The daughter of an RAAF Officer, Vanessa lived in several Australian states and also spent some time in Malaysia as a young child.  It was when she moved to Western Australia as a teenager that horses became a significant part of her life.

A favourite haunt was Broadacres Riding School where Vanessa first experienced the great joy and tremendous connection that many young people develop with their horses.  A regular competitor at the Broadacre gymkhanas on their steady school horses, Vanessa also experienced equestrian competition for the first time.

For most of her twenties Vanessa worked in the harness industry, a great part of it for successful trainer Kevin Batt.  During this time, Vanessa started to develop her interest in showing horses and started helping friends with their show horses, experiencing showing many different breeds, sizes and ages, and also competing under saddle in hacking and rider classes.

The late 80s and early 90s saw Vanessa branch out into the competition ring further, showing the successful palomino mare “Cobblestone September Gold” for countless champion and supreme champion awards.  As the mare had been started by top trainer Brian Cramp, Vanessa was intrigued by western riding and began to compete in the early 90s on the palomino quarter horse mare “Dakota Cassie Red”.  Success was swift and led to Vanessa purchasing and campaigning the quarter horse gelding “Bar Roc” to numerous wins in led lunge and halter classes, followed by a successful career under saddle.  The paint mare “C Notes Sissy Bon” was Vanessa’s next show horse, the mare showing in halter, trail and hunter classes before being sold and re-emerging as a successful event horse.

Over the next 20 years, Vanessa began to establish herself as a serious competitor and competed with outstanding success showing Stock Horses, Quarter Horses, Appaloosas, Paint Horses, Palominos and Buckskins.   During this time Vanessa also began to judge and hold clinics, encouraging beginner and novice riders to become involved in the western industry.

Now firmly established as a serious competitor and trainer in the western industry, Vanessa delights in helping her clients achieve their dreams of showing their own horses in western competition at any level.

In addition to training, competing and judging, Vanessa has also been heavily involved in educating others about horses.  For many years, Vanessa has written, delivered and assessed equine management programs at tertiary level.   As an Equine Studies Lecturer for Swan Tafe Equine Training Centre, Vanessa lectured in Equine Anatomy, Biomechanics and Locomotion and Equine Health & Breeding, as well as Horse Handling & Breaking.  During this time, Vanessa also delivered (with a qualified farrier) Basic Farrier/Hoofcare courses and wrote and delivered intensive courses in Equine Anatomy & Sports Massage.

In 1999, Vanessa became an accredited Equine Sports Massage Therapist and since then has worked fulltime in the field, providing a mobile service to a wide range of performance and recreational horses.  Clients in the racing and pacing industry as well as those who regularly compete at the top levels in dressage, show horse, eventing, showjumping, stock horse & western events utilise the service that Vanessa provides to attain the best possible results from their horses.

Having spent 30 years around horses and among the very best ‘horse people’ Vanessa has always been aware of the connection between people and horses.  This interest continued to grow and after almost six years of study, Vanessa chose to explore this concept further for her university Honours Thesis entitled: “Horsepower: A study of equine influence on female adolescent self-efficacy”.  Graduating with First Class Honours in 2005, Vanessa now works with individuals and groups in the areas of Equine Facilitated Learning. 

In this process, the horse leads the human on a journey of self-discovery - facing and overcoming challenges and obstacles.  Ultimately this leads to a change in the behaviours, thoughts and emotions of the humans involved and results in a life-path which has been changed for the better, thanks to the interaction with these beautiful animals.

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