From Hawkes Bay Today (dated 15 June 2010

Hawke's Bay teenager Sarah Campbell would have never believed that just six years after beginning to ride she would have such close associations with the top dressage rider in New Zealand.

At yesterday's final of round in the Saddlery Warehouse Dressage Hawke's Bay (Northern Hawke's Bay) winter series, Campbell rode for coach Jody Hartstone, New Zealand's undisputed top dressage rider for the past couple of years, riding a young mare bred by Hartstone. The mare, Line Seven, affectionately known as Lola, was sired by Hartstone's stallion Landioso, winner of both National and Horse of the Year dressage titles in 2009.

For Campbell it is the result of a clear focus about what she wants to achieve in her sport. While her end goal remains riding at the top for New Zealand and her dream is to represent the country in dressage at the Olympics, she is firmly focused on the day-to-day steps that will enable her to achieve these ambitions. Named as one of this year's development squad for Hawke's Bay Dressage (NHB), Campbell was thrilled to discover that her coach was to be none other than Jody Hartstone.

Training with Hartstone fits with the 17-year-old's philosophical approach to riding. Hartstone is a qualified teacher of the Andrew MacLean method, developed to enable a horse to clearly understand the questions a rider is asking of it without using force of any kind to elicit a response from the horse.

"This way of training really allows the horse and rider to develop a partnership that's based on trust and understanding," says Campbell "and it's one of the reasons why finding and buying Lola was so right. She had been trained using a method that I believe is the right way to bring a horse on."

While Campbell and her twin sister are both keen riders, mum Juliet notes that this is something that is driven entirely by the girls' own desire and love of the sport.

"Neither my husband nor I have ever had anything to do with equestrian sport before," she said. "While we provide as much support for the girls as we can, this is very limited in terms of practical assistance.

"The actual day-to-day routine of feeding, grooming, exercising their horses and organising themselves for lessons is left up them."

 Given that after a few short months on a new and green horse she finished a creditable fourth in her level, we can look forward to enjoying increasing success from this talented young rider.