Riding to the top of the world

For New Zealand eventer Jonelle Price, life as a professional rider had humble beginnings: sitting in front of the television as a child watching Sir Mark Todd ride at Badminton.

Last weekend she not only rode alongside him at the premier equestrian event, she came out on top on her mare Classic Moet – the first woman to win the fourstar, three-day event in 11 years.

‘‘It’s a funny one. It’s such a busy time of year for us over here, you don’t really get time to properly appreciate just how big it is,’’ she said of the win.

Price and husband Tim live in Britain, where they run a team of 30 horses and compete in international eventing.

But for Price, who grew up in Motueka, a career in horses was not what her ‘‘un-horsey’’ family had in mind. ‘‘My mother is terrified of animals, or was, and my dad hated them.’’

But she still developed a ‘‘bizarre obsession’’ with horses, thanks to watching eventers like Todd and Andrew Nicholson, and joining a pony club.

After a year at Canterbury University, Price realised she would have to apply more time to her studies and less time to horses, but she ‘‘wasn’t prepared to do that’’.

‘‘There was just too big a pull to pursue the horses. I thought I’d take a year off, see how it goes, and that was 18 or 19 years ago, and I’ve never looked back.’’

Price started out training and selling horses while making her way up the sporting ladder. In 2005, she and Tim relocated to the UK – the ‘‘heart’’ of international eventing – fulltime.

The couple have an 8-month old son, Otis, but it hasn’t slowed their competition schedule.

Beyond the magnitude of the Badminton win, and the thrill of competing at the ‘‘greatest event in the world’’, Price said one of the nicest aspects was that her family back home grasped the enormity of it.

‘‘It is to equestrian like Wimbledon is to tennis. I’m sure for years there they thought, ‘What on earth is she doing chasing this crazy dream on the other side of the world?’.’’

She enjoys coming home every second Christmas to visit family in Nelson and Motueka.

Price enjoys the comfort of Kiwi company abroad, too – establishing friendships with New Zealanders representing their nation on the world eventing stage. ‘‘Because there are so few of us, we genuinely are really good mates.’’

‘‘I’m sure for years there [my family] thought, ‘What on earth is she doing chasing this crazy dream?’.’’ Jonelle Price

PHOTOSPORT Motueka’s Jonelle Price and her horse Classic Moet enjoy their victory lap at the Badminton Horse Trials. Price is the first woman to win the four-star, three-day event – described as the Wimbledon of the equestrian world – in 11 years.