We are delighted to welcome Tina to our Judge Team.
Tina is a British Dressage List 5 judge and currently in the process of upgrading to List 4. In regards to BD this means Tina can judge up to and including Novice level, straight classes and dressage to music. However, at unaffiliated level she has judged up to Medium as this is the level she personally competes at.
Tina has 5 horses in total, although 3 of these are only youngsters. Her best friend is my ID x TB whom she’s owned since he was 4yrs old and has loved producing him over the years. They have competed in ODE/ 2DE/ fun rides/ showjumping and then more recently focused on dressage due to a bad riding accident. They have represented Solihull Riding Club at Area 5 competitions and have attended several national championships. They are now affiliated and compete up to Medium in both straight classes and music. Tina joined BD purposely as she wanted to ‘dance’ with her horses and has qualified previously for Area Festivals, Championships and Nationals. Her warmblood mare has proven to be more of a challenge and they still compete unaffiliated with the hope to affiliate this year. Then Tina will be busy backing her 3yr old warmblood, followed by her two little gypsy cobs.
Tina keeps busy running a small livery yard, judging, coaching and running clinics. Tina also runs a pet sitting/ boarding service as well as being a part time lecturer in mental health. Tina also helps her partner run the family farm when its high season.
Tina can also be often seen dressage writing or dressage scoring and helping at ODE’s. As well as being the volunteer Team Manager for Solihull Riding Club Area 5 Senior Dressage.
Tina has been privileged to regularly train with Sir Lee Pearson, and locally with Jane Richmond. Lee has pushed Tina’s boundaries and she feels she’s achieved more under his guidance and support than she ever thought possible. Tina would be the first to disagree with people when they say disabled riders cant tell able bodied riders how to ride – they should watch Sir Lee Pearson training his mare at PSG level!
Tina classes herself as a ‘plus size rider’ who doesn’t conform to the typical ‘dressage rider’ image most fear, so she likes to think she is a good advocate. Tina’s philosophy is that as long as you are able to present your horse to the judge in the best possible way you can, size should not be a barrier to doing dressage.
We are delighted to have Tina join the team with her passion and experience and insight that so many of us are striving for.