She started her career as a driver in 1978 with a team of Shetland Ponies. In 1983 she put together a team of colourful “British Spotted Ponies”. With these she became well known worldwide and won everything which could be won with a team of ponies without a break. She became British Champion 6 times and won many international competitions between 1980 and 1990.

In 1990 she started driving Trakehner horses, encouraged and supported by friends, particularly by Walter Lorch who was the owner of the Muchamp Trakehner Stud, situated near Windsor.

She drives the only Trakehner team in the world on a high international level and won, as the first woman in the world, an international four-in-hand-competition in Saumur (France) in 1995.

Karen Bassett was the first woman in British driving history to win the four-in-hand National Championships in 1995.

Karen Bassett has represented Great Britain at 6 World-Championships and won a bronze medal with the British team in 1996 at Waregem (Belgium).

In 1997 she achieved the 5th place as the first woman in the world at the FEI “Top Driver Award“

After ’95 and ’96 she won with her Trakehner team the British championship for the third time in 1998 and got the qualification to go to the world championship in Rome with the British team.

She took part in the WM 2000 at Wolfsburg (Germany) as well as in the WM in Jerez (Spain).

In 2004 Karen Bassett had won all three British qualifying competitions for the World Championships in Hungary. She also reached a creditable 6th place at the difficult International German Derby in Team Driving at Riesenbeck (Germany) one again as the only woman in the competition.

Karen was part of the British team which went to the 2004 World Championships at Kesckemet (Hungary). Out of 52 competitors, she achieved an excellent 13th place in the individual results and filled the Hungarian hosts with enthusiasm because of her greatd performance.

For her excellent and successful team driving she received a special prize of honour as the female world record holder in four-in-hand-driving and for the best female team driver of the world from the Hungarian Minister of Agriculture during the final ceremony at the WM 2004 in Kecskemet.

In September 2004 Karen Bassett won for the 4th time the British National Championships for team drivers.

Karen lives together with her Trakehner horses near Nottingham. She finances her sport on her own to a large extent, with driver and horse training, instruction and courses.

She is also sponsored by:
Musto Performance Clothing
Trakehner Stud “Muchamp Stud”
Balanced Horse Food Comp.
Fam. Dres. Zogbaum, (GER), breeder and driver of Trakehner Horses
Fam. Swallow (GB) and naturally her whole family.

P.S. Her younger sister, Pippa Bassett, who is a master saddler and who has much experience of driving teams for many years, started her comeback with a new team in Britain.

Maybe we will see both Bassett ladies at the World championship in Aachen in 2006.