Meet our Brand Ambassador: Emma Dicks
Horse Name and Nickname
My showjumper Polo Lounge, who I am lucky enough to full bait from Amy Shakelton, is a spicy black thoroughbred gelding, and we like to call him Mr Po or Po po!
What are your ambitions with your horse for 2022?
I have been extremely excited to take on 2022 with Polo, where we have done our first couple of shows at a lower level to bring him slowly back into full competition work. We won our first 1.20 m class at Burlington a couple of weeks ago, where he had an extremely fast clear round. I’m looking forward to moving back into the 1.30s in the near future. I would love to attempt a few 1.35 m classes later in the year, and I am looking forward to taking part in the South African 1.30 m Derby again this year. I am also keen to compete with him at Youth Champs in Shongweni in December.
Unrelated to competitions, I will be working on Polo’s flat work in order to bring his stress levels down and focus more on loose, supple and fluid workouts which will translate into our show jumping. I am also planning on continuing more horsemanship work with Polo as I would love to work on building his confidence and our trust in each other.
How long have you been riding?
I started officially when I was 5, excluding the occasional walking around on my cousin’s pony before that, and so have been riding for 13 years.
Where did the passion for the sport come from/start?
I’ve grown up around horses, and with my mum keeping her horses at home, I was able to interact with horses from a young age. My mum also used to carry me on top of her horse when I was a baby and from then onwards, all I was interested in was working with and riding horses. I became interested in the equestrian sport when I started competing at the age of 6 because I enjoyed every aspect of not only lessons and competitions but also generally working and interacting with horses.
I was introduced to Showing, Equitation and Dressage and when I moved onto my amazing pony Midas Touch, I started doing Eventing as well and was the 2018 South African Pony Rider 85cm Eventing Champion. We also won the Pony Rider Open Equitation Championships and the South African Pony Rider Novice and Elementary Dressage Championships.
What are some of your horse’s idiosyncrasies?
Polo is a very friendly horse who will without a doubt try to be friends with anyone (even the hormonal mare!). He also loves attention from people as well as being given treats – consisting of just about anything edible. He can be a bit head shy but is always up for giving slobbery kisses (he likes to think of them as kisses, but they’re really just headbutts). He can get very happy when jumping and, if given enough time off, will preferably come into the jumps sideways because he can’t handle the excitement!