Little did Christine Wiggins’ grandparents suspect that their 10th birthday gift to her ‒ a week at riding camp – was the first step towards their granddaughter’s future career.
Wiggins continued with riding lessons at the same barn where the camp was held, but when it closed, she became a student at Fiddler’s Green Stables in Stittsville, near Ottawa. There she came under the tutelage of Becky Nuth, a trainer with extensive experience in Pony Club, hunters, jumpers and eventing.
“My parents supported my riding, but they weren’t horsey and were not in a financial position to do more than weekly lessons, so I worked my butt off for any extra riding,” Wiggins, 35, recalls. “Becky would give me rides on school horses that needed extra work. I wasn’t very good at the time!”