Chasing the Dream with Georgie Batten

This article is from the October 2019 Horse Deals magazine.

Where have you been based overseas and how did the opportunity arise? Earlier this year I worked for Harry Meade in Wiltshire, England and am now based in Virginia USA and will soon be moving to Florida for the winter with Will Coleman.

I have wanted to ride overseas since I was eight years old. When I was in my final year of school I decided I wanted to get a job in the United Kingdom, with Harry Meade, so I emailed him with my resume. The USA was much the same, after speaking to some people who had been on the team for the United States Olympic Team I decided I wanted to work for Will Coleman.

Describe a day’s work. Starting at 7am, we turn horses in and out and feed the horses, then muck out their stalls and tidy the yard. Will or Harry usually arrive mid-morning and we begin schooling horses, aiming to be done by lunchtime for lunch feed, followed by afternoon chores - mucking out, tidying up, laundry, carting hay, it never ends! - and finish with turnout and dinner. We aim to be done by 4-5pm and then return to the yard for ‘lates’ check and feed at 8pm. There isn’t a lunch break but we are usually so busy we don’t have time to stop! We work six days a week and travel to competitions most weekends.

How does the equestrian scene differ to Australia? In so many ways! Most horses are stabled all year round and including during the day, and are usually turned out for a couple of hours in the morning. Most horses are ridden every day and we do a lot of hacking and walking before and after work as a result of this. The horses overseas are also a very different ‘type of horse’ with a lot of Irish bloodlines (Irish Sport Horses) and very few full Thoroughbreds. There are more competitions and they generally have a lot more entries with hundreds of spectators, even for smaller shows. In both continents, there are certainly more professional riders and therefore more top-level horses and riders, which, combined with a lot of owners and major sponsors, makes even the smaller events feel much bigger and more professional.

Was the reality of your new job different to your expectations and if so how? It is not too different to what I was expecting, but it was a shock coming from a part-time job and school into full-time work and moving to work on the other side of the world at 18. It is hard work, the days are long. I have just come back from a show where we worked 14-16 hour days for five days in a row. There is also a strong sense of community, especially in the USA. People help each other out, your teammates are your support crew, everyone has their good and bad days. The horses are also the number one priority and the level of care and the number of treatments and precautions taken to keep the horses feeling 110% is well beyond what I had imagined. You definitely don’t do this job for the money but it is so rewarding when the horses you have put all your time and effort into perform well and you know you’ve been a part of that success.

Did you make any mistakes while learning the ropes? A lot! In the beginning, I was constantly forgetting to do things, and learning all the horses and their personalities takes a long time. Everybody makes mistakes and being ‘the new person’ on the yard can be frustrating for everyone, but as long as you ask questions if you are unsure, and keep busy, it generally doesn’t take long to learn the ropes. The more experience you have with high-level competition horses, the easier it becomes, but everyone has to start somewhere.

What will you change about your riding and management back home? My knowledge of training and caring for top-level horses has improved out of sight. My management of soundness through both preventing lameness and treating it, as well as how to check for signs of issues earlier, have been the most significant thing I have learnt. Being in the stable blocks at Badminton Horse Trials and watching how the horses are treated and knowing how well they must be looked after to get to that level was incredible. I feel that when I return home I will be able to give my horses a much more professional lifestyle.

My riding has also improved, learning how to get the horses going more correctly and improving my own position and riding style. I have also learnt a lot about how to get a horse fit properly, and that you are always schooling your horse, so be specific in what you are asking of the horse and make the training perfect so they understand and enjoy their job properly.

How has the experience changed you as a person and as a rider? The biggest change has been improving my attention to detail. After just one week I knew every lump and bump on every horse and which horses need what treatments, as we are always checking all over that they’re looking and feeling their best. My work ethic has also improved, I used to dread mucking out two stables at home, now it’s ten stables a day or more and you don’t think twice about it! Both Will and Harry are very particular about the way things are done and there are a lot of jobs that seem so ridiculous at first, but now I wonder how I never did it at home. Travelling with horses has also given me a wealth of experience and I have seen so many new things being done in many different ways which have helped me grow as both a person and a rider.

What are three things you’ve learnt in your time abroad so far?
• How to muck out ten stalls in under an hour!
• Working with horses in the snow is not as fun as it looks.
• Pay attention to detail and don’t cut any corners, because you get out what you put in when caring for your horse. Working hard and staying positive when the going gets tough will get you much further in the long run.

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