Meet the Team!
Steph
Steph is the owner and founder of Country Treks and has 50 + years experience in horses. Her mum used to buy, sell and produce young horses and Steph's sister Mel is a qualified and highly sought after saddle fitter. Steph is BHBS BETCM and a professional accredited coach. She is also a NVQ assessor and level 4 youth worker. Over the years she still enjoys taking rides and teaching. Her speciality is the nervous novice but enjoys coaching all levels and loves running the changing lives and the personal development and educational courses.
"I am really in love with my job and I pride myself in having a truly dedicated and exceptional team of staff and horses.
Issy
Issy is the latest recruit to join the Country Treks team and her endless enthusiasm and team spirit is the reason she was absolutely the perfect fit to Country Treks. Issy is a Level 4 Coach and Centre Manager and has a passion for not only improving herself with continuous CPD and instruction but also expressing her knowledge onto the Country Treks Team.
Issy is an absolutely marvellous team member and her love for the job is shown in her smile every day come rain or shine!
Dan
Manager of Shropshire Adventures alongside his twin brother, Steve. Dan is also the Head Coach at Shropshire Adventures Academy. Dan has endless enthusiasm and a real passion for his job! You will often find him split between working in the office writing student reports and creating lesson plans, but also on the yard working with the students on horse care and all the outdoor activities. Dan has recently won BHS Changing Lives Through Horses Coach award, and when you meet him you will understand why!
Oscar
You'll often find Oscar front of house on the weekend; hosting groups, taking payments and being an all round fantastic team member. But his main passion is the adventure groups, paddle sports and being outdoors. Oscar will turn his hand to any task given, and its very rare he does anything without a smile on his face! So whether that is mucking out, fixing fences or hosting a laser tag party Oscar is the man for the job! (We also manage to get him to ride the horses fairly frequently now!)
Pat
Pat is a superb Level 4 Show Jumping Coach with a wealth of experience to really get the best out of your riding. Pat regularly coaches for BS, multiple teams and riding clubs, but we are lucky enough to have her two days a week!
Pat takes on a very senior role at Country Treks, working not only alongside our regular rides but also providing continuous professional development for our staff and inspiring our upcoming students.
We are incredibly lucky to have the lovely Pat with us!
Isy
Isy is another of our younger riders who has blossomed into a wonderful team member. Isy is our Senior BHS Level 2 Coach who teaches every Sunday. She is super bright and bubbly and absolutely loves working with the horses and ponies with her favourites being Barclay & Fudge. Isy is has recently completed her BHS Stage 2 Trek Leader and BHS Stage 2 Coach and has a very bright equine future ahead of her. Isy will take any opportunity to jump aboard even our smallest of ponies to school them and is a super host on our Pony Days too! She is a very kind member of the team.
Emma
There seems to be a running theme with the current team members.... Again Emma worked with us many years ago and has returned! Emma has a bright, bubbly & enthusiastic personality and is really passionate about her RDA Groups and Students. Emma is also itching to take the Brown Clee Hill Rides in the Summer as she just loves leading the treks & trails. Emma is the first to sign up to taking any of our Trail Rides and Day Rides so you will often see her out and about exploring the Shropshire hills.
Maisie
Maisie is the most recent recruit to join the team. Having started as a weekend volunteer, Maisie has worked her way up to being a fully fledged member of the team. You will often see her working her magic with the tiny tots or helping our academy students with their horses. Maisie is super friendly and enthusiastic and all the children love her, she gets rave reviews from both parents and children alike.
Zara
Just like Maisie, Zara started with us volunteering on weekends as one of our yard assistants and coming year after year to Pony Camp. Zara is a really bright, bubbly and enthusiastic member of the team- she never stops smiling!!
She absolutely adores all the horses on the yard and treats them like they are her own. She has successfully completed her BHS Stage 2 Complete & Trek Leader. She is currently an 'Academy Mentor' working closely with our students.
Other Team Members
Emily Culpeck- Strides Veterinary Physio
Emily is our physio. Once every six weeks our tried and trusted physio comes to check the health and well being of our beautiful horses and helps to keep them in tip top shape.
Jim the Farrier
Jim the farrier, we can’t do without him! So astute, so knowledgeable and so caring with our horses. ‘No foot, no horse’ is an old saying and to be fair Jim ensures we’ve got the very best attention for our horses.
Gary
Gary the Groom is our ex Wembley show groom who preens the horses to top show level, with beautiful pulled manes & tails and they are also clipped to perfection.
Mel Lewis
Mel Lewis is our saddle fitter. Steph’s sister, Mel, is a top Society of Master Saddlers approved fitter and she comes to the yard every 6 weeks with her keen eye for detail and changes in horses shape she makes sure our horses are comfortable with their saddles and that they are the highest quality.