Tilda Carnegie’s international competition adventure in the UK
© Tilda Carnegie
By Tilda Carnegie
I’ll start of by introducing myself, my name is Matilda Carnegie but everyone calls me Tilda. I have a foot condition called macrodactyly, which is where the foot grows too big for functional use, so I have had five surgeries to rectify this, which has left half my foot missing. I also have a neurological condition called dystonia, where as a young child my muscles would involuntarily spasm into a back-arching position. Luckily with a lot of physical therapy I no longer have these spasms, however having dystonia has left me with a right-side weakness, reduced coordination and core-strength. Both these physical problems are why I am classified as a grade four para-equestrian. Alongside competing in para-equestrian events, I love to challenge myself in able-bodied shows competing up to Prix St George level. I am aiming to get selected on the Australian para-equestrian team for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic games with my mare, Devils Chocolate or Tilly as she is known to her friends.
Recently I have been incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to train and compete with some of the world’s best in England. My Tokyo campaign had gotten off to a bit of a rocky start due to a mixture of nerves and going through a stage where my improvement plateaued and I was unsure of how to get to the next level, something I am sure many riders can relate to. I needed something that would almost give me a new lease on my riding career and frankly a kick in the pants to push myself hard enough to get to the next stage, as if I’m being completely honest, as of then I had been coasting a bit. Due to this, a good friend of mine suggested that I should see if I can find a place overseas where I could borrow a horse to compete in a few international shows. Little did I know how truly incredible that adventure would be!
Stage one: Meet Bailey Dressage and Eric
I was lucky enough to train with the incredible Katie Bailey, who worked with Carl Hester for six years and is able to turn any sort of horse into a truly incredible dressage athlete. Upon arriving to the stables for the first time, I was greeted by two very friendly faces in Katie and her yard manager, Tom, which was a huge relief as I was a bit nervous about what to expect and knew all too well that a friendly atmosphere makes all the difference in the world. I was also in awe of how beautiful the facility was particularly with how horse friendly it was, as all the horses have their own paddocks and a good view of the outside world from their stables with lots of fresh air. It was so uplifting to see that each horse was a truly happy athlete with well-developed muscles and shiny coats. During my time there, I realised the key to having horses in such great condition is having a really holistic feed program, where an array of different types of feed and ample hay is available and tailored to suit each individual horse. It’s a bit like us riders, the better fuel we put into our bodies the better we can perform, a no brainer.
Tilda Carnegie’s international competition adventure in the UK
© Tilda Carnegie
Ok so now it was time to meet the steed, who would be taking me on my first overseas adventure. His name was Elinda or Eric as he is known to his friends, who was a 10 year old 16.2hh dark brown British Warmblood, owned by the lovely Wala Ghandour. My first impressions of him was that he was a bit quirky, had his own opinions about life but also incredibly sweet, he reminded me so much of a horse I recently sold and still miss every day! I made sure to bribe him with lots of treats to ensure he was on my side before the first ride.
I enjoy riding new horses and a big part of why I love riding is figuring out the personalities of each horse. My hearing impairment means that I often have to rely on non-verbal cues, such as facial expressions and body language to read the situation. These skills have transferred across to my riding and I find that I can get a very good read on a horse and their personality and gain a pretty good idea what to expect when on them for the first time. However I am always a bit apprehensive about riding a horse for the first time, as I never know how they will react to my physical issues. My balance issues means that I need someone to hold my horse still when I’m getting on, otherwise I lose my balance and fall down on their backs, which is something I really hate doing. I often don’t have the best awareness of where my legs are, so I often accidently ask horses for a change when I didn’t need one. Due to my asymmetry, my hips are also at a diagonal angle rather than a straight angle, which is why I always sit crooked. So all in all, it’s a lot for the horse to adjust to. I needn’t have worried, as dear old Eric took everything in his stride!
His way of going complimented my physical issues as he was weaker to the left, so I could help him out with my good side. But his stronger side was to the right, so luckily he could help me out in that regard! His paces where also very easy and comfortable to sit to and he just felt like a nice person.
A lesson with Charlotte Dujardin
Katie and I began to discuss the training we were going to do in the lead up to Hartpury and Uberhernn. This conversation went on for a few minutes and then Katie said, “On Wednesday we will be taking the horses off to have a lesson with Charlotte, I was thinking that I could warm him up and then you can have the rest of the lesson with Charlotte.” I needed a moment for it to sink in, and in my head I was thinking “Oh my god, like the actual Charlotte Dujardin!” Sensing my moment of silence and the look on my face, Katie said “yeah, it is what you think it is,” and I responded “Charlotte could be teaching riders who are a 100x more adequate than I am, but I will never say no to such an incredible opportunity!”
The much-awaited Wednesday came, the night before I couldn’t sleep I was so excited! We loaded up the horses and off we went to Summerhouse Equestrian, where Charlotte was teaching for the day. As we arrived, I saw Charlotte get out of her car with her four dogs jumping out… I was literally star-struck, thinking “This is ACTUALLY her!” Those that know me would know I am never like this… but I have idolized Charlotte and Carl since I was 14 (not quite that young these days!) and watching the way they won gold inspired me to take up dressage in the first place.
Now it was down to business… the first lesson of the day was Katie and the gorgeous Boccelli. Katie has done a brilliant job with him, having trained and competed him internationally at small tour with much success, with him training all the Grand Prix work. It was amazing hearing Charlotte teach, her training is methodical, fair to the horses and easy to understand, with tangible solutions to any training problem that might arise. But what people also have said about her being disciplined, tough and picky for every detail to be true… which is no surprise as lets face it, everyone wants to win gold and something that everyone wants is guaranteed to never be easy. However more often than not her criticisms are so witty, that all you can do is try not to laugh, and instead focus on making the needed corrections.
Tilda Carnegie’s international competition adventure in the UK
© Tilda Carnegie
Next it was Eric and my turn with Charlotte, the lesson started off with Katie warming him up and making sure he was tuned up for me. Before I hoped on, I was thinking over and over “Oh my god, I am definitely not good enough for this!” As instructed, I started off with a serpentine or at least that was my intention but the shape turned out to be very odd. So Charlotte was like “what on earth was that disgusting shape you rode, I thought you were doing a serpentine!” Running inside my head was “Oh dear! Come on Tilda get it together and make the most of this lesson,” and I sat up straight, determined to ride the best I could. We went through many of the test lines from my grade four para tests and she made a lot of great corrections in terms of the technical aspects of how to ride and present the movements. She would always highlight what the judges would look for in each movement, for example the medium canter on a 20m circle she said that the judges were focused on clear transitions within the paces. There are also walk pirouettes in my tests, something that I unfortunately always seem to bodge, so we worked on those. One of the main issues is that I would never prepare proper for them either having my horse’s neck, rather than body, simply bent or not even bend them at all and Charlotte picked up on this. So whenever I would go into my walk pirouettes without having the horse flexed correctly, she would say “guess what?” to remind me of what to do! Overall, I thought Charlotte was a truly amazing coach from the one lesson, who expected the best from her riders and was encouraging of what they can do. A massive shout out to Eric for making me look somewhat adequate in front of Charlotte and at the time I gave him plenty of treats for being such a superstar.
A visit to Carl Hester’s yard and meeting Valegro
A couple of days later, Katie went to Carl Hester’s yard to have a few more lessons with Charlotte and was kind enough to let me tag along. In this moment, I felt like “Oh my god, all my Christmases have all come at once!” On the drive up I very cheekily asked if I would be allowed to meet Valegro and Katie’s yard manager, Tom, very jokingly said “Yes, you can but you have to bow when you meet him!”
Carl Hester’s yard was simply stunning and to see it in real life was absolutely amazing. Like any aspiring dressage rider, I had spent years avidly following (ok maybe facebook stalking) the careers of Carl and Charlotte and looking at all the photos of all their training. So to be at the place where all the magic happens in real life was literally a dream come true. I saw all of Carl’s famous chickens and peacock frolicking around, living the dream, the place is heaven for all animals!
Tilda Carnegie’s international competition adventure in the UK
© Tilda Carnegie
The stables are separate from the arena and all the horses have a lovely view to watch the world go by. There were also ample paddocks for all the horses to enjoy turnout. It was amazing to see how happy, relaxed and content the horses were, it’s not often normal when they are such high performing athletes. However what I would really come to learn in my time over here is that horses cannot perform at their best if their welfare and happiness isn’t prioritized. This is something I have always believed and done my best to strive towards but it was great to see it with my own eyes during my time in the UK.
Tilda Carnegie’s international competition adventure in the UK
© Tilda Carnegie
Then came the time for me to meet the two dressage super stars, Valegro and Utopia. They both literally took my breath away and they both had the presence of knowing they had done well in the world. Valegro was super sweet and allowed me to give him a quick snuggle over the stable door, he is probably used to mere mortals such as myself being lost for words when meeting him! What was more amazing was watching Charlotte teach her lessons while riding him around bareback, their connection was something truly inspiring to see. What a huge thrill!
Stay tuned for part two!
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