Team GBR

General: 

Francesca started to ride aged 7 when her parents bought two donkeys. Not coming from a horsey background she begged her parents to buy her a pony, which she got when she was 11.

A member of the Pony Club and in both eventing and showjumping teams she went on to compete at Young Rider showjumping and Intermediate level eventing; later winning Reserve Side Saddle Rider of the Year. She began showing American Quarter horses in 1998 and has concentrated on Reining since 2004.

Francesca is married to fellow British Reining team member Doug Allen.

Lives:

Sandhurst, Kent

Major Achievements:

She won team Bronze at the Senior European Championships in 2009, also achieving 4th place in the FEI World Masters that year. American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) European Champion Amateur Reining in 2008; she has achieved 4th place at the FEI 2007 European Championships and 3rd place at the AQHA World Championships in the USA. She was the only Britain to make the FEI WEG Individual finals in Aachen in 2006. Francesca was the first European lady rider to break through the $100,000 earnings mark.