The financial services manager
How I make it work: competing in my lunch hour and planning lessons around meetings
Annabel Marsden, 38, is a manager at ReAssure, a life and pensions company. She owns one horse and competes in dressage. Last year, Annabel represented England in the home international and nearly missed the first trot-up due to being in a meeting.
My job…
I’ve worked in financial services for 20 years. As head of customer services change, integration and control at ReAssure, I manage a team of 40. Our responsibilities include planning and forecasting, integration of changes that impact customer services, overseeing controls and assurance (ie, making sure we do things right) and continually looking for ways to make things better.
My daily commute…
I’m Shropshire born and bred, but this is the first time I’ve managed to live and work here. I also have teams in Hitchin and Norwich. I’m based in the head office in Telford and it only takes me 20 minutes to get to work, which is perfect.
My horse…
I have a 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse called Wellington Bay (Wellie), whom I’ve owned since March 2014. We’ve learned dressage together from scratch and although he’s not built to do dressage, he’s a trier. I gave up riding when I was 17 and focused on my career, then started again 10 years ago. I’m only now in a position to be able to pay for a horse on my own.
Fitting life around my horse…
Wellie lives with my trainer Nicola Lickley in Albrighton, which is 10 minutes away from the office — and in the opposite direction of home. He’s on full livery because my time is limited and I choose to spend what little horsey time I have riding. By being disciplined and organised we get results. Competitions are held at the yard, Kingswood Equestrian Centre, which is a huge saving on travelling time.
Reorganising my life…
A few years ago, I reorganised my life to make riding and competing work. Wellie used to be stabled at a yard local to home and to have a lesson I had to leave the office, drive away from my trainer’s yard in order to get the horse in from the field, load up, drive there — back past my office — and have the lesson before doing it all again in reverse. I was taking half-days as holiday just to have a lesson. It also meant that things like mucking out the lorry were done at 10pm. I now have a more sensible way of doing things.
Competing in my lunch break…
I only had one chance left to qualify for a Petplan Equine Area Festival, but my diary couldn’t accommodate time off work. I organised my diary so that I could have a slightly longer lunch break and managed to get a midday test slot. I shot to the yard from the office and the girls had Wellie ready so that all I had to do was change, jump on, warm up and go in for my test. Then I was back out and into clean clothes before dashing back to work. I feel so inspired by the Petplan Equine Area Festivals. They are accessible and designed for true amateurs, and I’m more focused and committed than ever.
Having an understanding boss…
I manage my own diary and sometimes I can’t get away because I care about doing a good job. I almost missed the first horse inspection
at the home international last year because I was in an important meeting I didn’t feel comfortable rescheduling. A friend picked up Wellie, took him to Cricklands and plaited him for me. I drove there straight from work and arrived just in time for the trot-up. My employer understands that a work/life balance means different things to different people, and the more I ride the happier I am. My colleagues aren’t horsey — they ask if I’ve been horse dancing.
Squeezing in a lesson…
Nicola understands that if something comes up at work I might need to cancel at short notice. Having a lesson involves being on a horse within 30 minutes of leaving my desk so that I catch the last slot of the day. I run out of the office and have five minutes to change at the yard before jumping on. Every second counts.
My daily routine…
I have a 6.30am alarm and I walk my Labrador, Lola, before work. I’m in the office around 8.30am and have breakfast at my desk. It’s normally a cereal bar. I like to do everything I need to do at home in the morning, so that my evening is clear. The office canteen has a good choice of food options and I usually work through my lunch break. If I need to leave early for a lesson, I’ll start early too. Otherwise I don’t finish work until 6.30pm-ish. On the nights I ride, I don’t get home until gone 8pm. By the time I’m home and have cooked dinner, it’s time for bed. Learning new tests takes time I haven’t got and usually I do it last thing at night.
Sacrificing my social life…
My social life revolves around horses. When I’m not riding or at work, the rest of my time is spent on life — going to the supermarket, washing clothes. One of the best things about dressage is the community. I’m great friends with my trainer and her family, plus I catch up with people at shows. My boyfriend, Harry, isn’t horsey but his family is, so he gets it. He comes to some competitions with me, and my cousin, Hayley Jay, helps at big shows.
Making it work…
Planning is everything. I have to know where I need to be and when, and whether it’s feasible to leave work early on that day. It’s common to see me sitting down with my work diary and British Dressage’s calendar trying to tally the two. It’s a good job I’m a project manager, because it’s one big project!