the end of the season, and hopefully the Fernhill horse for a CIC*** as well. But also I hope to get them on the right path for the future and bring them on the right way.” With such lofty riding goals, Liz has scaled back her car
racing to leave more time to train her horses. “I’m still doing a racing championship this year, the Lotus Cup UK series,” she says. “It’s a busy championship with great racing at the front of the grid. I did it last year with some success and hope to win it this year. Driving is loads of fun, challenging and I love it; it’s something my dad taught me to do. It keeps me close to him and that’s important to me because that’s what we did together.” Racing cars is an important part of her life that makes her
a little different from other eventers, she says, which some of her sponsors like. “I think it’s healthy to switch your brain over some weekends, too. There are more similarities than you’d think: you’re using all of yourself—different muscles and high reaction speeds. You adjust a horse for a fence like you would drive a car into a corner. You so have to separate one from the other, though—if you mesh the two in your head you get in trouble!” One of Liz’s biggest sponsors is Voltaire Design saddles.
Another is Cyclo-ssage, which for horses consists of a big rug that covers the whole horse and massages them; there is also a medical-grade massage system for people, which Liz says is extremely helpful for racing. She has introduced it to some of her fellow drivers.
Dersit iv y of Int ests er
Growing up, she recalls, there was a stable down the road from her family’s home. “Eventually my mom, Debby, gave in and took me for lessons and I’m sure she never thought it would turn out the way it did. Both my parents have been incredibly supportive through my crazy life, very much behind me, which is very cool.” While Liz grew up in Fallbrook, near San Diego, her mom
now lives in horsey Rancho Santa Fe. “We go visit quite often and, now that dad’s passed away, she comes here a fair bit. It’s nice that she can be part of everything.” Liz also does a fair bit of teaching, with regular clients and about eleven boarders. Most of them are competitors in eventing or show jumping. “We’re a competition yard that has competing boarders—a whole selection,” she says. “I’d like to do some clinics in America eventually, as I do enjoy teaching.” While it’s too hard for her to travel the distances required
to train regularly with William Fox-Pitt these days, Liz says he’s still a great friend and mentor who looks after her at events. She has been training with James Burtwell in dressage for the past year and previously worked with Richard Barrett who too is far away. Damian Charles, the nephew of show jumping great Peter Charles, coaches her in jumping. For many years she trained with Joe Meyer, but he is now based in Florida. “James helps me a lot and is brilliant. I owe a lot of my improved dressage scores over the past year to him and I’m
Warmbloods Today 17
grateful to him for traveling to me,” she says. “It’s tough to leave where I’m based when I’ve got so much to do here at home.”
O utside of H orses
As if competing in two fast-paced sports and running a busy yard aren’t enough to keep her busy, Liz has also done a variety of broadcasting work: she has commentated on the Le Mans 24 Hours for Eurosport for the past five years, has done motorsport pit reporting for CBS sports and was a reality TV show judge. “I’ve also done a bit of presenting and I would love to
do more TV,” she says. “I’ve always been comfortable with it. You’ve got to want to be on TV. Then there’s live TV with a lot of pressure and adrenaline to get it right since you can’t edit it later! At Eurosport, we have a great commentary team and have a good time together. I’m hoping to perhaps do something in the states too—it’s just a matter of getting it together and finding the time.” In 2013 Liz is riding and racing in support of the medical
charity Spinal Research, which has strong ties to the sport of three-day eventing. Unfortunately quite a number of riders have been injured in falls similar to the one that killed Bruno Bouvier. For Liz, the ties are personal. “A good friend of mine had a horrendous accident on her horse in 2011 and basically is paralyzed from sternum down,” explains Liz. “She’s an amazing person—the toughest, strongest person I’ve ever met. I’ve also met a couple of similar people. Spinal Research is a small organization that needs support and they do a lot of good things for people (
www.spinal-research.org). They’ve made a lot of headway into regenerating spinal tissue and I think that’s the way forward for people like my friend Ruth.” Looking ahead, Liz says that she eventually plans to return
to the United States. Yet she also acknowledges her ties to England. “Someday maybe my husband and I will move to Florida or something like that. I love England, but the weather is dreadful! But for the next five to ten years or so I have big personal goals to fulfill, so we’ll work away and see where that takes us.”
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