Time to reflect on my season…but first let me introduce myself! My name is Noor Slaoui. I am a 24-year-old Moroccan event rider based in the UK. 

I come from a non-horsey family and used to ride for fun during my childhood in Morocco. Aged 18, I moved to France where I spent a year studying horses in Saumur and then to the UK for my studies at the University of Warwick. During my time at Warwick, I drove past a few horse trials and always watched with great interest. I knew very little about eventing but always wanted to give it a go.  I purchased a little trailer and an inexperienced but eye catching 7yo Anglo-Arabian gelding and off we were eventing! After a good read of the rulebook I took part to my first trials. It wasn’t what we can call a success story at the start as both my horse and I lacked training and experience but we certainly had a lot of fun along the way! 

Fast-forward a few years later, I graduated from University with a BA in politics and International relations but still had this crazy dream of becoming a professional rider…the first Moroccan professional Event Rider to be more precise. I based myself with 5* Australian event rider Bill Levett and started working on improving my basics. Over the past 3 years, thanks an amazing team of helpers, sponsors, owners, my federation and the most amazing team of horses we have managed to go from BE90 to 3* level. 

This season has been action packed for me and my team of horses. I got to compete in absolutely stunning locations across Europe with a very exciting string of event horses. Our partnership is starting to gel up and we are all  starting to get more experience around the bigger and more technical tracks, which is very exciting for the years to come as my end goal over the next few years would be to go to an Olympics. Can’t believe that the season is almost coming to and end but I am looking forward to start working on a few youngsters over the winter and to improve my basics with my current string as a platform to move up the levels in the best and safest way next year. 

As mentioned earlier, all of this wouldn’t be possible without my support team. Hardy Etc clothing being one of the pillars! They have provided me throughout the season with top end clothing to wear at home and at the shows. I never go cross-country without my Hardy Etc Jodhpurs as they give me great grip into the saddle ! So thanks to all the team at Hardy for allowing me to considerably improve my stickability!