DANCING IN

The opportunity to have a schoolmaster was not available to Wendi, so she focused on buying quality youngsters and producing them herself. Her longstanding relationship with Judith and Peter Matthews from Matthews Hanoverians began when Wendi and her husband Jonnie purchased a gorgeous, dark yearling gelding called Dejavu MH (DJ) in 2007. While they had high hopes for DJ at the time, they never would have dreamt of the journey they were about to embark on together.

DJ, of course, became Wendi’s first serious Grand Prix horse. The pair dominated in New Zealand and enjoyed success in Australia, the UK and Europe before representing New Zealand at the World Cup Finals in 2017.

Wendi explains that when selecting her youngsters, she likes to buy from the same mare lines because she has a good idea of what she will get as they grow and develop.

“Between the ages of four and five, I start to better understand their work ethic, which is probably the most important thing for me. They can be the most beautifully put-together and moving horse, but they will only go all the way if they enjoy the work. They have to love it; I don’t mind if they are a little quirky and sensitive as long as they have the will to do the work and try to do the right thing.”

The Williamsons have 26 of their own horses on the farm, with the addition of a couple of extras owned by a friend and a young rider. Wendi has six in work, her assistant riders/grooms each have two of Wendi’s horses in work, and daughter Becki has another two. They range from newly started through to Grand Prix, with the current stable star, 10-year-old Don Vito MH, at the top of the string.

“Most of the horses are from Matthews Hanoverians, but I also have six from Renai Hart’s River Park stud. DJ was the first we bought as an 18-month-old from Matthews Hanoverians, and we developed a solid relationship with them from there,” she reflects. “We have been back and bought at least one foal each year.”

When Wendi realised how special DJ was, she decided she wanted more foals from his dam, Adelheid MH, mainly because he had an incredible work ethic and attitude towards his training. Since then, she has come to know more of the Matthers Hanoverian breeding mares, and she is thankful that Judith allows her to look first at specific lines and have input into stallion selection if she wishes. “Judith is very good at matching her mares and enjoys the process, I think, but if there is a certain stallion I would like, I can always ask”.

“Even if I am not buying a foal from a particular mare, I still look to see what the mares are producing and keep that in mind for future years,” she says. “I have a four-year-old that I bought as a yearling - I liked him so much when I started working with him that I now have two others from the same mare!” she laughs.

“I have a lot of youngsters with Donnerhall lines, but this has expanded over the last five years, and we now have a really broad range of sires in our horses. I bought the first foal from Renai Hart because I really wanted a Vitalis, and I liked her mare. I got to see some of the other lines she is breeding, and we now have three by Dancier which we have high hopes for. I also have a super Furstenball out of a Totilas mare who is one of the best four-year-olds I have ever had; we have a nice Totilas mare out of an imported Solomon De Hus mare and a Furst Nymphenburg gelding from a B-line mare, so there is a good range of bloodlines in our team now!

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“Fugato SW is a relatively recent addition and has been a challenge because he is so different from what I have ridden in my career - he is also really cool. I wouldn’t say one standout star is coming through, though, because they are all exciting in their own way.”

Unlike many who are riding at the very top of the sport, Wendi isn’t a full-time rider, and she juggles a very intense and busy full-time career in her and Jonnie’s business, Williamson Water and Land Advisory. She typically gets up, helps the girls, feeds the horses and rides for around four hours before work every morning. “Depending on what is happening at work, I might go in early to work once or twice a week. I always ride on Saturdays, and depending on how the week has gone, I will ride on Sundays as well to get through all the horses,” she explains.

Wendi has a lot of lovely horses now - and it has taken hard work and sacrifice over many years to get to this point. “I always said I didn’t want to work in the industry, so I took a different pathway with my career,” she says. “We started off buying a yearling, and it took a couple of years to buy the next one because we couldn’t afford it, and Judith and Peter generously let us pay them off. Just because you are riding part-time, after work in the dark, doesn’t mean you can’t get there; there is no one size fits all.”

She trains the horses a lot less than when she first started doing dressage. “I used to train pretty hard six days a week. Over the past few years, I have taken inspiration from Charlotte and Carl’s system and work them harder for a couple of days, then they do something different like hacking or a day off, although now, I don’t hack them myself as much as I used to because of work commitments.”

One of Wendi’s strengths is her sheer determination to make it all work She also credits Jonnie for his support and role in their operation. “If I didn’t have Jonnie, it would be very different; I wouldn’t be able to do any of it as I do. He is so into it because he is also very competitive, so we both love it,” she says. “It has often been his idea to make our trips to Australia. A trip overseas to a competition is like his ultimate holiday, besides surfing in Bali!”

The team has made the trip to Australia about eight times now, and their trip to the Sydney CDI in May was the most enjoyable yet for them. “I am more streamlined about what I pack now than the first time! But there is an element of the unknown when you go, especially with a new horse; you don’t know what you will get until you are riding down the centerline,” she reflects. “Everything is different for the horse. Loading onto the plane and flying can be quite unsettling for them; it’s all new. Some of them can get a bit wound up with the whole experience, and for some, it’s like water off a duck’s back, so you just never know how well it will go until you are doing it.”

For Wendi, Sydney is like going to Nationals in New Zealand. She knows many of the organising committee, the stewards, judges and riders. “I still get nervous about the process of getting there and getting on for the first test. I get anxious if it doesn’t go to plan as I feel we will have wasted a lot of money,” she says. “So the added element of the expense does add a lot of pressure on top of everything else, and also, there is increased interest from people who are keen to watch which is amazing but a bit of pressure to perform too!”

Despite that, Wendi is highly pragmatic when it comes to competing. “Most of the time at a show in New Zealand, I don’t get nervous. I have had a lot of disappointments in my career, especially on the international stage, so now I go in without any great expectations,” she says. “I just take comfort in the fact that I have confidence in where I am at with the horse. I will visualise and plan for how I want to ride the test, but of course, with horses, it doesn’t always go to plan, and there is always another day. I don’t think about the end result; I only think about what is directly in front of me and making the best out of whatever happens when we enter the ring.”

Her preparation in the lead-up to Sydney CDI looked much the same as her lead-in to any other show - the only significant difference was pegging back the work a bit earlier to consider the travel. “Even with the shows we go to in New Zealand, I will work them to a point and then dial it back before travel. Then once we are at the show, I will build it up again. Normally the last hard work day is two days before we travel. When we went to Sydney, the first ride was a hack on Monday and Tuesday, we did some trotting, and that was the first work we had done since the Wednesday of the previous week.”

Sydney was a memorable experience for Wendi as it was a fantastic team environment, and it was great to have her head groom, Madison Schollum, competing with her horse Kinnordy

Golda in the Prix St George. “It was the most enjoyable trip we have had, it was so cool to have that much support from friends, family and riding colleagues on the grounds, and it was awesome to go with Melissa and Madi and have that team environment. That is the way of the future and how we should strive to work together to progress the sport,” she says.

“It definitely helps when you have other good riders around you to push you and keep your goals going; when there are many strong riders, it lifts the rest of the sport at all levels. I have loved travelling and competing overseas, watching the top riders, and learning from that,” she continues. “People think they aren’t talented or good enough, but you don’t need to be naturally talented to succeed. Obviously, It does help, but hard work, perseverance, and an understanding of your weaknesses will make you progress. It’s important to realise this is a lifelong sport, and learning ‘feel’ and the tools to cope with different horses is a continuous journey.”

PEOPLE THINK THEY AREN’T TALENTED OR GOOD ENOUGH, BUT YOU DON’T NEED TO BE NATURALLY TALENTED TO SUCCEED; IT DOES HELP, OBVIOUSLY, BUT HARD WORK, PERSEVERANCE, AND AN UNDERSTANDING OF YOUR WEAKNESS WILL MAKE YOU PROGRESS.

Wendi experienced what is for her a rare feeling after her performance in the Grand Prix Freestyle on Don Vito (Junior). “When I left the arena, I felt stoked with my horse. Normally, when I’m on my way out, I’m busy critiquing my performance, but I just felt so pleased with how it went for that moment in our journey.”

“I think DJ was a pretty exciting horse, and he and Junior are very similar in their personalities, but Junior is probably the best horse I have had so far,” she says. “DJ would get really hot and freaked out by everything, so it was hard to perfect everything in the test, but Junior gives me a cool feeling; he tries hard and learns quickly.” While she is proud and excited about where she is headed with Junior, she holds a lot of love in her heart for DJ.

“He was my first really serious horse and had such great international potential; I am proud of what we achieved not only in the competition ring but also in terms of his management, as he had many things going on,” she reflects. “To train and overcome some of his challenges was amazing. In New Zealand, we don’t have the luxury of an endless supply of horses, so we must really work hard to make things work. It teaches you a lot about managing them and keeping them sound and happy.”

Like anyone at the top of their sport, Wendi has not been without the experience of the roller-coaster of horses and developing resilience is vital. “I can absolutely relate to things not going to plan and the disappointment that goes with that,” she explains. “A failure on the world stage is extremely hard, and I think you would be weird if it didn’t affect you momentarily, but because of my love of the sport, I made a new plan to help me move past that. It’s important to look at the bigger picture. I have a burning desire and determination to keep pushing on while I am physically able.”

Wendi doesn’t believe you must be a naturally talented rider to reach the top. “It takes a positive mindset, determination and self-awareness more than anything else. Being able to take on board feedback and work on it to improve is so important, and the fantastic thing about our sport is body awareness happens as you age and experience new situations,” she encourages. “I don’t think I am naturally talented; it is about having the right attitude and body awareness. Some people have the right proportions to look beautiful on a horse, a natural feel, and you can’t change that. Still, training consistently takes a particular mindset and drive, the ability to self-learn and develop a feel over time.”

She urges riders to remember that dressage is a lifelong journey; it isn’t a sport where you retire at 20. “The more horses you can ride in your life, the more you learn. Current World Champion Lottie Fry rides so many horses a day (probably 18 or more), accelerating her learning. In New Zealand, we can’t do that, so don’t be in such a rush for it to happen. It’s a bit of a numbers game, but every horse you have the opportunity to develop and train sets you up for when that superstar horse comes along. Getting a horse to Grand Prix takes a long time, and it might take a few horses before you do.” C