Instagram Q&A

• I’m 20, 21 in September!

• I started riding a little Shetland called Eddie when I was a couple of years old and then I just kept riding from then!

• There was Eddie the Shetland, my first pony, 12'2" Twinkle, then the gorgeous palomino Moonlight, followed by the very cheeky Badger who I first started dressage on! I then got the bug for dressage so got the even cheekier but gorgeous pony Dublin who taught me to sit a buck!  I then was so very lucky to ride my pony of a lifetime, Danny Boy B, who I went to 3 Europeans on for Team GB. Danny later died of cancer which was the hardest thing for me in the world and I had to dig very deep to produce my young palomino mare Dynasty. She had a great temperament  and we won a team bronze medal on at the Europeans in Arezzo, Italy. My first horse was the 17 1” German bred Fleurie who was absolutely incredible but very tricky to ride. We went to the Junior Europeans together and got over 70%! I won my first national title with Fleurie and we were invited to ride in front of the Queen at Windsor Horse Show the day after my maths GCSE!!  I now ride 3 incredible horses, Sonny, Lola and my lovely Gee!  Plus I have a young horse called Bo who is in training with a professional rider to get him out competing whilst I am at uni.  

• Sonny is the cheekiest, most lively horse ever, he is so talented and genuine but can get very fresh! He squeals when he gets excited which actually means ‘hang on Erin!”.  He is also the most accident prone which is why you may not have seen him on Instagram – he’s had some time off injured but he’s back and raring to go out at Under 25 Grand Prix soon!  
• Lola is the most genuine and reliable horse you will ever meet. She was bought for my Mum but I have ‘borrowed’ her!   She is so safe and caring but also a little bit like a tank! We call her the ‘diesel engine’ as she takes a little while to get going but then she just keeps going! She has some amazing hind legs and can do a foot perfect piaffe but she is a proper mare and I have to ask nicely :)
• Gee, he is my horse of a lifetime - like a big version of Danny Boy B. Not only is he absolutely stunning but he’s incredibly well behaved and lovely for a young stallion. However he’s 17.2 hands so if he’s ever cheeky it isn’t the most fun haha!  He is learning his flying changes which he finds easy but VERY exciting!

• I’ve competed up to international Prix St George/Young rider level and am aiming for my first Grand Prix this summer!  I have been on six European teams for GB and had some great wins at International level.

 

• Luckily I haven’t, fingers crossed! I have a pretty good seat and the first time I fell off in 7 years was at my first show on Sonny, he was very fresh and whilst I was on the floor, he interrupted someone’s test passaging around the competition arena! Naughty boy.

• Honestly, I’m not the bravest in the world so for me, staying mostly on the ground is much more appealing! Plus when I was about 8, my trainer Sonia (I still train with her now, 12 years later!) told my mum I had good feel for dressage and should pursue that instead!
• If I had to pick I would show jump, I love it as a discipline and used to jump a lot growing up… If only I was a bit braver!

• Like most people, my goal is to go to the Olympics one day. I hope to train Gee from Novice to Grand Prix and it would my dream to go to the Olympics with him! He is good enough so with lots of luck and hard work from me ………..
• Lola and Sonny are both talented in the Grand Prix movements so I’m excited to see what the future will hold!

• Carl Hester! I think he’s an incredible rider and role model and I am lucky enough to train with him every so often!  I love his sense of humour too.  We agree in thinking Gee is amazing!

 

• The name came from Gee, my horse of a lifetime being jet black! He has my whole heart and the name just seemed so fitting. It also is very different and we want to stand out!

• My favourite has to be the leggings, these are amazingly comfortable and flattering and of course my favourite has to be black!
• My second favourite has to be the cable knit jumpers, these are so smart and such good quality. For training I like to wear a jumper over a polo shirt with a collar as it looks smart but is practical too.
• However, it is so hard to choose, I love all of the products!  I would not put my name to anything I didn't believe in myself. 

• I absolutely adore running this company and the social media. You girls have been incredible and the support has been second to none. However, it is very time consuming and I spend a lot of my life juggling!  
• I’m a full time business student at St Marys University in Twickenham, London and my horses and business are based in Sheffield! So I spend a lot of hours driving back and forth and try to make sure I ride minimum 5 days of the week, keep up with my lectures and assignments and try get into the office as much as I can to pack your orders and plan new ranges! This requires a lot of organisation and is why not every message/email will be responded to straight away (although I try my best!!) so all patience is appreciated!
• But watching how Black Heart has grown in first 6 months of trading has been unbelievable and I cannot wait to share the rest of our plans with you!

• I, myself am not a designer, I have no qualifications and I can’t draw for toffee! However, I’m pretty good at thinking of new things and knowing what I like so I take these ideas and get professional designers aka people who can draw, to bring these to life for me! All products you see have come from our own ideas and have been made exclusively for us!

• This one is obvious, Leggings!!

• Stay tuned!

• Short answer, Yes!
• We’ve had so many incredible entries so far that it may prove impossible to choose just one so we are thinking of having one UK ambassador and one overseas!
• This ambassador search is based on just a one year arrangement so each year we will chose someone new/ add to our team!

• What I’ll say for this is just know everything takes double the time you expect/plan for! It’s a long slow process but it will be worth it I promise!
• Keep going, just don’t give up even when times feel slower!
• Don’t expect it to be easy, it takes a lot of commitment and effort and requires an understanding family/friendship group!
• Make sure it’s something you are passionate about – Black Heart works so well as I love to wear the clothes myself, I can assure they’re vigorously tested and I am a passionate equestrian!