Photos: (Main) Stefano grasso (inset) carol Sachs/gucci showJUMping by Alison Duthie The journey <strong>of</strong> <strong>Edwina</strong> <strong>Alexander</strong> A quiet MOMent with ciSKe vAn OveriS. <strong>Edwina</strong> <strong>Alexander</strong>, like most elite athletes, is a very busy person. She divides her time between riding horses, looking for new horses, competing at shows all over the world, doing the obligatory mountain <strong>of</strong> paperwork involved in any business —www.edwinaalexander.com—not to mention organising her wedding! <strong>Life</strong> is certainly never dull for the world’s highest-ranked female showjumper, who recently became the first rider on the Global Champions Tour to accumulate one million euros in prize money. <strong>Edwina</strong>’s story begins in North Turramurra, NSW, where <strong>from</strong> a young age she was keen to have horses in her life, even if those horses weren’t the most suitable for a young, inexperienced girl. “I always loved animals and had a natural feeling for horses. My neighbours had horses and every day after school I would be at their place either riding or just being around the stables. I got my first horse, a four-yearold unbroken pinto at the age <strong>of</strong> eight. It probably wasn’t the best start but I was pretty determined and my goal at that stage was to have a horse, a blue riding coat and pierced ears. Having achieved that, I was quickly onto my next goal … to ride at the Olympics!” It is <strong>of</strong>ten assumed that great riders are born into families with generations <strong>of</strong> horse riders in their blood. This was not the case for <strong>Edwina</strong>. Her parents didn’t come <strong>from</strong> an equestrian background, although, once they saw the passion and determination their young daughter had for the sport, they started to support and invest in her equestrian career. “My parents were very good and bought horses for me, but I would do everything possible to earn pocket money so I could buy things for those horses. I collected golf balls <strong>from</strong> the local golf course and sold them to the Saturday golfers. I would happily wash the family car, do the dishes— anything to earn money and prove to my parents just how serious I was about riding. Looking back, I have to admit that I missed out on quite a lot <strong>of</strong> childhood—the friendships, going to parties and that sort <strong>of</strong> thing—because I was so busy riding, but I wouldn’t have changed it for the world.” With four children in the <strong>Alexander</strong> family, each sibling was encouraged to follow their individual paths. While <strong>Edwina</strong>’s two brothers, Philip and Andrew, were never interested in riding, her sister Kate participated until her enthusiasm started to wane at age 16. Meanwhile, <strong>Edwina</strong>’s competitive love for showjumping was growing stronger and in 1995, at the age <strong>of</strong> 19, she won the Australian Young Rider Championships on a five-year-old horse called Players. The following year she competed in her first international show, riding a borrowed horse, as part <strong>of</strong> the Australian team in Hong Kong. “We won the teams event and I won the Grand Prix class, but the main thing that sticks in my mind about the trip was that I was violently ill … not the best way to remember your international debut.” In 1998, together with Mr Dundee, her best horse at the time, <strong>Edwina</strong> made the decision to base herself www.equestrianlife.com.au 21
22 SPECIAL FEATURE—SHOWJUMPING ciSK vAn OveriS And edwinA All Kitted Out in their excluSive gucci clOthing And AcceSSOrieS.
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