Rider Profile: Alina aka One Bay Standardbred

Welcome to the Lynbrae Rider Series. I want to celebrate the everyday rider and learn more about our incredible community. Over the next few months, I will be interviewing riders from all different backgrounds. From the high level dressage riders, to the endurance riders and everyone in between. 

Alina is a young equestrian based in New Zealand, her message is based on breaking the stereotypes that are often associated with the Standardbred breed.

Hi, my name is Alina, I am 15 years old and live in New Zealand! I have been riding coming up five years now, but loved interacting and caring for horses all my life. I now have two horses called TimTam (my horse) and Tommy (my sisters horse who I sometimes ride) and they are both Standardbreds. We have owned them for coming up five years and each day has been rewarding in seeing them grow to become the horses they are today. My message that I am trying to get across to the equestrian community is that Standardbreds can do everything any other breed can do. I am portraying this message out to the community by trying to break all of the stereotypes that the Standardbred breed normally get held accountable for.

I was lucky enough to get my first horse when I was ten years of age. Before this I had had lessons for a year when I was seven and odd little pony rides here and there, but it was always my dream to finally have a horse of my own. This is where TimTam and Tommy come into my life. I came to have TimTam and Tommy just by looking on a website called TradeMe, we weren’t looking for any horse in particular, just something that was cheap! That is when TimTam and Tommy popped up. Two, very green, broken to saddle for eight weeks, of the track Standardbreds that knew near to nothing for mine and my sister’s first horses. I mean, what could go wrong? This was one of the best days of my life, when I came home to see two horses in the paddock that I could proudly call my own and this is how the journey started! Having a 5 year old horse for your first horse is quite a risky move, but even though my legs just touched under the saddle blanket, I was determined to do everything with TimTam that everyone else did with their horses. When we first got TimTam and Tommy they didn’t know how to do many basic things that many other horses already know how to do, such as trotting properly (without pacing), cantering, jumping, floating and even going up and down hills! Of course I was new to this whole training thing and of course horse riding life so we just took everything slow and while I taught TimTam things along the way, he taught me many things as well. It wasn’t always easy though, many days when trying to get him to canter he would just trot faster and faster in a circle, throwing in a buck here and there out of confusion, so I had to change what I was doing so he understood what I was asking of him. Since having him for almost five years he has still been my one and only horse, same with Tommy and my sister, we haven’t owned any other horses. Through training TimTam however, it also means that I have fallen off many, many times, so many that I have lost count! If you follow my Instagram page, you will see that TimTam is not afraid to chuck in a buck (or several), rear or refusal just to keep me on my toes, many times which I have not been ready for and been completely catapulted off of his back... that’s how I learnt to land on my feet! Throughout all our fails however, TimTam has taught me more then I feel any other horse could have, which is why I am thankful to have him. I just had to remind myself that every rider has bad days and it will get better, which is an important thing to remember!

My favourite part of the horse/equestrian community is how many people are quite open about their journeys with their horses, showing their ups and downs and how owning a horse is not all about getting first place at a show all the time. Horses are animals and have a mind of their own and sometimes things don’t work out like you plan, which is important for people to see, so others don’t feel bad if they had an off riding day and then look on Instagram to see another flawless edit of another rider. Even top Olympic level riders have bad days and that is just part of owning horses.

I go to high school 5 days a week, 40 weeks per year like any other high school student. This however means that I have to fit in caring and riding the horses around finishing my homework and training for other sports. In summer it is not very hard to juggle school and horses, as the afternoons are longer with more light and we are normally nearing the end of the school year, which means less homework. In winter however, the afternoon sunlight goes very quickly so I have to run home from school and ride straight away, otherwise I will be riding in the dark. Finding a system for juggling horses and school that works for you is tricky, what I do is make the first part of my afternoon dedicated to horses. Whether I’m riding or just giving them some attention, that is their time. After that is when I dedicate my time to my homework. I find this helps me feel more organised by still interacting with the horses and doing my schoolwork all in the same day. Time management is key. 

During my time riding I haven’t had a major set back in my riding. I have had minor ones when I first started falling off TimTam because of his spicey antics which I wasn’t  used to. I felt like I would never progress with him because I kept focusing on the bad rides, which was a big mistake! Now every time I fall off, I just laugh it off and jump straight back on, it helps me not lose any confidence and it lets TimTam know that I’m not going to stand for any naughty business. I overcame my set backs by focusing on the good rides we had, which gave me hope on what we could do together in the future. It is important to not dwell on a bad ride you had, which is very hard and I still struggle with that, but it is important if you to progress further to keep a positive mindset.

My advice for you younger riders is to just have some fun! Horse riding isn’t just about winning competitions, it is about spending time with your best friend (your horse) and enjoying the time you have together. If you have a bad ride, keep persevering because if you want to be a top rider one day and you really work for it, you will achieve it.