It's a team celebration (L-R) Fraser Brown, Caitlin McNab (Amanda's competition groom), Anni Sedgwick (Amanda's mum), Chloe Brown, Amanda Ross, Chrissie Brown and Hayley Brown
Only months prior to watching their horse Dicavalli Diesel win the CCI2* at the Australian International 3 Day Event, Chrissie Brown and her husband Fraser had little notion that they would be proud owners celebrating at the big event in Adelaide
“I’m in shock” said Chrissie at the time of the win “It’s amazing but I can hardly believe it”
At the end of 2014, Chrissie and Fraser had absolutely no connection with horses and had never heard of the eventing rider and Australian Olympian Amanda Ross but a series of chance meetings and co-incidences brought the Browns to the sport, owning a horse and eventually Adelaide
“Standing here after winning this it’s bizarre to think that we had absolutely no involvement with horses until we met Amanda” said Chrissie when we spoke to her after Amanda and Dicavalli Diesel had finished their victory lap “After some bizarre circumstances and things coming together, we’ve ended up here in Adelaide and it’s been quite a ride!”
As Amanda explained to us in an interview prior to the Australian International 3 Day Event “This story really started when I sold the two 2* chestnut horses (Loxley and William Wordsworth, now in the UK) and I made a vow to myself that I wasn’t going to sink all my time and money into a horse unless it looked really worthwhile. I needed to develop a business so I could afford to run my life and have a future so I took the decision to sell the horses”
At the same time as working on building her fitness business, Amanda was looking at renting a new property and a friend of hers who happened to be a real estate agent mentioned a lovely property she had just sold. She suggested that she spoke to the new owners to see if they wanted to lease it and the owners happened to be Chrissie and Fraser.
Not being very au fait with the horsey world, Chrissie decided to research their potential tenant and popped into the local Horseland store to see if anyone knew anything about Amanda Ross. The person behind the counter did indeed know Amanda very well - it was Amanda’s mother’s Horseland store they had wandered into!
“That was the start of it” says Chrissie “Soon afterwards Fraser went to a friend’s barbeque and was introduced to their neighbour – they started to talk about the property we’d just bought on the Mornington Peninsula and the neighbour mentioned that his daughter was a horse rider looking to rent in that area. Guess who it was – yes, Amanda’s step father!”
At that point Chrissie and Fraser may well have thought they were being stalked by Amanda’s connections but finally they met the lady herself. Their first meeting with Amanda also happened at a party, at Christmas time in 2014 and, although grins pass between Amanda and Chrissie as they talk about the first meeting, they decide not to go into details ‘on the record’!
“Let’s just say that it was quite a funny introduction as Fraser was full of Christmas cheer! I think that’s all should be said” laughs Chrissie “But after all these co-incidences and finally meeting Amanda that evening we decided that it would be a good idea to let her rent the property at Honey Badger Farm”
Fraser and Chrissie have two children, nine year old Chloe and 12 year old Hayley, who still wanted to visit the farm and learn to ride so they made an arrangement with Amanda whereby they could visit the farm without being in the way
“We promised that we’d only be there once a week – well, that was a promise soon broken! We’re there a lot but we all love it and have a great time and look where it’s brought us”
Of course the right horse did eventually come along and it was quite a stunner – Dicavalli Diesel. Previously campaigned by Niki and then Shane Rose, Diesel was just a little small for Shane but suited Amanda down to the ground and she suddenly felt that the desire to seriously compete was there again
Amanda and her 'Hugh Jackman of horses' - Dicavalli Diesel
“I knew that, if I was to take on another horse, it had to be with people who loved it as much as I do and it would be a ride we would all go on together. You spend too much time on your own in this sport and you can go through some hard times so I really wanted to have a ‘team’ mentality with any owners” says Amanda
“The great thing for me is that the Browns have plenty of experience in other areas – Fraser had a successful Australian Rules football career and Chrissie has been involved at high levels in a marketing career – so they have a strong understanding of elite level sport. Their insight into professional sport really helps their approach to this as well as just wanting to have a good time”
“Although they’ve never been involved in equestrian sport or been hands-on with horses before meeting me, they have owned racehorses and know that with horses, unexpected things can happen and that there are no guarantees with these four legged athletes. But they do want to enjoy the experience and we’re all on the same page which has brought us to where we are now”
“Winning in Adelaide was a real high and one of the best moments you can have but we all know this doesn’t always happen and we weren’t expecting it – hoping, yes, but not expecting and that’s how we’ll go forward”
And what would Chrissie say to someone else new to the sport thinking of becoming an eventing horse owner? Chrissie doesn’t hesitate and her smiling face lights up even more
“Oh god, definitely go for it!” she says without hesitation
“We had no expectations at all coming to Adelaide, it just unfolded step by step and we kept asking – what happens next? We’d never even been to Adelaide as a city before so everything was completely new!”
“It was and amazing weekend. Not just for Fraser and I but for the children too. As they have just started to learn to ride, it’s been really inspirational for them to watch Amanda, who is also their coach win at this level. It’s been a thrill just to be a part of it all”
Chrissie jumped on the phone after Amanda's leading dressage score came up "We're in the lead!"
