{"id":24304,"date":"2016-04-20T11:59:04","date_gmt":"2016-04-20T01:59:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/?p=24304"},"modified":"2017-02-10T11:04:30","modified_gmt":"2017-02-10T00:04:30","slug":"gabby-pither-our-next-big-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/2016\/04\/gabby-pither-our-next-big-star\/","title":{"rendered":"Gabby Pither: Our next big star?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"_K3A1850\"<\/a>Story and photos by Rebecca Ashton<\/h3>\n

Eventer Gabby Pither smiles… a lot. And she has good cause to. With a win at Melbourne two star this year, second at Sydney International two star and now a member of the Australian eventing squad, what\u2019s not to smile about?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Prior to her making the trek home in Albany, WA, I was lucky enough to catch up with the 20-year-old in Wilberforce, west of Sydney where she had been based since April at Redleaf Lodge, which is part of the Hargreaves\u2019 Copabella facilities and home to Australian showjumping champion David Cameron and eventer Tallara Barwick.<\/p>\n

Television interviews, magazine covers. You\u2019ve been well-and-truly thrust into the limelight this year. How does it feel?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know whether it\u2019s sunk in really. I went and bought my copy of The Horse Magazine\u00a0 a few months back and there I was on the cover! I got a shock! Back home, everybody commented on it. Sonja (Johnson) sent me a little message saying \u201cI went to buy The Horse Magazine in the newsagency but they were all sold out. Anyone would think we were all proud of you!\u201d<\/p>\n

I came over here to Sydney with Sonja in her truck before the Sydney three-day, brought my horse over and thought, we\u2019ll see how we go compared to the eventers over here, not really expecting to go that well, not expecting to even come close to winning.<\/p>\n

And you\u2019re on the eventing squad now as well?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

It\u2019s all happened so quickly. Everybody came and congratulated me after Melbourne and it\u2019s a special win, but it didn\u2019t feel like I\u2019d done anything special. I tried to do my best and it just so happened that we did better than everybody else that weekend.<\/p>\n

Who has been coaching you?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Dave has been fantastic since and I\u2019ve had a few lessons with Tallara, who\u2019s an eventer as well and she\u2019s been really, really helpful with my flat work. I had a training session with her and she helped me with my dressage before Melbourne. My regular dressage coach back at home is Louise Hillman. She\u2019s known me for a long time and has seen me all the way through.<\/p>\n

With my jumping training at home, it\u2019s really been whoever I\u2019ve been able to get to. Philippa Collier was really great in my early jumping stages.<\/p>\n

Sonja is more of a mentor than a coach. I\u2019ve had maybe three lessons with her but she\u2019s been fantastic since I\u2019ve come over here. Any questions I\u2019ve had or anything I\u2019ve wanted to know, she\u2019s been there, full of advice and really supportive.<\/p>\n

Tell us more about your current star Max Almighty.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

We found him through some family friends. They knew Jeanette Hatch who owns Cethana Stud and Max was the first horse she had bred. He was two at the time and we saw him go around in the paddock. He looked nice enough and she wasn\u2019t asking a ridiculous amount for him so we thought, what have we got to lose?<\/p>\n

He was never the sort of horse you\u2019d get on and think, \u201cWow\u201d. There wasn\u2019t an extravagant movement but he just kept stepping up every single time we\u2019d take him out and he just kept getting better, and the dressage just kept getting flasher and flasher.<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll be 10 in October. Someone asked me the other day what his weakest phase was. He doesn\u2019t really have a weakest phase, I\u2019d say cross country is his highpoint because he\u2019s so rideable and so bold and so you always have a lot of fun. I\u2019m enjoying my dressage more and more as I learn more, and the showjumping has really been coming along as well, especially with Dave.<\/p>\n

You were going to start him three-star this year?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Yes but he\u2019s had a lot of allergies and things and I thought, there\u2019s no rush with him because he\u2019s such a good horse. He\u2019s got plenty of time and I don\u2019t want to do something silly with him if we\u2019re both not going at 100% and whack him out there just for the sake of doing three-star. So we\u2019ll look to start him next year.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure whether I\u2019ll head back over here yet. I\u2019ll stay in WA for the beginning of the year and re-evaluate\u00a0everything.<\/p>\n

Is your whole family horsey?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

My family farmed 10,000 acres in a place called Ongerup. We had sheep and crop. It\u2019s a town with a post office, general store, a pub, a roadhouse and a small primary school.<\/p>\n

When I was 13, we moved to Albany. We had an array of different horses. My first pony probably bucked me off more times than not, so I guess Mum and Dad were trying to figure out whether I was keen or not! I kept getting back on though.<\/p>\n

Mum has always loved horses but both of her parents weren\u2019t horsey at all. She rode at a riding school and was then given an old Thoroughbred that she kept down the road. Then she went to work on a farm, jilllaroo work and met my Dad.<\/p>\n

Dad\u2019s side of the family is very, very horsey. My grandmother, Hazel Pither, had a lot to do with the equestrian movement in WA. The entrance to the indoor at our state equestrian centre is named after her.<\/p>\n

Both of my aunties are quite good showjumpers. They are both coaches and Kate rode in Europe with Albert Voorn. Becky Jenkins (nee Allen) is my Aunty Sarah\u2019s daughter and she\u2019s quite a well known showjumper. I\u2019m the first one who\u2019s really gone eventing.<\/p>\n

My Dad dabbled in a few different things. He did of polo, eventing. He hacked at the Perth Royal Show and got champion hack one year. He went up to medium dressage and even did some breakers on a station up north. He gave it up for a while but Mum begged him to have horses so he begrudgingly got some. But now you couldn\u2019t drag him away from it. He\u2019s always on the phone to me saying, \u201cOk Gab, what are we going to do now? I think we should do this and this and this.\u201d Both my parents are always there and are so, so supportive. Mum\u2019s always helping me plait and do the horses. She\u2019ll even jump on once in a while. She used to love cooling Max off while Dad was out riding a young one. They\u2019re doing a lot of handling with the young ones back at home and they\u2019re always sending me little video clips. I couldn\u2019t have done it without their support.<\/p>\n

Why eventing?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

I really liked the idea that you had to be good at all three disciplines. I mean the flat work is vital no matter what you\u2019re doing. I guess most eventers would say the cross country. My first real cross country was on Janelle Madigan\u2019s three-star eventer Skywalker when I was 15. We got offered him on free lease. He was a cross country machine and he really gave me the taste for it. You\u2019d be in the start box thinking, \u201cWhy am I here? Why do I do this to myself!?\u201d with lots of nerves and butterflies, but then you\u2019d finish the course and think, \u201cAh. THAT\u2019S why I do it!\u201d<\/p>\n

He he taught me a lot. He was always unpredictable in a dressage test. He could be working beautifully and half way through he\u2019d think, \u201cI don\u2019t want to be here anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Skywalker<\/a><\/p>\n

Gabby and Skywalker \/ Photo: Red McQueen (RedFoto)<\/em><\/p>\n

Is Max the only horse you have now?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

No, I\u2019ve had a Thoroughbred mare for a year now, and she raced. She\u2019s looking really flashy so I\u2019m quite excited about her. She\u2019s very different to Max which I think is nice in a way because you get to work on different aspects of your riding and get to deal with different issues. I was riding some ex-racehorses for a trainer down in Albany and doing a little bit of re-educating so he could sell them on and she was one of them. I fell in love with her so went to Mum and Dad and said, \u201cI think we need to buy this one.\u201d She\u2019ll be seven or eight this year so she\u2019s quite a bit older which is not ideal but because I liked her so much, we put that aside.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve also got a couple of three-year-olds, one of which is from Sharon Haddock\u2019s Alexander Park Trakehners. His name is Alexander Park Southern Cross (Kevin).<\/p>\n

What type of horse do you like?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

I like a little bit of a challenge, but not too much. Max is very level-headed and very quiet and a tiny bit on the lazy side if anything. I\u2019ve always had a quiet seat so I\u2019ve got along with the hotter ones as well. It\u2019s nice riding the forward going ones.<\/p>\n

Are you doing horses full time now?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Yes. Well, I\u2019m still enrolled at Uni, but technically I\u2019m not studying at the moment. I\u2019m at Charles Sturt doing a Business Degree via distance learning. I\u2019m only a semester in though! Things just sort of kept coming up and Max started to hit his peak so I thought I\u2019d come over to Sydney and see what we could do. But I\u2019d like to continue riding full time for a while and see how far I can get with it because I\u2019m loving it. I\u2019d love to get my Level 1 at some point because I\u2019ve given a few lessons here and there and enjoy doing that.<\/p>\n

We were also sort of thinking that after my brother gets married in January, that I might head over to Europe and do some riding over there.<\/p>\n

Where would you go in Europe do you think?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not entirely sure yet. I\u2019ve had a few suggestions and offers. I think once you\u2019re over there and you\u2019ve met a few people it\u2019s easier to work out where you want to go.<\/p>\n

\"PitherMaxMighty\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Gabby and Max<\/em><\/p>\n

Would you take Max?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Potentially. Probably not at the beginning. I think if I could get myself established, then it\u2019s a possibility. I think we\u2019d have to get some funding\u00a0though.<\/p>\n

Do you have any habits or rituals that are really key to your success?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Your dressage is definitely your foundation for the rest of your training and I\u2019m a big believer in getting the horses really nice and established on the flat before I\u2019ll point them at too many fences. I\u2019ll always have a flat work session beforehand, I\u2019ll never just go out and straight away start jumping. I like to make sure all my buttons are in place.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll set up lots of poles and cavaletti and grids. I love the cross country schooling for all horses, even dressage horses and showjumpers, just over the lower ones as it\u2019s really good for getting horses straight and forward and I think they get a lot of enjoyment out of it. We have a pony club cross country course about 10 minutes down the road from us so I\u2019ll ride down there and show them logs and ditches and ride them around. I think that variety is really important so they realise that they don\u2019t just go out there every day and get hammered.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the nice thing about living where we do in Albany, we can do different things everyday. I\u2019ll school on the arena maybe three or four times a week and then I\u2019ll just ride out once a week and they always get one day to themselves.<\/p>\n

Do you have any idols? Any shrines at home to anyone!?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never watched a lot of eventing on TV. I did when I could because you can learn so much that way, but I was out-of-tune with what was happening. I\u2019d heard of the big names but didn\u2019t necessarily get to see them. But recently watching WEG,\u00a0 I thought Michael Jung was a bit of a freak. He is crazy good. I was reading the article that you guys did on him in June and just everything he was saying made sense. It was good because I was thinking, \u201cOh I do that, and I do that!\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael Jung is stealing your ideas!!<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Ha ha. It was just really interesting and I really admire the way he rides. He\u2019s just fantastic.<\/p>\n

Is there any one piece of advice you\u2019ve been given that\u2019s really resonated with you?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

There was something that Sonja said to me before I went cross country at Sydney. She said, \u201c Take no prisoners; gallop like hell; ride both sides of him and trust yourself.\u201d I always think of that and it gives me the motivation to really go for it cross country.<\/p>\n

As soon as I\u2019m out of that start box, I\u2019ve got a plan in my head. Beforehand I go over it, and over it and over it. If I can\u2019t visualise a fence, I go out and walk it again so I know how it looks and I have little landmarks for my minute markers and I make sure I know them so that I don\u2019t really have to think about them, because you don\u2019t really want to be thinking where your markers are when you\u2019re coming into a combination and things like that.<\/p>\n

I always go over my stridings and any little tricky bits a thousand times just so I know exactly what I have to do. I have a very clear plan in my mind. On course, I don\u2019t want to have to think about where I\u2019m going: It\u2019s more that I know I have to get four strides down that line, I\u2019ve got to be straight, I\u2019m going to take this angle onto this apex or into the water, I\u2019ve got to sit him up here.<\/p>\n

I just kept going over it and over it. Any doubt in my mind I just go back out on the course and look at it.<\/p>\n

Do you video the course or certain jumps as you walk the course?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Sometimes I\u2019ll take a photo if I have a question or want to ask someone about it or if I\u2019m struggling to visualise it. Most times though I just have my map and I\u2019ll write all over that. That helps me visualise my lines and my strides. I know some people have cross country apps on their phones now, but I don\u2019t use that. I have my wheel, and my map, and my pen.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a big believer in plans! Also with the dressage, before a competition, I\u2019ll ride the test again and again just so that I don\u2019t have to think where I\u2019m going. I\u2019m thinking about what I am doing and how the horse is going.<\/p>\n

Max and I know each other inside out. You don\u2019t always have that luxury with all horses, but with him I do so I make the most of it.<\/p>\n

Apart from the big wins this year, have you had any other defining moments? Even small ones?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

I still remember my first ever eventing rug that I won. It was the junior pre novice at Moora Horse Trials. I still have that rug. It\u2019s blue and has a yellow trim! I couldn\u2019t believe it. I\u2019d finally won this official eventing rug! It was a very high point!<\/p>\n

What do you do when you\u2019re not riding horses?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

I used to play a variety of sports when I was at school; hockey, basketball; I liked to dabble in a few things and give anything a go. School always had to come before the riding, I could ride as long as all my homework and assignments were done. I still like to keep my social life happening, going out with friends on the weekends I\u2019m not competing, which are few-and-far\u00a0between!<\/p>\n

Also family time. Christmas is real family time when we all try to be together. I have two older brothers. Ashby is actually allergic to horses! It doesn\u2019t stop him watching me compete though. Lauchie knows how to ride and really enjoys the horses and comes and watches me compete. Lauchie worked out very quickly that he didn\u2019t necessarily have to ride, but if he still came along to the shows, there were lots of girls!<\/p>\n

\"GabiPort2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

What\u2019s on for you in the near term?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

I think Mum and Dad want me home for a bit and I can work on the young horses and get my mare up-and-running and give my parents a hand with the business as well.<\/p>\n

And you have Rio in your sights?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

I\u2019m definitely going to aim for it. It\u2019s a long time between now and then but that\u2019s definitely an aim with Max. I was ticking him over and I thought he was a good horse, but Melbourne was the point when I thought, \u201cHang on, I actually really think I can do this.\u201d It\u2019s always in the back of your mind, maybe one day, but then I thought this really could happen.<\/p>\n

Gabby\u2019s star is on the rise. With her good humour and determined attitude, there\u2019s no doubt she\u2019ll be a regular on the international circuit in the very near future.<\/b><\/p>\n

This article first appeared in the January 2015 issue of THM.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eventer Gabby Pither smiles… a lot. And she has good cause to. With a win at Melbourne two star this year, second at Sydney International two star and now a member of the Australian eventing squad, what\u2019s not to smile about?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24305,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1290,1291],"class_list":["post-24304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-eventing","tag-gabby-pither","tag-max-almighty"],"acf":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24304"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24304\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32496,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24304\/revisions\/32496"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}