When I was younger, I wasn't one of those kids that were absolutely pony crazy who wore their purple jodphurs as accepted everyday wear. It was never my 'thing', my sister started doing it before me and I was always the one sitting in the car whilst she had her riding lessons after school. I'm not sure what exactly was my 'thing'... though I do remember that mud, bushwalks, and playstation played a prominent role in my childhood whilst my sister was off doing horseshows.
I was "The World's Best Trotter" for a long time!
Nevertheless, my mum started to teach me to ride once my sister got her first pony, Anna, when I was six. I was "the world's best trotter" for about two years. Once my sister got serious and started competing, my parents also decided that they liked the rural lifestyle as opposed to suburbia and driving out to a livery yard every day (I know how they feel now!!) so we got a property. The horses were turning into a family thing that brought us together, so I ended up getting a pony too to complete the picture.
Regarding myself as the most uncompetitive person possible back then, it's actually surprising how much I competed. My sister and I were regulars on the show scene and we were successful at countless agricultural and state shows, occasionally making it to a national show. I think I went to pony club twice, and that was it. Barrel racing and the thing you do where you put the flag in the pole was never my thing.
I was a leading rein superstar... No way was I coming off
that lead!!
My sister and I also danced, though. The turn of events came around when my sister, at fifteen and going through her year 10 exams, decided that she didn't have time to do both, and as dancing took up less time than horses she chose to stick with dancing. Sure, it was a disastrous decision as my sister has the most natural talent on a horse I have ever seen... I am still extremely green with envy of her ability, but don't tell her that ;)
'Legacy' the cheeky monster...
I was twelve at this time, and it was now my responsibility to ride her pony. This pony was the one and only Rathowen Rustic, or "Vinnie" - the pony that sent me on a whirlwind to where I am today. Vinnie, who we still own today, has an unbelievable ability for dressage with huge trainability and a very smart mind. Once I got going on him and started having dressage lessons with Roger Fitzhardinghe, there was no going back.I had three ponies I could ride and compete (Vinnie, Kyle and Legacy) so was kept busy. Suddenly, it was like the switch was flicked, and I had the bug. While it was a common story that once the high school years hit, the horses went out the window and a social life walked through the door, that was definitely not the case for me. Call it unhealthy if you like, but I could happily give up a movie date or shopping trip to go for a lesson or a competition. I hated sleepovers because I couldn't get up in the morning and ride. I would always make people come to my house so I could wake up at the crack of dawn, do the horses, then come back in to the house to find my friends still sleeping at 9-10am. In a way it was an obsession, something that consumed my life. But I view that positively, as it set me up for the hard work and dedication that all successful horse people must possess. From those years of waking up at 5am, writing a part of an essay, doing the horses and riding, going to school all day, coming home to ride and do the horses again, then homework until bedtime, I learnt an unbelievable amount of good work ethic. So things ended up only getting easier from there!
Me and Vinnie's biggest win... Winner of the Senior Ridden
Challenge at the National Capital Horse Show, in a class of
57 horses!
So from all this, its really no surprise why I made the huge decision to move to England at just 16. I experienced the european dressage scene for the first time when I was 13 on a Young Rider tour (read the blog here!), where I witnessed the European Young Rider Championships and my dream was sparked. I wanted to ride like those riders, some of them were only a couple of years older than me but wow could they ride. I just though that if they could do it, then I could do it. I went back to Germany when I was 14 to do my Little Bronze Medallion (read that blog here!), spent the summer of 2009 in the UK when I was 15 (missing a whole term of school in my GCSE year!) to see if I liked living in England, and then set off for good in November 2009 to live on the other side of the world to sunny Sydney. That is when this blog started, and isn't showing signs of ending!
Back when I was a pony rider!
As I was away from school a lot, I ended up being different from my friends. It didn't affect me much, but I was always occupied by different things in life. Some resented me for it (specially when I went away), some acted like I never left and nothing significant was happening, and some really cared and were interested to know what it was like in Europe and England. Most people just didn't care though, which did make it quite easy to leave as sad as that sounds. If anything it was a shock to my family. I had been talking about moving for ages, looking at courses that Hartpury offered in equine, looking at trainers and colleges, but I don't think my dad or sister realised what was happening until the day I actually left. I was too young to move out of home that's for sure, but that's another sacrafice that is made for a dream. I am just extremely lucky to still have my family right behind me 110%, even from the other side of the world. That element of my life makes things a lot easier, and made the 'big move' generally quite smooth. For that, I am absolutely forever grateful.
Old days of Xmas back home in Australia
