Real-life reads
Jonelle’s double joy; Single mum’s IVF miracle; Lippy with a cause
Kiwi Badminton Horse Trials winner Jonelle Price is deftly handling an especially tricky creature.
At her pretty thatched cottage in Wiltshire, England, her 11-monthold son Otis crawls across the carpet. Each time he is almost out of reach, she hauls him back.
It’s a game they are both enjoying. Otis, the “surprise” baby that turned her world upside down last year, is sturdy and smiley, and desperately trying to walk. Jonelle, 37, is riding high in her equestrian career and freely admits she could never be a full-time mum – but clearly loves the time she spends at home with her gorgeous son. That Otis has inherited her determined streak is no surprise.
Motueka-born Jonelle has worked her way up from pony clubs in New Zealand to claim the coveted Badminton eventing prize – a holy grail in the riding world, equivalent to winning Wimbledon in tennis. She’s married to fellow Kiwi Tim, 39, who also competed at Badminton and with whom she runs a yard of around 30 horses a few kilometres from their home.
The couple met as teens on the NZ riding circuit, started dating in 2001, then moved to the UK together to prepare for the 2004 Olympic Games. They relocated there permanently in 2005 and married back home in 2013.
“Having two of us in this job together definitely helps,” says
Jonelle. “We’re quite opposite. I’m a morning person, he’s not, and I’m a pessimist where he’s an optimist. Between us, we level out.”
Having children was something they both looked forward to, but with their careers ascending, the time was never quite right.
“Having Otis was totally unplanned,” admits Jonelle. “If I’d planned it better, it wouldn’t have had such a huge impact on my riding year. But then I also could have got to 40 and thought, ‘What if?’ It’s difficult to know when to have children because child-bearing years for us coincided with the best years for our careers. We just kept putting it off.
“As it was, it was nearly four months before I found out I was pregnant. I’d been in New Zealand at Christmas and I noticed my weight was creeping up. I tried running and drinking soup, but only lost one kilo. I’m quite aware of my weight because of riding.
“When a horse seems a bit off, I send them for blood tests, so I went to the doctor and got one for myself – it came back fine so I just got on with things. Then later Tim said, ‘Maybe you’re pregnant.’”
His hunch was correct, but determined to stay in the saddle, Jonelle kept riding.
“It was a very easy pregnancy,” tells Jonelle. “I rode throughout. Three weeks out from Badminton last year, I said, ‘I reckon I could do it, you know.’”
For someone so used to competing, the hiatus was tough going.
“I felt like I had no goal,” she recalls. “I had nothing to look forward to. It forced me out of competition and I was keen to get back there. Ten days after Otis was born, I was back in the saddle and two and a half weeks later I was competing.”
It’s a measure of the talented horsewoman’s ambition that she was back in action so quickly.
Asked if it was an easy birth, Jonelle replies, “Well, no, it was a forceps delivery. I only rode three horses for the remainder of the season. We hired a nanny full-time from January and knew I had the winter to get back into business.”
Her triumph at Badminton in May – a three-day event combining dressage, showjumping and cross-country – proved she certainly was back at her best.
“It was a huge thrill because I was the first woman to win Badminton in 11 years and also the first ever New Zealand woman,” she says. “People ask me about being a woman in riding but I’m too stubborn to worry about something like that – I just get on with it.
“The last 10 years have seen the top end of the game dominated by men. When I fell pregnant, I was the only woman ranked in the top 10, but a few more women are definitely on the way up now.”
Saddleclub
Jonelle’s path to the top was unconventional as there are no equestrian links in her family.
“I had a bizarre passion for horses from quite young,” laughs Jonelle. “Every year I’d ask Santa for a pony and get a My Little Pony instead – I had a huge collection!
“Dad hated horses and Mum was terrified of animals, so goldfish and budgies were the only pets we had. Then when I was seven, I made friends with someone who had a pony and I started riding it one, two, three days a week. I didn’t get my first proper horse until I was 14.
“It’s amazing what hard work and determination can do. I was pretty academic and Mum said she’d move to Christchurch so I could keep riding while at university. She bought a property with eight hectares and I made the cut for second year law, but after the first year, I decided I was more committed to riding and I’d take a year off school. I’m still on that year off!”
Back on the circuit this year, Jonelle is ambitious as ever, even with the busy life that brings.
“It’s all-consuming,” she explains. “I’ve got 12 horses to ride and compete with, and the competition season runs from March to October, with few weekends off. We travel a lot. I think Otis is certainly one well-travelled baby.”
Jonelle and Tim have big plans this year – both for themselves and for Sir Mark Todd, who lives and trains nearby. “He’s such a legend in the Kiwi team and he’s been a coach, friend and mentor to me,” she tells. “He was probably the first rider I followed on the TV as a young girl.
“If we’d got the gold at the Rio Olympics, maybe he could let the matter rest, but we were in the gold medal position coming into the last round and then fell to fourth. We have the World Champs coming up in September and we have some demons to lay to rest.”
No-one’s place in that four-strong team is yet decided, but as NZ’s bestperforming equestrian this year, Jonelle is confident she’ll make it. And girl power, it seems, is not confined to just riders as far as she’s concerned.
“I have very small, feisty mares,” laughs Jonelle. “They seem to suit me. When I was off last year, my two top mares had a year off too. Classic Moet had two foals by two different surrogates. Her embryos were transferred and they were born within a couple of weeks of each other in April.”
It’s an idea that appeals to Jonelle. When asked about having more children, she says, “I definitely believe it’s better for children to have a sibling. Maybe I should follow Classic Moet down the surrogate route?”
It’s hard to know whether she’s joking or not.