Sam Lissington and Ricker Ridge Sooty GNZ. Photograph by Tilly Berendt.
It’s been an enormous spring for British-based Kiwi rider Samantha Lissington, who rode the wave of a triple podium sweep at Royal Bounce’s CCI4*-L in Chaumont-en-Vexin, France to an extra podium end within the CCI5* at Longines Luhmühlen in Germany.
“While you’re on type, you’ll be able to both keep or go downhill, so there’s a little bit of strain to stick with it!” Sam admitted at Luhmühlen. And it’s true: huge outcomes come few and much between in our sport. With that in thoughts, nevertheless, it’s key to benefit from the waves of success once they come, utilizing them as gas to construct towards extra of the identical sooner or later.
For Sam, the outcomes of the previous few weeks are proof within the pudding of precisely what can occur when horsepower, hustle, and enterprise smarts come collectively on the proper second.
These “huge outcomes” started (this yr, at the least) at Bicton the place Sam was on the rostrum within the CCI4*S with Lord Seekonig. Per week later, she headed to Royal Bounce, the place Sam took dwelling first place within the CCI4*-L with the Excessive Flyers Syndicate’s Quantas R, second aboard Billy Alberto for Alison Spence, and third on Delarado for Kate Maitland, Rachel Bessell, Sam and her husband, Brayden. She was additionally second within the CCI4*-S that weekend with Ricker Ridge Sooty GNZ in what can be his ultimate prep for Luhmühlen; the 14-year-old Holsteiner/Thoroughbred gelding would go on to complete second in Germany.
A Journey to the World Stage
Sam and Quantas R en path to the 4*-L victory at Royal Bounce. Photograph by Libby Legislation Images.
For Sam, this string of success is a part of an even bigger image—one she’s been patiently constructing alongside her husband, Brayden, ever since she made the leap from New Zealand to the UK in 2019. Like many Kiwi riders earlier than her—Mark Todd, Andrew Nicholson, Blyth Tait, Jock Paget, Tim and Jonelle Value, to call just some—she knew the one method to develop persistently on the high of the game was to compete towards the most effective, within the coronary heart of the place all of it occurs.
“I all the time seen New Zealand because the place to construct a basis and sharpen your expertise,” she mentioned. “However if you wish to play on the world stage, you need to be primarily based overseas.”
Sam knew she had an eye fixed for each choosing and producing horses; the primary horse she took 5* in New Zealand was a horse referred to as Ricker Ridge Pico Boo, a horse she and her father picked out as a three-year-old when she was a teen. She went on to take that horse to the Adelaide 5* earlier than setting her sights on increasing her operations.
“I obtained fortunate with the one horse who actually put me on the map, and for some purpose I feel that developed my really feel and my eye, and selecting horses has all the time come tremendous naturally to me,” Sam defined. “I’ve all the time invested time – extra importantly than cash – into discovering horsepower, and I’ve all the time had the philosophy that the appropriate horse doesn’t all the time come on the proper time, generally you need to exit on a limb or take a threat, and different occasions you simply should be affected person. I feel that has paid off in the long term.”
“You possibly can argue that I’m simply good at producing, however the horses I select do appear to go on,” she continued. “I’d gotten to the purpose the place I had 4 four-star horses in New Zealand earlier than we left.”
The eventual transfer to the UK got here with no ensures. She arrived with 4 horses, no native proprietor base, and a complete lot of uncertainty.
After which COVID hit.
“We struggled for 2 years throughout the pandemic as a result of we couldn’t construct any new relationships. Nobody may go to the yard, there have been no occasions, no method to meet individuals,” she recalled. “However it additionally gave us the house to refine our system. We might not have survived with out the assist of our two New Zealand primarily based house owners, Pip McCarroll and Sharon Honiss – they have been a lifeline for us they usually didn’t even get to see their horses within the flesh till years later!”
Horses, Homeowners, and Trustworthy Conversations
Sam Lissington and Ricker Ridge Sooty. Photograph by Shannon Brinkman.
The muse of that system is constructed not simply on selecting the correct horses—however on connecting with the appropriate individuals.
Samantha and her husband Brayden (who co-hosts the favored Eventing Weekly podcast) didn’t arrive within the UK with deep pockets. What that they had was drive, transparency, and a willingness to let their work—and their horses—converse for themselves.
Their first UK possession relationship started at a pub, when Brayden struck up a dialog whereas strolling their canine. That stranger-soon-to-be-friend, Jules Humphreys and her husband, Martin, lived simply down the hill from their yard, got here up for a go to, and introduced alongside their associates (Annabelle and Robin Greville-Williams). The group would finally purchase into Quantas R, and from there, the circle saved rising.
The listing of Workforce Lissington supporters is burgeoning and rising and “these relationships have been instrumental in serving to us achieve success.”
“Our house owners are actually our associates,” she continued. “Friendships can start wherever: a canine stroll, standing in a espresso line at an occasion, a unfastened connection by means of a mutual good friend. However all friendships are primarily based on honesty and a real connection. There’s lots of alternative right here within the UK, however it will be important that you simply convey the appropriate individuals for the appropriate causes into your circle.”
What follows is a construction rooted in that aforementioned honesty. “We by no means overpromise, and we’re all the time tremendous clear about long-term targets and our expectations of the horses.. Folks need to really feel like they’re a part of one thing, and once you’re clear and constant, they follow you thru the ups and downs.”
A lot of her house owners are horse individuals themselves—some with top-level expertise, others who simply love the sport. “I’d wish to assume they imagine in us as individuals, not simply within the horse of the second,” Sam mentioned. “That makes a distinction once you’re constructing one thing sustainable.”
Constructing a String from the Floor Up
Samantha Lissington and Lord Seekonig. Photograph by Tilly Berendt.
This yr’s outcomes (and we’re solely midway by means of the yr!) are a payoff from years of considerate planning and selective constructing on Sam’s half – and these horses are just some of the present and coming 4* horses in her yard.
Quantas R, additional to Sam’s philosophy that an excessive amount of too quick doesn’t do anybody any good, didn’t even run a 4*-L final yr—by alternative.
“He had an enormous seven-year-old yr, and we knew he was particular. We didn’t need to run the legs off him. We took a step again and centered on management, maturity, and the large image,” she mentioned.
Billy Alberto was a special type of venture. Produced by Sophie Fouracre and handed all the way down to a Junior rider, he got here with a tough flatwork basis and a complete lot of persona. “He’d slightly gallop round together with his nostril within the air like a giraffe,” Sam laughed. “However he’s quick, runs in a snaffle, and is surprisingly rideable. He’s the final word yes-man – except you’re asking him to do dressage!”
Sam and Delarado at Royal Bounce. Photograph by Libby Legislation Images.
Delarado, initially meant to be offered as a possible Younger Rider horse, was one other who turned out to be too particular to half with. “She’s by no means had a rail down with me in eventing, and she or he got here dwelling from her first 4*-L feeling like a correct one,” she mentioned. “We determined to purchase into her ourselves on the finish of final yr with the intention to hold the trip, and I’m so glad we did.”
Ricker Ridge Sooty GNZ (who was second within the 4*-S at Royal Bounce) is the longest standing member of Workforce Lissington and was bought with co-owner Pip McCarroll as a five-year-old almost a decade in the past, making the eventual transfer to the UK with Sam and her crew. Now 14, he has taken them everywhere in the world and, as Sam places it, “We match one another like a glove.” Final weekend at Luhmühlen, he introduced Sam her finest 5* outcome up to now.“I all the time knew he was going to be one,” Sam mentioned of “Sooty” after her present leaping spherical at Luhmühlen. “I’m so glad I’ve been in a position to present the world what a horse he’s.”
Lord Seekonig, who was second at Bicton within the CCI4*S in Could, was the primary horse Sam didn’t produce from scratch. She and Sharon Honiss had offered a younger horse and acquired the took a “shortcut”, shopping for him as a nine-year-old campaigning at 3* stage by Eire’s Alex Energy in 2022. Two years later, he’d end simply exterior the highest 10 at Luhmühlen’s 5*. Annabelle and Robin Greville-Williams and Neil Robertson joined the journey as supporters of this horse, and Sam believes they’re solely simply beginning to faucet into his actual potential. She’s planning to purpose him at CHIO Aachen in July with an eye fixed to the upcoming FEI World Championships, additionally to be held at Aachen in 2026.
Sam additionally has two 3* horses within the wings (Malibu TS and Lucas Stone) who will purpose for Blenheim on the finish of the yr.
The Philosophy: Security, Sort, and the Lengthy Recreation
Sam and Billy Alberto at Royal Bounce. Photograph by Libby Legislation Images.
Now a part of the EquiRatings Horse Gross sales crew, Sam’s eye for expertise helps different riders and house owners discover the appropriate horses, too. With entry to efficiency knowledge from over 8,000 FEI horses, she filters potential matches, not by title recognition or flashy breeding, however by metrics after which, most significantly, instincts.
“What I search for first is a horse that’s cautious—with entrance finish,” she defined. “That’s non-negotiable. Security over cross nation and reliability within the present leaping ring are completely key.”
From there, it’s about potential and rideability. “You begin by asking: what can we enhance? How a lot will that enchancment influence the ultimate rating? Is that this horse extra suited to Burghley, or the Olympics, or one thing like Aachen? These are very completely different jobs now.”
Blood share was once the primary filter—however not anymore. “We used to buy 50% [blood] or extra, however now we store on kind. Easter Star [a mare with about 35% blood on paper who is currently campaigned at the Advanced level in the U.S. by Britain’s Lucienne Bellissimo] proved that to me. A few of our greatest gallopers with probably the most stamina don’t have a lot blood on paper.”
Importantly, Sam builds with flexibility – and business viability – in thoughts. “Not each horse needs to be a 5* horse. However all of them have to have a job. If it seems they’re higher suited to a gifted beginner or Younger Rider, then we reinvest and go once more. Our house owners know that—some horses change into ‘keepers’, and a few we find yourself producing to promote. However each horse has a future, and each certainly one of them teaches us one thing.”
Moreover, this allows Sam to promote horses on that can make her house owners a tidy revenue; as she places it, “our house owners have typically accomplished rather well as a result of they both get a four- or a five-star horse, or they make some cash. The aim is to maintain delivering that inside our neighborhood.”
Sam Lissington and Ricker Ridge Sooty GNZ. Photograph by Tilly Berendt.
On the finish of the day, any skilled rider additionally must create a enterprise mannequin that permits them to fund their operation. Sam clued me in to the mannequin she’s crafted the enterprise round: “We’ve created a mannequin that’s extra sustainable than we used to have,” she defined. “At any time when we purchase a younger horse we attempt to hold at the least 25% possession, so if that horse will get offered we get some a refund within the financial institution to fund the working prices of others. But when that horse transitions to a ‘keeper’, often on the level the place it proves it has what it takes to be aggressive at four-star stage, we promote the ultimate 12.5% share to an proprietor who would possibly wish to become involved on the high finish with a confirmed horse. This permits us to maintain placing our cash the place our mouth is in that we’re all the time financially invested within the horses’ journeys, nevertheless it additionally retains the enterprise sustainable long run.”
Delarado and Quantas are actually each at that stage, with 12.5% shares now on supply for events.
As she seems to be forward to her upcoming targets for her burgeoning string of horses, which embody a visit to the Blenheim 8/9-Yr-Olds in September for Quantas R, Lucas Stone and Malibu TS, a begin at Burghley for Billy Alberto, a visit to CHIO Aachen with Lord Seekonig, and Boekelo, Strezgom and Pau additionally on the listing. She’s a busy woman, however the proof is within the outcomes – each on paper, and intrinsically felt in coaching – {that a} dedication to right manufacturing, enlisting trusted assist, and her driving and manufacturing of horses speaks for itself.
With all eyes on WEG in 2026, Sam seems to be again at her journey so far with satisfaction.
“It’s not nearly this outcome,” she mentioned at Luhmühlen. “It’s in regards to the final 15 years of labor which have gone into it. So, it looks like we’re driving a wave, and I’m hoping we are able to hold driving it—continue to learn and constructing on it.
“We’ve constructed a crew I’m happy with,” Sam concluded in our interview. “And now we’re making an attempt to create a program the place each horse, each proprietor, and each second provides as much as one thing greater.”
