Sarah Elebert caught the bug for horses at a very young age. “My family are not horsey at all, the only connection I have with horses is from my grandfather,” she says. “When I was five or six he used to send me, my cousin and my brother to pony camp every summer. My cousin and brother hated it but I couldn’t get enough. I just loved it!

“For my ninth birthday, I asked people in my family for money instead of presents so I could buy lessons for myself. I paid for some lessons and then my parents kept the lessons up for me when I ran out of money.”

It didn’t take Sarah long to convince her parents to buy her her own horse.

“Abbey was a 16.3 hunter, suitable for the whole family as mam and dad had also started riding. She was amazing cross country and she definitely gave me the cross country bug, which led me to focus on eventing.”

After finishing school, Sarah was accepted into the University of Limerick to study equine science. But moving so far away from home wasn’t for her. “I didn’t want to leave home and the horses so I ended up doing that as distance learning, and in the meantime I started doing some coaching on Abbey from home and from there I kind of fell into teaching.”

“I think people are natural teachers and I think that’s definitely the case with me, it just comes naturally. Even when I’m doing the most basic things, and I have some of the girls with me on the yard I’ll explain what I’m doing and why, I just can’t not teach!”

A typical day for Sarah before Covid-19 was anything but typical for most of us – beginning with getting up at 3.30am to work her ‘day job’ in Dublin where she works in the office of a delivery company. Her work ethic and positivity is something you can’t help but admire as she explains her day.

“I get home about 9.30am or 10am and have a bit of a rest and then spend the rest of the day on the yard. The routine works perfectly, but I am worried about getting up that early again once I get back into the office! The regular wage is really nice coming in when you have horses.”

Sarah has been keeping herself busy with the extra time having been temporarily laid off. “I don’t mind, I’m getting a lot done around the yard and in the house. The yard is fully re-painted and I’m doing plenty of DIY around the place,” she says

New venture

As if all of this wasn’t enough to keep her busy, Sarah has been working on a new business venture since January. Sarah is a HSI (Horse Sport Ireland) Level 2 coach and came up with the idea to take her coaching online, for riders who may not have the time, money or access to regular lessons.

The concept behind Sarah’s business Equi Coach Online is simple. Riders can record their session with their horse, edit it down to a short 10 minute clip and upload it for Sarah to see. She will then watch the video and record a voice over for it and send it back to the rider with tips and homework.

“The idea is to encourage people to take imperfect action. I want to help them take the steps to feel confident enough to go to a local show, or actually book a lesson with the coach that they maybe thought they weren’t good enough to go to.

“Everyone can benefit from coaching both mentally and physically. I want to give all riders the opportunity to get coaching regardless of circumstances. If we can make quality coaching available to the grassroots of the industry, horses will benefit and stay sounder for longer. By more riders getting coaching they may be more likely to join an affiliate association. Overall, this will draw more people into the sport,” Sarah explains.

Change of plans

Sarah had huge dreams for 2020, before COVID-19 threw a spanner in the works, explaining: “This is probably the first time ever I’ve had a set plan for the year, I was getting married in March, the week after the wedding I was going to my first event in Tyrella, then Ballindenisk in April, Tattersalls in June, July was going to be Olympics in Tokyo with my friend Kate [Dywer], and then I was aiming Pearl (EE Parlanti Cruise) for the World Breeders Championship in Le Lion, France in October. But it wasn’t meant to be.”

Sarah and her husband John were lucky with their wedding, unlike so many couples around the country. They managed to celebrate their big day just before COVID-19 stopped the country in its tracks.

“We were lucky that our wedding was very small anyway so the 100 people at an indoor event rule wasn’t an issue. We were so lucky it happened, even if it was a day or two later, it probably wouldn’t have gone ahead. Myself and John only got engaged last October, I’m really impatient and always knew I wanted a short engagement.”

Sarah was meant to go to Tokyo as Dwyer’s groom, should she have been selected for the Irish team. “We were prepped and ready to go, passports sent and the whole lot. For Kate and Fabio [Kate’s horse], it’s not a big deal, Fabio is young and fit enough, the extra year will only benefit them both.”

Every equine operation needs a team to run smoothly and Sarah’s is no different.

“There’s a huge team behind me, obviously my mam and dad, I owe it all to them, I wouldn’t be doing anything with horses at all if it wasn’t for their support,” says Sarah.

“It’s a real tag team effort, if I need feed, mam might go in the car to do that and dad will do the stables when I ride. Obviously John is also so supportive and he helped me buy one of my best horses, Pearl, so he certainly backs me!”

“There’s a few girls in the yard that help me with the riding and yard work. They’ve been with me since they learned how to ride so I’d like to think I’ve given them a good foundation if they ever decide to work with horses in the future.”