At the age of 22 Tim has a stunning team of proven top class International horses and possibly the best string of talented young horses in the U.K., Tim is uniquely positioned to compete with and beat the worlds best both now and for years to come.

 

If it hadn’t been for Tim’s height (6ft) he may have followed a different direction: ‘If I had been a little bit smaller and a little less fat, being a jockey was always something that I wanted to do’. Tim wasted little time in making a big impression, and 2003 was the year Tim made a significant breakthrough getting selected for Accenture Junior International Squad, winning the British Young Riders classic at the CSI ***** Sheffield British Open and individual 4th in the Junior European Championships San Remo, Italy.

2007 was what can only be described as "educational" for Tim. With both of his best horses out of action for the first half of the year he decided to concentrate his efforts on schooling and bringing along his young horses and touring Europe to find other talented youngsters to add to the string for the future. This, on reflection, was time very well spent and he now has a team of young horses which are the envy of a great number of top riders. By the middle of the summer several of the younger horses were showing great promise and Omelli was ready to make his reappearance, things were ready to go again - or so we thought!

 

 

One of the most precocious young horses to come out of the pack was Timo. He had undoubted talent but his exuberance and total contempt for small fences made him rather a difficult ride. During a timed jump off at the Scope Festival, Timo lost concentration just before the last fence whilst spooking at an object in the arena ,which resulted in a crashing fall for horse and rider and a badly broken collar bone for Tim. This inevitably meant another delay to Omelli and Fabriana returning to competition. To further prove Timo’s' "sense of humour", he unceremoniously dumped Tim on the grass at home on his resumption of riding and caused further injury to the collar bone all helping to make 2007 a very painful and frustrating year!

2008 has been a very different story and patience and dedication have paid off. The decision was made to try Timo at Grand Prix level even though he is only 8, as it is only when jumping bigger fences that he concentrates. His success at this level has been phenomenal, he has been well placed in the Global Champions Tour Grand Prix beating many of the worlds top horses and represented Great Britain on several occasions including the winning Nations Cup team in Lisbon. Added to this Omelli has come back to his best and goes from strength to strength, and Fabriana has re found her best form.

 

Tim regards himself as being very fortunate to have been guided and trained by world class horseman and trainers. Tim’s main mentor has been Steven Smith, who was instrumental in Tim's rapid rise to success, and continues to be an invaluable help. He has also learnt an enormous amount from the former World Champion, Jos Lansink, who is based in Belgium and where Tim goes to train from time to time.

 

 

Tim puts most of his success down to the team at Stetchworth Stud near Newmarket. "You can't really ask for better support, the whole team is top class and the work they all put in with the horses is second to none. It gets really hectic sometimes, especially travelling to the International shows, but they keep me in order, not an easy task!, and are great travelling companions". However, Tim points to his parents, for the inspiration behind his success. "To have a family who have so much knowledge about horses, and who understand the patience and dedication required to be successful in the equine world has given me a great foundation. I now have to make sure I put in the effort and dedication to make them proud of my achievements".

After the many disappointments of 2007, 2008 has been one of my best years yet.  Omelli was back on top form, Toklund returned from his schooling with Keith Shaw and we also welcomed BF Utopia to the Team. Although short listed for the Olympics and being in quarantine up and till the last few minutes of departure it was not to be.

I therefore needed to focus on the other two main aims for the year, the first being the Nations Cup Teams.  I was invited to compete on 4 with Timo taking the 1st success in Lisbon with a win followed by Omelli taking honours for Dublin, La Baulle and Spruce Meadows.

The second aim was the Global Championship Tour which has been a superb opportunity for me this year in terms of competing some of my best horses in some of the best venues in the world. Every riders aim is to be in the top 25 to qualify for the finale in Sao Paulo. With points gained at almost every venue I qualified in 14th. Cannes proved to be the starting point for some of my best results. Winning best rider and taking 4th in the Rolex Grand Prix. “Definitely the best outdoor show I have been to”.  Omelli has once again proved to be my top horse and despite a small set back in September with a chest infection he was there the for the Sao Paulo Finale taking 5th in the 900,000 Euro Grand Prix. 

Away from the glitz and glamour of the GCT other notable successes have been most recently winning the Munich Grand Prix.  I now finish 2008 with a very promising group of youngsters who have excelled with their training throughout the year and still an amazing group of top horses for 2009.  Of course none of this would be possible without the invaluable support of my yard team, family and Steven Smith who has been invaluable with his help, support and training throughout the year. I look forward to 2009.

Tim