Lindsay 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. Linzi has Gonzo (pictured) on permanent loan from Bev Brown (Sam’s mum) and loves him more than life itself! Linzi  is also taking amazingly fantastic care of Humble Pie at his new home, taking him for exciting hacks through fields and woods with the Gonzmeister :-)

Sam Brown aka ‘The Joker of the Yard’ spends alot of her time jumping out on people to scare them and generally doing embarrassing things (usually un-knowingly) which keep us all entertained! Inbetween her jokes Sam does actually work very hard on the yard 3-4 days a week and spends the remainder of the time at her own yard producing her homebred ponies. She was 2nd in the Pony Talent Spotting on the stallion Caesar and the same year was on the winning Pony team in Marlton. Sam had the ride on Becky’s ‘Kwadraat’ for two years, and they were best of the Brits at the Junior European Championships in 2009. Sam has just passed her BD Apprenticeship Assistant Stable Managers exam and is now working towards her UKCC level 2 so that she can continue to build up her teaching locally and at home.

Charlotte Hawke started working for Moody Dressage in the summer of 2010 and has never looked back since as horses are her passion, although her affections do lie with one particular horse  ’Jordas’  who Charlotte enjoys hacking out and cantering fast to work off his belly :-) Charlotte has been around horses all her life and used to work on a racing yard after completing her NVQ level 1 at Doncaster Racecourse.

Moody Dressage Apprentices and Working Pupils

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 a super new horse – hopefully a star of the future, who is already going out and competing very successfully up to elementary level.

Ryan Todd joined us in the summer of 2010, and is currently working towards his UKCC level 2 certificate and his BD apprenticeship.  Ryan has a new ride, Charlie, owned by Steph Willis, who he will be competing and hopefully become a very successful combination. Ryan also has the ride on Denise Mitchell’s stallion Rembrandt of Gamblethorpe Hanoverians and they are proving to be a force to be reckoned with :-)

Emma Corbett started working at Moody Dressage in September 2011.  Emma is working towards her UKCC level 2 certificate and British Dressage Apprenticeship as well as teaching about 5 hours a week at a local yard. Emma was a member of the 2011 Junior European Team with her own horse, Feo and they are now competing at Prix St. Georges with aims for the Young Rider teams over the next few years (Hopefully!).

Josie Gyllensward made the big move from Sweden to join the Moody team in July 2011. Along with all her belongings she also brought her own horse Tobias (Troy) and has already started competing successfully here in the UK. Josie has settled in so well and recently decided to purchase another horse, 6 year old Don Angelo (Donald) whom she will be out competing on in 2012. Josie is also working towards her UKCC level 2.

Other (extremely important :-) ) Support Team

Patrick Moody is 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.

Kelly Oxtoby is the new secretary :-) but is also quite versatile and will muck out, groom at competitions, drive Frank (the lorry), and also help produce and sell the exceptional youngters that we have for sale. She has been around for many years, starting off coming for lessons with the pony club and loving dressage so much (because she is a chicken and never liked jumping!) that she eventually persuaded her mum and dad to buy her a nice dressage horse and keep it on livery at the Moodys.  Since then, and several horses later, Kelly is now the proud owner of Slim (Jim), bought from Julie, and hopes to do the young horse classes and work up through the levels to advanced with him.

Julie Lockey has been a friend of the Moody Family for several years and was so inspired by the world of dressage that she decided to start breeding, buying and producing young horses (preferably black) in the hope that she could produce the next Totilas (well between Julie’s and Becky’s hard work they have officially got the best  4 year old in the country (Carinsio) so you never know) :-) Julie has a continual selection of lovely yearlings, 2, 3 and 4 year olds for sale (as unfortunately we cannot keep them all) so if you are interested in having a top class young horse please contact us :-) Julie is also the proud owner of several of Hannah and Becky’s top rides!

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. Also please look at the following links for articles on how the Imprint Shoes can achieve great improvements http://www.facebook.com/ImprintEquineFootCare and http://www.imprintshoes.co.uk/testimonials/testimonials_farriers.htm

Hird and Partners Vets, particularly Peter Scholefield and more recently Tim Booth and Maja Anderson have been helping keep the Moody Yards horses on the road since about 1999… They have fantastic facilities up at their centre near Halifax. Check out their website:
Hird and Partners Equine Centre

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

Martin Brookes is the Equine Dentist to all the horses on the yard. Martin visits every 6 months for routine check ups and then if needed undertakes any other work that has to be done to keep the horses’ mouths and teeth in tip top condition! Martin has had extensive training and gained numerous qualifications. For more information please visit his website http://www.equinedentist.me.uk