Winner of the Sportsmanship Award at the 2024 FEI Children’s Classic Final
Ela Vita Kastelic and Luca Watson qualified to compete in the FEI Children’s Classic Final 2024 in Mexico. Ela was awarded the Sportsmanship Award for her contributions and performance at the event. SA Showjumping caught up with Ela to get to know her a little better and find out more about her experience in Mexico.
Q: Tell us a little about yourself!
EK: I was born in Celje, Slovenia. I was born into a larger family, but only my parents, my sister, and I are in South Africa. The only equestrian connection in my family is my grandpa, from my mother’s side, who owns a ranch in Slovenia. Otherwise, neither my family nor my sister were riding horses before I started riding.
Q: Tell us about your horses.
EK: I have three horses, and they are all very different in how they go and in their personalities. BP Elecktro (Elvis) is my first-ever Junior horse, and he is very goofy; you need to keep your leg on over everything for him to jump; overall, he is quite a difficult ride. Callaho Valencia (Vali) is very spunky and quick; she has quite an uneven rhythm, so it’s hard to see a stride, but otherwise, she’s a very sweet and honest horse. Seeis Datolya (Lya) is very hot-blooded and loves to jump; on fresh days she likes to make it a mission to spook and buck as high as possible to get me off, so she’s a tricky ride, but on the ground she’s quite shy and very sweet.
Q: What results and achievements are you most proud of in your riding?
EK: I was the overall winner in the FEI Jumping World Challenge RSA – Category B and the overall winner in the FEI Children’s Gold Tour RSA (before the competition started in Mexico).
Q: How do you handle/stress pressure during competitions?
EK: I have one breathing exercise that I do, but otherwise, I just go in and deal with it.
Q: How do you balance your equestrian training and competition with other aspects of your life?
EK: The only other sport I do is athletics, which I do for a very short amount of time each year. So, after school, I go straight to riding, and then I come home with just enough time to finish either schoolwork or anything else that would have to be sorted out.
Q: What does your daily routine look like?
EK: On a normal day, I wake up and go to school. Straight after school, at 2.45 pm, I go horse riding, where I usually ride two to three horses. I come home at maybe 5pm and finish any schoolwork, and then I go to bed.
Q: What do you consider to be your greatest strength as an athlete?
EK: I never give up and try to always stay very consistent with my riding. For me, if something is possible in any way, I will believe that I have to try, no matter the risk or effort.
Q: Describe a challenging situation in your equestrian career and how you overcame it.
EK: I had a very bad confidence knock on one of my horses, and he just wouldn’t jump for me. So now we are slowly building back confidence, and I feel much better riding him now as we have built a bond again.
Q: What keeps you motivated to keep riding?
EK: Making everyone around me proud and happy is the one thing that keeps me motivated, besides my tremendous love for horses.
Q: What are your long-term goals?
EK: I hope to move up the heights, but also make sure that I keep riding well as I go up and hopefully win some big titles in the 1.30m/35m classes.
Q: What is the most important piece of advice your coach has given you?
EK: Any negative comment or feeling must be like water off a duck’s back; you must just try to let it slide right off.
Q: Who have been the most important people in your life?
EK: 100% my family. All of them support me from all over the world, and I love them all so much.
Q: Who is the biggest influence in your career?
EK: I would probably say my coach (Michael Blom).
Q: Who is your equestrian idol?
EK: Jessica Springsteen. She is a really humble and sweet competitor.
Q: Who is your favourite showjumping horse (past or present)?
EK: I can’t really pick one because there are so many incredible horses. But I have to say that one of them is King Edward. He just backs himself up so nicely for the jumps, and his technique is insane.
The FEI Children’s Classics Final
Q: What was it like qualifying for the final?
EK: It felt incredible. I actually cried when I found out I was going to Mexico because I felt so lucky and grateful for such a big opportunity.
Q: How did you prepare to compete at the 2024 FEI Children’s Classics Final?
EK: I just rode as many different horses as I could. Thankfully, a lot of people in my yard were willing to let me ride their horses.
Q: What was your first impression on arriving at the 2024 FEI Children’s Classics Final?
EK: The venue was mind-blowing, and I was very excited to compete in the event.
Q: Tell us a bit about the horse you drew.
EK: Her name is Free Swing, and she is a very strong and hot-blooded mare. She is quite hard to turn tight with and will stop at jumps if she can, so you have to be strict to every jump. She tends to be sweet on the ground but can bite in the stable, but anytime she is outside, she becomes happier.
Q: What were your fellow competitors like?
EK: The other competitors were all very kind and sweet. I made good friends with the Australians who were competing at the competition.
Q: Did you meet any well-known riders, coaches or officials?
EK: I met Ricardo Nizri (Owner of Rancho Salazar) and Marijin Dubbeldam (FEI).
Q: What were your personal goals for the 2024 FEI Children’s Classics Final, and do you think you achieved them?
EK: Just making it to the show was such a big achievement. I was hoping to maybe make it to the top ten but unfortunately, I got a very hard horse to work with for the show, but overall, I was very happy with the show.
Q: What was the most challenging part of the 2024 FEI Children’s Classics Final competition?
EK: The most challenging part was that we had to swap horses. I only had one training session with the second horse, which was a huge disadvantage for me. We also had to borrow tack for that horse, so we had a lot to deal with.
Q: What was the most important piece of advice your coach gave you about the competition?
EK: Focus on the positive. We already made it to the show, and just being there was a huge achievement by itself, so even if I didn’t do as I hoped, I still did the best I could, and that’s very important.
Q: Do you have one lesson from the 2024 FEI Children’s Classics Final to carry forward in your career?
EK: Even when someone or something brings you down, remember to try to be the better person and move forward because carrying something like that can just make things worse.
