‘Nick Skelton told me to win!’: top advice pays off on rider’s Hickstead debut
Nina Mallevaey did exactly what her coach Nick Skelton told her on her debut visit to the Agria Royal International Horse Show – and walked off with a win.
Nina and the Rein family’s Destine To Be put in a super clear to finish just ahead of Matt Sampson and Pretty Pi’Que De’Luxe in the Breen Equestrian CSIYH1* final. Shane Breen, class sponsor, finished third on the promising Konrad Obololensky, who was the highest-placed seven-year-old.
The super-scopey eight-year-old Destine To Be looked to be having the time of his life as he and the French rider gave a superb display of control and balance to win by a third of a second.
Nina has only been riding the British-bred Diamant De Semilly gelding a few months but they already have a confident, assured partnership.
“He’s a really nice horse,” she said. “He likes to go in that big grass ring; he’s so scopey, so it suits him really well. He’s very quick over the ground and naturally fast, and I knew I could let him loose a bit at the jumps, just sit up a bit before the fences, as he’s so careful. He makes it easier for me!”
This first trip to the All England Jumping Course has been a successful one for Nina, who jumped clear with Dynastie De Beaufour in the second round of her first five-star Nations Cup.
“It’s an amazing show,” she said. “It was a dream to compete here so I’m really happy.
“I think it’s a really good experience for young horses to compete in that big ring, it makes it special and a great experience for them; they learn a lot here. These classes are very good for them, for the future.”
Nina had planned her summer around Hickstead, and Dublin Horse Show, at which she will also make her debut next month, under the watchful eye of Nick, who had to leave for Paris before this final but had left his words of advice.
“He said ‘You should be clear, and if you’re in the jump-off, let go of the reins and go as fast as you can – and win!”
And so she did.
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