we just go out and we do our wee party pieces and so he's down in the yard, I have four horses at the minute… well, three and my daughter's pony.
So I've kind of turned into a bit of a Pony Club mummy as well. So she has her wee pony and I have Rolando. And I also have an ex-racehorse and he's like my good fun horse. He's the horse I'll take to the beach or I'll maybe do like a wee long distance ride or things like that. Or if I want to jump, I'll jump him.
I love the ex-racers and the retraining of them. Training a horse is difficult enough, but I love the idea of retraining them and giving them another purpose and another discipline. So I think I'll always have an ex-racehorse in my yard.
And then I do have a three-year-old down there, which I bought from a foal, so she is my next star for the future. Her name's Baiba and she will be going for some training shortly, but I'm quite funny, I don't like to rush them. She is a big horse, so I just want to give her a wee bit more time to grow and develop. But she's the star for the future.
What do you like to do on the run-up to a show, whether it's the weeks before or the week before, the night before, the morning of a show, what is your general routine?
Well, I love to be really organised. I don't like when everything's disorganised, I get really stressed, so my big thing is, if I'm not ready to go to a show, I just won't go.
If it's all just a bit manic in the morning, I'm just like, no, count me out, because I feel like my head's not in the right headspace. So definitely, preparation is just key for me to feel calm and to perform my best.
I think if I'm a bit stressed, the horses are all picking up on that as well, so I would prepare going to a show a good few weeks in advance. And I think with dressage as well, because your training needs to be so on point, when going to a show, the preparation does need to be there even a month or three weeks in advance at least.
So what I would do, I would always be competing a level below what I'm actually riding out at home with dressage. So at the minute, Rolando is doing advanced medium work at home, but I would only ever take him out to compete him at medium level.
I just think it's always nice that you're going out to achieve, to do well and for the whole day just to be successful and encouraging. So, I would be definitely looking at my tests and making sure that I know what all the movements look like, that there's nothing that shocks me, if I'm learning the test the day before or three days before.
So I would make sure there's nothing in that test that's going to catch me on the back foot really. And when I learn my tests, I don't just learn where to go. I learn where the half halts are when I'm riding them.
So, for example, if I'm learning my test to go to a show, I'll be like, right okay, I need to go down the centre line and track right. But I'd be like, right down the centre line, half halting at G, then track right.
So definitely, learning your test, knowing what the movements are like, a good week in advance before going to the show and just really knowing that you know how to ride that test. So I would do that a good week before going to a show. And definitely, if I don't have the car all ready the day before, I will start having panic attacks. I just do not cope.
So again, with dressage, I think presentation is such a big thing. So I will have my tack sparkling, my horse all groomed and his fetlocks really neatly trimmed and mane pulled, tail pulled.
So all that definitely the day before and everything in the horse box, my nets, everything. I like to be prepared and organised.
It means the day is more enjoyable for me and I'm not rushing around that morning, trying to clean tack and make sure I've got things in the car.
So definitely, be as prepared as you can.
It's hard when you get up that morning, because you always have things to do anyway, like I don't like plaiting the day before, so I like to do that in the morning.
I love that wee hour to myself. All I need to do is give him a quick brush and do my plaiting and I'll pop on one of my podcasts. And that's my wee hour just to have a mug of tea and get him all plaited and know that everything's all ready and going.
It just takes the pressure off you and takes away that stress, because it is stressful enough going and performing in front of people. So it takes all that stress away, definitely, if you've got everything in its right place and all ready to go.
Who inspires you in the dressage world, both locally and internationally?
To be honest, I don't have a specific idol and I know that might sound really bizarre to some people, but I just actually… obviously, I coach dressage and everything and all of the riders out there that are just on their own journey and those grassroot riders and they're going out and they're competing, that's what actually kind of inspires me is those guys on the ground. The grassroot riders and you see them starting off and they just keep succeeding and they keep achieving and they're just getting better and they're just out there loving the experience and loving their horse. They work hard during the week and they just live for these competitions at the weekend and, to be honest, that's what inspires me and the fact that dressage is becoming so much more accessible to these grassroots riders, I just take so much from that. I just think it's amazing and that's what I take a lot from.
To be honest again, the horses actually inspire me… do you see when you're riding your horse and you've struggled maybe with a movement and the horse gets it and you get those wee moments of ‘yes, this horse is getting this, this is brilliant’!
That's what I think is really inspirational is those moments, wee moments in time, that I just think ‘this is brilliant’ and moreso than an international rider would inspire me.
We all know how hard it is and it's just these wee things or even when you're coaching somebody and you see them finally getting it and the horse is getting it and the whole thing is all just coming together, that's what I get such a big buzz from. I just think that's amazing.
You're a riding instructor, Emma - did you go down the British Horse Society route or the Horse Sport Ireland coaching route?
I'm quite old school and again, obviously because my parents had gone down the BHS route years and years ago, so doing riding instructor was never really in the plan, because as I say, I had this big career and I came home and I'd had a Head of English job in Cookstown High School. I just decided after I'd had my wee girl and I'd quit teaching, because I wanted to be a stay-at-home mum with her, so it was never really a plan. It just kind of happened really, to be honest.
So I decided when she was a baby, I would start doing some of my BHS exams and I didn't really go for any coaching for them or any help with them. I just kind of taught myself and I downloaded the syllabus and off I went.
So I went down the BHS route and I achieved it all up to my stage three, which should be the old AI and it is maybe on the cards just to keep doing that, at the minute, but just life and work is too busy, but maybe in the future, when I’ve a wee bit more free time, I'll maybe start doing a wee bit more of my stage four.
I got really into it - I love all the learning, so I did a lot of wee courses through CAFRE when they were doing them and I don't like sitting doing nothing, I like to be busy, so I did a lot more qualifications and decided to become a Dressage Ireland judge, so I'm still doing that.
And, I think that it really helps with my coaching, in terms of the dressage, because I'm able to say, look, this is what the coach or the judge is going to be looking for or I can give people tit-bits that can help them with their test riding.
And then I did a bit of Pony Club instructing as well and I've done a wee bit through the BHS to become a ride and road safety examiner, so I'm always adding a few more wee strings to the bow as well, just to keep my CPD up and it means I can give my clients just a wee bit more variety and a few different things as well.
That's very enterprising and, speaking of enterprising, what inspired you to start Dressage at Home and International?
So again, this was never really something that was planned, it just kind of evolved and happened! It was during lockdown and obviously all the competitions had stopped running and it was on my Facebook page, I just actually put a wee post up, going ‘how would everyone like to do an online dressage show?’ and people came forward, they were like ‘yeah I'd love to do that’ and it just kind of happened!
So I gave the business a name and it is called Dressage at Home and International and it just really evolved from that.
And the big thing for me about that, again, as I've said before, is just celebrating the success and encouraging riders. As we know, dressage is so hard and, as riders, we're always beating ourselves up and we're always so hard on ourselves.
So it's just all those wee bits of achievement that I just think are brilliant and it's all about encouraging riders. So I started that and it's just kind of grown arms and legs really from lockdown.
We built the website… I've since learned how to actually work a website and build a website. So it's been a bit of a learning curve for me as well!
It's just such a brilliant thing, because it just takes so much stress away from competing and away from traveling your horse to a show. It's just so stress-free and you don't have an audience watching you and things like that, so it's just become really popular. I love doing it, because I just love seeing everyone achieve and enjoying their horses and learning as well, so it gives so much back to me.
As you say, in ‘stressage’, as they call it, the biggest aspect for a lot of people is the stress involved, between getting plaited and the horse groomed correctly and getting yourself presented correctly, never mind learning your test and maybe risking forgetting your test. So if you're getting somebody to actually record you doing your test, presumably you can do it as many times as you need to, until you remember the whole thing, before you actually submit the video, so that's brilliant!
Absolutely, the way we work it, you don't need to plait, you don't need the fancy boots, as long as you've got proper boots on the rider, hat and gloves and you don't need to turn out for dressage - you don't need your white numnah and, as I said, there's no travel and every test is allowed a caller no matter what the level. We all know that sometimes we have off days or the horses have off days, so you can record it as many times as you like. I think it's so good, because when you come in and you're looking at all the videos and all the ones you maybe recorded, it's really good for riders to actually evaluate their own riding and think, ‘which test is the better one, which one will I send in?’ so it makes them look at their own riding as well and mark it like a judge would and evaluate it, so it definitely takes the stress away from everybody and, as you say, there's no tack cleaning or plaiting or anything like that. It's just easy and it's fun and it's a lot more affordable, which is obviously so important in this day and age. It's just really good and we have a really good, lovely encouraging platform for everyone just to come out and do their best and enjoy the whole idea of dressage.
It's so good to encourage people to have a go at dressage, because at the end of the day, even if you want to jump, if you don't have the flat work right to start with, then you're not going to get where you want to be with jumping.
Yeah, absolutely. I've heard people saying that show jumping is just dressage with jumps in between it. If you look at any international jumping rider, their flat work is impeccable and I think people are really realising.
And even in the sport of eventing, like years ago, I remember my grandpa saying ‘dressage just ruins a good event’! You know, they hated the dressage aspect of it, whereas now everyone's realising, I win on my dressage and they're realising the importance of it.
So it's highlighting all of that, which can only be really seen as something positive. So I think it's fantastic.
What are you running at the moment and how do people get involved?
At the moment, we are in the middle of our spring and summer league. I do two leagues throughout the year, so this is our spring summer one. We have just completed week four and every league has eight weeks, so we're just halfway through that, but that shouldn't discourage anyone, because you don't have to do the league. You can dip out, dip in and just do certain weeks if you want.
So, if people are wanting to get involved, we have the website, which is www.dressageathome.com, so everything is on there.
And also, we have everything on our social media sites - we have TikTok, Instagram, Facebook. Again, this has been massive for me; I was good on Facebook, but I've had to learn to use X and Instagram and stuff.
As I say, anyone can join any time. The way it works is, we have a schedule of tests - there are different tests for each class for the eight weeks. So you would pick your class and then look for what test is on that week and you download it on the website and you ride it and get it recorded and you just literally WhatsApp me over the video and you go online and you submit your entry fee. So it's really, really easy.
It's a bit weird when people do it the first time, because it's so different to anything they've maybe done before, but once they've done it once, they're flying with it and, something I think is so special about it, is with such a range of classes - I actually do a walk class and I think I was one of the first people to ever do walk dressage, because it's not really done. So there's a walk class and then I also have special classes, so I've a ‘cobs can’ class, I’ve a young horse class, a veteran horse and I'm more than happy to take anyone's feedback, so I was asked if I could do a senior riders class, which I think is amazing.
So this is for writers that are over 50 years and, again, riders like it because it just puts them in more of a fair and level playing field.
For example, that veteran class, the riders know the horses might be a wee bit stiffer or they're maybe not going to be able to do a prelim test, so they're riding the intro test and things like that. And then there are really good fun classes as well...
We have the Prix Caprilli classes, we have dressage to music and then we cater for the younger ones as well, so we have Lead Rein dressage, we have juniors intro, junior prelim and I actually spent a lot of time doing a lot more new tests - so we have actually over 70 dressage tests. We've 10 prelim tests and these have all been written by me, ridden by me, trialled by me, so the tests are all really lovely and they're flowing and they're symmetrical, so it's all our own tests that we're riding as well.
Again this league, I started writing some long arena options, so for example, our prelim G, you can ride a short arena version or you can ride a long arena version as well. So if you had never ridden a long arena test and you thought that's something I really want to try, there is that option there. So it's just kind of catering for everyone.
And the beauty of it is that I think when you're competing locally in dressage, you're maybe seeing the same judges all the time and the same faces and you're competing against the same pool of riders. But with this, we have riders all over the world doing this. I have riders in South Africa, Australia, so you're competing with riders all over the world.
And then we have judges from all over the globe as well - some of our judges are Italian. So they're looking for different things than maybe the judges over here would be looking for, so you just get such a variety of feedback. And the feedback those judges give you, because they're judging online they don't have six minutes to get their test done because the next competitor is riding down the centre line, so they have much more time, so some of the feedback you're getting is like a lesson! Their feedback is so comprehensive, that they're giving, so you've literally got exercises to improve and things like that, so it's a really good way. Then, once the videos are sent in, I score them all and put out the results and then I send the riders the rosettes through the post, so they literally don't need to move from their yard, so it's a really easy, accessible way to compete.
At the minute, we do some live shows as well, so obviously they're more restricted to the north of Ireland and, last year, in my infinite wisdom, I decided to run our first ever residential camp down in Necarne and that was amazing! That was such a good weekend, but me being me, I just didn't want to do lessons, so we had loads of talks and we had loads of demos and Bluegrass Horse Feeds were there doing the weighbridge. We're now having our second residential camp this October, so I have such a fun schedule of things. It's looking forward to being a really good weekend and we do quizzes and things like that.
The whole company is kind of growing arms and legs! And it's just all about encouraging and promoting the sport of dressage, so it's great. I love it.
Oh, that's great and it's so encouraging for all the riders as well. Well done - keep up the good work, Emma. I'm sure you must have some great stories from your competitors. What's the best story so far?
I actually can't think of a specific story. There's nothing that springs to mind, but just the one thing I would say is, I personally get to know them all. And it's really random because, you'll get people sending in a video from the likes of Australia or South Africa and you just get chatting to them and you realise that they're not any different to us.
And you just build these relationships with these competitors from all over the world, so there's no specific story. I just think it's just amazing that we all kind of come together in this one platform. And when the results go out on the Wednesdays, it's so lovely, because everyone's encouraging each other and building them up and they have forged friendships as well. And you see them all becoming Facebook friends. I just think that's really lovely.
So, I can't think of one story in particular, but it's just more everyone coming together and I just think that's fantastic.
That's really positive actually, because that's one of the joys of technology in the positive sense. Sometimes there's so much negativity about technology and social media and so on, so it's really good to hear that it can be used for such positive moves in the equestrian world.
Absolutely and, as I say, coming from a teaching background, growing or having an online business was not something I ever saw in my future. So it's just kind of happened and evolved and it is lovely that, as you say, the website and the social media and all the aspects of it have just brought everyone globally together, the judges, the riders and even the people that just support and follow the page.
It's just lovely seeing everyone work together and just being so similar in the same journeys that they're on as well.
Who has been the greatest help to you so far in your career, both in terms of family and outside of your family?
I can't think of anyone really outside the family… obviously, all my clients that I teach and give lessons to and the riders that do Dressage at Home and International, as I say they're just so inspirational and I just love them all, they're just all such an amazing bunch of people.
In my family, probably mummy… mummy's been amazing. She still rides dressage to a really high level and she is just a force to be reckoned with.
She's just the most determined lady and she's just honestly, truly inspirational. She's amazing at her age to be out competing so high level.
She's had two hip replacements in the last year and she didn't see them in her way at all and she has just got on with it and, again, all her training on her horses has been totally done by herself. And I just think she's amazing.
She'll come to the odd show with me and what I love about her is, if there's something in my test, if she watches one of my tests, she'll be like, ‘Emma, that was horrendous’. She'll just say it like it is. And I love that.
She'll not butter it up… Only your mummy could get away with that, I think… She'll not butter it up and she'll be like, oh, that was really good. You know, she just says what it is and says, look, you need to work on this or that bit was really good.
And I can phone her any time of the day or night and be like, mummy, this happened or the horse did this or what do you think about doing this? And she's just always got my back.
She has just been so helpful and encouraging in all of it, right through getting my BHS qualifications and doing Dressage at Home. She's been amazing.
She sounds like an incredible lady and I know I have been putting her name in results for countless number of years and she's still up there. So, my goodness, you're clearly coming from good stock, Emma!
Yeah, except I’ve big boots to fill, which sometimes isn't so great.
What are your ambitions in life, both in dressage and beyond, or have you fulfilled them all at this stage?
No, I have no idea… I haven't a clue.
Everything that I've kind of done in the equestrian world, it was never really in the plan. It's just kind of happened. So ambition-wise is just to really keep going and just see what the next hurdles are or what's around the corner really.
To be honest, just to keep going and just to encourage riders, those grassroots riders, and just supporting and keep building up the sport of dressage, to be honest.
And yeah, taking it day by day and seeing what's around the next corner, really.
Where do you see yourself in five years or in 10 years time?
I have no idea. I have no clue.
It was always the plan to go back to university and maybe do another master's in something like educational psychology. But to be honest, I've kind of been really going down the equine route now.
So, as I say, I'm a mummy and I'm kind of really, again, this is not planned, but I see myself turning into a proper Pony Club mummy and towing her around the world and doing things with her.
So, maybe that's something on the cards or maybe I'll be still out competing myself, I have no idea, but it's just to keep going and taking it day by day and just enjoying the journey, I suppose.
But horses are still going to feature on your horizon then?
I would say so, much to my husband's disappointment… they're not going anywhere, they're here for the stay!
Is he not horsey then?
Not at all, not at all, but when we got together, I think it was maybe date one or date two, he was very firmly told, look, this is the way it is. If this is not going to work for you, then I'm not the right girl for you.
So he's very good and he's learned… it's only taken him 10 years, but he's learned how to muck out and change a rug, so God love him, he's learning, but he's still not going to actually volunteer to go out there or get on one of them, but no he's accepting and supportive from a distance!
Well that's great, you can't ask for any more than that!
No, no, he's very good.
Well, thank you very much, Emma. That has been a really, really interesting interview and thank you so much for joining me.
Thank you so much for having me and it's just been a real pleasure. So thank you.
What an interesting chat that was. I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Emma and I hope you did too.
If you want to find out more about Dressage at Home and International, you can visit their website at www.dressageathome.com.
Stay tuned for the next Straight from the Horse's Mouth podcast on horse and feed. Thank you.