Amanda Holloway, née Sivewright, was born in St Ives, Cornwall into the revered Sivewright family who are steeped in equestrian history. Amanda’s Grandmother Pamela Kennedy Ryder-Richardson and parents, Molly and Charles Sivewright were the founder members of the renowned Talland School of Equitation, originally named after Talland Bay in St Ives and with their three daughters were part of producing Talland as a centre of equestrian excellence.

 

Amanda’s father, a former Colonel in the 11th Hussars, left the army when Amanda was five, and moved his family to Church Farm, Siddington, Cirencester, where they had a dairy herd and a bull, which within a very short time made way for huge numbers of horses, ponies and students galore...! Amanda has fond memories of her Father’s Saturday coaching sessions with their students and weekly Sunday morning inspections…! He was also responsible for building a super cross country course that were Amanda and her siblings ‘playground’. The Sivewrights hosted 'discussion, training and demonstration days' at Talland which were well attended by International coaches, judges, trainers and riders right through until her late teens. Amanda is pretty sure she could ride before she could walk and did a lot of lead rein showing when she was very little. Amanda and her siblings schooled all their ponies and horses themselves under the watchful eyes of their mother as well as some of the best coaches and trainers in the world.

 

Out of a family of five, four have competed Internationally. Amanda’s father was a point to point rider, keen follower of hounds and ran Talland. Amanda’s mother Molly started her riding career showing, hunting, eventing and competing in International dressage. She actively coached up until her sad passing in 2013 and is the author of three hugely sought after equestrian books, “Thinking Riding – Books 1 & 2” and “Lessons on the Lunge for Horse & Rider”.  Amanda’s elder sister, Pamela, a former International eventing and dressage rider is a well known Horse & Hound columnist and now runs the family business, Talland. Sarah, Amanda’s younger sister is a former International dressage rider, a coach and qualified equestrian expert witness. Amanda has had the privilege of bringing up four children and now enjoys ten grandchildren.