Malvern St James Tiggy Equestrian Team

"Riding has always been a huge part of my life – I sat on a pony before I could walk and I have always dreamed of competing at a huge event like Badminton Horse Trials. Malvern St James has encouraged me to carry on aiming for my goal, giving me the opportunity to be part of our competitive riding team. The team is growing stronger each year and we continuously qualify for the national championships in lots of equestrian disciplines. Since being on the

Malvern St James Riding Team, I have learnt more about how to be encouraging, positive, kind, confident and, of course, quite competitive because being on a team teaches you how to work together and support each other, which I believe is very important.

All the girls on the team are so kind and always ready to offer help if you look like you need it. Without fail, you are always given a ‘well done’ at the end of your dressage test or round of jumps. We all want the same thing; to have a great partnership with our horses and try and win! You also create friendships across all the year groups, with people who love the same thing as you do and understand when you say, ‘my best friend in the whole world is my horse’. Sometimes you can feel quite nervous competing in all the top competitions, but walking around in our matching Malvern St James team coats and kit makes you feel positive and united.

Being a Riding Scholar and on the Riding Team is one of my favourite parts about school and makes me proud. I am so glad that our school offers it; a real bonus to all the other busy and fun-packed days we have at Malvern St James!"

Tiggy, MSJ Senior