Arabian trainer

Nikki Malcolm on reasoning with the wild soul that is the Arab horse, Red Dragon success and being rich in life

- Sarah Jenkins

I’m from a non-horsey family, but I had an obsession with equines when I was tiny – I’d stare at Shires at a local show all day. I came from a hardworking family who didn’t have money to chuck at a child’s hobby. But there was a pony in the field behind our house, and my sister and I befriended the owner.

Sometimes there would be three of us on the pony – me, my sister and our friend. One time I lost both my wellies, the others started giggling and all of us fell off. When you’re in that environment with nobody running over to see if you’re alright, you don’t have any fear.

I did get tidied up later – in my teens I helped at a trekking centre in return for lessons.

I grew up in Portland, Dorset, in the 1990s. It was a safe place for kids; I walked to the stables from a young age.

I remember asking my mum how old I had to be to leave home. I had a happy childhood with supportive parents, but I did my GCSEs at 15 as I wanted to get on and live a life with horses. I did a first diploma in equine science at Kingston Maurward. They taught us how to apply for jobs and we were given a copy of H&H to look at the classifieds. When I left I bought a copy and looked through it excitedly – I was phoning people whether there was the right job there or not.