Gareth Hughes reflected on realising his dreams and shared sage words of advice to younger riders following his grand prix special performance aboard Classic Briolinca at the European Dressage Championships.
Gareth and the 17-year-old mare, whom he owns with his wife Rebecca Hughes, their daughter Ruby, and Julia Hornig, were part of the gold medal-winning British team at the Europeans. It is Gareth’s first gold medal and a moment he described as “a fairytale”.
Watch Gareth Hughes talk after the grand prix special at the European Dressage Championships
“If I retired now, I’d be happy,” said Gareth. “I have a medal of every colour now!
“When I was young, my ambition was to ride dressage, then ride in tails, then at grand prix, then to ride on the team. To be part of this team, that’s something special.
“To get on a team is so hard. To come away with gold at a Euros in Germany, these are things I read about as a kid. I never thought it would happen. It’s a fairytale.”
With those childhood dreams in mind, Gareth shared the advice he would give to younger people making their way in the sport.
“Social media makes things look very easy. People forget the hard things that you put in behind the scenes,” he said.
“This bit we do at the end is just the cherry – it’s not even the icing. And if you want it – luckily you can do it from 18 until you can’t get on horse anymore – I didn’t get into dressage until my late twenties.
“Don’t take so much notice of what happens with all the sparkly bits on social media, and just graft. If you’re good enough, cream always rises to the top.”
Good horsemanship, of course, is at the centre of his ethos.
“With horsemanship, part of the skill is in the training and horsemanship at home,” he said.
“Usain Bolt didn’t go out and run 100m every day as fast as he could. Don’t do too much at home. Don’t train for the public, train for yourself. You’ve got to develop a bond and strength with your horse.
“Michael Phelps once said that training is like putting deposits in the bank. So the more you put in the bank, the more you can then take out in the arena.”
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