Mentors
See below the list of mentors and how to contact them:
Charlotte Nichols
Coaching (+Para and Youth), Business Management
Charlotte has spent 35 years working in the industry running Snainton Riding Centre, which has been a student training centre, riding school and competition yard. Practically she is a British Horse Society Level 5 Performance Coach (BHSI), a British Dressage Level 3 Accredited Coach and a UKCC Level 3 Generic Coach. As well as being a BD Youth Coach and Assessor, a Para Coach and Judge, a Level 2 BD Coach Educator and a List 1 Dressage Judge. Academically, Charlotte holds a BA (Hons) in Equine Studies and a MSc in Sport Coaching. Having spent her equine career coaching riders and coaches and training them for improvement and examinations, she is committed and enjoys seeing pupils on their journey and achieving their goals. Charlotte considers herself to be very approachable, with a wealth of knowledge in coaching and the sport of Dressage.
EMAIL CHARLOTTE CALL CHARLOTTE
Emily Hedger
Athlete Lifestyle | Transition Routes | Coaching (+Youth) | Mental Health and Wellbeing Support | Profiling | Planning
Emily is a BD Accredited Coach, Youth Coach/Assessor and Para coach. Along side coaching Emily is also a qualified Performance Lifestyle Advisor and Mental Health first aider.
Performance lifestyle helps athletes balance busy life schedules and encourage athletes to develop as a confident and organised individuals. Support may include; personal development, athlete development, lifestyle support, education/career planning, managing key transitions and wellbeing.
www.Equi-Support.co.uk www.emilyhedger.co.uk
Evelina Shrieve
Mental Health and Wellbeing Support | Young Professionals
Evelina is a professional dressage rider with both Regional and National titles under her belt. She was also on the Young Professionals Programme where she was awarded the Penny Pollard Bursary.
Prior to this, Evelina graduated from Loughborough University with a First Class degree in Psychology and is keen to apply this knowledge to the equestrian community. Mentoring support can include; well-being, personal development, confidence etc.
For enquiries, please contact using the email below.
Fiona Wilson
Judging | Coaching | Training & Assessment Delivery | Quality Assurance
BD List 1 Judge, BDCC Level 3 Coach, BHS Stage 5 Performance Coach (BHSI), Tutor Judge, S&E Region Judges Representative, BD Judges Committee Member, Qualified as an Internal Verifier IQA Level 4, Holds Level 3 in Training & Education.
Young Rider Team Silver Medalist.
Fiona has an enthusiastic approach and is passionate about sharing knowledge. She enjoy working with riders, judges and coaches at all levels to develop quality within our sport.
Gillian Peters
List 1 Judge | Judge Educator | Para Judge | Coaching (Para and Youth) | BDCC L2 Coach | Business Management/Finance
Gillian has been a BD listed judge for many years, and now as a List 1 judge and judge educator, she wants to share my experience to help other people on their own journey.
As a BDCC Level 2 coach, her philosophy is to enable all riders to be the best that they can be. She is very approachable and friendly and am known for her patient and individualised approach. With a particular interest in helping clients with test riding, Gillian teaches all levels including BD Youth and Para.
Prior to concentrating on judging and coaching, she trained and worked as a Chartered accountant, in practise, in industry and in education. The combination of her diverse background, including teaching experience within the university environment, has allowed her to approach judging and coaching with a unique perspective.
Gillian is passionate about the sport at all levels from grassroots upwards, and enjoys helping people fulfil their ambitions (big or small), whether that be in judging, riding or setting up in business.
Mrs Islay Auty B.A.(hons)Ed. F.B.H.S.
Coaching | Profiling and Planning | Team Management | Training and Assessment Delivery | Quality Assurance
BDCC level 3/Coach Educator/B.D. List One judge.
Islay has over fifty years experience in the equestrian industry, with her leading areas of expertise having evolved as an educator of other coaches, youth development, mentoring and judging dressage. She ran a BHS approved Riding School for twenty years with a business partner, training young people who wanted to follow a career in the horse industry and teaching all levels of riders. Islay has personal competitive experience in all disciplines and has been involved with international dressage teams both as a chef d’equipe and selector. She has travelled extensively training riders and developing coaches in many European countries and world-wide. As a mentor, she aims to encourage an individual to share their aims or concerns in a safe and confidential environment, through which ideas and creativity can be implemented to promote your development and learning. Her motivation is to ‘give back’ to anyone aiming for a career with horses.
Jane Critchley
List 1 Judge | BDCC Level 3 Coach | Competed and coached at CDI level
As a Coach and Judge Educator, Jane is passionate about developing and supporting riders, coaches, and judges, helping them unlock their full potential and achieve their goals.
In addition, Jane is a Chartered Management Accountant with a strong background in producing accounts and managing payrolls, offering a unique blend of equestrian and business acumen.
Jane currently chairs the British Dressage North & West Region and runs a successful training and livery yard in Denstone, Staffordshire. Her hands-on experience managing an equestrian business further enhances her ability to mentor others across all aspects of equestrian sport and business.
Mrs Jane Randall, MSc
BDCC Level 4 Coach | MSc in Professional Practice in Sports Coaching | Youth Coach and Assessor | Para Coach | Coach & Athlete Development Lead | Para Equestrian Foundation
Jane has supported coaches and riders, able bodied and Para throughout all the levels for over 25 years, using her own competitive and training knowledge together with the skills and academic qualifications she has gained along the way. Jane's mentoring can be online or face to face.
Taking inspiration from beyond the boundaries of the sport, Jane likes to think out of the box. Equestrian coaching and performance can be an isolating profession. Before and critically during the pandemic she created and facilitated a Community of Coaches who met face to face and later online. Coaches of all disciplines met once a month to connect in a safe place to discuss, learn from and support each other in the challenging time of Covid. These connections and alliances continue today. This was a great reminder that everyone needs a safe place or to explore personal and professional challenges and that has not always been readily available to equestrians and this mentor programme is pioneering this.
Jane believe in the power of “yet” and that anyone can improve and achieve by staying curious exploring their skills and goals and as a mentor she can support that journey. It is not that you cant do something - it’s just that you cant do it YET!
Having had her own experience of training and competing her own horses through all the levels to Grand Prix and International, together with a Masters degree in sports coaching (researching how we learn) empowers her with the skillset to give back to the sport that has given her so much pleasure and learning. Jane's goal is to guide you through open conversations, checking and challenging but always supporting you - as the mentee, you lead the way!
EMAIL JANE CALL JANE VISIT WEBSITE
Jill Day
Coaching (+Youth) | Training and Assessment Delivery | Quality Assurance | Profiling and Planning | Judging
Jill is a qualified mentor and coach and has been coaching in the equestrian industry for over 50 years. In that time, she has had experience working with all age groups and levels. She has also helped other coaches for nearly 20 years.
Jill offers mentoring sessions either online or face to face (depending on location) on a variety of subjects.
- Riders struggling with riding a test
- Coaches looking for support with their coaching
- Parents of youth riders
Or just someone who is non-judgemental to listen to your concerns. Remember a good mentor is not just a good listener they are like a trampoline to bounce ideas off.
If you are interested or think Jill can help you, email her in the first instance at:
Leanne Wall
Coaching | Judging | Profiling and Planning | Training and Assessment Delivery | Quality Assurance | Athlete Transition Routes
Leanne is an empathic and seasoned mentor of coaches, riders and judges, with over 10 years’ experience in mentoring. She formalised these skills by qualifying as UKCC4 Coach in 2018 and as a mentor in 2019.
She is a List 1 BD Tutor Judge and sits on the BD Judge and Training Committees. Previous positions have included Chef d’Equipe for the BD Youth Teams assisting at international events and serving 7 years as a BD Youth Team Selector. Leanne has recently qualified as an Internal Verifier and is qualified in tutoring and assessing in sport.
Leanne has in recent years judged at most prestigious BD events and has assessed various levels for judges upgrading. She remains enthusiastic and active in her coaching practice covering all levels from grass routes to CDI. She particularly enjoys sharing her extensive experience and helping riders to develop in both confidence and ability.
Marcia Cundy
Athlete Lifestyle | Youth and Para Coaching | Transition Routes
Marcia has been a British Dressage member since its formation. Her experiences during that time range from qualifying and competing her own advanced horses and for owners through Regionals and Nationals, through coaching (BDCC L2) Youth (she is a Youth Coach & Assessor) Para (as a Para Coach she has coached up to World Class Level and is regularly at FEI and National Para competitions, and Judging (currently List 3, judging BD regularly/on panels and on the 3A upgrade Pathway) Also an TASS TALS athlete lifestyle coach.
Whilst British Dressage sets out the various pathways our own experiences are always individual to us and can sometimes appear contradictory or confusing. In order to help individuals Marcia would like to offer support to anyone looking for guidance. She very much enjoy the discussions as it's always exciting to share someone's personal journey and is an area of development she is committed to.
Nicky Du Plessis
Coaching | Judging | Finance | Profiling and Planning
Nicky du Plessis BD List 2 Judge, MSc Sports Coaching, UKCC Level 3 Coaching Certificate (British Dressage), Certificate in Education, Book Keeping Level 3, UKCC Coach Educator Award, British Horse Society Stage 5 Performance Coach in Horsemanship.
Nicky has been a BD listed judge since 1977 and has been competing in BD affiliated dressage since 1976, during this time she has gained a great deal of experience and has been lucky enough to ride two horses up to PSG and trained many others to the lower levels. She is still actively involved with coaching and riding in BD competitions.
After an active career in education and teaching in a College of Further Education for 30 years, she has experience of working with students and staff in a Mentoring role and would like to bring this experience to support British Dressage judges in the new judge education programme.
Richard Baldwin
Judging | Training and Assessment Delivery
Richard is an FEI Dressage/Eventing Judge, Trainer and Rider who is also qualified as a tutor and assessor in sport. He have been involved with dressage all his life and am passionate about all areas of the Sport from Grassroots to FEI level.
Sandra Smith
Judging | Competed up to Intermediate I level | Listed Judge
Sandra has over three decades of dressage experience as both a competitor, owner and judge, bringing knowledge and practical insight into her role as a mentor. Having competed up to Intermediate 1 level and being a Listed judge for the past 12 years this experience allows her to guide aspiring judges in developing their observational skills, marking consistency, and understanding of the training scale.
Her approach to mentoring is practical, positive, and personalised. She believes in building confidence through structured learning while helping trainee judges develop their own voice and style. Whether you're working toward your first judging qualification or seeking to advance to the next level, Sandra is committed to supporting your individual goals.
Beyond the arena, her life experiences as a mother of twins, grandmother, and carer have taught her patience, resilience, and the importance of balance. Sandra understand the challenges of pursuing a judging career while juggling other responsibilities, and can offer realistic advice for making the most of your time and resources.
Sandra looks forward to sharing your judging journey and helping you achieve your ambitions within British Dressage.
Steph Bradley
MSc MCIMSPA (Chartered) | CIMSPA Advanced Coach Practitioner | British Equestrian Level 4 Coach | UKCC L4 | British Dressage Senior, Youth and Para Coach | BHS Accredited Coach Mentor | L3 Tutor & Assessor
Steph Bradley is a British Equestrian Level 4 Coach and a CIMSPA Chartered Coach Developer. She has experience in mentoring both experienced and new coaches - across a range of sports, including Premier League Football Academy Coaches, Welsh Hockey pathway coaches, Welsh Gymnastics, in addition to pony club and dressage.
Steph owns and runs Whitegate Farm Livery and Training Centre near Wrexham, and currently competes at Grand Prix. She is a BD Accredited Coach, Youth Coach and Assessor and in 2024 completed some groundbreaking research on the impact of the perimenopause and menopause on female equestrians which is in the process of being published.
Steph welcomes working with coaches of all levels and experience, and can support in many aspects of coaching - from challenging clients to business and marketing advice.
If you would like an introductory chat, please call Steph.
Tanya Reid
Coaching | Judging | Profiling and Planning | Training and Assessment Delivery | Quality Assurance | Athlete Transition Routes
Tanya has a career-long commitment to mentoring and believes that people turn to the mentoring process when they are ‘stuck’ and are actively looking for a way forward to progress, whether that is as a rider, a judge, a coach or a parent of a youth rider.
She has wide experience of helping mentees to achieve real change to attain their goals, coupled with a friendly and professional approach.
Tanya has run a successful business and can help with coaches looking to expand their professional reach, riders struggling to gain the next level in their training and performance, judges looking to upgrade and associates looking to support riders, as well as other areas of development.
She is a List 3 judge, BDCC Accredited Coach, Para Coach, Youth Coach/Assessor, BHSAI, rider and former Intermediate eventer, PC Coach and has worked in further and higher education.
Tanya offers mentoring either in-person (based in East Sussex) or online.
If you’d like a chat to see how she can help you please contact Tanya;
Vikki Hayton
Business Support and Leadership | Team Management | Further Education | Coaching
Vikki has been working in education for the past 20 years, as a Coach and in mainstream education in both the primary, secondary and further education sectors. She has also run her own equestrian centre since being in my late teens. She loves working with people and get a lot of satisfaction from being able to help people.
Her work has taught her valuable life lessons and life skills, which enables her to be successful and happy in her work. She's like to share those skills and work with people to foster mentor relationships which put the mentee in the driving seat. Vikki would like to help navigate the way for you to evolve and develop, whilst delivering feedback to help you ultimately change your mindset, dispel any negativity and enable change, progress and success in professional and personal goals.
Vikki is totally honest with her clients, discreet, trustworthy and will have their needs and aspirations at the heart of the process.
