When H&H last caught up with Naomi Aguilar and her 14.1hh Knabstrupper/Appaloosa gelding Whitehawk Dancing Fire (Enzo), they were already turning heads at the Petplan Winter Area Festival Championships.
Even then though, grand prix felt like a distant dream – but this unlikely pair has done what few thought possible: not just reaching the level, but holding their own at Premier Leagues alongside some of Britain’s leading combinations.
“I still can’t quite believe it, I don’t really know how we ended up here,” Naomi laughs. “If you’d have asked me a year ago if this was possible, I would have called you mad!”
True to form, this unconventional pair had an unconventional beginning, including the first time Naomi rode her now-grand prix partner.
“We live in Jersey, and I used to take him into the sea in hand when he was three,” she says. “One day, my friend said, ‘Go on, just hop on.’ So I did – I literally swam on his back in the water. That was the first time I ever rode him.”
Naomi remembers first spotting Enzo as a two-month-old foal on Facebook, and bought him “on impulse” for just £800. At the time, she was 19, living at home, and not even riding dressage.
“I just couldn’t stop looking at his face,” she recalls. “There were no plans for dressage – I thought I’d just plod around the lanes on a cute pony.”
But Enzo had other ideas. His attitude and trainability opened doors Naomi had never planned for – and a decade after buying him as a foal, the pair cantered down the centre line for their first grand prix.
“He’s just so game, and it all sort of happened quite quickly, to be honest,” Naomi says. “I always think about taking every day as a blessing because you never know what might happen tomorrow.”
With that in mind, once they could perform all the movements – even if not yet fully polished – Naomi entered her first inter II.
“We did reasonably well,” she says. “Afterwards, I spoke to my trainer, Roland Tong, who’s been a massive inspiration, and he said, ‘Look, you’ve just got to go for it now’.”
So the following month, she quietly made plans.
“My friend and I snuck off to the UK. I didn’t tell anyone – I just entered. I was so emotional, I cried the whole way there. But Enzo did it. He tried his heart out, and we scored over 60%. That was everything I hoped for.
“When I announced we’d done it, the response was amazing – I had so much support.”
It was a fantastic start, but living in Jersey means long winter months without any competitions. From October onwards, Naomi and Enzo had no choice but to wait for the summer season to begin.
“I felt a bit stuck at that stage,” Naomi explains. “There isn’t really anything out there for amateur grand prix riders – no Area Festivals, no established pathway once you reach that level.
“I said to Roland, ‘What can I actually go and do?’ And he just said, ‘Well – go to the UK and do the Premier Leagues’.”
So in April, Naomi entered Chard Premier League – a bold step, having only ridden the test four times and not competed in almost six months.
“I was incredibly nervous,” Naomi recalls. “I got tense, he got tense, and the judges quite rightly picked up on that. I lost a bit of confidence.
“But over the three days, so many people came up to me to say how incredible it was to see a little pony doing grand prix, and how it proves that your everyday person with their everyday pony can aim this high. That really helped build me back up.
“On the last day, we did the freestyle, and I just let myself enjoy it. We hit our timings, and everything came together that little bit better.”
They scored 66.33% with an upbeat freestyle set to tracks by Robbie Williams, Taylor Swift, and Panic! At The Disco – a routine created by Tony Hobden at Equidance. When Tony posted a video of the test on Facebook, it racked up tens of thousands of views.
“It’s amazing how positive the response has been,” Naomi said. “I asked Tony, ‘Are you deleting all the negative comments?’ And he said, ‘No – there haven’t been any’.
“And I can’t explain it, but that’s when it hit me how special this is, how lucky I am to have my little wonky pony – and how positive this sport can truly be.
“I know I’m not going to win. But having my name up there next to Becky Moody’s and Lewis Carrier’s? That’s enough for me.
“And if I could get a bunch of ex-Pony Club kids and their little ponies together along the way and say, ‘Look, if you work hard and believe in it, this is possible’ – that’s what keeps me going.”
On her advice for riders with non-traditional dressage breeds, Naomi says: “Correct training is always recognised. Maybe not every day, but it shines through in the end.
“And now that paces are only marked once in the collectives, not twice, it’s a more level playing field for ponies and cobs.”
She firmly believes that with the right mindset, the higher levels of the sport are within reach for anyone.
“I absolutely believe that. I remember Roland once saying, ‘You get out what you put in’ – and it’s so true.
“If you give your horse love, consistency and dedication, they’ll give it back to you, whatever their size or breed. So, go for it, you’ll learn so much in the process – and that’s what really matters.”
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