By Amanda Ross

 

Yesterday was a weird day. You may or may not have noticed that my Ranga’s haven’t been out competing in the last six months. On Tuesday, I said goodbye, loaded them into a transporter, off to quarantine for a month, to then be flown to their new homes in the UK. This is the first time in 32 years I’ve not owned a horse. OMG Willy and Forest are gone!

 

 

Once upon a time, spending everything I had on the greatest cause of all (competing at the Olympics) was a complete no-brainer. There were no holidays (unless it was an event venue and you were actually competing); no spare cash (because there is always something you need for the horses), no fuel-efficient zippy sporty car (must tow a float and fit horse stuff in the back); no clean shaped nails and vast wardrobe (unless you mean breeches and RL polo’s in every colour), and no investment properties for the future. Which is fine if you’re happy doing it, and I have been for a very long time!

 

 

However, one day, as I sat doing a budget for the current financial year, it suddenly dawned on me… the numbers just wouldn’t add up… there was no way I could afford to keep running the two horses at 3* level on my own. I could ask for more sponsorship, but it needed to be cash. In order to afford the entries, travel and upkeep, I had to rely on friends and family to help prepare for and groom at events, whilst I whizzed around like a mad thing teaching to earn enough income. In order to compete at this level, I needed to find six+ hours a day to diligently school the horses, take them XC training in the float weekly, muck out their stables and afford shavings, wash their rugs/saddlecloths, order and make up feeds, feed and rug each morning and tend to their ailments. Then rush off and teach at various arenas around the M.Pen (I don’t have my own venue to teach/work from), which becomes really tricky to make enough income during winter without lights or an indoor. Rain cancels lessons, ruins XC schooling, and you lose three hours work time without daylight savings. Add in taking Friday - Sunday off to compete (no income here) each fortnight. This isn’t news to anyone who’s been in the industry for a while… but eventually, you need to stop, reassess, listen to reason, and calculate whether the road you’re on is in fact, the best one. The turning point came when I realised I was never going to have my own property or financial stability, if I spent every cent, every minute of time and every bead of sweat, trying to produce the next Olympic star. Having ridden at the Sydney Olympics at the relatively young age of 26, I was well and truly focussed in the zone, and hell-bent on going to another Games and doing a better job (i.e. not falling off!). But, as much as I love elite competition, it is such a high risk sport with no guarantee of achieving your goals. Shane Rose is an excellent example of this, missing out on the 2012 Olympics due to a lame horse, and very nearly again at the 2014 WEG – if he hadn’t a second horse, he would’ve missed out again, and he’s one of our most successful, consistent team riders. The option of ending up at 65 years old, still coaching for an income, without any savings, even if I did win a medal, just scares the living daylights out of me! Medals don’t pay your mortgage, and you are the flavour of the moment until the next hero takes the podium. So, after much deliberation, along with the support of the Ranga’s other half owner Michelle Clough, we made the incredibly difficult decision to put the horses on the market.

 

 

However, at 40 years old, I am well and truly not done yet! We are fortunate in that, like a good bottle of red, equestrian is a sport where riders get better with age! I have been to the UK, NZ, Rome, flown in cargo planes above Dutch windmills, made amazing friends, have a truck license, seen incredible places, learnt to be both humble and doggedly determined, been successful and crashed and burned, learnt how to coach horses and riders of all mindsets and abilities… and I would do it all again, given the chance. So, my plan is this – by selling the horses, I will have three things – some money in the bank, more time to offer to other ventures, and the brain space to think about these. The aim is to have my own property on the Mornington Peninsula, somewhere I can work with horses, but not necessarily huge acreage – you only need a decent arena your my office (and maybe a gym…!). I’m not going to sit back and hope to a) win tattslotto, b) find a rich benefactor ready to die and leave me their portfolio, c) expect someone else to support my lifestyle! With these three things, I can kickstart business, generate an income that doesn’t rely on me being there 24/7, and create a stable future (pardon the pun).

 

Let’s look at another career path for example. Say you had 20 years experience as a high-end architect or Doctor. You’d put in just as many hours, hard work and study, yet you’d be driving a Porsche and own a townhouse overlooking the water (or insert your car/home of choice lol!). This season, after taking a step back and looking from another angle, I realised for the first time, that elite equestrian ventures take up so much time, every resource you have, and basically dictate the entirety of your life, that is it extremely difficult to make much money from it. I thought I was just bad with money – now I realise its because there wasn’t any extra to be intelligent with! This may sound like a complete turnoff for anyone who has Olympic aspirations, but don’t get me wrong – give me a chance and I’m back on the Olympic trail and in for the kill! But, you need to remember to create a sustainable future to support our beloved sport! We are so lucky to have the chance to be outdoors, active, work with beautiful animals, learn to care for something that relays on us, develop sportsmanship, have a wonderful lifestyle… yadda yadda yadda. But, if you can’t ride, if suddenly your life changes and it’s only ever been about horses, what are you left with? Who are you when you take off your riding boots? Have you experienced life away from the stable? Are there other things you have missed out on, because you’ve never allowed yourself a day away from your Olympic dream, as this might mean you’ll slip behind your competitors? And, would you actually enjoy these other activities (dare I say it) more than riding?!

 

 

Equestrian success follows a certain pathway. There’s a saying, “a horse sees no difference between a Prince or a peasant”, which basically translates to ‘do your apprenticeship’! You must put in the hard yards, you will not fast track your ability just by buying an expensive horse, and you must learn all the hard lessons to fully understand all that needs to be learnt. But then it comes down to working smarter. We need to look outside the traditional equestrian market, and look at how other sports and businesses operate. For me, I love to teach, but I can’t reach everyone on a face to face basis, neither could I afford tonnes of lessons. So I’d like to create online education thats affordable to everyone. This also goes for fitness education for riders, something I’m so passionate about and will continue to drum into/haunt everyone with! Working with Flexible Fit and creating my own range of tack has been something I’ve wanted to do forever, and comes from the vast array of tack I’ve accumulated, and the understanding how each piece works – this happens a lot when you’re small and ride big, strong horses! Blogging and social media is a great way to communicate, and as an extroverted coach personality, it compliments what I already do on a daily basis as a trainer. Producing nice horses that aren’t necessarily going to be 4* heroes, but are well schooled, with good temperaments, attractive, and make someone a fabulous competition partner, is something I’d love to do. Previously if I sold something, it came with the ‘why are you selling it/whats wrong with it?’ tag. Seeing clients learn on trainable, genuine horses, means they can enjoy the sport just as I have. Combine a love of design, nice things, the need to do many things on a budget, a love of nice horses, a curiosity for the biomechanics behind the body in sport… you can fill in your own list of interests and make them work for you!

 

And lastly, as David Green once said to me, “Amanda, you only need one good horse to win a gold”. I would put all my riding effort into this one good horse (rather than flog myself to death with 20 half-baked ones!), and then happily run business to support a well rounded lifestyle. So may I please order that 15.3-16.1h dark brown gelding, with the super temperament, to go collect that Olympic gold (wearing my Flexi-fit designed bridle and breastplate, with a super fit rider, both on fitness programs, and tweeting about the experience afterwards… lol!)

 

Do what makes you happy, do it smart and with all your heart.

 

 

PS. Thanks Willy and Forest for all the fun and success – you guys are such characters! I will miss you guys, and you’d both better show your new riders how amazing you are… I’ll be watching you both with pride! Good luck my Ranga buddies xxxx