Equestrian Life - EQ Life September magazine: Lyndal Oatley on riding the curves

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Lyndal Oatley on riding the curves

By Roger Fitzhardinge

Lyndal Oatley is no stranger to major championships, having competed at two Olympic Games and a World Equestrian Games prior to the 2022 FEI World Championships in Herning. No matter the level, dressage has a knack for producing curve balls and as Lyndal explains, you never know when the next one may present itself.

At Herning, Lyndal and Eros produced a fantastic Grand Prix test for the Australian team, scoring 72.189% for 25th place – not only helping the Aussies to secure a start at the Paris Olympics, but also qualifying the pair for the Grand Prix Special. Unfortunately, their World Championship rollercoaster took a downward turn following the highs reached on day one, and they were belled out in the final stages of the Special. Anyone involved with horses knows there are inevitable ups and downs, but as Lyndal explains to Roger Fitzhardinge, at the end of the day the main thing is that our equine partners are happy and healthy. Once that’s established, it’s a matter of figuring out how to grow from the experience and look ahead to the future.

ROGER: What were your thoughts when you were selected on the Australian team?

LYNDAL: When I heard I’d made the team, my feeling was ‘let's go!’ I feel like it takes forever to get to a championship once you're being told you're on the team. I was really excited. I thought it was such a fresh, exciting team with some new blood coming in, and I thought it would be a really solid team that could achieve the results that we needed to get us to Paris. I knew my teammates on and off the horse, and I thought that we would have a good time and really bond. And we did that...