[1][2] She was born and grew up in Kaikohe, in the North Island of New Zealand, and began showjumping when she was about 15 years old.
[1][3] McIntosh moved to Europe when she was 17 years old and worked as a stablehand for Thomas Fuchs, Marcus Mändli and then in Germany with Lüthi Orschel.
In 1998 she signed a contract with Orschel which included adopting dual New Zealand-Bulgarian citizenship, and began riding for Bulgaria.
She spent three years based in Cambridge and built up her own sports horse stable, ran a team of showjumpers and became involved in coaching.
[5] In 2014 she was appointed as an advisor to the board of Equestrian Sport New Zealand, and the following year she returned to Europe, to the stables of Joelle Cairaschi-Dagut in La Teste de Buch, France.