Danielle is a leading show horse producer, judge and trainer based in Cheshire. She has won numerous titles at county shows, Royal Windsor and at the Royal International. She has won at Horse of the Year Show four times and has stood champion there on two separate occasions.
The walk is the first and last thing the judge sees, but it’s the pace that often gets overlooked by riders. It dictates your first and last pull in the ring so when training, I work the horses a lot in walk. I got Oathill Take The Biscuit (Hovis) when he was a four-year-old and he didn’t have the best walk. I would ride him long and low so he loosened at the neck and stretched down.
I also move my horses from side-to-side in all paces, as showjumpers often do during the warm-up. Then once at a show, they’ll lift a little and come up to sit nicely in the bridle. A horse can often have a walk that you didn’t even know about.
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Freelance equestrian journalist
Born and raised in the Lake District, Alex has grown up on the showing scene. She has qualified and competed ponies at the Royal International, Horse of the Year Show and Olympia and has first-hand knowledge of the current issues in the showing world as well as the horses, ponies and riders who compete in the sport. Alex joined H&H in January 2018 as showing editor, cementing its place as the leading equestrian publication for both showing reports and current showing news in the UK. She moved on in October 2024 to pursue other opportunities, but continues to write for us on a freelance basis.
