Lorette Knowles-Taylor

Owner & Coach

Date of Birth: 24 August 1975
Star sign: ♍ Virgo

Academic education:
1982 – 1991: English Medium School, Swakopmund, Namibia
1992 – 1993: St Andrews, Bedfordview, Johannesburg
1996: Graduated with BCompt degree from the University of South Africa
1999: Graduated with BCompt Honours degree from the University of South Africa, majoring in accounts and auditing
2000: Passed Part 1 of the Final Qualifying Exam (‘the Board exam’)
2000 – 2003: Completed a training contract with Deloitte & Touché

Contact

    Lorette started riding in Namibia at the age of 7 and was competing by age 9. Her parents, Arthur and Alwyn Knowles are completely not horsey but have supported Lorette’s commitment to her horses for over 30 years. They are still her biggest horsey fans.

    Between the ages of 13 -17 years she competed as a junior, representing South West Africa in Equitation.  Her family moved to Gauteng in early 1992.  In 1993 her father purchased an adult A-grade for Lorette to complete her junior career with.

    She was chosen for the SANEF Junior B Team at the East Rand Championships in 1993 on the same horse.

    Lorette matriculated from St. Andrews, Bedfordview, and furthered her education through UNISA, achieving Honours Bachelor of Accounting Science. She finished her accounting articles at Deloitte and Touché.

    Safe in the knowledge that she has a strong academic qualification for the future Lorette decided to dedicate herself full time to her passion of showjumping and teaching showjumping.

    Lorette has been awarded Adult provincial show jumping colours more than five times. The highlight of her show jumping career is, most certainly, being awarded Protea colours in March 2006 and was a member of the SA team for the Tri-Nations to visit New Zealand in 2006, 2007 and 2008. She was also included as a team member for the SA legs 2006 and 2007.

    Equestrian Coaching Education

    Jan 2006
    06 January 2006 All day

    FEI Level 1 Instructors training course

    Successfully completed FEI Level 1 Instructors training course

    Jan 2007
    06 January 2007 All day

    FEI Level 2 Instructors training course

    Successfully completed FEI Level 2 Instructors training course

    Feb 2013
    11 February 2013 All day

    Top 10 Coaching clinic with Olympic Gold medallist Rob Hoekstra

    "Coach the coaches" - 8am - 09h30 session with Rob Hoekstra, Lorette Taylor, Barry Taylor, Dominey Alexander

    Jan 2014
    06 January 2014 All day

    pre-FEI Level 3 refresher

    Successfully completed pre-FEI Level 3 refresher

    Feb 2014
    12 February 2014 All day

    Top 10 Coaching clinic

    Top 10 Coaching clinic with Olympic Gold medallist Rob Hoekstra at Maple Ridge

    Aug 2014
    16 August 2014 August 16, 2014 - August 28, 2014

    Nanjing Youth Olympic Games

    Accompanied Lexi Stais to the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games, as her coach and code manager as a part of the SA Team

    Some of her other, less recent, achievements include:

    • Young Rider Champion 1998
    • Show Jumper of the Year 1999
    • Rand Show A-grade Victor Ludorum 2000
    • Ladies Champion Shongweni 2002
    • THS Champion 2003
    • Easter Show Grand Prix Winner 2003
    • South African Championship Runner-up 2003
    • Pretoria World Cup Winner 2002, 2003
    • Easter Show Grand Prix Runner-up 2004
    • Highest Ranked Lady Rider from 1999 – 2003
    • Ranked No 1 SA Showjumper 2003, 2007
    • Cape Town World Cup Winner 2005
    • Port Elizabeth World Cup Runner-up 2005
    • World Cup Series Runner-up 2005
    • JICM Grand Prix Winner Pietermaritzburg 2005
    • Mini Derby Runner-up 2005
    • Runner-up Easter Show Masters 2005
    • Qualified for World Equestrian Games (WEG) in Aachen, Germany in 2006, as well as being short listed for the SA Team for WEG.
    • Runner-up Kimberley World Cup Qualifier 2006
    • Awarded provincial colours for showjumping 2006
    • Winner JICM Grand Prix in Cape Town 2006
    • Winner SA Derby 2007
    • Winner Rand Easter show Battle of the Giants 2007, 2008
    • Ranked No 1 Showjumping Rider in South Africa 2007
    • Winner Mini Prix Series 2007
    • Member of the winning Gauteng Interprovincial Showjumping Team
    • Runner up – Presidents Cup 2007
    • Runner up – World Cup Qualifier Port Elizabeth 2007

    More recently:

    • Winner of the Nissan Riders Champs 2010
    • Runner up – SA Championships 2010
    • Runner-up in Nissan Riders Champs 2011
    • Winner Shongweni Club Winter Classic Durban 2011
    • Winner Shongweni World Cup 2011
    • Winner of Mini Derby 2013
    • Winner Port Elizabeth World Cup 2013, 2014
    • Winner 6 Bar Shongweni 2014 jumping 2m and setting a new SA record
    • Victor Ludorum 1.35m Nissan Easter Festival 2015
    • Adult SA Outdoor Grand Prix Nissan Easter Festival runner up 2015
    • Winner 6 Bar Nissan Easter Festival 2015 jumping 1.90m