Nottinghamshire’s Louise Saywell owned her first pony, Lottie the Shetland, when she was just three years old, but she had to share the pony with her brother.
Louise is open when it comes to her early academic achievements, telling us she was never any good at school work and feels it is a blessing that she was able to ride, never thinking about any other career.
Louise was a member of many Young Rider teams and these ignited her passion even more. She made her debut on 5-star Senior Nations Cup teams in 2013, with Hello Winner IV.
Looking back on her favourite competitions, Louise says the Liverpool International Horse Show and the Saut Hermès in Paris are two at the top of her list. In particular, Louise speaks highly of the support given to her at Liverpool, where they really try to create a family environment. She was wowed by the glass roof at Hermès, creating its own unique setting.
Louise describes her most momentous win as the 2005 Pony European Championships in Italy on her coloured cob, CJ’s Kemosabi, when they won individual gold and team silver.
One of her tips for success is to make sure after jumping a course or simply after exercise, to walk the horse and give him time to reflect on his performance before jumping again. Louise thinks this is important for both horse and rider and stops them from getting uptight.
Louise understands the importance of all the hard work behind the scenes, and truly regards this as the foundation of her success. She is a big believer in concentrating on the job in hand when working at the yard.
Having suffered a fall when she had not fastened up her girth properly, Louise says she now checks it several times and also gets her partner, Graham Lovegrove, to check it too.
Throughout all her highs and lows, Louise never fails to rely on chocolate. She keeps plenty in the house, but if she accidentally runs out, she immediately has to drive to the shop to replenish her emergency supply.
The horses are all fed on a TopSpec feed regime with TopSpec Comprehensive Feed Balancer being one of her favourite products thanks to its flexibility and the fact it can be fed to so many of the horses on the yard.