BALANCING being a professional dressage rider alongside raising a toddler while expecting baby number two is no easy feat, but this is exactly what Co Down’s Courtney Akkari is managing to do.

Describing her journey into dressage and discussing the high hope she has for her current horses, Courtney told The Irish Field: “I’m fortunate to have grown up with horses. My mum, Adrienne Stuart, started the Gransha Equestrian Centre in Co Down 40 years ago this February just passed, so horses were always in my life. Mum show jumped for Ireland when she was younger and also worked away a lot.