About Alex
Alex was born into a farming family near Cambridge, where horses were simply part of life. His horsemanship and competitive spirit were shaped during a wonderful decade with the Newmarket & Thurlow Pony Club, where he discovered a passion for eventing.
His first horse, Countryman, taught him just how influential the dressage phase could be. Despite regular double clears at Junior Open Intermediate level, disappointing dressage scores often kept them out of the top placings. Determined to improve, Alex dedicated himself to mastering the first phase. The breakthrough came with three consecutive dressage scores of 22 at Open Intermediate level, and by following these up with solid double clears, he earned his selection for the British Junior Team in 1989. On his 18th birthday he came 2nd in his first Advanced event at Dauntsey.
Alex competed for one further season, riding a number of horses for Major Derek Allhusen and the Hon. Claudia Allhusen. He reached 31st in the national rankings, competing successfully (novice through to advanced) before a rotational fall at Weston Park in 1990 ended his competitive career.
He went on to study for a BA (Hons) in Equine Studies at Moreton Morrell College, progressed rapidly from British Dressage List 6 to List 4 judge, and was awarded a Young Trainers Scholarship with Gill Watson. During a gap year he travelled to New Zealand to ride for Bryce Newman, then the country’s leading event rider. That experience created a lifelong connection with New Zealand, where Alex now officiates as an FEI Ground Jury member.
After fifteen years focused on family and business, Alex returned to the sport through officiating at Houghton International. He completed FEI training in Lignières, became an FEI Level 1 Judge, and has since progressed to British Dressage List 2.
Today, judging, training competitors RingCraft remotely and mentoring judges, is Alex’s full-time profession. He judges most weekends (BE, BD, PC) and trains (dressage RingCraft by zoom) eventers and pure dressage competitors of all ages (10 - 78yo) and levels (Intro to GP, BE80 - FEI 5*), globally, full time and more. With an extraordinarily high 93.3% judge upgrade pass rate (14 out of 15) in the first year of setting up the 'Exam Prep' part of the group, there is a continuous stream of new and dedicated judges joining and getting involved. Tuesdays are devoted to judge zooms.
His first international FEI ground jury appointment came in 2026 through the FEI Officials Exchange Programme, judging at Matamata International CCI 3* and the National 2* Championships in Wellington, New Zealand.
Whether you’re looking to gain those elusive extra marks in the dressage arena, progress through the judging lists, or simply understand more about dressage RingCraft, Alex combines decades of competitive experience, international judging expertise and a genuine passion for helping others succeed.
What some happy Ringcraft Divas say:
I've had a super couple of lessons this weekend with Alex. it's been massively helpful in so many ways. Alex has picked up on the areas where I need to make adjustments and given me some effective solutions to work with to improve how I ride which in turn help my horse to show off his abilities. I have picked up a number of simple adjustments which I can do which will improve the accuracy and presentation of my tests. I've spent a few mins after each lesson to reflect and document the key light bulb moments after my sessions to help me remember! Alex has been really great, cheerful and patient. the videos of my tests help marry up what I felt and I can see very clearly the reasoning behind the corrections I need to make to improve.
yeah thoroughly positive thank you.
Very keen to include this way of training into our plan.
- Cheryl C
I had a RingCraft session with Alex back in October and it was great fun and lots of useful advice and tips.I am an older rider and have only been competing BD for under a year. Alex put me at ease and my confidence improved. I review the video of my session from time to time and it helps to refresh my memory. I did this just before going out competing last weekend and was thrilled to win both Prelim classes with 68.62% and 68.96%. Thank you Alex!! I will look out for more sessions in the coming months.
- Caroline V
Lots of homework to help improve our scores. Straight talking and very entertaining through the headset which put me at ease and helped me focus on my rather fresh 5yo and how to improve the quality of work.
- Georgie Y.
