Will's Story
Will Matthew started out on leased riding school horses at a pony club in Perth before heading to Europe as a 17-year-old for an equestrian gap year.
A decade and a half later, he is based in Germany and competing as an elite level dressage rider.
“I was always around horses as a kid,” Will said. “My mum was a rider. My dad always says she brainwashed me by riding around me while I sat in the pram in the middle of the arena. She took me for riding lessons at a riding school when I was around six and I was hooked from that point on. From then on, I was always riding.
“I went through the pony club system in Western Australia, so I did everything from flat work to show jumping to mounted games. I never had my own horse – we could never afford it – but my trainer Alisa Dodds gave me every opportunity she could with leasing her riding school horses in exchange for helping in the stable.
“I think Alisa was the one that really helped create my love for dressage. She worked with all the horses in such a system, and it really instilled in me how disciplined you have to be to train horses.”
After leaving school, Will planned to train as an electrician, but put it off for a year to head to Europe for a gap year. What followed was more than a decade of working in some of the biggest equestrian yards in Britain, the Netherlands and Germany, gaining experience and competing on the grand prix circuit. For the past few years, he has lived in Germany and ridden for Olympic gold medallist and world champion Isabell Werth.
He now has two horses that compete at Big Tour level – both 11-year-old geldings, called Freischutz and Mysterious Star.
Will has been training Mysterious Star since he was a five-year-old and the pair have turned in a series of strong performances at grand prix level, ensuring Olympic selection.
“With him it’s so cool, I know him so well and I really feel he knows me just as well,” Will said of Mysterious Star. “He has huge talent for all the collected work and is really always fighting for the rider, so I think he can be a really top horse.”
