Alex started riding at the age of eleven when a friend dragged him to the local riding school. Despite being rather reluctant to start with, once hoisted aboard a one eyed donkey called “Jimmy,” Alex has never looked back. Within six months he’d persuaded his parents to buy him his first horse, Charlie. Over 16 hands and a 3 year old thoroughbred, this may not have been the best choice for an 11 year old boy who’d as yet to learn to rise to the trot. Failure to invest in a saddle for two years saw Alex riding Charlie bareback and falling off … a lot !
At the age of 13, Alex spent a summer with James Roberts, for whom he would later work. You could say it was a slightly odd choice for an aspiring dressage rider to go and work for a natural horsemanship cowboy in the middle of Wiltshire, however Alex’s time there gave him a great understanding of horse psychology and opened his mind to alternative ways of training. This understanding of the psychology has since enabled him to get the best out of horses where others have failed.
In the summer of 2012 Alex went out to Switzerland to work for Carmen Zulauf, a natural horsemanship instructor based at the Swiss national training ground (the IENA). During his time at Carmen’s, he stayed in the most luxurious accommodation: a shipping container at the back of the barn complete with a window and a bed! Throughout the summer it was hot enough to fry a chicken on the floor of the container. Unfortunately, there was no washing machine and there was no window that would have been large enough to let the smell out.
Alex puts that experience down to a test of character and proof that no matter how shiny his boots are he can still get down and dirty like the rest of them.
It was at this time that Alex made the call to bite the bullet and go to work for Matt Frost and Adam Kemp. He had the opportunity to ride some fabulous horses, from 3 year olds right through to international Grand Prix.
Since staring Collective Equestrian Alex has secured his footing in the UK dressage scene as a real rising star. In 2017, at his first ever international competition, Alex won all three days at Hickstead CDIY aboard Ruben IV. The following year Alex produced his younger horse “Diamond Hill” (at the time only 7 years old) to small tour level and subsequently represented Great Britain in Germany, subsequently securing himself a spot on the Young Rider European team out in Fontainebleau, France. Never one to get complacent, Alex then made the step up to GrandPrix and notched up some impressive placing at premiere league shows before getting selected to represent Great Britain once again at the 2021 U25 European Championships in Germany. Only a few weeks later Alex ended up on the podium at his first senior international Grand Prix with over 70%.
In 2022 Alex teamed up with Emma Blundell, of Mount St. John stud, to help produce and train some of the horses. Most notably Alex has campaigned MSJ Top Secret at small tour with scores over 73% and qualifying for the National Championships.
As if his riding accolades weren’t enough, in addition to holding his UKCC3 coaching qualification Alex is also the UK’s youngest list 1 dressage judge!
