A Heartfelt Thankyou

It’s that time of year where you tend to get a bit reflective and look back on where you have come from.  I was at a party with some fabulous friends on boxing day when had this overwhelming sense of gratitude come over me, and I really wanted to share.

You see, I grew up in the city with a completely non-horsey family, and from as far back as I could remember I was absolutely obsessed with horses.  I was one of those kids that cut out every picture of a horse out of magazine (even the Marlborough Man’s horse, remember him?) and spent every cent of my birthday money or pocket money on horse books or magazine.  Instead of riding, my sport as a child was swimming, and I was actually pretty good, but all I ever wanted to do was ride.

Me at a riding camp during school holidays on Connie.

As you do, I went through school and uni, finding my way working towards a career in Film and TV, and horses were an occasional pleasure of mine, with the view that one day when I had enough money saved I would finally get the chance to find my own.  But the world seems to have a way of throwing you surprises along the way, and I met a boy who took me to the UK on a working holiday.

Some of you know, that this was where I finally got the chance to work full time with horses, and I loved it.  There is nothing like working in the UK or Europe when it comes to horses, and those really were some of the best days of my life.  We had to come home eventually, and my once flourishing career in film and TV had been left behind, so I went on a new path.

Eventually, I started a business importing and retailing equestrian goods from the UK that at that stage were not available here.  Basically all the really top notch stuff I had used over there every day, year after year.  I had no business experience, I had no start up cash, and I made a lot of mistakes.  A lot!

Mistakes are valuable though, if you learn from them, and out of the failures of that first business grew Bit Bank Australia, and holy moly, how has it grown!

It is through Bit Bank that I was finally able to fulfill my life long dream and find my pony friend, Mojo.  It is through Bit Bank that I am able to ride almost every day, and finally start working towards being the kind of rider I always dreamed I could be.  It is through Bit Bank that I have been able to help literally thousands of riders in Australia and New Zealand find the best bitting option to help them become the kind of rider that they dream they can be.  It is through Bit Bank that I can proudly say that we have built a wonderful little community of riders that share the same ideals and values of striving for harmony, partnership and joy in our every day riding and competing with our beloved horses.

I am so very grateful for the people that have made all this possible- my clients,  facebook fans, blog followers and friends.  People that I know only on the end of the phone or via email, but who have made such a huge difference to my life and my happiness, simply by letting me know how much I have been able to help them.

I am so hugely humbled that through this little business that I started one day in my home that I have been able to make such a difference for so many people.  I am so humbled by the comments, questions and interactions I see everyday on the Bit Bank facebook page, where I can see that there is a huge community of like minded, passionate thinking riders out there, that share similar dreams and hopes as mine.

So a great bit heartfelt thankyou to all my clients, friends, and riders who just called me for a bit of advice.  Thankyou for everything that I have learned from you, thankyou for listening to me, thankyou for allowing me to help you on your journey where I could.

Without you guys, I never would have been able to make my childhood dream a reality, and find my Mojo.  For this, I am so very grateful to you all, and hope that even just a little bit, what I have been able to give in return to you has been a fair exchange.

Mojo and I competing in our Novice 2C earlier this year.