Nichola Mohr
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Nicola was born and raised in South Africa, where she resides with her family and string of horses. She is the daughter of Geoff and Linda Mohr who have a long history of farming in the Philippi area.
Her grandfather had given her R 1000 towards a horse, and this was the money she used to buy the thoroughbred, Sport Schu, from the track. Sport Schu, would in future go under 'Takkies' Takkies progressed all the way up to Grand Prix level and the pair leading both local and national rankings. Unfortunately Nichola’s grandfather passed away a few months after she bought Takkies and missed out on their success, which just makes Takkies all the more special. A few other great memories include: - In 2005 Nichola was invited to compete at the Horses and Dreams Show in Germany after winning the children’s FEI World Dressage Challenge. - In 2011, Nichola and her sister were invited by Elizabeth Charleston to compete in Horse of the Year show in New Zealand. - In 2014 Nichola had the opportunity to travel to England where was fortunate to compete twice during her stay and won 2 of her classes. - In 2017 Joyce Heuitink invited Nichola to ride for her. It has always been a dream of Nichola's to canter down the centre line at any of the big shows overseas and she always wanted to ride on a horse she trained herself. The chance of a lifetime came about for Nichola to export one of her own horses overseas and all she had to do was pick one. While Takkies developed Nichola as a rider and helped put her on the map, it’s a horse called Callaho Winston (Wenckstern – Wyona/Idocus) that is carrying her to Europe. Although not a Thoroughbred, Winston is a proudly South African Callaho Stud Bred horse. Winston came into their lives at the very cold Callaho auction in 2013 where, according to Nichola, she fell in love with him the second she got on. Over the years Nichola built a strong and trusting relationship with Winston. "I have never worked with a horse like him, he finds the grand prix work so easy; it's all about making him stronger and fitter from here. Winston has taught me so much over the years, I've learnt how to work with his quirks and get him to use his energy with me in a good way. He's got an unbelievable hind leg and he's so quick and sensitive, I just have to think it and he does it. It's because of the special relationship I've built and his natural talent, that he was my obvious choice to start my European competitive career" -Nichola Mohr. In Nichola’s hands, Winston has defied his fearsome reputation and moved effortlessly through the grades. “He finds everything in the GP / higher level tests very easy. I’ve never really had to teach him how to do things. All I’ve had to train is confidence and strength ” she explains. Dressage Olympic rider, Tanya Seymour, has been working with Nichola and her horses since last year. Winston is safely in Germany and Nichola is prepping for their first big international early in 2020. The challenges are endless, the biggest, of course, being finance, but horses have been sold and Nichola has been working her socks off both in Germany and South Africa giving clinics and shows. "I am proud to be a brand ambassador for Equi-Feeds who have fed my young horses and my sponsored horses at the highest competition level." - Nichola Mohr |
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