Cicely Driver and Ascot H eventing at Cornbury House Horse Trials, UK.

A 2* eventer has been directing the cameras during the latest season of Young Riders, about to hit the air waves next week.  Cicely Driver joined the production team after three years grooming for Jesse Campbell and competing on Ascot H (a.k.a. Scott), loaned to her by the late Georgie Campbell.  Along with a background in the television industry, Cicely was the ideal person to add her expertise to the popular online tv production.

From Kaukapakapa, North of Auckland, Cicely (24) began riding at age three.  When she was six, her mother Celia Driver – who was master of the Waitemata Hunt Club – took her to her first hunt.

Cicely began riding when she was just three years old.

“It was awesome. I had an amazing pony called Cricket and he just went for it. That’s probably why I got into eventing, because I just loved hunting and cross-country,” she says.

She evented up to 95cm, and by the time she left school had no desire to end her riding career.

“I had no real interest in going to university and there was no course that was jumping out at me that I was really keen on.  I’d been riding my whole life, and I thought it would be such a waste to just kind of stop and go to uni.  I wanted to keep going with horses for as long as I could, and so I reached out to Jesse Campbell in the UK.  He said, ‘we’d love to have you’ and so I flew on over.”

Team Campbell

Cicely groomed for ‘Team Campbell’ in a combined yard in Wiltshire for three years.  She says she had regular help from both Jesse and Georgie, and Georgie “propelled my riding career” by loaning her Ascot H, which she competed up to 2*.  She says she loved every minute of it and says it is something she will always be grateful for.

When Cicely came back to New Zealand, she ‘kind of fell into a TV job’ as a production assistant working on Motorway Patrol and Highway Cops. Her father Richard Driver was a well-known television presenter and producer, who hosted Radio with Pictures for the TVNZ rock unit in the 1980s and has produced several award-winning documentaries.  Cicely was quite used to being around film crews coming into her home and sometimes being filmed for her dad’s projects.

“There was one time that I remember really clearly.  We had a film crew come to the farm and I was just riding around and they said, ‘hey kid do you mind if we just get a few shots of you on your horse on the farm’.  God, I must’ve been about 11 and now I’m working with them. That’s quite funny,” she laughs.

From Dogs to Horses

Young Riders was created by television producer Kate Peacocke. The series began as an idea she had for a kids show while producing the popular TV show Dog Squad: Puppy School. It has followed young Kiwi showjumpers aged 14-19, with season three focusing on eventing riders.  However, showjumping proved to be a more viable discipline as the production team could focus on a more defined space within a high stakes event that worked best for content making. The popular show is on YouTube, YouTube Kids and TVNZ+ and promoted on Instagram where one clip attracted over 500,000 views.  

Cicely joined the team in season four when the series was brought back to life by Kate after COVID-19 restrictions.

“The support that producer Kate gives me is fantastic – she is a key driving force behind the show and my mentor,” says Cicely.

Cicely Driver checks the framing while filming an episode of Young riders series five. Credit JH Photography.

Riding Knowledge Pays Off

Having television expertise combined with her equestrian knowledge has been a perfect dynamic for Cicely, working as a production assistant on series four and then stepping up as a director of series five of Young Riders.

“I think I’m able to understand how our riders will be feeling, like when you have a bad round, and it just feels like the end of the world.  Just having that kind of connection whether it’s talking about counting strides or horse behaviour or what kind of bit they’re wearing.  It strengthens the credibility of the scripts, storylines and from a directing perspective, the credibility of the show.”

“One of the challenges is that I want to be riding, myself, sometimes!  But working with young riders and their horses keeps me busy enough.  Sometimes when you’re directing, you get set on an idea or a storyline, but horses are so unpredictable, and we just have to be able to change our direction at any moment.  You know, horse injuries and following the riders, and even what competition they’re going to go to, we have to be really flexible,” says Cicely.

Cicely Driver works with Young Rider Jessica Hore at Defender Horse of the Year 2025. Credit JH Photography.

In season five, the crew chose five riders in the South Island and the five in the North Island to provide symmetry.  They chose a spring show on each island. a premiere show and a Christmas show.

“We tend to set up a kind of back-story day to shoot as a lead-in before the competition, and we bounce between the two throughout the episode.  With 10 riders and their parents, there is a lot to keep up with.  But they’re all absolutely amazing; they’re so dedicated to it and that’s made the series so enjoyable to work on.”

Defender Horse of the Year

She says they have had some really big wins, with a winner at almost every competition they have filmed.  A highlight was Defender Horse of the Year, when Matisse Masterson won the Junior Rider Final on Jay-Z.

“I feel like they really stepped up in that big ring, you know. It was just so emotional. I had a tear in my eye, and she had her trophy with her name on it and I just thought, yeah, it was amazing, just amazing.”

It is not known whether the production will get funding for another series.  However, Cicely is heading back to Europe for a well-earned holiday now the production is finished.  She says she will definitely be visiting Jesse Campbell’s new yard, meeting the new grooms he has on his team, and catching up with her old workmates.  And who knows, she might do a bit of riding too.

Young Riders series five is being rolled out from next Friday, April 11 on YouTube / YouTubeKids.  It will be available on TVNZ+ and Country TV’s Equestrian Tuesday in May.  They will also be  posting on the Young Rider Instagram and TikTok every day until 1st August.  The series are funded by NZ On Air.

You can see series 1-4 here.

https://www.youtube.com/@YoungRidersTV_Kids

https://www.youtube.com/@YoungRidersTV

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/young-riders

Our earlier story: https://www.nzequestrian.org.nz/2024/11/lights-cameras-and-a-look-behind-the-action-on-young-riders/