Paige Jardine and Nicky Galligan own and train at Guardian Stables, a full-service competition, sales, and training barn. Paige and Nicky have a “horses first” approach to their business and always think about the wellbeing of the equine over the shows and rewards. Nicky focuses on the jumpers and bringing up the young horses, while Paige focuses on the hunter/jumper and management side of things.
Nicky grew up in Oldcastle, County Meath, Ireland where he first took to fox hunting and eventing before switching to show jumping in his late teens. At just 18, Nicky won the hunt chase at the prestigious Dublin Horse Show, before earning another notable win in a speed derby which lent him the opportunity to train with JH Storm. Following his training with Storm, Nicky went on to ride and train all over Europe, including some time studying dressage with trainers from the Spanish Riding School in Vienna. Nicky has been based in the US since 2014, working with Darragh Kenny of Oakland Ventures, then at Hyperion Stud with young horses. Nicky’s talents lie in developing young horses. He has helped bring up some top Grand Prix horses, including Kristen Vanderveen’s “Prince of Peace”, Lauren Hough’s “Gemino” and his very own “Javas Miss Jordan”. Nicky’s accomplishments include competing all over the world up to 4* Grand Prix level, most recently and most successfully with his own horse, Jordan.
Paige Jardine, originally from Australia, started her horse career in many different disciplines with a variety of horses. In 2011, she was awarded several State and National Championship titles, multiple Grand Prix results, and won the prestigious Young Ambassador of the Year award. Later that year, she was selected to ride for Australia in a borrowed horses event in Mauritis. In 2014, Paige’s results earned her a place on the Australian National Development squad. The following year, she moved abroad to spend 12 months with Australian WEG Representative, Amy Graham, in France. After spending a year competing in FEI competitions all over Europe, Paige moved to America. In 2016, she managed and assisted with the training at the USA Olympic Silver medalist, Peter Leone’s, Lionshare Farm in both Wellington, Florida and Bedford, New York. Paige has ridden with and worked for several other Olympians, but recently managed and assisted with training with Jonathan Corrigan of Twin Oaks Ventures. Paige has successfully competed to 4* Grand Prix level with a horse she produced from a 6 year old, “A Toute Vitesse”.
