In 1974 Karen qualified with the British Horse Society as a Horse Master. (B.H.S.H.M). The love of horses took her to Mexico City where she lived as a member of a the family with the Schravesande's. There she worked together with another horse fanatic, Anna, who also wanted her teaching qualifications to become a horse riding instructor. "Teaching people to ride a horse takes a slightly different skill to teaching people to dance", says Karen, "as you also have a fear element to contend with. Especially if the horse decides he does not want to obey any commands! Having a mind of their own makes it a little more challenging".

Every day Anna and Karen would ride in the Sand School practising various routines (sound familiar?). They used to draw quite a crowd as most Mexicans rode Western and did not really do much Show Jumping as Western Saddles are not suitable for this type of event. They used to do a little bit of trick riding to improve their balance and confidence and used to canter around the school at the same time as taking the saddle off the horses back that they were sitting on! Besides, the Show Jumping and  Cross Country events they used to ride to music getting the horse to interpret the beat with dressage  moves. Sometimes they rode with a formation team and put on musical displays with 10 other riders Living with a Mexican family meant Karen had to learn to speak Spanish. Typical words mastered were the ones used for teaching horse riding, ie., back, seat, foot, arm, leg etc. One day at a restaurant she asked for chicken as that was the only word recognised on the menu. The waiter then asked what  part of the chicken she would like. As Karen did not know how to say breast of chicken she thought she would asked for leg, but obviously asked for foot as the waiter returned with two claws on her plate. Must of thought it was a delicacy in the UK!

After six months living as part of a Mexican family, she returned to the UK with Anna to take her B.H.S.A.I., which they both passed. Anna returned to Mexico and started a Stud farm. Karen started teaching at riding schools and then married the boy next door... Barry.

Barry and Karen eventually set up their own riding school where they had 56 horses at one time in their stable yard. They used to run regular Show Jumping events and musical pairs dressage shows.

Most people work with horses for the love of it but with a small family to bring up there was an inevitable change of direction. For 20 years, Karen had been teaching people to ride and now it was time for a career change. However the change came about quite by chance.

Karen attended a dance school during the evening after work, learning the art of ballroom and latin dance. Her favourites were Mambo, Salsa and Merengue and she obtained amateur medals in Rock & Roll, Paso Doble, Ballroom and Latin. At a Mambo class a few beginners turned up and there was no instructor to provide instruction for them, so Karen's instructor Debbie asked Karen if she would mind helping them out with a few steps, so that Debbie could continue with the Advanced class. This was the start of Karen teaching dance...! Debbie asked Karen to run her club while she went on holiday, mainly to help with the beginners while the other staff members looked after the more advanced. Then came the crunch... Karen had never learnt any line dances before as she had previously thought it looked boring. Debbie gave Karen a bundle of step sheets for homework, and was told to attend some classes to learn how it was done.

From that day on Karen was hooked, as all her favourite dances could be done in a line without a partner. A few months later Debbie and Karen set up a line dance class together and in June 1997 Karen obtained her teachers qualification with the I.D.T.A., however due to other commitments Debbie gave up the class, so Karen enlisted members of the family to help organise and run the classes.

Now Karen and Barry run linedance sessions every night of the week, and is their full time occupation. Every spare minute is spent researching dances, future events, music, halls, etc.

"It is more than a full time job, it is a way of life", says Karen.

Thankfully Barry's interest in music started way back in 1972 when he built his own disco with the help of a friend , and travelled the depth and bredth of the local area with his trusty reliable set of wheels, a Reliant Regal not unlike the one Del Boy used except it was blue, complete with the regulation klaxon hooter & furry dice..... Ohhhhhhhh those were the days!

Everyone ask's Barry "Do you dance?", as he sits behind his D.J. console, night-after-night. Alas, the answer is a definate NO!

"I get my enjoyment from seeing everyone else having fun. Dancing has never interested me, but putting on a piece of music that fills the floor with smiley faces is a huge buzz and on occasions has brought a tear to my eye. I think I am so fortunate to do something I REALLY LOVE, and I would not change my lot for the world".

And to end on a funny note... Karen in March 2001 was going through a lucky streak ( I won't bore you with details).
She said to Barry,

"I think I will do the Lottery tonight" (as we have not done it in 2 years or so).
"If you won the BIGGY what would you do?", he asked.
"I'd have a night off", she replied.
"In that case, don't do the lottery", said Barry.

That's Barry he's happy with life as it is !

Del Boy's theme tune was written specially for them... "Why do only Fools and Horses work"

Please Keep It Fun... But remember most of all, we were all beginners once so please be patient and help them all when you can! Remember... Linedancing is not just for Christmas, it's for LIFE!

Hope to meet some of you on the dance floor real soon... That's Us!

If you would like to find out more about us please visit our main Dance web site at Live 2 Dance

Karen & Barry
The Linedance Krazy Krew

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