Kevin Cousins and Christina Gillett

Not everyone can make it work in life, love and business, but two pony producers are proving it’s possible. Alex Robinson meets the successful couple with an enviable Hickstead tally

- Alex Robinson

WITH more producers to choose from than ever before, it can be difficult to push through the crowd in the showing world, let alone run a thriving business that pays the bills, fills the lorry and sees you through a pandemic. As the market becomes increasingly saturated with ambitious enthusiasts looking to turn pro, finding your niche and then running with it is essential.

Kevin Cousins and Christina Gillett are two professionals who, together, have found their intended path. Based in Cambridgeshire, the engaged couple run an 18-box yard of children’s rides, ranging from mountain and moorlands (M&Ms) to hunter ponies. They met in 2014 at the British Show Pony Society (BSPS) judges conference and kindled their romance at the Fayre Oakes Welsh pony sale later that year.

“I’d gone to the assessment on my own and found it really daunting,” reflects Christina, 34, who was taught to ride by Dawn Clarke and started showing at top level, aged 10, when she was in production with Julie and the late Bob Templeton. “Since then, Kevin and I haven’t gone a single day without speaking.”

Christina’s sights on a career in the show ring were set early on. As well as helping out producers Debbie and James van Praagh with their team of ponies, Christina classifies leading rider Katie Jerram-Hunnable as one of her early influences.

“I always wanted to do horses as a job – it would be this or stacking shelves,” Christina says. “The Templetons really did teach me everything I know about showing. They had a massive operation and did it so well; in that day and age, there weren’t as many people doing it and there weren’t producers all over the country like there are today.