Lydia Beales with one of her charges at Puhinui Horse Trials
Lydia Beales may originate from Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire (although she admits “I tell people I’m from Manchester, because they’ve heard of that”) but her heart is now very firmly planted in New Zealand.
From the age of 17 Lydia loved to travel and, after falling in love with New Zealand on various trips, she decided that a short stay there just wasn’t enough. She went back to the UK, organised a visa and hightailed it back to the South Island where she and her partner have lived for the past eight years. During that time however she did end up back in the UK for two years, travelling with eventing rider Clarke Johnstone as his head girl
So how did a pommy girl end up grooming for a New Zealander at some of the biggest events in the world? A bit of luck and a lot of passion it seems
“I went to the Johnstone’s place for a jumping lesson with Vaughn Jefferis as I was living miles from anywhere and needed some coaching and after the lesson I asked Vaughn if he needed anyone to work for him. He didn’t but then about three months later Jean Johnstone rang me and said ‘You can come to the Horse of the Year show and groom for Clarke if you can get here tomorrow’. That was the start of it!’
“I quickly packed my bags and honestly I didn’t know anything when I got there. I’d ridden in the UK, doing dressage, equitation and jumping but I was nothing special and then after a week, Clarke asked if I would like to go to the Olympics and groom for him! It was like a dream come true and of course I said ‘Yes please’”
An important factor for Clarke employing Lydia was probably her work ethic. Lydia started riding at the age of four and at the age of nine started to take lessons at the local riding school but had to pay her way
“I lived for horses and loved them. Then my mum explained that she couldn’t afford to keep paying for lessons and I was just mortified. Luckily my riding instructor organised a pony I could ride for free and from the age of 11 until 17 I worked at the stables, mucking out the boxes for five pounds a day and living on beans on toast to save money!”
When she was 12 Lydia won the Yorkshire qualifier for the British Best Young Equitation Rider and came third in the National Championships but all of this was part of her general horse education rather than a burning desire to get to the top.
“My riding instructor Seonaid McCart was awesome and taught me everything she could but I never imagined that I would become a top rider or even work for one. It wasn’t until I went to work for Clarke that I really learned how to do things in that area.
“Like most professionals, Clarke has a particular way of doing things and you always know what has to be done and how to do it because he teaches you straight away how he would like it to be done. I think he likes to employ people who will listen to him and not take over at the start – someone he can mould into what he wants and then eventually he can trust you with anything”
Lydia and her 'best buddy' coming out of the famous arena at Aachen
The two years working with Clarke in the UK didn’t pan out quite as expected for the team. There were the highs of Clarke being the youngest winner of the 2011 FEI World Cup Eventing Series with wins in the New Zealand and Australian rounds of the series and a sixth at Haras Le Pin in France riding his top horse Orient Express. They competed at huge shows such as Aachen and Orient Express had some good results but they were also a couple of difficult years with injuries to horses putting an end to the 2012 Olympic hopes. A heavy blow also came with the death of Clarke’s other top horse, Incognito, in a paddock accident
“Orient Express was my best buddy. We had so much fun together – it was a mind blowing experience and we had some real ups and downs; probably more lows than highs in the two years overseas because three top Olympic horses broke down, which was really sad for both Clarke and I but we came through the other side of it. He’s probably one of my best friends now and we get on really well. I’m happy that I can still help them out and be called upon when they have heaps of horses in work and love to work alongside Ange, now his full time groom”
Clarke opted to come back to the South Island of New Zealand and Lydia too came back but now she works only part time as a groom on a freelance basis, mainly because she still loves it so much.
“I love caring for horses and I really enjoy being at the big shows but now I only do it part time so I’m in a position where I can choose the work I like. I’m also a little bit particular about who I work for as I like to believe that any rider I work for truly loves their horses and only wants the best for them. If for any reason I felt that wasn’t the case then I would probably choose not to work for them”
Working as a freelance groom is a little bit different to working every day with the same horses but Lydia tends to have a lot of regular clients, especially on the eventing circuit
“Obviously when you’re working with a horse all the time you know all their little quirks but when it’s a new one you just need to be a bit more careful and cautious around them and you can never just expect it to automatically respond to your techniques or understand your aids. I always ask the owner what the horse likes and doesn’t like beforehand rather than risk upsetting them at the competition. With a lot of the eventing riders I work for such as Clarke, Maddy Crowe and Sarah Young I know their horses well and I also do work for Vaughn Jefferis at show jumping competitions (which are a completely different kettle of fish) but when I do work for showing riders, I usually don’t know the horse at all beforehand. I just turn up, do the job and go away again and it works quite well although with the showies I insist on using on using their own grooming products as they need so much of it, it costs a fortune!”
Some of Lydia's handiwork - and if you want to know how she does those plaits, we have her top tips coming up soon
“Basically I turn up at the event and take over! I tell the rider to sit back and concentrate on what they are there to do and I look after the horses from start to finish. It’s my job to be always kind to the horses and gentle; whatever has happened out there, it’s my job to look after them and be their friend whether they’ve had a great cross country round or a terrible one.
Lydia admits that, even though it still isn’t her full time job, it is one that takes dedication and a lot of hours.
“I generally charge around $150 dollars and it’s pretty much around the clock work. During an event I’ll be up at about 4am and picking up in the stable at 10pm but it’s a social job and I do it because I love it. Even though the hours are long, there is always time in between busy periods when you can sit down and have a drink with friends and I usually have a really good time with whoever I’m grooming for. So it’s not overly taxing but it is very long hours”
“I started a Facebook page (Lydia Beales Equestrian) a few months ago and, with that and word of mouth, I’m rarely without work. Even though I live in the South Island, people call me up to work all over New Zealand which means I get to the shows that I like a lot – I’m really lucky”
