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‘Everything he does we started as a game’: how an Olympic dressage rider honed her project horse for the world stage

Martha Terry Martha Terry

    • In this exclusive, subscriber-only interview, Lithuania’s first Olympic rider Justina Vanagaite-Samuile shares how she found her grand prix partner, plus her training ethos that has enabled her to compete against the the world’s best riders on the biggest stage

    She describes herself as “the girl from nowhere”, but Lithuania’s first Olympic rider – Justina Vanagaite-Samuile – is certainly going places in the dressage world. Last year alone, she and her first and only grand prix horse Nabab competed in Doha, Saudi Arabia, Czech Republic, Latvia, Estonia and the Paris Olympics. Justina drives her precious cargo thousands of kilometres across Europe in the truck herself, enlisting a friend as a groom.

    It may seem a gargantuan task as a one-man band, but Justina, 34, simply adores the sport. She has an infectious enthusiasm, beaming broadly during her tests and celebrating flamboyantly after, blowing kisses and drawing in the crowd. She might not yet be troubling the highest echelons at the very elite level, but she’s become a national hero and she’s demonstrably delighted, even grabbing a selfie with the Lithuanian president in Paris, where he came to support.

    “Do what you love, and love what you do, and you will definitely succeed,” she says.

    Justina Vanagaite salutes the crowd after riding her grand prix on Nabab at Paris 2024.

    Justina Vanagaite salutes the crowd after riding her grand prix on Nabab at Paris 2024. Credit: Xinhua/Alamy Stock Photo

    Justina’s joy is coupled with her partnership with Nabab, an 11-year-old Belgian warmblood by Sir Donovan x Krack C. Her Instagram is filled with reels of the pair simply having fun together – cantering through a vast field, riding bareback in a headcollar and a pair of trainers, Nabab wriggling Houdini-style out of his headcollar.

    “It’s just me having fun with my horse; sometimes when I’m bored I do interesting things, and one of them is riding in a halter,” smiles Justina, who caught the eye this year as the first rider to compete at international grand prix without spurs.

    Justina Vanagaite: Nabab’s journey to grand prix

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    Martha Terry
    Martha Terry

    H&H features editor
    Martha is an experienced journalist who is mad-keen on horses and dogs. Her reporting CV includes the Paris Olympics, European championships, Aachen World Equestrian Festival and World Cup finals. After growing up with assorted liver and white springer spaniels, she enjoyed 14 years with two rescue dogs. Now, her constant companion is Fidget, an extremely energetic and habitually muddy black and white springer. Martha has written on topics as diverse as a top horse’s clone to the best GPS trackers for dogs, as well as equestrian and rural matters for Country Life, The Field, The Times, The Spectator and The Telegraph alongside Horse & Hound.
    Martha Terry

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