Having ridden since childhood, Kelly has decades of riding and coaching experience. A past Pony Club rider, she completed her B and H certificates and competed nationally in eventing and dressage and internationally in mounted games. Kelly worked hard to get EVRS affiliated to the New Zealand Pony Clubs Association as a Pony Club Centre, which was accomplished in July 2016. Kelly is a qualified teacher, holding a BSc (Animal Science) and a GDipTeach (Sec), as well as being a qualified C+ level coach for NZPCA.