Untacked

c h r o n o f h o r s e . c o m w i n t e r 2 014 69 A lan Davies has made horses his life and profession for 30 years, begin- ning when he was 17 and gradu- ated from school. He never quite anticipated that the career path would take him not only to the top of the sport, but also to a royal wedding. "I was never any good in sports at school. My family were all sportsmen, but I remember them kind of giving up hope for me," he says. "I started at a local hunt stables in our village. I did that for quite a while. That's where I got most of my edu- cation and learned how to ride. I hunted quite a lot." But like so many young people, Davies heard the siren song of world travel. He'd switched to grooming show jumpers in England, then jumped at the opportunity to travel to the United States with Australian show jumper Susanne Bond, who trained with American rider Anne Kursinski. "They needed someone to go to Amer- ica, and I thought, 'That's great! I want to travel and get paid to do it and take care of horses.' It was everything I wanted to do," he recalls. He spent three years traveling between Europe and the States with Bond's horses, then in 1992 he started working for U.S. rider Michael Matz after becoming friends with Matz's barn man- ager, Karen Golding. "Karen called me saying they needed one more groom for Florida that year, so I went and then ended up staying the whole year," Davies remembers. He had horses like The General in his care. "That was amazing—I learned so much from Karen Golding," he says. "It was an incredible time of my life; I'm eternally grateful to her. She's a legend in the sport." But in 1993, he returned to England and started his own business, teaching, training and showing. He concentrated on show horses, winning at such prestigious British shows as Horse of the Year and the Royal International. He also freelance groomed, includ- ing taking care of British dressage team member Emile Faurie's horse at the 2004 Sydney Olympic Games. It was during this period that he got the opportunity to rub elbows with some British stars of the two-legged variety. He taught Carol Middleton, mother of the famous Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, on her horse. And as Kate's commitment to the royal family grew, she wanted to develop her rid- ing skills a bit so she could feel confident in the saddle when she needed to. "I had Enniskean, an ex-show horse that was retired, and I used him as a schoolmaster. I told Kate she could come and sit on him," Davies says. "She did, and she loved him. He was an absolute saint. "I spent three summers working with Kate, building her confidence and getting her comfortable to hack out and ride in the fields and feel in control," he continues. "We had a great time, and she loved it." Then an invitation arrived in the mail to Kate's April 2011 wedding to Prince Wil- liam. "Carl and Charlotte were competing in Saumur, so I drove the horses there, flew back for the wedding, then flew back to France to carry on grooming at the show," Davies says. "It was rather incredible! I sat in a nave under a tree, behind [London mayor] Boris Johnson and in front of [soc- cer star] David Beckham. It was pretty unreal." And while he spends his work days caring for gentle giant dressage horses, as a hobby Davies spends time with a very different kind of equine. He owns, breeds and shows in-hand miniature Shetlands. That's not to say, however, that he's always around horses. "I do try and get away every now and then," he says. "A few of us dressage grooms met up in Spain this summer. We all got together and had a break near Barcelona for a long weekend. I think it's important to get away too." PoNIES ANd A PoSh WEddINg Alan Davies' own competi- tive career includes showing at the famed Horse of the Year show aboard Enniskean in 1998.

• Cover