Originally from Perth, Western Australia, Christine moved to Sydney in 1994 where she lives with husband Matthew and son William.

Christine was a non-travelling reserve for the 2002 Jerez World Equestrian Games and long listed for two Olympic Games, Atlanta and Sydney. She stopped competing at high level to start a family, however, a trip to the 2008 Olympic Games re-ignited her competitive streak: “I watched Australia win the silver medal” she says “I have grown up riding with Shane, Clayton, Megan and Sonja and that was the point when I said to myself that I had more to achieve. Although it has been a long hard road back, I feel more focussed and balanced than ever before”.

When they are not travelling to competitions, Christine and Matthew run Bates Equestrian Australia, a successful breaking–in, training, coaching and agistment business. Their days are long juggling family life with a busy competition schedule, training horses and coaching riders.