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Mother’s Day duo: Catherine & Lucy Alati Is there a secret gene that can be passed down from horse-mad parents to their children? JANE CAMENS spoke to mother and daughter Catherine and Lucy Alati and discovered that it’s a little bit nature, and a little bit nurture.
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MAIN: Catherine and Lucy with Flanagan. INSET: Lucy and Hudson strut their stuff (Image by Stephen Mowbray Photography).
ucy Alati undoubtedly inherited her mother’s passion for horses, although it could equally be argued that it was the environment in which she grew up that saw her follow in her mother’s dainty hoof prints. However, genetics isn’t the explanation for why Catherine Alati, Lucy’s mum, became horse-mad from around the age of eight. She grew up in Southport on Queensland’s Gold Coast with parents who weren’t horsey. Nonetheless, the highlight of Catherine’s young life was holidaying in Byron Bay where she joined Zephyr Horses on trail rides. “That’s where I got hooked,” recalls Catherine. “I still remember every leaf and stone along the trail. Then I’d go to the Ekka (the Royal Queensland Show) just to smell the horses.” We’re talking serious addiction! Today, Catherine lives with husband Giuseppe and their daughter Lucy on a boutique horse property on the outskirts of Byron Bay. Both mother and daughter compete in high level dressage and practice in their own recently covered arena. Catherine is an Equestrian Australia Dressage Level Two riding coach and Lucy is among the many beneficiaries of her knowledge and experience. Catherine’s horse journey really began 62 | H O R S E V I B E S M AY / J U N E 2 0 2 0
when she was living on the Gold Coast and started riding lessons at Pegasus Park. “When that closed down I was so depressed that Mum and Dad bought me one of the riding school horses I liked,” she says. Catherine is funny when she talks about her early days riding. “I’d go to pony club and be lucky to get a ribbon, though in my head I was on my way to
the Olympics. I told myself that when I’m older I’m going to do this well.” Self-talk is clearly a powerful tool because Catherine went on to excel in dressage at the highest levels. However, during her adolescence, her equestrian path was interrupted for a number of years when she discovered parties. Her horse was sold and she went to university to study pharmacy. “I wanted
