Island Life Magazine Ltd December 2010/January 2011 | Page 139

the rider

Island Life - December 2010

Photos: Gemma & Sandy warming up at Pompadour, France for FEI young riders 2010
hands. “I didn’t tell my trainer how big
he was at first!”
Sandy’s size could, she says, be a
problem, were it not for his wonderfully
generous nature. She admits he
is a little big for her, “but he’s so
good natured, and would never take
advantage of his size over mine.”
The peculiarity of dressage as a
discipline requires the horse to be
athletic as well as strong and powerful
from behind, she explains. “He’s long in
the body as well as being tall. Whereas
if he was a smaller horse it would be
easier to get the back connected to the
front! But we’ve really got to grips with
getting him sitting round through the
body, he’s going really well.”
The buzz of the competition is
everything, says Gemma, and as she
talks about that fine line between
adrenalin and stress you sense why she
is so adept at such a demanding sport.
“I get butterflies, but in a good way.
If you control the adrenalin, channel
it, the horse feels the buzz and it can
really liven things up and add more
expression and power to everything.
But if it’s more like stress he also picks
up on that. He’s thinking ‘what’s going
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