I had the pleasure of visiting one of Britons top Dressage Riders at his beautiful property in East Sussex, GBR, yesterday.
Having been based in Belgium, close to the heart of Dressage in Europe, for the past 6 years, Wayne and his lovely wife, Debra, decided to make the move back to England a year ago with their two gorgeous children.
Their property is magnificent, bordered by the beautiful Sheffield Forrest, rolling landscape and stunning, characteristic buildings, now mixing with modern stables and yards, a custom build outdoor arena, and soon to be built indoor arena.
I have had the opportunity to visit our NZL riders yards throughout the season and get an insight into their “behind-the-event” reality of everyday life, and it is just the icing on the cake being able to visit other international superstars – this is where it all happens – the training, the schedules and the commitment, not just to their competition horses, but to their promising youngsters, the ones being schooled for others, and to their past champions who are starting on their quieter years, but are still so integral to the development and training of younger riders.
Wayne has represented Great Britain since 1995, including the World Equestrian Games in Aachen in 2006 and from what I saw through my lens – he has some stunning combinations that show incredible promise to set the Dressage world on FIRE!
I am lucky to have been introduced to Wayne by a mutual friend (Lance Haysom – you gorgeous man!) and actually met him for the first time at the Dressage at Hickstead competition in July where he was commentating during the Grand Prix Specials, and due to busy schedules, it has taken another two months to finally get the chance to visit!
I personally find Dressage the most powerful discipline of equestrian. The contained energy is palpable and I do find myself holding my breath when watching these incredible combinations – I have to give myself a little pinch to get my mind back on what I do, and that is try to capture the partnership between horse and rider – the energy, elegance, rhythm and balance through my gorgeous Canon Lens’s!
I am lucky to have met some of the Worlds’ Top Riders during my stay here in the UK & Europe, and Wayne may be unaware of how much his influence has rubbed off on how I go about attempting to capture the essence of dressage. From a few specific suggestions, I have found some dramatic changes in my view through my lens and although I have a lot more experience to gather, his help, describing things from his point of view, and transferring this to my view through my lens, has been invaluable – and yes, I will definitely be visiting him again to gather more insight.
Wayne and Debra – thank you for a fabulous morning yesterday – and I look forward to taking you up on that dinner offer very soon!!!!
