AMANDA Goldsbury is settling in well to her new role as rider at Richard and Georgina Sheane’s Cooley Farm in Glenealy, Co Wicklow and to her new living quarters at the nearby Rosanna House.

Last Saturday, the New Zealand international won the EI115 (Open) at Rosanna (2) on Nicola Roden’s Fernhill Inspector, one of two horses she brought with her from Co Meath. The other is her own Island Commander mare Treasure Island on whom she finished third in the five-year-old Discovery class at Millstreet.

“Things are going really well,” said Goldsbury.

“Wicklow is a lovely part of the world, all the people at Cooley are lovely and I have some lovely horses to ride! As I didn’t want to leave my clients without a coach in the run-up to the underage Europeans, Richard has been very good in allowing me to teach them here in the evenings.”

The position of rider at Cooley came up when, after nine years in the role, Katie O’Sullivan decided to take some time out of the saddle. She and her mother Dawn have left the Garden Country and have purchased a new house back in Co Tipperary. Katie is planning a long, well-deserved holiday in the sun in the next few weeks.

“I will be back riding after that and may start teaching or buying a horse or two to turnover,” said Katie who had some excellent results last season on Cooley Rules and Licence To Cooley, especially when the pair finished first and second in the CCI2*-S at Millstreet in June. “Then again, I might not buy anything and head to the States to do some coaching over the winter.

“I really enjoyed my years at Cooley and they organised an amazing farewell party – the birds were well up when we were heading to bed!”