18 hours ago
Lissington leaps to new heights with flurry of firsts
Samantha Lissington is riding the crest of a wave. In the space of a week, across two European nations, the Kiwi eventer has made equestrian history – and followed it up with the best result of her career.
On Monday morning (NZ time), Lissington finished second at the elite CCI5* Luhmuhlen horse trials in Germany – one of the top eventing competitions in the world – on her horse Ricker Ridge Sooty GNZ.
It was the best international result for the 33-year-old from Kerikeri – her first time standing on a five-star podium – and the culmination of '15 years' hard work'.
The previous weekend, Lissington pulled off a world first at the Royal Jump at the Chateau de Berticheres in France – becoming the first person to take out the top three places in a CCI4*-L (a four-star long course) event.
She topped the standings aboard Quantas R, with Billy Alberto finishing second and Delrado third in the prestigious three-day spectacle. To top things off, she also came second in the CCI4*-S event (short course) on Sooty.
'It's been a pretty bloody cool run of events,' Lissington says.
'In our sport there are so many ups and downs and it's very much about experience. We're under no false illusions that this is going to be forever but when the good times come around you've got to enjoy it and make the most of it.
'You take the learnings from whatever you did right, keep repeating and hope that you can put that into your next runs, into your future events and into the ones that matter ultimately, hopefully world championships or Olympics in the future.'
Samantha Lissington rides Ricker Ridge Sooty GNZ in the showjumping for the CCI5*-L Luhmuhlen horse trials. Photo: Libby Law Photography
After blitzing the cross country at Luhmuhlen, and going clear in the showjumping, Lissington finished just half a penalty point behind British rider, Ros Canter. The only other Kiwi left in the field, Olympian Jonelle Price, was 13th on Senor Crocodillo.
'Whilst you can barely dream of a result like this, being here feels right – like we've earnt this,' Lissington said afterwards of her 14-year-old Sooty, who she's worked with for almost a decade. 'I know how much my team and I have put in and this result is the beginning of that work starting to show.'
Lissington and her husband, Brayden, moved to England in 2019. It was a huge leap of faith, flying four horses over from their Matangi farm in the Waikato.
Based just outside of Hungerford in Wiltshire, the Lissingtons have moved into Jock Paget's old yard and still have plenty to do with Paget, a former Badminton champion and part of the New Zealand eventing team who won Olympic bronze in 2012. He's now the general manager of high performance at Equestrian Sports New Zealand.
Lissington is one of many Kiwis who've made the move to the UK, meaning the top events in the world, many of which are in Europe, are much more accessible.
But it hasn't been easy. Soon after the Lissingtons arrived, the Covid pandemic broken out, throwing their plans into disarray.
'We landed hoping to build a network of support and really crack on in terms of making a business and becoming self-sustainable,' Lissington says. 'But then we had the complicating factor of not being able to meet anyone which made life tricky for a couple of years.
'But it feels like we're on the other side of that now and starting to get some really good results – it all feels like it's heading in the right direction.'
Lissington with Royal Jump champion, Quantas R. Photo: Libby Law Photography
The time invested in equestrian sport is extremely high, and all-consuming, as riders and horses bounce from event to event. Lissington is conscious casual observers of the sport may not realise just how much goes into it.
'Our sport is a little bit unique in that we don't just do a sport. It's not just being an athlete – we're the CEO, the HR department, we're managing staff, we're the finance department, the head of logistics, the lorry driver,' she says.
'The lifestyle is pretty outrageous. These big shows are a bit of a holiday for us. Last month, there were only four days we didn't leave the yard and when we leave the yard, we're usually up between 2am and 5am to take the horses somewhere.'
A huge part of the operation, and Lissington's key support person, is Brayden – who's been an elite sportsman, representing New Zealand in the Futsal Whites.
As well as helping with everything from being the team chef and walking the courses, Brayden works as a sales and marketing manager for one of Lissington's key sponsors, equine feed company Keyflow. He and Mitch Thomasen – husband of Kiwi equestrian rider Ginny Thomasen – have a popular podcast called 'Eventing Weekly', now in its third season, reporting on all things from the world of eventing.
Her latest run of form helps Lissington with her long-term goals to ride for New Zealand at the 2026 world championships and 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
'We punch above our weight as a nation. We're consistently on the podium at big five-star championships [the highest ranked events],' she says. 'We've probably got over 20 New Zealand riders based over here doing their time.
'We're a serious nation to be contended with, but it all comes down to on the day at the Olympics. It hasn't gone our way at the last couple of Games which is tough to stomach –as a programme, we feel strong and we've got horsepower and all of those good things.'
Lissington presents Ricker Ridge Sooty GNZ during the first horse inspection at Luhmuhlen. Photo: Libby Law Photography
Sadly, those recent Olympic results have seen a reduction in funding, with the $1,381,500 that the sport received each year from High Performance Sport New Zealand in the last Olympic cycle being reduced to $750,000 a year in the build-up to the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
'As senior riders we're all ready to mongrel in and prove our worth again and hopefully gain that [funding] back at the next Olympics, so it's time to knuckle down and prove that we deserve to be back up there,' Lissington says.
Before the Olympics, Aachen in Germany will host the 2026 world championships in August next year, an event which is a huge aim for Lissington. She has been named as one of the five riders selected to represent New Zealand at the CCI04*-S competition at the same venue later this month, which will provide participating nations an invaluable opportunity to prepare for those championships.
There are plenty of other events this year in nations like the Netherlands, France and Poland, as well as the Burghley Horse Trials in Lincolnshire, England in early September – one of only seven five-star events worldwide.
'We've got quite an exciting second half of the year. We've suddenly got a lot of horsepower at the four-star level, which is the Olympic level, and so the four horses that did so well at Royal Jump will be busy,' Lissington says.
There are some key differences between four-star and five-star events. The dressage is harder, with more difficult movements required. The cross country is about a minute longer, making it more of an endurance test. And the showjumping fences are 5cm higher, at 1m 30cm. Although the Olympics is a four-star event, the showjumping there is at the taller five-star height.
Ultimately, Lissington has one eye on the Olympics, confirming it's a huge goal for her.
'We're running a squad, we're not just running one athlete. We're managing the talent development for five to eight years before they're then ready to do a championship,' she says.
'It's important for any sport but with horses there's the added complicating factor of having the right horsepower at the right time. So it's not just about my own preparation, but having the horses that are at the right age at the right level, all peaking at the right time.'
