Dressage For All 25: Nina Boex on young people

As we dedicate a Dressage For All day to age, hear from Performance Manager Nina Boex on her vast experience with supporting youth riders, as we aim to understand more about the benefits that international and elite sport can bring to young people.

Nina Boex is a vital member of the Youth International scene in Great Britain. Her journey began as a shadow Chef d’Equipe in 2014, before she stepped up to Chef d’Equipe in 2015 for her first European Championships with the Junior and Young Rider teams travelling to Spain that year. Ten years in that invaluable role followed, before progression onto Performance Manager came in 2025. Her commitment to development is second to none; Nina is a UKCC Level 4 coach, BD Youth Coach and Youth Assessor as well as being an active member in her region, acting as Coaches Representative for BD Wales.  

As we look at what benefits sport brings to young people, enjoy our Q&A with Nina on her experiences on the international stars of the future.

Q: In your experience, what qualities does dressage help cultivate in young riders?
A: Dressage teaches young riders valuable life skills, like any sport it’s a chance for them to learn and hone these skills in a safe environment. The transferable skills developed through sport at a young age, gives them so much to employ at school, work and throughout life.

Dressage is unique, navigating not only the complex test but working through this with a horse, with a mind and mood of its own. Dressage helps build concentration, putting parts of test together to complete the ‘puzzle’. It increases the willingness to try new approaches, as well as the knowledge of when to take risks and when to play safe within a test or in training. Finding the bravery to perform in front of an audience whilst giving their horse confidence to do the same is a valuable life skill on so many levels.

I also think that for young people taking part, dressage lets them begin to understand not only how their horse learns but how they themselves learn best, through talking, seeing and doing. There’s also a communication element too; working with judges and stewards to communicate effectively, and politely with lots of different generations.

Q: Have you noticed dressage shaping young riders’ confidence or emotional resilience?
A: There are many examples and scenarios where I have seen dressage shape young riders confidence and test their strength of character, often these go hand in hand. 

At the start of the season young riders set their goals, they have to learn to have the confidence to challenge themselves, yet also be realistic in their expectations. This is a skill that develops as they grow through the age categories and learn from past experience.  Lots of our riders are not only dealing with the pressure of selection and performance, but also exams, school work and university applications.

I admire how robust our riders become, navigating the bumps in the road, from horses with injuries to having to adapt plans. As athletes in elite sport, they learn to manage their emotions, whether that’s huge medal winning successes or coping and owning their own disappointment when something has gone wrong in the test, or just that someone else was better than them on the day.

We have a sports psychologist Leonie Lightfoot who also helps to guide riders and give them strategies to manage these on our program. To ensure confidence and resilience is built in the right way, our entire international officials team is on hand to guide them and teach strategies throughout training and competition.

Q: What do you think young riders learn most from forming a partnership with a horse?
A: They learn patience, kindness and care. As well as determination to keep improving,  learning and training their horses.

More than anything horses teach our young people to put others first; to put the horses welfare and needs above their own, wants or desires.  It’s great to see top riders acknowledge the part their horse has played in the achievement.    

Often time spent in some of the age categories is short, so they have to learn to adapt quickly to different horses, or moving up from ponies to horses. These experiences allow them to’ seek out the horses nature and learn to work together in harmony. 

Q: How do you support them in balancing school, family life, and the demands of training and competition?
A: We talk about prioritising at certain points in the season. To be prepared and plan, working out the calendar at the start of the season, alongside goals. For competition, there are discussions with the whole home support team. We talk about when to peak the fitness of both horse and rider, consider factors like aiming for an early season if a rider has GCSE exams, or encourage interest in a specific show because it falls in the university holiday. Every rider’s season is set out and specific to that individual. The best riders have a plan - a weekly structure that they stick to - perhaps including school, homework and riding time allocated each evening... as well as some time to themselves to see their friends and as one rider said ‘just chill’. 

Q: What impact does the international environment have on their social skills or sense of belonging?
A: From earning their first flag to making it onto a team, it forms part of our young people’s identities. They make friends from different countries and develop lovely relationships with those at home too. The show season gives them time to actually meet their friends and acquaintances in person, as well as staying in touch through social media. We often see wide networks of friends developed amongst teenages that later in their careers becomes beneficial for work experience placements and job prospects. 

When riders make it on to teams, it’s the ultimate sense of belonging, that combination of pride and having earned your place. The opening ceremony sees riders sharing this feeling as they come together to celebrate the sport and their love for the horse. Watching the pony riders all running around with the placing of the flags at the end is a magical and memorable experience. 

There’s also the element of seeing and experiencing different cultures, observing different riding styles and systems.  Many Europeans host something called ‘Nations Night’, where each nation showcases, food, dancing and culture from their home country.  It’s always memorable and encourages confidence too; our Junior team in 2023 made a TikTok video to Mamma Mia, with lots of other nations joining in the dance!