THE PHILIP SMITH CONTENDERS – OLIVIA ROBERTS

The four competitors for Philip Smith in 2025 were Hamza Minty from Kwa-Zulu-Natal (KZN), Rebecca Hudson-Peacock from the Western Cape, Alexandra Ric-Hansen from KZN, and Olivia Roberts from KZN. We caught up with the four of them ahead of the Philip Smith.

OLIVIA ROBERTS

HQ: Please tell us a bit about your equestrian background. When did you get into riding, how long have you been riding, etc?

Olivia: I am very lucky as I was born into a riding family so I have always been surrounded by horses. However, I only started riding at the age of four and I got my first pony when I was seven. I started my riding career in dressage as my mum, Sacha Roberts, is a retired Grand Prix dressage rider, so I followed in her footsteps. However I quickly transitioned to showjumping around eight years old. Throughout my pony years, I participated in dressage and showjumping, and I did a little bit of showing as well.

HQ: Which disciplines do you ride now, and what levels do you compete at?

Olivia: I am now focused solely on showjumping and I have three Open horses in my string: Coscar FZ, Eagles Coastwatch and African Artisan. I compete Coscar in the 1.35/1.40s, Coastie in the 1.35s, recently doing our first 1.40 together, and African Artisan in the 1.30/1.35s.

HQ: ⁠What do you feel have been your biggest achievements in the sport so far?

Olivia: My greatest personal achievement thus far was my first 1.40m track on Gallantry Canoe two years ago at the 2023 Maple Ridge Youth Extravaganza. Canoe has never been the easiest ride; however, as it stands now, the bond we share is incomparable. He carried both of us around the biggest track either of us had done with only a pole in the third round, and to this day, it is one of my proudest memories. I owe so many of my more recent achievements to Canoe.

HQ: Please tell us about your horses.

Olivia: I have three horses in my string at the moment, all of which I compete in the Open classes: Coscar FZ, Eagles Coastwatch and African Artisan.

Coscar FZ  – more affectionately known as Cossie – is one of the most divine horses I have ever ridden. He is my sister’s horse; however I took over the reins about one and half years ago when she went to university. He is 17 years old now and he is such a people pleaser and will do anything you ask; when you go in the ring with him, you know you’re going to go through the finish flags. He is amazing in the show ring but also very sensitive and can be quite sharp at home. He is an absolute love bug and he adores and demands cuddles in the daily.

Eagles Coastwatch, otherwise known as Coastie, is 13 years old, and he was also my sister’s horse but like Coscar I took him over, and he has become my heart horse. He is very special to me. However he is not an easy horse at all and he is not the type of horse that will save you if you’re on a difficult distance. He often makes me laugh because he is very ticklish and does not like to be tickled, but if you give any other horse attention other than him, he will throw a complete tantrum.

African Artisan is a Zimbabwean Thoroughbred and he is now nine years old. My mum originally bought him as a three and a half year old off the track  as a horse she could produce to go eventing. However when I sat on him she never got him back. His original name was Scribbles but we changed it to African Artisan when we started showjumping him. We have kept his stable names as Scribbles, though. He is a very special horse; he is brave as anything and he loves to pronk around after the jumps, but he can throw a proper buck and you really need superglue to stay on when he does those.

HQ: Do you know yet who your horse for the competition will be?

Olivia: I have chosen Eagles Coastwatch as my horse for Philip Smith as he is beautifully schooled and he was the horse I qualified for Philip Smith on so I decided that out of my horses he would be the best option.

HQ: Who are your coaches?

Olivia: I am coached by Jenna Odell and Chad Cunningham. I have been riding with Jenna since I moved to South Africa in 2020. She has been such an amazing coach to me, and my riding has progressed tremendously under her tutelage.

I have been riding with Chad Cunningham since I was around ten years old when he used to come to Zimbabwe for clinics. I have continued to ride with Chad because he is one of the most amazing coaches out there, and my riding gets better and better every time I see him.

HQ: How are you preparing for the Philip Smith?

Olivia: I have been riding as many different horses as I can to help me prepare for the different horses that I’ll have to ride in the Philip Smith. On each of these horses, I have been practising for the dressage test, and I have also been jumping them around courses and through gymnastics in preparation for the jumping part of the test.

HQ: Which phase are you most nervous about, and why? Which phase are you most comfortable with, and why?

Olivia: I would say I’m more anxious about the dressage part, as I think it is the most important part. We only get one minute to prepare for a five-minute dressage test, and dressage is also very strict. One mistake can greatly affect the test mark. I’m more confident for the jumping part as we would have had a feel for each horse prior to competing and I think that will give us a huge advantage when getting on to jump.