Diane has a wealth of knowledge of Classical Training with over 30 years of working, training and competing in this way. It started with many trips to Portugal learning from the Masters and bringing back some of the first Lusitanos. In her early years with her beloved Lusitano stallion Diabo, she was performance champion many times both at home and abroad. With Lucca, Angela’s homebred son of Diabo, she went to the Golega Horse Fair in Portugal where they won the Piaffe/Passage class, beating the Portuguese! The pair were also in the first British Working Equitation team and competed to Grandprix in BD dressage.
Diane then took a back seat from competing to help her two daughters compete at international level. She helped Samantha train Spring Pascal from a five year old to International Grandprix and trained Joanna and Apollo from a green six yr old to International Young Rider classes.
In 2015 she competed again herself, taking Apollo out just three times, winning each of her classes. This included the Regional Championship where she qualified for the BD Summer Nationals and became Reserve Champion at Advanced Medium level.
Diane trains horses and riders from Turville or teaches freelance. She has trained riders at Pony, Junior, and Young Rider for European Championships as well as to International Grandprix level.
She has trained many horses, ponies and their riders from just backed babies, right up through the levels with tremendous success retaining the same techniques passed from her Portuguese trainers and adapting it as needed for each individual horse and their intended career path.
Diane Thurman-Baker on Diabo