In this exclusive, subscriber-only interview, Lithuania’s first Olympic rider Justina Vanagaite-Samuile shares how she found her grand prix partner, plus her training ethos that has enabled her to compete against the the world’s best riders on the biggest stage
She describes herself as “the girl from nowhere”, but Lithuania’s first Olympic rider – Justina Vanagaite-Samuile – is certainly going places in the dressage world. Last year alone, she and her first and only grand prix horse Nabab competed in Doha, Saudi Arabia, Czech Republic, Latvia, Estonia and the Paris Olympics. Justina drives her precious cargo thousands of kilometres across Europe in the truck herself, enlisting a friend as a groom.
It may seem a gargantuan task as a one-man band, but Justina, 34, simply adores the sport. She has an infectious enthusiasm, beaming broadly during her tests and celebrating flamboyantly after, blowing kisses and drawing in the crowd. She might not yet be troubling the highest echelons at the very elite level, but she’s become a national hero and she’s demonstrably delighted, even grabbing a selfie with the Lithuanian president in Paris, where he came to support.
“Do what you love, and love what you do, and you will definitely succeed,” she says.
Justina Vanagaite salutes the crowd after riding her grand prix on Nabab at Paris 2024. Credit: Xinhua/Alamy Stock Photo
Justina’s joy is coupled with her partnership with Nabab, an 11-year-old Belgian warmblood by Sir Donovan x Krack C. Her Instagram is filled with reels of the pair simply having fun together – cantering through a vast field, riding bareback in a headcollar and a pair of trainers, Nabab wriggling Houdini-style out of his headcollar.
“It’s just me having fun with my horse; sometimes when I’m bored I do interesting things, and one of them is riding in a halter,” smiles Justina, who caught the eye this year as the first rider to compete at international grand prix without spurs.
Justina Vanagaite: Nabab’s journey to grand prix
Justina has been riding Nabab – nicknamed Kebabi – for five and a half years, though she first spotted him three years earlier.
“When Nabab was a three-year-old, I saw his sales video and I liked him, but I said I would like to come and view him,” she says. “That evening I was told the horse was sold.”
Justina knew the person who bought him, and when she wanted to sell him three years later, she sent Justina some videos and asked for help selling him. Justina wasn’t going to let this second chance pass her by.
“I bought him without even trying him – I just lunged him to see he was sound and loaded him into the trailer,” she says.
Justina and Nabab trot-up at the FEI Dressage European Championship in Risenbeck 2023. Credit: Benjamin Clark
At that stage, Justina had never even competed internationally – her first FEI competition was a prix st georges in August 2020. She was treating Nabab as a sales project.
“I didn’t think he would become the horse of a lifetime,” she says. “The beginning was not very easy. At first we were competing in club competitions and we were always finishing last. But little by little we started to trust each other and became really good partners.”
Within a year, Justina started to dream of grand prix.
“When he was seven, we started to play with tempis and piaffe and I said to myself that he would be my first grand prix horse,” she says. “Everything he does we started to do as a game. I was just playing with things. He can naturally do passage, so it just felt really easy.
“He’s very talented, but his best attribute of all is his mindset. If a horse is willing to work, he will improve in all ways. You can make them move better, improve other elements, build muscles with correct work, and the horse can be born beautiful. But if they don’t have the right brain, you won’t be able to improve it.”
“What he does depends on both our moods”
But it’s also that Justina Vanagaite’s management style allows for Nabab to express his personality. Like Justina, who describes herself as a “showgirl”, Nabab “always wants to be at the party”.
“He just loves people and attention – he’s super curious, wants to discover everything. He really is the best horse I know.”
“He really is the best horse I know – he just loves people and attention”: Nabab asks for extra attention
When he’s at home, Justina arrives at the stables and puts Nabab with other horses on the walker while she prepares their food. He has ad lib hay, and is fed three feeds a day – nuts with lucerne for breakfast, a mash at lunch and an evening mash with a mix and supplements. In the afternoon she lunges or rides and after that he is turned out in the paddock.
“I ride him three or four times a week,” she says. “After every competition – if I don’t have a few in a row – he gets at least one week off. And after the bigger ones, where there is more travelling, he’ll have 10 days with no riding. I’ll lunge him in a halter instead.
“Some days he just has turnout in the paddock, but if the weather is bad, he’ll do a mix of the walker and riding or lungeing. It always depends on the weather, his mood and my mood.”
Nabab will be 15 when Los Angeles 2028 rolls around, so still in a dressage horse’s prime. But right now, Justina is just basking in the satisfaction of their achievements this year.
“Of course Los Angeles is on my mind, but for now we will just enjoy being together, going to some shows where I really want to go. Nabab will keep enjoying his paddock with his friends and we will see how it goes and where it will lead us. I have more horses in different levels, but for now Kebabi is the one!”
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