Hollybank Estate at dawn, Jersey

Jersey · Channel Islands

Bringing Hollybank back to life.

A rider's journey from the ground up — and the restoration of Jersey's largest equine estate.

The story so far

From never having ridden, to the European circuit.

Hollybank is the largest equine estate on the island of Jersey. For twenty years it sat quiet — paddocks reclaimed by gorse, stable doors leaning on rusted hinges, the arena lost beneath the grass.

Rebecca arrived without a riding boot to her name. She bought the estate, and she set herself a parallel restoration: bring Hollybank back to life, and learn to ride it — properly — all the way to the show-jumping circuit of Europe.

What follows is a record of both: the stones being relaid and the strides being learned. Fast, but real.

Beginner → 1.20+

Milestones, in plain sight.

2023First lesson

Hand on a mane for the first time.

2024Estate acquired

Twenty years of neglect, formally inherited.

2024Cross-poles

First small fences cleared.

2025First 1m round

Clear, on time, on a borrowed horse.

2025Yard reopens

Twelve boxes restored and bedded.

20261.20m & Europe

First international entries on the calendar.

Mentor and rider at Hollybank

Quiet luxury, within reach

Mentored by the best. Followed by the rest.

Hollybank sits between two worlds. World-class trainers come through the gates to coach. So do people who have never touched a horse — drawn in by the simple idea that if she can begin, so can they.

"If she can, so can I."

— what we hear most