If you’d asked three-year-old Holly Coles what she wanted to do when she grew up, she would have said horse riding. In fact, she was already sat in the saddle.
“It was always going to happen to me, I think. I had a few really nice ponies and horses and I thought there is nothing else in this world that I want to do apart from this.”
This was not a pipe dream for Coles, now 25-years-old, as she was selected for the Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence as part of 30 future stars of showjumping.
“I was 16 at the time,” said Coles, “It was surreal. All the people on it were people I grew up watching and thinking wouldn’t it be cool if I could do something like that. So it was a real ‘I made it’ moment.
“We were given all the right support to actually do it as a profession, including how to run it as a business, the psychological aspect, nutrition, strength and conditioning.
“We’re all out there in our jodhpurs and boots doing gym stuff which was quite odd!”
Many people grow up with a significantly gendered view of sport due to many school’s separation of boys and girls for the majority of their physical education at secondary level. Horseriding, however, is one of the only sports where men and women compete against each other at the highest level.
“There isn’t an element of separating ‘gender’, which is interesting. Growing up, it’s probably more girls but when you reach the top level of the sport, at least showjumping, it’s largely men.
“That’s possibly too harsh of a generalisation. It’s not true of all. One of the eventing European Championships, Team GB was all women. It can be totally varied, because the GB showjumping team is largely men.
“But men and women always compete directly against each other. It’s about the relationship with the horse and I never felt like I was different to anybody else in riding as a woman.”
At this time, Coles insisted she wasn’t interested in going to university, because there was no point when she knew the career path she wanted to trot towards. But some good A-Level grades began to change her decision.
“I thought maybe I should have a backup plan,” admitted Coles. “It’s an expensive sport. It’s not just keeping yourself fit, it’s keeping horses fit. You have to have a whole string of them, you’re not going to do it with just one.
“I did have a few top five international placings, but I haven’t gone on to do it as my job. My backup plan has become my main plan.”
“I still enjoy horses, of course and it doesn’t mean it was all for nothing.”
After graduating she was indeed able to transfer her experience in the world of showjumping into her next venture; working in marketing for youth charity The Pony Club.
“Eventually I did sports business at university. It was always with a plan to have equestrian things as part of my life.
“I enjoyed the marketing aspect of the sport, building a brand and actually connecting with people through fan engagement. If I can bring an event to life for everybody who isn’t there in person, I can combine my two passions.”
Working at The Pony Club was a full circle moment for Coles whose love of horses originated from her time there as a child, spending time with the horses and friends she still has now.
“I was giving back to something that gave me so much growing up. Hopefully making it better for the next generation of kids that love ponies.
“There is always a route for them. It’s evolved since I was doing it; now you do it without having your own pony.”
Coles may have a special affinity for equestrianism, having competed at the highest level, but her love of sport in general has also driven her new career ambitions.
Her and colleague Jordan Renwick, a University of Gloucestershire journalism alumni, have a podcast called Benched and Unbothered, where they discuss a wide variety of sports and make their ‘Panicked Predictions’ for upcoming events.
“I love talking about sport in general, the way it’s distributed in the media, how it influences women.
“We tried to do the first episode but it stopped recording halfway through because we didn’t have anyone behind the camera. It was a rookie error! We’ll learn from our ways.”
Now working at the University of Gloucestershire as their Social Media Officer, no day is the same for Coles. But she’s still using skills she learnt as a teenager when she believed her life would look very different.
Photography by Daisy Kent (@daisykentphoto on Instagram).
“I’ve done showjumping, marketing for the Pony Club and now social media for a university. They’re very different but I’ve learnt so much that can be applied to future roles.
“Absolutely go and give (a career change) a go. You grow and gain experience from different sports, even different industries.”
Coles is enjoying her role at the university, one which incorporates photography, videography, and a spirit of fun that shines throughout our interview. Her favourite story of her time in showjumping brought out the biggest smile of our chat.
“I qualified for a final at Hickstead once, in the main arena, and ended up coming sixth. Someone next to my mum cheered when I knocked a fence down, only because her daughter was in the lead and had never won before!” laughed Coles.
“But I did get to do a whole lap of honour at the same place as the Royal International. That was a good day.”
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