Please give us a short introduction of yourself and your riding history:

I currently live in Summerveld KZN. I am the owner of Foresyte Stud and Langley Equestrian where we breed the most beautiful horses and train riders. It’s a lovely part of the world. I have a great team with whom I ride daily. 

Please can you list your achievements/ wins/ titles.

I have won the World Cup at Revil and the GP there and placed in many others on various self-produced horses. I took the six bar at Easter Festival. My greatest love and achievement however, is producing young horses and working with the tricky ones.

Who will you be competing on for Derby this year? 

Foresyte Bengston.  A horse I bred, (I competed on both his sire and dam as well). He is an embryo transfer foal done by Carla at Equis Vet Practice. He is feisty but I love his spunk. 

I will also probably be riding another horse I bred in the smaller classes, Foresyte Buck Rogers.

What kind of preparation/ training have you been doing to face the formidable Derby this year, and get your horses ready?

 It’s difficult to do proper Derby training with the show calendar having been so full, so I do fitness and just small Derby-type jumps in between.

You’ve trained a number of riders over the years to compete at this level. What do you think is the single most important thing a rider needs to consider when they are competing in the likes of the United Derby? 

Horsemanship. 

You’ve seen a number of Derby horses over the years, if you could choose one horse to jump the track on, who would it be and why? 

I would have loved to try one more Derby on a horse I had called Patrick. He ran away with me in two Derby’s, it was terrifying and I would have really liked to get it right with him. He had to retire due to an injury unfortunately.

Describe your Derby routine on the day of the event (for yourself and your horse). 

I do everything I can to stay focused and give my horses the best possible chance of the right preparation for the class. 

Coming up from KZN you get to see the different horses, the competition etc. Do you think there is a material difference in the horses or level of competition between JHB and KZN? 

Jhb has a greater numbers of horses and riders BUT KZN has manged to always be consistently up there in the prizes regardless of our smaller numbers. In my opinion our KZN horses also have a much better lifestyle with loads of grass paddocks and rolling hills. 

If this is the answer, what’s the question?: 

So for example I say 5am in the morning, and you say My least favourite time of day! 

Midnight:  Best time for thinking and planning.

The Oxer: Bring it on!

Something I would never try/ do!  Drugs!

The Bank:  Eish a problem!

That is my dream!  To see our equine sports (both racing and competition) having easy export protocols, we can be a force to be reckoned with! SA all the way!