Meet our new ambassador: Lily Wickenden
Last week we could finally announce that Lily Wickenden is one of our new Brand Ambassadors. Lily, who is an eventing rider based in Shoreham has her sights set on Melbourne International 3 Day Event which will take place at Werribee Park in a few weeks time. Not only has Lily qualified two horses for the event, she is coming in hot with a recent win in the 3* at Ballarat Horse Trials earlier this month.
In this interview, Lily tells us about how she started riding, what a normal working day looks like and how she is preparing her two horses for MI3DE.
Picture: Tim Herbert
Take us back to the beginning, how did you get into riding?
Lily's very first horse experience was probably similar to many of you, she attended a pony riding birthday party at only 3.5 years of age, 'and that's what started my obsession'.
'My first horse was a naughty little grey called Roxy who didn’t last long, then I got my second pony ‘Pookie’ who took me to my first pony club rallies at Merricks Pony Club and my first few competitions.'
Who are your current horses?
Lily currently has three horses at home, 'Charlie', 'Bodie' and 'Ivy'.
Charlie
More formally know as Furest Sensation, Charlie is a 13 year old warmblood gelding who loves to show off. He recently won the CNC4* at Ballarat Horse Trials. What is Charlie's best feature? 'He always needs to be the centre of attention and has really cute curly ears.'
Bodie
Lily also regularly competes her 10 year old warmblood gelding 'EA Berlin'. His biggest achievement so far was winning the 2* at Wallaby Hill 3DE in 2019. Also known as 'Mr reliable', Bodie has a super work ethic and always puts in 100% for Lily.
Picture: Tazzie Eggins
Ivy
Lily's future star, at only 3 'Bloomfield Furstin Amour' has been largely been trained and broken in by Lily herself. What do you love about Ivy? 'She is totally food obsessed, will follow you around like a puppy and loves attention'.
Lily's daily routine:
'A normal day begins with a 5am wake up to feed the horses. I leave for work at 6:20am and work from 7am through to 12:30pm. I then come home and work my performance horses, followed by the off the track horses before lessons start at 4:30pm. When I am organised enough, I often have the horses fed before I start teaching otherwise, I feed up in the dark afterwards. During winter I can usually only fit one lesson in before we run out of daylight, so am usually inside by 6pm ready to do it all again the next day.'
Why eventing?
'I think coming up through the grades of Pony Club eventing just seemed to be the thing to do. I used to hate dressage and all I wanted to do was jump and go fast so eventing seemed to fit that criteria and I just had to learn to deal with the dressage.'
'My focus is currently on Melbourne 3 Day Event and preparing to have two horses in the CCI3*-L. Looking ahead to next season, I would like to have a few 4* starts with Charlie, continue to consolidate Bodie at 3* level and keep progressing with Ivy’s training.'
Picture: Derek O'leary
How do you prepare your horses for a big event like MI3DE?
'My preparation for big events starts pretty early on in the season. I find the training I do for my usual events helps a lot in the lead up to a major event as everything seems to be ticking along and I am aware of all areas that need focusing on. At the moment I am lucky enough to be doing fitness work at a local track which has been awesome for getting the horses heart rates up and being able to maintain them at that higher rate for a period of time. I do this each week and gradually increase the intensity of their work as we get closer to a big event. I also incorporate hill work into my fitness sessions and find this really helpful. I am a big fan of icing legs after intense work so I always ice them after their fitness work or an intense jumping session.'
What do you love about Decoll Sport?
'I love the material, everything is so soft and comfortable! Your items seem to fit really well and are comfortable enough to spend all day in, no matter what you have planned. I also like the idea behind the brand of riding wear being combined with sportswear!'
'Comfort is the first thing I look for in riding clothes as I pretty much live in them, then the fit, then the look. As for horsewear, how it fits the horse is most important to avoid any rubs or areas of discomfort for them.' Stay tuned for the Decoll equestrian range coming soon, Lily has already tried one of our saddle pads ...
We have lots of exciting plans with our ambassadors this year! Do you want to be the first to receive the latest's news? Sign up to our newsletter so you don't miss out!
