We have two very special Weekly Round-Ups this week with both these amazing grassroots ladies tied into The Grassroots Gazette and both that participated in The Wild Atlantic Dressage Festival. We are starting with the one and only Nina Reinbold Molloy. Nina is one of the dynamic duo along with Anna Suess behind the wonderful new equestrian podcast – Unstabled – the Horsie Podcast ❤️.

So lets kick this off and see how Nina got on at the Wild Atlantic Dressage Festival this weekend.

Who Are You and what do you do?

My name is Nina, and I am an amateur dressage rider living in the west of Ireland. I am only back competing since November 2022 as a registered member of DI after taking a 6-year break from it due to family and work commitments. 

Tell us about the event and how you got on?

I competed last weekend at the Wild Atlantic Dressage Festival; I believe it is the third time this event is taking place. I had been a volunteer the last two times as a judge’s scribe. 

I knew once I am out competing again it is a show I wanted to take part in. Simone has done such a great job organising this event together with her army of helpers and it was an amazing atmosphere during the two days. So nice to have an event like this in the west of Ireland.

I competed in the Novice Championship and with 2 solid tests over the two days we placed 2^nd in the overall championship.

Tell us about your horse you had with you at the event?

Kingsborough Samira is a 6-year-old mare, bred and owned by David Gray; she is by Sandro K (Sandro Hit) out of a Je Taime Flamenco mare. I got the ride on her the end of September and back in February she moved into my yard to be able to work her more consistently. She is a very busy mare, and we had a couple of bumps in the road since September, but I really feel she has grown up a lot lately and I am more in the driver seat now during our test, then just being a passenger.

How did you prepare for the event? Any Challenges coming into this?

I am not really preparing for that “one” event, Samira would have been in continues work coming up to it. We are currently working on getting her more balanced in her movements as she sometimes hurries through the test. At home I try to implement a variety of different training methods including pole work, In-Hand, lunging and hacking. I don’t want her getting bored of just doing the one thing. 

In the beginning of the year, we hit a little bump in the road where Samira had a bit of a teenage moment and shutdown at one of the show, so this is always in the back of my mind now traveling to a show. But there was no sign of this during the 2 days we competed, she was an absolute super-star!!   

Anyone you want to give a shout out to? It really does take a Village.

Yes, it sure does!! I couldn’t do any of this without the continues support of my husband Robbie, who made it possible for me to keep my horses the way I keep them and is always there to help me out with moving bales of hay, catching horses that broke out, poo picking and so one. THANK YOU!!

I would also like to thank David for giving me the opportunity to ride this talented mare and trusting me to produce her.

How do you handle pressures and stress that might come competing in events like this?

I am lucky enough that I am not doing this as my profession, so my main priority is to have fun going out. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t get stressful at times. Especially if you are presenting a horse that isn’t yours. I like to be well organised for the day, this way I am not accidentally adding any additional stress to an already high-pressure situation. Doing certain processes, the same way every time helps me to calm myself when getting ready.

What’s the one event you’d like to compete in and win?

I actually couldn’t narrow it down to a certain event, it is more the level I would like to get to, I would like to ride a good test at Advanced level, I used to compete up to Advanced Medium, but since I left Germany, I just didn’t have the horsepower, so fingers crossed Samira will go the whole way with me. Anything more than that would be a bonus. 

An international competition would be a dream to attend also.

What have you got to say about your horse?

As I said before Samira is not my horse, but I am lucky enough to have her with me to be produced. She is a character that’s for sure. She is very social and sweet but also inpatient. Her inpatients can become a challenge when introducing her to new things in her training as she is anticipating them then. She also has a super busy mind that needs to be engaged at all times to keep her focused. But once she gets something she has it. I just love working with her.

Most proud of this weekend?

I am super happy with the feeling she gave me this weekend. She never has an issue in the warmup arena as she is super social and likes to be around horses, then when you take her into the test arena, away from the horses, she can get tense which can lead to issues in the test. This weekend I had for the first time the feeling that I was able to bring the work from the warmup into the test, and that shows me we are on the right track.

What’s up next for you? Any big events coming up?

At this moment we have nothing entered, I am thinking we might enter one show the end of May and hopefully get our third qualifying score for the National Championships in September sorted (fingers crossed). And then I would like to give Samira a break of maybe 3-4 weeks. There is some exciting 2 day shows coming up during the summer, but I am not sure yet how they will fit into our calendar.

What advice do you have for others wanting to compete like this?

There is nothing special about the way I go out and compete, so my advice would be just do it and enjoy! But I would of course advice anyone that is new to dressage, get yourself a good trainer and they will help you along with your dressage journey.

Ends.

We are excited to release the second Weekly Round-Up tomorrow with Angela Lyons along with her interview from the event. In the meantime heading on over and give Nina and Anna’s Podcast a listen to, they are brilliant together. You listen to it here: Unstabled – The Horsie Podcast.