MEET ZARA PAPPALARDO

Interview by Sydne Yorke-Hart

There are few people who have won as many trophies as Zara Pappalardo or done as much for our sport. And just to make this even more impressive - Zara is only 12 years old! We can’t wait to see what Zara’s riding future holds, and we loved catching up with her in this interview. She’s a real inspiration!

HQPony: How old are you?

Z: I’m 12.

HQPony: And how old were you when you started riding?

Z: I went to my first show when I was 18 months old on Nick, my first pony. My mom taught me at home. Nick is still with us and is 37 years old!

HQPony: And tell us about your ponies?

Z: My ponies are Carel Hancke Donatello and Rooigras Elle. Donald is 13, and Elle is 14. Donald gives me kisses and bobs his head up and down for carrots. He likes to break things, like his fly mask. We bought him a new one yesterday, and it is already broken. When he is clean, he is a shiny, pink, rose-gold colour, but when he is dirty, he looks brown. He always rolls.

Elle is a bit of a princess! She isn’t super cuddly. We like to ride in pink. They are both Boerperds and both sponsored by Regenesis Vet.

HQPony: Which disciplines do you compete in?

Z: Donald just does dressage, but Elle does jumping, showing, eventing and dressage –everything! Elle even does fancy dress [Zara had just returned from a Halloween ride dressed as Nymphadora Tonks (from Harry Potter) when we spoke to her].

HQPony: What’s your favourite discipline?

Z: Eventing. Elle is very fast and brave in the country. She nearly got time penalties in the last show for going too fast – I couldn’t slow her down. Whenever she leaves the box at the eventing, she bucks because she is excited, so they call her the bucking bronco.

HQPony: Who are your coaches?

Z: I have lessons with Zdenek Muchna, and I have dressage lessons with Marianne Conlyn.

HQPony: What are your goals for next year?

Z: I’d like to be in the 1.10m classes with Elle and doing EM dressage with Donald.

HQPony: Do you have any other hobbies?

Z: I do athletics, piano lessons and public speaking, as well as riding. I also play with my dogs and jump them!

HQPony: You must have to be very disciplined to do all that.

Z: Yes. I have to plan my time.

HQPony: Why is your horsey role model?

Z: Zdenek (Muchna) is my role model. I want to ride like him one day.

HQPony: If you could ride any horse in the world at a show, who would it be?

Z: It would be Arma (Armageddon), my mum’s horse. He’s retired now. He’s 21.

HQPony: We hear you made lots of money for Highveld Horse Care Unit (HHCU). What did you do to raise the money?

Z: I went to Derby and spoke, spoke at school and went to the SANESA prize-givings to sell lots of raffle tickets for Highveld Horse Care (HHCU). We raised R145,000 cash, excluding the printing we did for the horseboxes and the roll-up banners. With Aiden, we also got onto Equestrian Live to talk about HHCU.

HQPony: And we believe you produced a pony yourself from scratch?

Z: Yes – I produced Countess of Dia. I’m so happy because she is now doing very well with her new rider Gabriella Bianco.

HQPony: And we have to ask about Boesman? We love your old pony Boesman!

Z: Boesman was my first proper competition pony. We don’t know exactly how old he is because he was a rescue pony, but we think he is around 28 now. Boesman sleeps in the paddock at random hours of the day. He also lets himself out of the stable, or climbs out of the stable. When he gets out, he grazes; he doesn’t run around, so that’s good. I love Boesman.

HQPony: Can you tell us about some of your results from this year?

Z: I won National Victor Ludorum for SANESA. We took Elle to Boerperd dressage. We won Elementary dressage.

HQPony: What was one of your riding highlights of the year?

Z: I rode Rooigras Skildery, who was a traditional Boerperd at the national show in the Afridome in Parys. He belongs to the Stud. The traditional Boerperds go a bit more like Saddlers with a very big trot, so it was very different and fun. I rode him once and then rode him for the show. I want to go again to that show! I did the three-gaited classes, but there are five-gaited classes too – and the horses make so much noise. They’ve asked me to do the five-gaited next year, so I can’t wait for that. They have some very pretty horses but also some very naughty horses! They have very peculiar names.

Zara is sponsored by Equestrian House as a brand ambassador. She loves her Kask helmets, Equipe saddles, Ego 7 breeches and boots, and Kurden jacket. Her ponies are maintained by Regenesis Vet.kshf

Our photoshoot was quite scary. We used chalk powder, but Donald was very good!