Hi I am Sarah, Welcome to my website.

 

I am originally from the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. I grew up on a small island called North Uist riding Highland, Eriskay and Welsh ponies from the age of four. I rode at the local riding school which was run by the army at that time, attended pony club and jumped at any opportunity for a lesson. 

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When I was 16 I moved to the Isle of Skye to start my British Horse Society training and gained a working pupil placement at the local riding school and RDA center. It was here my passion for coaching began.

From Skye I moved to the Captain Mark Phillips Equestrian Centre at the Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire, Scotland where I continued my coaching training as a working pupil. I met my now Kiwi husband at Gleneagles when he turned up to have lessons!! 

 

We travelled between New Zealand and Scotland for six years.

In those six years I worked here in New Zealand at the Jillings and Yuill racing stables in Auckland mainly starting Thoroughbreds under saddle. I groomed for World Cup show jumper Paula Mussen in Auckland and in my spare time hunted with the Maramarua hunt and coached.

For some of the summers spent back in Scotland I ran a small riding school/ trekking center on North Uist as well as working at the local hunting and fishing lodge, Langass Lodge. The other summers were spent on mainland Scotland working in the hospitality industry in Inverness, Glasgow and Edinburgh where I rode as much as possible by having lessons and riding all our friends horses!

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We eventually settled in Canterbury where we now happily live with our 7yr old son, 2 dogs and 2 horses.

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My passion for coaching lead me to start my business VDS Equestrian in 2020 and in 2022 I added Poles Plus to my offerings. 

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My aim as a coach is to provide a supportive, confidence building space where riders, no matter their discipline or goals, can feel empowered and achieve success, whether competitive or non competitive.