An Eventful Life: Life Stories of Eventing Champions

About the author:

Alison Duthie was born and grew up in the UK where she evented with (what she describes as) occasional success to Two Star level while working for Ian Stark. Alison was Ian's groom in 1988 when he came first and second at Badminton with his great horses - Sir Wattie and Glenburnie - and also won a silver medal on Sir Wattie at the Seoul Olympics.

During the next few years Alison worked for many other top event riders at European and World Championships. She was a team groom at several British Young Rider Championships during the era of Pippa Funnell, Tina Cook and William Fox-Pitt and she went on to become William's head girl.

After meeting her Australian husband, Peter Gillis, who was eventing in the UK, Alison moved to Australia in 1996 where she continued to work in the horse industry with her husband. She became the Australian correspondent for the UK magazine Eventing, and is now also the editor of The Eventer magazine - the official magazine of Eventing New South Wales and the only magazine in Australia dedicated to eventing.

Alison has also written for Horse and Hound and UK Riding magazine, is the writer of Stuart Tinney's book Making the Time: An Expert Guide to Cross-Country Riding and co-authored The Guide to Eventing: Everything You Ever Needed to Know About Eventing with Emma D'Arcy.

Alison lives at Penrose in the Southern Highlands of NSW with her husband and her two young sons, Thomas and David.