decided he wanted to jump a horse in the arena and him telling me that the horse needed to ‘do some transitions!’; he must have paid attention at some point, because up until then I I didn’t know he knew what a transition was, but he was absolutely right of course!”
Today Lotte, alongside her daughter Emily, run Brockhill Farm Equestrian in the heart of the North Cotswolds. “I oversee the whole operation including the hunt liveries, competition liveries and help with Emily’s showjumpers and any sales liveries or ‘extras’ she may have in, plus all the
accompanying paperwork that goes along with running a big yard”, explains Lotte. “We all muck in and have to do a bit of everything. Emily and I work well together and I will help
out on the flat as and when I’m required as well as training and caring for my own two horses.”
A previous groom and rider for the late ‘queen of dressage’ Jean Ballard, and a past pupil and continued good friend of Carl Hester, Lotte has competed all the way to Grand Prix and today regularly qualifies and competes horses for the Regional and National Championships. “It was the incredible Rhett Bird that eventually got me to Grand Prix level on a quirky chestnut called Dingaan aka Rupert”, says Lotte. “It was a very successful but long, ten year journey that started when Rupert was three. He had a real problem with getting his flying changes on one side and we had to take two years off competing to get them right.”
A self confessed ‘lover of a project’, Lotte has had her fair share of horse related heartache and disappointment over the years. “My aim as an adult, was always to compete
internationally again as I had as a teenager”, says Lotte. “I owned a very quirky mare called Safira that I trained from the age of four until she was eleven but I lost her to a twisted gut last year. It was so exceptionally tragic because she was so talented and together we had grown to such a level that I truly believe we had a real chance of making it internationally.”
Indeed, back in 2016, the super talented Safira was expertly piloted by Lotte to win the Elementary Gold Regional Championships, where they were the only partnership to beat Charlotte Dujardin at the event. “At the last summer Regionals we went on to win the Advanced Medium and came a respectable third in the Medium which qualified us for Nationals in both classes”, says Lotte. “Unfortunately it wasn’t to be though, as I lost her before we had the opportunity to go.”
Lotte admits that it has been a very difficult time getting over the loss of Safira. “But that’s life unfortunately, you have highs and you have lows”, says Lotte tearfully. “I am quite an emotional person but you get so attached to them. The journey from training a horse from nothing to something takes years of patience and the bond that you develop during that time is so strong. Safira could canter and buck backwards but for all her quirks she truly was a special mare.”
Currently, Lotte is still training with Rhett and has two exciting prospects in her care including a seven year old owned and bred by Caroline Muhlenkamp. “Fenix is a Trakehner who is currently scoring in the plus 70’s at novice and elementary but is happily working at medium level at home. My other horse is a ten year old, Hanoverian who should know better, called Woodcroft San Sebastian. I have only had him a year and he’s still quite behind in his education but we’re slowly getting there.”
At the time of going to press, Lotte and her two up and coming boys all secured their winter Regional qualifications in one outing at Hunters Equestrian with two plus 70 wins and two highly scored seconds. “Fenix is the kindest of horses with a super, textbook temperament, whilst Sebastian has a tendency to take off like Concorde”, laughs Lotte. “I’m excited to see how far we can go together but the main thing is that we enjoy the journey on the way.
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THE WINTER SPECIAL 2019
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