Patrick Moody has retired as Chairman of the British Dressage Northern Region after eight years and Jane Peberdy has taken over and has a great enthusiastic committee. But he still continues as chief executive of Gunthwaite Dressage, chief chaffeur, accountant, electrician, maintenance man, …
An Oxford graduate he spent a year teaching English in India before turning to the world of business management. For the next thirty years he worked full time in the textile industry until, in a moment of madness he left his lovely secure office job and entered the big bad world of unemployment. This didn’t last for long of course – he was soon snatched up by Gunthwaite Dressage (taking a significant reduction in salary unfortunately) and has been there ever since! He now has a second job back in the textile industry, this time in tapestries – check out Ehrman Tapestry
Anne Moody is the lynchpin of the whole enterprise: yard manager, trainer in residence, secretary extraordinaire, chef…
Without her childhood interest in horses, Gunthwaite Dressage would possibly not be here today. Born in Ireland the youngest of four, she eventually persuaded her parents to let her have a pony. Life was a tad different then and we hear tales of hacking for 7 miles and back to a ponyclub rally – none of this lightweight stuff that goes on now! She is an art graduate and taught before becoming a dedicated mother to Hannah, Sarah (the one who actually flew the nest) and Becky. Anne is more of a ‘behind the scenes’ character than Patrick but it is her professionalism and dedication that keeps everyone at Gunthwaite Dressage (family, employees and clients) on the right lines.
Linzi Warren has been at Gunthwaite Dressage since 1998 and is our Head Girl. Linzi did her NVQ Level 3 with us and has competed very successfully up to medium level.
Sarah Hinchliffe has now left, after getting her BD Apprenticeship. Well done! We wish her all the best in her continuing equine career.
Carly Taylor Smith has also left Gunthwaite Dressage. 
She had a vey successful year with us, and was on the Junior Squad for 2008. She continues to compete back in Aberdeen and has been doing very well. She andNeo are going to join her family in the US - good luck and we’ll miss you.
Laura Jarvis completed her BD Apprenticeship course successfully and took up her place at uni but missed the horses so much she’s back to learn more and develop an equine career – welcome home !
We have 2 new BD Apprentices this year:
Samantha Brown who has been riding since she was nine. She was 2nd in the Pony Talent Spotting on the stallion Caesar and the same year was on the winning Pony team in Marlton. She is now riding Kwadraat and is gaining lots of experience. (Caesar is now at stud at Sam’s home in Co Durham and has some lovely foals this year including a little filly at Gunthwaite – Edna!)
Kirsty Mellor also has a horsy history having been a Pony Club and Byrds member and gained a National Diploma in Horse Management. She has brought on her horse from the beginning and is now competing successfully at Elementary.
Dean Bland is farrier to the Moody horses (and all the yard!) After graduating from Edinburgh University with a degree in fine art he had a rather drastic career change to become a farrier. (We trust he has never looked back since as we may be partly responsible for this!) Dean does a lot of work with Imprint Shoes. You can visit the Imprint website and the Imprint Sport website for more info.
Joelle Steyt is physiotherapist to the horses. Joelle and Victoria Spalding have treated our horses over the years, and Joelle now does regular visits to the yard and keeps an eye on them all. Have a look at Joelle’s website
Anna Nelson is physiotherapist to the humans on the yard! She comes here once a month to do clinics, and there is sometimes a space, so if anyone is interested in a session with her please get in touch. Anna is a qualified physio and also rides, so she has a good understanding of common issues that riders have! She also does a lot of work on core stability, and will watch you riding to give tips on postural problems etc. Click this link to view Anna’s website
