After success on the racetrack, retired horse trainer Leeane Poulson is aiming to become a world champion on the bowling green this week. And she tells Suzanne McFadden the intense pressure of her two sporting loves isn’t dissimilar.
If there’s anything Leeane Poulson has learned from a lifetime of training racehorses, it’s not being scared of hard work.
From the time she left high school to just a few years ago, Poulson (now 63) would rise at 4.15am every morning to work all day with her stable of thoroughbred horses, sometimes 15 at a time.
But nine years ago, she picked up lawn bowls – and she’s galloped to the top of the world, winning silver and bronze at last year’s world championships.
This week, national champion Poulson is New Zealand’s sole female bowler contesting the world champion of champions singles, with the home green advantage of playing in Auckland.
And the BlackJack has put in the hard yards to get there – a hangover she says from her horse training days.
This article was first published by LockerRoom and is published here with permission.