THE TEAM
GRANT STORE
Grant was born in Cape Town and completed his schooling in Kimberley before being called up for compulsory military service. He served with the mounted infantry until his demobilisation, in what was then South West Africa.
Grant holds the following qualifications:
- A qualification in farriery
- Module 7 with the Equestrian Qualifications Authority of South Africa
He is also accredited with the South African Sports Coaching Association as a coach and course developer and he is a National A panel Dressage Judge.
LARA COULON
Lara has lived and breathed horses ever since she was a young girl. Her particular specialty is Thoroughbreds. After matriculating in 2011 she studied at the Al Maktoum School of Management Excellence at Summerhill Stud. After graduation, she became the Assistant Stud Manager at the Scott brothers’ Highdown Stud in Nottingham Road, where she worked for over four years.
Lara then decided to go abroad and was offered a job at The National Stud in England where she stayed for five consecutive seasons. For three of these seasons, she managed the foaling unit, foaling down 130 mares every season. In England’s off-season, Lara would return to South Africa where she again did seasonal for the Scott brothers and also worked in the Western Cape for Julia Pilbeam at Soetendal Estate doing Ready to Run Sales.
Lara is now employed at Summerhill Equestrian focusing mainly on the Thoroughbreds, the foals and the breeding process.
THOBANI CEBEKHULU
Thobani was born in the small town of Estcourt, where he matriculated from Estcourt Senior Secondary School in 2006.
He has always loved working with horses, and when offered a position at Summerhill in 2016, he jumped at the opportunity. Initially, he mainly worked with broodmares, but his talent with the stallions quickly became obvious.
To further his knowledge, he also studied at the School of Management Excellence at Summerhill and successfully completed modules in Stud Management and Equine Reproduction in 2017. In 2018, he was selected to go and work at a top Stud Farm in America for 7 months, where he again worked with the stallions.
Thobani is now the stallion manager at Summerhill Equestrian.
SIYABONGA MLABA
Siyabonga Mlaba is an integral part of the Summerhill Team. He has previously worked at the Derringstown Stud in Ireland, and Bret Crawford’s Racing Yard in Summerveld.
He works predominantly with the broodmares, but is responsible for general care of all horses at the yard.
CHRISNA JOOSTE
Chrisna was born and raised in Potchefstroom, where she was awarded Provincial Colours for Horse Riding. After matriculating from Hoér Volkskool Potchefstroom, she enrolled at Tshwane University of Technology and graduated with a Diploma in Equine Science.
From here she went on to be the School Principal/Stud Manager at Plettenberg Equestrian Academy/Fijnbosch Nooitgedacht Stud and then the Training Manager at Riethuiskraal Thoroughbred Stud, where she was involved in backing and pre-training. Finally, she was the Resident Trainer and Instructor at Kimberly Equestrian Centre for six years, instructing the disciplines of Dressage, Showjumping, Equitation and Showing. She was involved in the schooling of horses and overseeing the general stable management.
Chrisna is an EQASA Module 5/Level 1 Qualified Instructor and has competed in dressage up to Medium level, in showjumping up to 1.20m, at the Intermediate level in Eventing, and at in Open level Showing and Equitation. She has also taken part in Novice Endurance Rides and competed in the Open categories of Endurance Riding (Lightweight Divisions). Chrisna is also a qualified provincial dressage judge.
We are delighted to have her as part of the team at Summerhill Equestrian.
