Young Rider: Lindsey Ware

This article is from the September 2020 Horse Deals magazine.

Age: 18.

Lives: Malvern, Victoria. Rides on the Mornington Peninsula.

Education/occupation: Currently a student in Year 12.

How would you best describe yourself? I would say I’m an approachable person who loves to meet and surround myself with new people. I also believe I try my best to be hardworking, spending most of my time improving my riding skills in order to obtain goals I have set.

My family is partly horsey. My mum owned a horse from a young age and rode for years down at Tooradin Estate. My dad does not ride at all, however on his side of the family, his sister (and her immediate family) assists in the breeding and sales of racehorses in the Hunter Valley region of NSW.

What age did you start riding? I started having regular lessons from age five.
I was taken down to Tooradin Estate by my mum and went on a trail ride. From then on I started having lessons on the Mornington Peninsula and doing holiday camps at Christmas Hills.

Tell us about your first pony. My first pony’s name is Elmo. He is an Australian Riding Pony, standing at around 14.2hh. Before we bought him, he did a lot of showing, however he became an eventer with us, training up to around grade 2 pony club from memory. He is now happily retired at Tooradin Estate and is turning 21 this year!

What was your first competition and how did it go? I can’t quite remember my first competition, however I believe it may have been a showjumping competition in Cranbourne. Elmo and I got eliminated in both rounds because he refused too many times (I eventually learnt how to ride him through this though!). 

Why dressage? I have always had a desire to learn high level dressage movements.
I absolutely love the training involved and watching a partnership between horse and rider flourish. However, my love for dressage really grew when I purchased a horse that was terrified of jumping. Because I was limited in what I could train on him, I only ended up focusing on dressage. From then on, I decided to pursue dressage, which included me purchasing my first dressage horse (Let’s Jazzaround, or Azzie as he is more commonly known as).

What was the horse that kicked off your higher-level dressage career? Tell us about them. I would say that Azzie was the horse that really brought me up the levels. He took me all the way from Novice level to Prix st Georges. Let’s Jazzaround (Azzie) is a 19-year-old WB x Stock Horse. He’s got a great personality, and he really taught me to ride well. Although his paces aren’t great, he really enabled me to learn a lot of the high level dressage movements. I definitely wouldn’t be where I am right now without him.

How did Aristede come into your life and how has your partnership been going? We had been looking for a horse to bring me up the levels further and be competitive for a year. We had tried many horses, all of which we heard about through word of mouth. I was on Facebook one night and saw somebody shared a Horse Deals advertisement. That ad was for Aristede (aka Astro). I remember being so shocked that one of my favourite Grand Prix horses was for sale. I messaged his owner Shannan that night and arranged to try him at the Australian Dressage Championships in October 2018. He was beautiful to ride that day, and was listening to everything I was asking (something which does not often happen when riding a horse for the first time!). About a month later he came to me. I cannot thank Shannan enough for her kindness and her incredible training of Aristede. 

Our partnership since then has been going amazingly! He has taught me so much and has really enabled me to fine tune my riding skills.

What have you enjoyed about training the Grand Prix movements? I have absolutely loved learning the biomechanics and complexities involved with the higher level movements. Not only that, but improving these Grand Prix movements and piecing them together like they would in a freestyle or regular test I find very rewarding and interesting. I especially love going to look at older videos to see how specific movements like my Passage and Piaffe have improved with training - it really makes my learning of the discipline so much more rewarding.

What are some of the highlights of your success? Aristede has enabled me to have many successes, all of which I am very grateful for. One real highlight for me would be winning the U25 Grand Prix Championship at the Australian Dressage Championships 2019. Another success I am incredibly proud of was early in our career together, we competed at the PSI Dressage and Jumping with the Stars in the Prix st Georges Cup. In the PSG test, we scored over 71% and came third to the amazingly talented Jayden Brown and Brett Parbery. For the Inter 1 freestyle the next day we scored around 72% and came second behind Brett Parbery. That competition was definitely one of my favourites, and placing next to some of Australia’s best riders is something I’ll never forget. 

One final success I’ve had with Aristede was winning the Grand Prix and the Freestyle for the Victorian Dressage Festival in 2019. It was our first Grand Prix that was not Under 25, so winning it was so amazing, especially against some of Australia’s great riders!

How have you achieved such consistent test scores? I believe that consistency in training with Aristede has enabled my test scores to be extremely consistent. He is a very sensible horse in the arena and I make sure to not throw a single mark away. He loves what he does (especially competing) so that definitely makes it much easier to achieve scores which I am both happy with and that are consistent. 
Congratulations on being selected for the U25 Grand Prix National Recognition Squad. What does being on the squad mean to you? Thank you very much! I am incredibly grateful for EA to have selected me onto the Recognition Squad, along with some truly amazing riders. Personally, I believe the squad is a great way to recognise the successes of riders in our country, so to receive this recognition is extremely rewarding.

What has been the most challenging aspect of riding at a higher level from a young age? Something which I know many other high level young riders face is something called ‘tall poppy syndrome.’ Many people know exactly what it is and have faced it before. Bringing young riders down for their success is incredibly damaging to our sport. We must be supporting young riders simply because they are the future of our sport. I’ve seen many riders on social media call out high level young riders for their success in a very negative way. What they don’t realise is that many, many young riders that ride at a high level dedicate their life to this sport and work incredibly hard. I know so many young riders that are called ‘selfish’ ‘ungrateful’ amongst other things online for their success in their sport. That is probably the most challenging aspect. However, there are still many older riders that support young riders in their success and what they do, who are in turn really benefiting the future of our sport.

How do you manage the highs and lows of the sport? 
In this sport, lows are inevitable. When you experience them, it’s important to reflect back on your progress and know that most of the time, the lows are temporary, and things will improve. As many like to say ‘ride the highs,’ and don’t take them for granted. They are a reflection of your hard work. 

How many horses do you have in work? As I am in year 12, Astro (Aristede) is my only horse in work. However, I have previously campaigned horses for people, and plan to do so when I finish school, as well as expanding my own team of horses to bring up the levels.

Share a typical day in your life. Most days involve me going to school and returning home. However, on Thursday nights and weekends I am dedicated to riding (during school weeks). Every Saturday I leave my house at 9 to drive an hour down to Boneo for a lesson which I have every week. On Sunday I usually wake up early, drive the hour to ride, then coach. Once I am finished with school I will be able to spend much more time with the horses.

Who’s your idol? One of my idols in riding is Cathrine Dufour. I really relate to her and look up to her incredible success at such a young age. I would love to follow her in a similar riding career.

Who is your coach and what are their best words of advice for you? My coach is Georgia Haythorpe. She is such an incredible person, and has taken me from Preliminary level through to Grand Prix. Although I cannot think of any notable words of advice, her coaching style I have found is absolutely incredible and effective. She really adjusts how she teaches with each horse, and makes sure she does not push a particular horse past their limits.

With competition on hold, what have you been working on? We have been continuing our training as usual. I’m really trying to fine tune some specific movements in order to lift our scores a bit. I am also working on a new freestyle, which I am yet to ride through fully, however I’ve been very happy with the parts I have ridden through.

What are your future plans? My future plans after school are to continue to ride at a high level, while simultaneously building a team of younger horses which I can bring through the levels. I would also love to campaign other people’s horses, and also bring them up through the EA and FEI levels.

What do you like to do outside of horses? My life is horses, so I don’t do very much else! I used to ski competitively, however I haven’t skied in a couple years unfortunately, mostly due to horses. 

Can’t live without? My horses! They are so important to me, and really help me to get through school. I really believe that having another focus apart from school is so important, especially in learning how to balance activities, but also to reduce
my stress.

What is your tip for young riders with dressage dreams? Don’t ever give up! Achieving your goals can take various times. There’s not a set time in which you should be at any particular level. Surround yourself with people who believe in you, and also do not be afraid to reach out to people you admire for advice. 

3 things we don’t know about Lindsey Ware? 
1. I’m actually allergic to horses! (Although I’m very used to putting up with the symptoms).
2. I’m a big social media user. My instagram is @lware.dressage which is where you can find all my horsey updates, videos and photos
3. I am always happy to talk to and help anybody! I love meeting new people, so if someone needs assistance or advice with anything horsey I am always willing to help out.

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