Hannah Biggs

Hannah Biggs dressage offers horse and rider training for all ages and levels. Hannah has helped many riders from Pony and Riding club, through Eventing and up to those riding at national and international dressage championships.

Individual training packages can be created for you and your horse. Short term intensive help for encountered problems, or preparation for selling. Long term stays for regular schooling or competing. Horses can be taken on for competing on behalf of owners.

Hannah has a wealth of experience and knowledge and has had many successes with producing and quietly bringing on young horses.

Hannah will be holding clinics in the Southern area, look out for the next dates on the News page. She also coaches at BYRDS clinics here in England.

Livery
Hannah Biggs Dressage offers first class facilities with a happy, relaxed atmosphere to create the perfect working environment for you and your horse.

Large internal barn with excellent ventilation
Outside yard with extra/isolation boxes
Rubber mats and dust free bedding on Jacksons Shavings
Steamed hay provided for liveries with the use of our HayGain steamer
Automatic water drinkers
Wash box with hot water
Rug room with racks, heaters and dryers
Large secure tack room
24hr supervision, alarmed yard and tack room, CCTV and electric gates
Outdoor arena with floodlights, mirrors and all weather surface from Equestrian Direct.
Summer turnout in fields, Winter turnout in sand pen
Quiet lane and field hacking with access to Mere Downs
Excellent horse care from highly qualified working grooms
Individual catering for all feeding needs with qualified Saracen nutritionist.

https://www.hannahbiggsdressage.co.uk

VIDEO :- NAF 5 Star Winter Dressage Championships 2019- Hannah Biggs

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NAF 5 Star Winter Dressage Championships 2019- Hannah Biggs
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Born in Hong Kong, Hannah was a British Junior National Champion and a prolific Young Rider winner. She is now a dressage trainer and runs her own livery yard, alongside competing her stallion, Weltzin.

I grew up in Hong Kong and rode at the Beas River Country Club (where they held the Cross Country phase of the 2008 Olympic eventing). I participated in every discipline, Pony Club, show jumping, eventing and dressage until I was 18. I then made the move to England and was on the British Junior and Young Rider Dressage Teams. I was British Junior National Champion and enjoyed success on the Young Rider circuit.

I then had to start from scratch as a senior, as my Young Rider horse was diagnosed with navicular and unfortunately wasn’t going to take me any further. I built up and worked hard on my knowledge and my horses and now run a professional training and livery yard. I am currently on the British Dressage Trainers database and also instruct at BYRDS clinics.

When I can, I train with Emile Faurie and Conrad Schumacher who are inspirational in their logical straightforward way of training. I wish I could spend more time with them! I enjoy teaching myself and hope to pass on some pearls of wisdom I’ve picked up over the years, including my time training in Germany with Christilot Boylen and Udo Lange.

I am also fascinated in the breeding side of dressage. I own a licensed stallion and an elite Oldenburg broodmare with which we are hoping to start producing some stars for the future. In 2009 we were blessed with two gorgeous colts by Breitling and Don Schufro so watch this space!

2009 was also an important year for me and my top horse Weltzin. Not only did Weltzin become a dad for the first time, but we also competed in our first Grand Prix and were invited to take part in the Kampmann Future Trophy final for young Grand Prix horses at the Oldenburg CDI in Germany. We were unable to attend, but it was an honour to be invited.

Hannah Biggs Horses

Hannah Biggs Competition Results

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Man On Horse Stops Traffic On Dan Ryan Expressway

Hannah Bucknell

Hannah Bucknell - UK - Eventing

Amsterdam CDI | January 2013

After spending some lovely quality time with friends and family over Christmas and New Year, it was straight back into work as I was off to the first World Class squad session of the year. It was a good chance to meet the new riders on the squad and catch up with the support staff. One of the great benefits at the training sessions is the test riding opportunities. The test is videoed and then reviewed along with the judge and my trainer Emile. It`s so important to see the judge`s point of view and to be able to translate what I am feeling on the horse, into something the judges like to see as well. Weltzin has got so much stronger and is able to hold his balance much better throughout the test, which creates a picture of ease and lightness. With the immediate video review and the chance to repeat movements, it`s a good opportunity to be able to alter things and get an instant reaction and assessment from the judge. It was certainly a good warm up for our trip to the Netherlands the week after.

Following our success at Olympia, Weltzin and I had been selected to compete in another World Cup qualifier, this time in Amsterdam. The show is notoriously the toughest for competition, so I knew I would be up against some serious combinations. I didn`t have the best run up to the show; however, as in a freak accident where I slipped on an icy surface, I hurt my knee. I spent the Sunday afternoon in A&E terrified that I had broken my knee cap. Thankfully no broken bones, just a very badly bruised knee. I was now in a difficult situation where I had to decide if I was going to make it to Amsterdam! I was due to leave on the Wednesday to head off to the Netherlands but my riding attempts on the Tuesday ended in tears as the swelling was still so bad that I couldn`t` move my knee without excruciating pain! Despite this, I was determined it wasn`t going to ruin my plans. I spoke with the World Class doctor and physio and arranged to see the physio on the Wednesday morning to make a final judgement. So we packed the lorry (luckily Weltzin was up at Emile`s, so he kept him ticking over for me while I rested my knee) and I drove to see Andy the physio. He said I wasn`t going to do any more damage to my knee by riding; it was just up to me as to how much pain I could stand and whether it would impede my riding. I decided I was going to try and go for it, as long as I could do a line on ones on Weltzin before I left! So I clambered aboard, my knee all strapped up courtesy of Andy and tested the waters. I had to stop a couple of times to brace myself against the pain, but successfully completed a line of ones and half passes. Result! As my knee was getting better each day, thanks to the religious icing and application of arnica cream, I was confident that in another two days` time, by the time I had to ride the Grand Prix, that it would be a little better again. So off we went, me driving the thankfully automatic horsebox, with an ice pack strapped to my leg! I could weight bear on it no problem, so was safe enough to drive, it was just bending that was an issue.

It was ridiculously cold on the journey up. The thermometer read -10 at one point and everything had frozen! There was plenty of snow on the continent, but luckily all the roads had been cleared and it was an easy run up to Amsterdam. The stables and arena were all under the same roof and the temperature difference was a good 20 degrees between inside and outside! The show is held in a massive exhibition centre and is a very busy show, with show jumpers as well as dressage horses. There were displays in the evening and even a Shetland Grand National, so it was very much the Dutch Olympia!

Once everything was unloaded I reported to the show organisers and they asked me to be the foreign rider representative. This meant I had to be present for all the draws, and be the point of contact if any of the riders had any issues or problems. At the end of the show I had to write a report back to the FEI about the show and how well it was run. I was very pleased to report that there were no problems and it was a very efficiently run show! Everyone was very friendly and welcoming, with bottles of champagne, rugs and goodie bags given out even before we had stepped foot in the arena!

The trade stands overlook the warm up arena, so there was always a lot of people watching and standing close while you prepared for the show. We got a chance to ride in the main arena on the day before the Grand Prix and it was certainly a buzzy place!! There was a swarm of photographers even just on the practice day, and plenty of people milling around and an atmosphere that the horses had to cope with. Weltzin was feeling fresh and fantastic and at one point I thought I was going to have a repeat of Olympia as he leapt around the arena in delight to be out at a party again! But I sat tight and my knee didn`t feel too bad, so I was a lot happier than I had been 3 or 4 days ago! It was certainly a good test for me to be able to ride on in the face of adversity, so I knew I could cope with anything if something similar happened in a run up to a major championship!

Emile flew out to help me warm up for the Grand Prix and it was great to have his support as I warmed up with the likes of Edward Gal, Hans Peter Minderhoud and the fabulous Damon Hill and Parcival! The show certainly lived up to its reputation and it was the toughest field I`d been up against, and a very big field as well. It was a tall task to make it through to the kur night, and after a stumble coming out of the rein back I`d thought we`d blown it, but the quality of our work is so much better now, and we made it through to the music the next day! Weltzin is feeling better and better in the main arena, I`ve learn to control any nerves and my thoughts, through working with the sports psychologists at World Class, and now I can transfer that to the horse and we can show off our best on the main arena. We are certainly working our way up to the elite end of the sport, and can fight it out with the best in the world!

Emile had arranged his flight back home so that he could ride his horses in the Addington High Profile show, but with snow cancelling the show, and then his flight back home, he returned to the show to warm me up for the kur the next day! I have to say I was secrectly pleased he had to stay in Amsterdam with me!! We had a lovely dinner and discussed how I was going to ride the kur over a couple of glasses of wine! My knee was feeling better each day, I was still icing and taking painkillers and anti inflammatorys (that were allowed with the FEI rules!)

The show was packed for the kur day, and with the bar situated within the trade stand and right next to the warm up arena, it was even busier and even buzzier! You had to ride along a walk way straight through the trade stands, and under quite a low building join before walking through the huge curtains and into the bright lights and loud atmosphere of the main arena. Concentrating on the job in hand, I made sure Weltzin was relaxed but listening to my aids and ready for action. The surface rode quite fast, so I got a little ahead of my music, but just a tiny adjustment and we were back on track. I had a fabulous ride and was really able to show Weltzin off in a much more uphill frame as he was so relaxed and willing to work with me. I was thrilled with my score of just a smidge under 70% and Weltzin walked out smiling at the crowds just like a pro! We crept up the placing`s and even beat a few Olympians! Some horse cracked under the pressure and the atmosphere, but I knew Weltzin would soak it up and it show off even more because of it. Monica Theodurescu, who is now the German team trainer, came up to congratulate me on a fab ride. I`ve got to know her through World Class, as she has been there for the selection trials and for some of the squad training, and she said she saw a massive improvement in how Weltzin is going and thought I was doing a great job! So lovely to hear, unprompted, from a true dressage legend!

Back down to reality, I now had the tough decision of when to leave to come home. My original plan was to let Weltzin to rest and leave early Sunday morning but the weather seemed to be against me on that! It looked like the snow was due to come in hard early Sunday morning across Europe and especially in the Netherlands and Belgium. So I made the decision to pack up and leave later that afternoon. I ended up 12th, so I thought that we wouldn`t be needed for the prize giving, so all my stuff was packed and Weltzin was unplaited and resting, ready for the journey home. I was then told that everyone had to be in the prize giving! Panic! I asked the show organisers to help me find a replacement horse so I wouldn`t have to drag Weltzin back out before a long trip home. A lovely German show jumper offered to lend me his horse for the prize giving! The horse was huge but gorgeous so up I went in my top hat and tails, pulled the stirrups down about 20 holes and grinned my way through the canter around the main arena! I`m very grateful to him for lending me his horse so Weltzin could rest!

So off we went and trundled off home before the snow hit. Good job we did, as I got a text from my friend who lives half an hour away from Amsterdam, to say that they had woken up on Sunday morning and were properly snowed in! I did get to have a lovely chat and catch up with her while at the show and she did offer to put me and Weltzin up at her place if we got stuck. It wouldn`t have been so bad as she has a great selection of lovely young horses for sale, so I could have had a little ride on them while I was snow stuck! But off home I went and the roads were all clear until I got close to home. My amazing husband, Tim, and my brother had been out to the top of our lane and shovelled away the snow so that it was safe to drive the lorry down it! So we got home in one piece and it was great to be back in my own warm bed! Weltzin will now have a little break from competition and intense training, as he will be at home enjoying supplying work and plenty of hacking. He`s got a busy few months ahead of him, so it`ll be good to give his body and brain a break as he`s been working so hard for me. It will also give me a chance to concentrate on all my youngsters at home too. I`ve got three gorgeous young horses that I will, unfortunately, have to sell to pay for my new bespoke Empire horse box!

This afternoon I am travelling up to see the progress on the lorry. Empire horseboxes are doing an amazing job, and I`m getting so excited to see how it`s taking shape! This week I have been deciding on the colours for the living, plus the external colours. I promise to take lots of photos and keep you all updated on how it`s transforming into my dream lorry!

Archie got the opportunity to attend the latest World Class squad session with me, while Weltzin was resting. Emile was really pleased with his progress and we worked on the softness of his back and making sure he reacted well to my legs and aids, but without tightening throughout the transitions. He`s developing really well and Emile and I are very excited about his future! While at the squad session, we got to understand a bit more about the structures under the skin, as we dissected a leg! Putting aside any squeamish thoughts, it was truly fascinating to see how the tendons and ligaments worked. The horse`s leg is such a fragile, yet amazing structure. The tendons and ligaments are immensely strong yet so exposed and ill protected against impact and injury. The horse whose leg we got to see had probably been euthanized because of laminitis, as you could see the drop of the pedal bone as the delicate laminae had been infected and broken down. Careful reading on now if you`re eating, but we cut through the fetlock joint, felt the synovial fluid and even discovered some arthritic changes of the bone inside! Really interesting stuff which does give you a healthy respect for nature`s creation, but also for the horse`s abilities and limitations. As we are asking these equine athletes to perform with us, we have to know the stresses and strains we are putting on them and how to manage them and keep our horses as fit as possibly to minimise any injuries.

Away from the horses, I enjoyed a fabulous evening at the BDSC ball, celebrating British Dressage`s golden year. I caught up with the lovely Natasha Baker and had so much fun on my table which included fellow horse hero celebrities Louise Bell and Mike and Maria Eilberg! I had a fab time boogieing with the Eilbergs and of course a great giggle with the infectious Mrs Bell!

I am now in a position to be delighted to report that I have another exciting horse for the future, and indeed another exciting partnership for me! A friend has come to me to help her develop a stud and produce her young horses. She already has two fabulous broodmares, in foal to two amazing Woodlanders stallions, and has recently bought a 4 year old Hotline x Warkant mare. This mare, Hermione, will become a foundation mare and we will start embryo transfer with her straight away, while I concentrate on her training and competing. There will also be a couple of 2 and 3 year olds to follow in Hermione`s footsteps. It is a very exciting venture for us, and I`m sure will compliment my partnership with Platinum Stud and our fabulous filly Born This Way. Hopefully my own broodmare will join them and they can all run together and produce new superstars for the future!

Back at home I`m very much looking forward to the arrival of spring. This week I have been hailed on, snowed on and blown backwards by the wind while teaching! Oh for an indoor school! But I am pleased that all my pupils are working hard throughout the winter and are progressing very well. I`m off to a local show this weekend with Wotsit, in preparation for the Regional Championships, so I shall let you know how that goes next time, until then, stay warm everyone!