How working with horses helped a professional dressage rider face up to a family crisis

euronews (in English)

Natalie Lankester is a professional dressage rider who will represent UAE in the Asian Games in September 2022. She's also having to face up to her husband's leukaemia diagnosis.

Transcript

00:00 [upbeat music]

00:02 [gentle music]

00:11 I was probably about three years old

00:12 when I first sat on my pony and had my first ride.

00:15 Once you've got that connection with the horse,

00:16 it stays inside you.

00:18 I did try a little bit of jumping

00:19 and a bit of cross country

00:20 and a bit of different avenues

00:22 before I really settled on dressage.

00:24 I love to be able to teach and develop

00:26 along with the horse.

00:28 I started competing probably around about the age of six

00:30 and then as I sort of grew older, it faded out.

00:33 I focused more on my schoolwork

00:35 and I moved here to Dubai back in 2010.

00:39 I wasn't initially in the horsey scene when I came here.

00:42 I was in lighting design.

00:44 It's always drawn me back.

00:46 I mean, I couldn't watch television and see a horse

00:48 and not feel something.

00:49 So I got my first horse here in Dubai.

00:52 He was an off the racetrack horse

00:54 and it was my mission to retrain him in dressage.

00:56 Yeah, he taught me a lot of lessons

00:57 but he got me into the sport here.

01:00 So I'm very thankful for that.

01:02 And then it was in 2015 that I met my husband.

01:05 He's a show jumper here

01:06 and he was actually on the UAE team

01:09 for the Asian Games in 2010

01:11 where he won a silver medal.

01:12 So I had big shoes to fill.

01:14 My first real competition horse here in Dubai,

01:16 she was a mare called Ali.

01:18 She taught me a lot.

01:19 She was my first advanced horse.

01:21 My first season here was a bit nerve wracking.

01:24 I hadn't really been in big competitions before.

01:27 Luckily I had Ali underneath me

01:29 and she held my hands and took me through it.

01:31 And she really gave me the confidence

01:33 to actually think I could do this.

01:34 I can actually make something of myself

01:36 and I can progress in the sport

01:37 and make it my career.

01:39 I was developing the horses.

01:40 I was developing myself.

01:41 I was training.

01:42 And then my husband was diagnosed with leukemia

01:45 and there was a very unknown prognosis long-term.

01:49 I didn't know if he was gonna be taken away from me.

01:51 I didn't know how long we had.

01:53 I didn't know anything.

01:54 I was thinking I need to regain my calmness

01:57 and I need to find my serenity in all of this

02:00 because I'm no good for him if I'm not good inside.

02:03 It was at that point really I think

02:05 I really, really started to appreciate

02:07 the relationship that I have with the horses.

02:09 They are able to connect with me in a way

02:12 and to really keep me grounded.

02:15 Rashid responded really well to his treatment.

02:18 So I actually quickly got back into competition mode

02:21 when I got my horse first dance DXB.

02:24 I thought right, this is my chance.

02:26 This is my chance to train from scratch

02:28 and I'm gonna take him all the way.

02:30 So we knuckled down and we trained hard.

02:32 He didn't lose a single competition since we started.

02:35 So I just secured my spot on the UAE team

02:38 for the Asian Games.

02:39 And I'm very, very honored and proud to call Dubai home.

02:43 I'm proud to be part of the development

02:45 of the dressage scene here.

02:46 And I hope that I can do something

02:48 and make everyone proud.

02:50 (gentle music)

02:53 (upbeat music)

02:56 [MUSIC PLAYING]

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