Gabriella Ivey fits a lot in, while many of us struggle to find the time to ride one horse, Gabby rides four and competes at Side Saddle, Show Jumping as well as going out with the Hampshire Hunt.
Her most memorable achievement to date is being placed Side-Saddle Rider of Britain in 2006. Side Saddle is growing in popularity, and Gabby says she has never had a horse that hasn’t taken to it, as any horse would suit side saddle. The “Side Saddle Association” was born as a result of a letter written to “Horse & Hound” in 1974 by Janet Macdonald and Valerie Francis, hoping to gather a band of like-minded enthusiasts to keep alive a dying art. Since then, it has become respected throughout the UK and abroad, evolving into the Association it is today, with over 1200 members, including Junior and Overseas. At this year’s Side Saddle Association National Show, Gabby picked up an impressive 3rd place in the Adult Concours d'Elegance Section 2, and the Ridden Arab. Gabby says all the showing classes are the same as the astride shows and there is also show jumping.
Located between Basingstoke and Alresford, in the beautiful village of Chilton Candover, she is working towards her dream of riding at the Horse of The Year Show at either Showing or Show-Jumping. Her horses range from William the Shetland, her first pony, a 15hh Show Hack called Tom, a 15.2hh Connemara x Irish Draught called Galaxy, a 16.1hh Warmblood called Betty, and Gabby also rides her mum’s fell pony called Raven.
In her spare time, Gabby likes to chill out – but not surprisingly she doesn’t get much time for that! Keep your eye out for this up and coming rider, you may catch her at Medstead Grange as this is one of her favourite competition venues.
For further information on side-saddle, please contact http://www.sidesaddleassociation.co.uk/