Tales from Stoneleigh: ‘It was tough leaving my horses behind’

A new face at the LeMieux National Dressage Championships at Stoneleigh (14-17 September) this year is Jayden Brown.

The 29-year-old moved from his native Australia in May this year.

“I met Emma Blundell [managing director of Mount St John] at Equitana in Germany three or four years ago,” explains Jayden. “I was looking for foals to buy at the time and then plans changed and I ended up competing for Emma a couple of times in the UK. I was mostly helping out with getting horses qualified and I couldn’t leave everything behind at home for too long.”

Jayden, who is originally from Brisbane, had a stable of 10 horses at home. He had already done a stint working in Germany 10 years ago but said the language barrier had been a bit of an issue.

“I wanted to come back over to Europe, and when the chance came up for me to base myself full-time at Mount St John, it seemed the perfect opportunity,” he explains. “It was tough leaving some of my horses at home behind though.”

Jayden placed most of his horses with carefully selected new riders and made the long journey to the UK.

“The only thing I really miss about Australia is the weather,” he smiles. “Having said that, if I don’t see another really humid day ever again, I wouldn’t be sad!”

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Jayden’s day now consists of riding roughly eight horses each day at Mount St John. He has four horses qualified for this year’s championships, which is also his first. They are all Mount St John horses and he is enjoying some strong results with them.

“I’ve got a two year visa to work here and I’m keen to make the most of the opportunity.”

Keep up-to-date with all of the news from the National Dressage Championships by keeping an eye on the Horse & Hound website, and don’t miss the full magazine report, out on Thursday 21 September.

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