YOUNG RIDER MARY NITSCHKE

Totally devoted to dressage

September’s Young Rider, Mary Nitschke is blessed with a work ethic that’s bound to take her places, writes AMANDA MAC.

One of the first things you notice when talking to 21-year-old Mary Nitschke is her engaging personality and down-to-earth take on just about everything.

Now based in South Australia’s Adelaide Hills, horses featured early in her life. “Both Mum and Dad rode farm stock horses, and Mum did a bit of dressage and show jumping too,” she says. “There’s even a photo of me sitting on a horse with Dad that was even taken before my first birthday.”

But then the family moved to more urban surrounds, and Mary didn’t begin riding seriously until she was nine. While her younger sister prefers eventing, for Mary it was dressage that stole her heart.

“I started riding because it was fun and nothing’s changed - I still ride for the love of it,” she says.

Mary currently competes with two Warmbloods, 14-year-old Utopian Cardinal, better known as Cardi, and 12-year-old Promise R.

A great believer in consistency, Mary generally trains everyday. “I usually compete over the weekend, so I normally leave Mondays for a day off, or a trail ride,” she explains.

Clearly Mary’s dedication is paying off, as she has just been included in the Top 100 in the Under 25 Grand Prix World Rankings.

“Cardi and I competed at the recent Brisbane CDI. It was only our second event at Grand Prix level so I didn’t have any big expectations - I just wanted to do it. Later, when I checked the rankings online, I was so surprised to find my name among the Top 100, that I refreshed the page just to make sure that it was for real. Even then, I could hardly believe it. It was so exciting,” she says.

But Mary isn’t just one of Australia’s most promising young dressage riders – she’s also in her second year of a Bachelor of Psychological Science (majoring in Human Neuroscience) at the University of Adelaide.

And where does she find the time to do all this?: “I have no idea how I fit it all in – being a little bit mad helps I think,” she laughs.

So with Grand Prix under her belt, what’s next? Says Mary: “In September we’ve got the Boneo CDI, and in October it’s the Australian Dressage Championships at the Sydney International Equestrian Centre. As for the longer term, I’m not sure. My first goal was to get to Grand Prix. So now I’ve achieved that I just want to improve my scores and get to know Cardi better. Obviously the Olympics and World Equestrian Games are on my mind and I do want to work towards one of them.”

With such a promising future ahead of her, Mary is more than grateful to the people who help her along the way.

“Firstly, none of this would be possible without Mum and Dad,” she says. “Then there’re my trainers - Heath and Rozzie Ryan, Megan Jones, Di Jenkyn, Dirk Dijkstra and Ruth Schneeberger. They’re all fantastic, they’re all the best.”

With a number of significant goals already achieved, HorseVibes wishes Mary many more successes in the years to come.

Above and left: Mary & Utopian Cardinal, a winning team. Pictures: Amy-Sue Alston