LAURA Collett decided to make the move away from the Membury Estate as she sought more independence and space to develop her stable of horses, writes NICKI STRONG.

Last week, the local eventing starlet announced that she and her string of horses had relocated to Windy Hollow Stables in Lambourn.

The 24-year-old moved to her long time base at the Walker family’s Membury Estate in 2009, having had the yard custom-built for her arrival.

The set-up gave Collett a great springboard to further her eventing career, with the facilities installed for her, and in return the Walker family gained a mentor to help nurture their young daughter Grace’s riding.

Four years on, Collett is starting a new adventure under her own steam.

She explained: “It was just time to move on and set up on my own. Grace obviously had her own horses at Membury as well as mine, so this will give me more stables and hopefully the opportunity to take on more horses and expand.”

Collett’s new Lambourn base also boasts excellent facilities for an event yard including a huge indoor arena and access to gallops. Collett takes the reins from former resident Chris King, who will be leaving at the end of the month.

Collett’s 2013 season ended with her placed 39th in the British rider rankings and she helped Team GB to victory in the FEI Nations Cup eventing series, despite having spent almost seven weeks out of the sport following a life-threatening fall in July.

Collett admitted she was pleased to start a new chapter and put that behind her, saying; “Definitely, roll on 2014. The horses have all settled in really well, it’s so relaxed here, and if they’re happy then so am I.”

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