WOMEN AROUND THE WORLD Olivia Strauch
A R A BI A N HOR SE TR A INER AT L A S ROSA S A R A BES U RUGUAY
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with Jeff Wallace
ow did you come to know the Princess? Through a friend in common who is a breeder in Uruguay, Gustavo de León. It was hard for him to persuade the managers at the farm to hire a woman. It was the first time a woman was working at Las Rosas. This was 2004.
Did you arrive at Las Rosas with a vision or is this something that formed as your career grew there? No vision at all. I was just a girl willing to learn and who wanted to work with horses. My dream was to become a trainer. Actually, I did it for some time, training and showing horses for Las Rosas and other clients in Uruguay, but when the quality of the horses started to get better and the competition tougher, I felt it was time to leave the whip behind and bring the “real ones!” I’m highly self-demanding and quite obsessed with perfection, so I will only do the things I believe I´m good at. I was very lucky to have the opportunity to learn while working in a great position; that’s why I will always be so grateful to Laetitia and the general manager of Las Rosas, Roberto Serventi, who trusted and believed in me from the beginning. What was it like growing up in Uruguay? Uruguay is a quiet country—nothing happens here. Everything seems impossible. If you are a dreamer, you are nuts. So I always felt I was. When and how did you come to know the Arabian horse? My family owned a cattle farm two hours from Montevideo (the city were I grew up), where my grandma had a couple of Arabian mares. I always admired them in secret, because the breed didn’t have a good reputation in Uruguay at that time. The most popular horse here is the “Criollo” and everyone said Arabians were crazy and good for nothing. There was something about them that attracted me though … they were different, which made them special.
When I was around eight years old, my mother took me to “Expo Prado” to see the Arabian horse show, and I remember walking around in the stables and thinking, “I will be part of this someday; I bet I will.” What is it like traveling the world with the Arabian horse? Everyone says that when it comes to things that you dreamed about, you don’t appreciate them as much when you finally have them. But I certainly do! I enjoy every instant of every trip from the moment I leave to the airport. Mine is a lifestyle I wouldn’t change for anything else in the world. I do what I love every day around fantastic animals, meet amazing people, visit amazing places all around the world and get paid for it. Olivia, your intense focus and loyalty to Excalibur EA over the last few years is quite impressive. Tell us the story of how you found this horse and why you love him so. People here tease me that I am married to Excalibur! All my friends were married with children by this time. I’m the only one single in a group of eleven best friends from school in the ultra-traditional and conservative Uruguay. I just do what I feel happy doing, and for the moment, that is being around the horses. I don’t think ahead or plan much; I just live what life has prepared for me. With Excalibur, it was love at first sight, which never happened to me before with a horse. I had been looking for a stallion for Las Rosas for the last 4 years, but never saw anything that I really felt we should take home. That is, until I saw the 2012 U.S. Nationals email blast from Ted Carson with Excalibur. Something captured my attention and I felt I should inquire more about this horse. In the end, he conquered us all and we ended up buying him. I cannot say I was a “visionary” and knew he was going to be a World Champion—not at all! I just felt he was the horse we needed to upgrade our program. I Volume 45, No. 10 | 2