Barbara in the Spotlight!
Barbara has been a respected coach at MCEQ since March 2022. Originally from Germany, Barbara moved to Australia in 2019. Prior to this she spent 17 years living in California - LA and San Diego.
Barbara started riding in Germany at age six and started competing in shows from age ten. She is a high-level Prix St-George Dressage rider, including young horses. She rode and coached in Germany until her mid 20’s then she had a break and moved to the USA and joined the music industry!
Working for record labels and she also had an artist management co. A complete change from her riding background!
What led you to start your job at MC Equestrian?
When I moved to Australia I met Anne, a previous coach at MCEQ who introduced me to Dee. We then started leasing Dusty for my daughter Ella. Dee also bought Andre, one of the school horses from me. I then moved across the road and a coaching opportunity opened up for me.
You have lived and worked in 3 different countries, tell us about the differences have you found?
Riding in Germany is at an entirely different level. Shows are a lot bigger and more frequent. Even small country shows have hundreds of competitors. The quality of horses, their schooling and rider ability is extremely high.
In the USA there are a lot of expensive horses, and horse showing is very expensive as well. This makes makes the sport very elitist, which is a shame as it is out of reach for some people.
I have found that the actual riding instruction in Australia seems to be quite high (depending on the riding school!) but the quality of horses and their blood lines are completely different, due to the significant costs of importing horses all the way out to Australia.
What does your typical day involve?
I teach riding lessons in the afternoons and evenings at MC Equestrian. Which I thoroughly enjoy. I also own a high-end equestrian apparel store in California as well as being a sales agent for Deniro Boots and Kingsland Equestrian in both Australia and the USA so that keeps me pretty busy during the day. I then try to squeeze in training my horse and my daughter’s pony.
Tell us about a funny horse moment?
I recently took our mini horse Jezza into our house which was pretty funny!
Tell us about your favourite horse adventure?
I've always been more of a competitive rider, and not much of a trail rider, however I like taking the horses swimming/water treading. It's great exercise for them. I am constantly looking for solutions to various training issues, so I keep educating myself through online courses and talking to industry colleagues and friends who are top trainers.
Tell us about your horse?
My horse, Leo (St Leonhard) is a 10 year old WarmBlood. I have owned him since he was three. He finally joined us in Australia last December - which was fantastic. He is a bit of a clown, always wanting to be part of what you are doing. He takes very good care of my daughter Ella when she rides him, which I am very thankful for, as Leo is tall at 17.1hh!
What do you like best about working at MC Equestrian?
I love that MC Equestrian takes very good care of the school horses, they have regular vet checks, visits from the osteo and physio, farriers and vets etc. They also go out to spell regularly. I like that they run a very professional riding program as well.
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