Kelly Aldous

Kelly is a 31 year old Eventer who along with Show Jumping partner Kyle Hassell have established BDA Equestrian, Honington Grange near Grantham.

Kelly was brought up in rural Norfolk and after persuading her parents to pay for some riding lessons, and with her every spare minute spent working at the local stables to fund further lessons she went about setting the foundation of her dream, to become a top level Event rider.

Kelly’s interest in Eventing was established in her early teens when she started grooming for a friend with FEI ponies. However, it wasn’t until 2003 that she got her own pony, but it was the purchase of Fair Dinkum two years later that took her to her first championships competing at both the Pony and JRN Championships.

Aged 17 Kelly entered the Quest-X a competition British Eventing where running looking for the stars of the future and it was her participation in this contest that caught the eye of Irish Olympic rider Trevor Smith who invited her to train with him at his yard in Ireland. Kelly spent the next six months developing her own riding style and learning how to produce and present young horses to prospective clients, a skill that she has used to great effect in attracting new owners to her yard.

When Kelly returned home, she started working for Kate French (a Former eventer and Mother of Piggy French) in exchange for riding lessons. Her association with the French family lead to Kelly becoming a working pupil with Piggy French at her yard in Leicestershire, where she spent twelve months further developing her riding skills whilst also acquiring the more valuable skills of understanding what is needed to run and manage a successful Event yard.

It 2007 Kelly finally took the plunge and setup on her own, with the establishment of Kelly Aldous Eventing.

Kelly qualified to compete at CCI4*S Kelly is currently on the come back trail having taken some time to start a family, and 2019 will see her competing a small string of horses up to Novice including two homebred.