There’s not much that Alexa Bell hasn’t tried and if there is, well, there’s plenty of time to give it a go.

From driving trucks towing floats carrying four horses non-stop across the US in her early 20s to competing in her own mini-America’s Cup, Canadian-born Alexa loves to be at the controls and not much fazes her.

For four years in the 1980s she was a successful stockbroker in the institutional sector in Toronto, which helped fund her international horse habit.

At 25 in 1985 she set a world equestrian Puissance jumping record in Toronto clearing a 2.25m (7-foot 4½-inch) jump — a feat that remains unbeaten. This cemented her place as a pioneer in equestrian sport.

After competing in show jumping and buying and selling horses all over the US, Canada and Europe, she went on to become the youngest and first female showjumping coach at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, representing the Australian Equestrian Team. 

Left: Alexa, at around 19, ready to strut her stuff in the show ring. Right: Alexa as the 2000 Olympics Australian Showjumping Coach. Photos: Supplied

In the mid-90s Alexa retired from international equestrian competition and took the reins in the kitchen, following her passion for cooking.

She graduated summa cum laude from Le Cordon Bleu Cooking School in Paris, one of the most prestigious cooking schools in the world.

She’d been competing around Holland, Belgium and France so Paris was the logical location, Alexa doing long practical stints in European restaurant kitchens while studying for two years.

That led to her own French food label, Pub Grub – easy to heat frozen French dinners, over this side of the world and, now living in Central Otago, she still enjoys the odd catering job. “I mostly cater for small events, but three times a year I go on a high-country muster in Canterbury as cook which I love.” The mustering crew enjoy coming home to Alexa’s beef stew, cottage pie and freshly baked bread that she’s whipped up on the musterers’ hut coal range.

Alexa off on another local catering job. Photo: Supplied

“Whether it’s a jump course, a fine dining kitchen, or a yacht regatta, I love a challenge,” she grins.

Then last year Alexa accidentally fell into radio-controlled yacht racing, a passion of husband Roy’s. “I went to watch one day, and the Commodore offered for me to borrow his boat,” she says.

“It’s very competitive and fun – I was hooked. It just sparked something, and I couldn’t get enough of it.” Roy bought her a boat and eight months ago she started competing.

“I’m not very good. It’s so challenging, but when you get behind the controls it’s like the America’s Cup, it’s so intense.”

Before she knew it the much younger Club Commodore Jamie White was telling her she needed to become Commodore, so despite being only one of three women nationally racing radio-controlled yachts in what is a very male-dominated sport,

Alexa was voted in. She’s believed to be the only female Commodore in New Zealand for radio yacht racing, just returned from the National Yacht Championships.

As she says, this Montreal girl loves a challenge.

The daughter of two Brits who’d emigrated there not knowing the front end of a horse from the back, Alexa was a real animal lover and from the age of 13 had fallen in love with horses, heading to riding camps.

Snow days and big dumps when it was minus 10deg and too dangerous to get to the horses weren’t happy days for young Alexa.

“I wasn’t academic. I left home at 18 to ride horses on the horse circuit, competing in the north in Canada during the warmer summer months and in the southern US during the winter,” she says.

Alexa’s trusty horse float that she drove all over the States and Canada as a young equestrian competitor. Photo: Supplied

“It’s a business. I’d continually ride and compete, buying and selling horses. My main goal was to qualify for the Olympics.”

Her big break came in 1985 when she jumped her world women’s indoor record Puissance (2.25m) jump.

“I’d drive through blizzards and white outs to get through to the next venue, sometimes 1000 miles (1609.3km),” Alexa says. “I drove a truck and trailer with horses from New York to LA non-stop in just under three days in my 20s with a friend on board. That was the norm.

As two young girls we got lots of help on the side of the road,” she says. “The alternator went in Pennsylvania on a holiday weekend. We got to a truck stop and the mechanic said, ‘The boss has the same one in his truck. Go have breakfast’ and he replaced ours with the boss’s one, no charge,” Alexa chuckles. “We were 18, two young girls in a pick-up truck.”

On another occasion the brakes failed at the top of the Rocky Mountains. Horse trailer in tow, with a straight road ahead downhill for miles. “Truckies at the top went in front and behind guiding us safely down, keeping in radio contact, and keeping traffic in front clear.”

Things really took off in her equestrian career after the world record. Alexa was flown to Australia with three other Canadian riders to compete on borrowed horses – her first international experience.

Alexa competing on borrowed horses in Australia in 1986. Photo Supplied

”I did really well and became the coach for the Australian team. I also represented Canada from 1985 until 1997 all over the world, flown everywhere from Brazil to Morrocco and Belgium where I’d compete on borrowed horses. It was a big deal to fly them then.”

Puissance 1985 Toronto Canada. Photo: Supplied

“In Morocco the princess – not how I’d envisaged a princess would be, organised a Horse Show and I fell off and was hurt badly, suffering a huge haematoma on my leg,” Alexa says. “She said, ‘You will ride tomorrow’. I said, ‘No! I will see the Canadian doctor, who drained and treated it, but it was all a fantastic experience.”

Alexa competing on the Princess’s horse that she got injured on in Morocco. Photo: Supplied

She also rode in the UK, France and South Africa, based in Europe for 10 years before selling up her children’s Riding School and heading to Australia. “I travelled and slept in a swag and next thing they said, ‘Congratulations! You’re the 1999 National Australian Sydney Olympics Showjumping Coach’,” Alexa says.

“I’d already said, ‘No’, four or five times.” A friend convinced her to do it, and she worked with the team for four years. “It was the best showjumping team result they’d had in years and the three-day eventing team, that I was part of the coaching crew for, won gold.”

Flying back from the Hawkes Bay Horse of the Year Show she met husband Roy on the flight – a non-horsey guy, originally from Katikati.

They sold their properties and bought a large sailboat which they lived on for four and a half years, doing long sailing trips, including Sydney to NZ in 2004.

The sailboat that Alexa and Roy lived and sailed in. Photo: Supplied

They’d settled in Kerikeri until three years ago when a biking trip to Central Otago’s Rail Trail saw them fall in love with this area’s beauty, moving south to Queensbury.

But Alexa’s not putting her feet up yet. Her next mission - to drum up new members for the Cromwell Radio Yacht Squadron.

Alexa competing in her new love of radio-controlled yacht racing in Central Otago. Photo: Supplied