Melissa turns bad break into career-best scores

In acting circles, telling someone to “break a leg” is to wish them good luck and a fine performance.

It is certainly not an adage usually associated with equestrian sports. Quite the opposite in fact. However, a broken leg has proved something of a godsend for Marlborough dressage star Melissa Galloway.

Melissa was kicked by one of her young horses in mid-October, the impact breaking the bone at the top of her tibia. Being forced to spend a couple of months out of the saddle allowed the 30-yearold time to reflect.

Having recently returned from a 10-month stint of riding and working at a top stable in Europe, Melissa admits she was at something of a crossroads, career-wise. “The [enforced] break was good for me mentally. I really needed that time out. After I came back from Europe, I was a bit unsure what I was doing … so the break was really good for my mind … and Joey was also able to get some chill out time,” she explained. Qualifying for and competing at the 2024 Olympics has been a long-term goal for Melissa so, during her recuperation time, she came up with a schedule which would give her the best opportunity of getting her and and top mount Windermere J’Obei W [aka Joey] on the plane to Paris.

“To qualify [for Paris] you have to do at least four CDIs within 2023 and we know that New Zealand had three, which was Taupo, the NZ champs and one in November. We needed one more, so we also decided to go to the Sydney CDI.”

The first stop on the road to recovery was the Taupo CDI, followed by the NZ National Championships at the same venue. There were initial nerves going into Taupo, especially with Melissa having varied their preparation.

“I was hopeful, but not sure what to expect,” said Melissa, “because there were some things in our training that I had changed since we had come home … things that I hadn’t done in Europe but had planned to do.

“I did them for the first time at the show, hoping they would pay off, but I wasn’t sure.

“When there was a considerable jump in my scores, I knew I was on the right track. That was a good starting point … and it has just got better and better.”

The duo took plenty of confidence into the ensuing NZ champs, two weeks later.

“That was great,” said Melissa, “because I had consolidated what I had done in the first competition and we also had some amazing judges … Olympic judges who gave me some amazing scores.”

The duo won all three classes they entered at the National Equestrian Centre, breaking New Zealand records, achieving personal bests, and etching their name on the championship title.

Their Grand Prix test produced a new high of 73.456%, the score including a 74.8% from 5* judge Isobel Wessels (GBR) and 75.9% from Australian judge Kerrie-Swan Bates.

“I didn’t expect to get anything like those marks … my Grand Prix score was quite a bit higher than anyone in New Zealand has ever got before, so it was pretty cool. And those are the sort of scores I need to be hitting to make Paris,” she explained. But more was to come, with the duo from Tuamarina crossing the Tasman at the end of April and emerging as the stars of the show in Sydney. They notched a notable hat-trick in what Melissa described as “a bucket list show for me”, winning the FEI CDI3* Freestyle to Music, then backing up with victories in both the FEI3* Grand Prix and Grand Prix Special.

Overall, Melissa and Joey scored 70.891% in the CDI3* Grand Prix, 72.511% in the Special, and 76.33% in the Musical Freestyle.

“Again, we had two top judges and they were the ones I really wanted to get good marks from, which I did. So, I was particularly happy about that.”

Her efforts, both at home and in Sydney have pushed Melissa up to number 44 on the FEI dressage athlete world rankings - the highest NZ ranking ever and the first time a NZ dressage exponent has entered the top 100. Despite her recent heroics, there are still several hurdles in Melissa’s path before she can achieve her Paris dream.

“Oh, there’s more to the process,” she declares with a laugh. Firstly, she will have to achieve a series of top scores next year, then be chosen by the NZ Games selectors, which is not necessarily a given. However, having recently rekindled her love of the sport, the competitive flame burns stronger than ever.

“I’m going to keep going until [Paris] seems impossible. At the moment, it seems very possible and I will do what I have to do to get there,” Melissa added.