About Holly
Hi! My name is Holly Cooke and I am 32 years old.
I am a highly passionate and dedicated equestrian professional. I am extremely hard-working and fully committed to my role as a freelance Dressage Rider and Trainer. I train using the classical dressage principles of softness and harmony; in a friendly, approachable manner to develop a happy horse and rider at any level.
As a freelance Dressage Rider; my focus is competing, training & riding for other people.
Lorenzo is my first horse that I have trained from Novice to Grand Prix. I was overwhelmed to be selected for my first CDI in 2020 with Lorenzo at Keysoe CDI3*. It was a weekend I will never forget! Lorenzo isn’t the easiest of horses so I have to be super patient with everything we do. So when we have successful National and Regional wins it means so much to me, because I know that all the hard work has paid off!
I have always loved Dressage ever since I could walk. I grew up going to all of my Mum‘s competitions from local shows to abroad watching international ones too. As much as my Mum tried to steer me away from working with horses, knowing how difficult it can be, I only ever wanted to ride for my country.
I had many naughty ponies that were not made for Dressage from ex-eventers to ex-Grade A show jumpers. They were always bolting off and scaring the living daylights out of me while hacking, but I still tried my hardest in the Dressage arena from a very young age, and used to always get the special rosette and a sticker on my test sheet with some very thoughtful comments from a judge to a small child!
Once I finished school at 16 and my Mum had come to realise that I was not going to drop horses, I went to Wellington Riding School as a working pupil for six months and started my BHS exams. At Wellington I did a variety of flat work, show jumping and cross country which I thoroughly enjoyed, and I would highly recommend Wellington to anyone who wants a career in the equestrian field. I then progressed to be David Sheerin‘s Competition Groom for a year before I left Wellington to help my Mum pick up running a yard again.
This was when my competitive Dressage career started off. In 2013 I qualified for the NAF Five Star Winter Championships on a lovely mare called Indi and finished just outside of the top 10. I shared Indi with her lovely owner Janice Sexton.
I then went on to successfully compete for BYRDS Team Southern where I gained so much experience as a team member. I was also given the ride on my Mum’s horse Santana HH in 2012 and we won from Elementary un25s Championships all the way up to the Advanced un25s Championships and Home Internationals, both individually and as a team. I also won quite a few titles with a beautiful mare called Candover Raindrop (Ruby) from 2013 at Novice and Elementary un25s Championships. However, my favourite BYRDS competition (now called BD Youth) was the Inter Regionals. This was because it wasn’t judged how a normal test was judged. It was judged on the riders position, the harmony between the horse and rider and the horses natural way of going. I love this because it made me focus even more than I already did on my position and harmony between me and my horses. Each year I successfully qualified for the A squad finals held at Hartpury CDI, which I found very daunting the first year as they were handing me a microphone to answer questions for everyone to hear! But I learnt so much each year and grew more in confidence.
I finished my BD Youth career with Lorenzo winning the Home Internationals, the Inter Regionals and the under 25 Advanced Championship. I then went on to represent Team Southern Seniors for two years filled with lovely memories and success both individually and as a team. I finally finished representing Team Southern in 2019 as I went on to make a very tough decision of deciding weather to do the PetPlan Inter I Bronze finals at the Winter PetPlan Championships or do my first CDI! It was such a hard decision to make but it was one I had to make as these opportunities don’t come around very often!
