Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Dressage rider and groundbreaking Olympian who won Britain's first gold in the sport at London 2012, and has three Olympic medals.
On the island
Eight records
When I ride in the mornings, we have the radio playing, and sometimes when you might be struggling a little bit with your schooling session, and suddenly a song comes on that just has a really good beat to it, that really lifts you out and really like helps the horse move more, it helps me ride better. And this was one of them when it came out. And I just used every time it came on, my poor horse had to suffer it going up to top notch on the volume button, and off I'd go, and it always seemed to go better to this particular track.
this was part of my music composition, the dressage of music, at the London twenty twelve Olympics.
This is the first song I ever remember. This is Melanie and Brand New Key. And I remember when my mother had married my stepfather, Jess Onsark. And I just remember sitting on the floor at a very young age. And this record was obviously their favourite. Melanie got played again and again and again. And to listen to this record. Especially the bit about roller skates, which I always wanted to do and go on and be able to roller skate. This record certainly reminds me of that.
Brian Ferry's slave to love. It's a a beautiful Song, but it also has some incredible lyrics in it. And I just remember in my moody teens just listening to Brian Ferry all the time. It seemed to have that perfect mix for me: some of it was crazy and dance stuff, and then this just puts me in a really sleepy, soft mood.
Montserrat Caballe and Freddie Mercury
I've picked Barcelona by Montserrat Caballe and Freddie Mercury and this is because of course it does remind me of being in Barcelona. It reminds me of the opening ceremony, my first opening ceremony and we were held in a holding pen. All the athletes, the whole world was happy. All the athletes from all round the world were going through one at a time and I had never experienced such an enormous situation and then to be in the main arena and see this song performed on a hot summer's night in Barcelona just brings back incredible memories for me.
Now in my career I've been fortunate to meet lots of interesting different people. There are so many in the horse world from different backgrounds and in this case a friend of mine from the past that used to event, Harriet Harrison, and her father was Noel Harrison and she went on, got married, has two children, two well two grown-up boys now. They're my godsons. We love spending time together. We basically sit round the house and whenever we've had too much to drink, this is the song that we sing very badly.
Bette Davis EyesFavourite
It's basically the the song that never gets tired. I am pretty obsessive when I find a song that I love and I do tend to play it endlessly and endlessly until finally I can't bear it any longer. Whereas this song, which is Kim Khan's Betty Davis Eyes, just never gets boring and I'm never tired of it.
In conversation
Presenter asks
4:48At the London 2012 Olympics you were part of the British dressage team that won the gold medal. What is your most enduring memory of those games?
I don't think I've ever been that close to such an enormous audience. We had 25,000 people down there at Greenwich to watch the dressage and that for me was an incredible feeling in itself that the sport had actually not only for the people that love it, but for people that didn't actually know anything about dressage. And I was just really excited they were coming to see a sport that was a bit bizarre, perhaps to a lot of people that don't know what it is. I was just so excited that we were able to show that. And of course, the atmosphere of London 2012 was incredibly happy. And that just rubbed off on all of us.
Presenter asks
5:48Your teammate Charlotte Dujardin won individual gold on Valegro, a horse you trained. What made him so special?
He was always a professor from the age of four. He was easy to break in. He understood all the things we asked of him. And I think where he was so different, where he's able to be a completely normal pony club type of horse. So, you know, not only when Charlotte gets on him does he immediately know that what he has to do and at what level he performs at. He is the ultimate and was the ultimate athlete. ... People come and visit him at home on a regular basis just to touch him, pat him. He has his own statue in our local town of Newant. It gives me great pleasure when I drive past there, if I'm on my way to the co-op to get the Sunday shopping, and I see a lot of children sitting on the statue or just being there, being photographed with him. And I just think, what an incredible horse.
The keepsakes
The book
it just makes me realize how fortunate I was to be brought up there.
The luxury
But the one thing that changed my life was a pillow and a special pillow that how it supports my head and neck and shoulders. And this pillow has already been around the world with me.
Presenter asks
8:14Your mother was very young when she had you, still at school. Was she sent away to have you?
My grandmother was definitely somebody who would be described as what would the neighbors think? And I know when my mum became pregnant, she was taken back to school and they were asked to announce it at assembly ... in front of the school. Which I think must have obviously been pretty difficult for her at the time. The headmaster then took her to one side ... and then asked her after she'd had the baby whether she would like to come back and continue her A-levels. She said she would love to do that and he said he would have to consult with the other teachers and if it was a majority then she could come back, which thankfully as it happened, she was allowed to go back. She was then sent to live with a social worker that was organised by social services to have me in Cambridge. ... my grandfather was a big part of making sure that I wasn't put up for adoption and that my mother could keep me and they would [look after me at home].
Presenter asks
13:24Your mother met your stepfather Jess while working at a hotel on Sark. What was your relationship like with him?
They were still very young when they met and married on Sark, but just adopted me, which is how I became Hester. I was brought up then with my half brother and sister. And we all got on as a family, I have to say. It was a nice cosy home to be in. But the older I got, the more I appreciated, of course, what had been done for me by my stepfather. I look back at it now and I I just feel so grateful that they did manage in those days to put up money for me to get an education. That was very important for them that I got one.
Presenter asks
18:27You reconnected with your biological father on your way to the Fortune Centre. How did that go?
When I was growing up and I was at boarding school, my mother would occasionally call me at school and she would say, if you watch such and such a programme tonight, your father's going to be on telly because my father went into acting. And he starred in a lot of mainstream TV at the time, Coronation Street and Morse and Tales of the Unexpected ... I would always insist on those nights that, you know, please, please, please, could we just watch this program? Because I wanted to see what my father looked like and to show my friends as well. So that's how I first saw him on the television. Then, when I came to England, we flew to London. My mum had arranged for us to meet. ... We turned up at the flat in Chiswick. And I was very, very nervous. ... And we sat down and chatted. And I said, Well, what shall I call him when he walks in? Do I call him dad or do I call him Tony? And she said, Just call him Tony. So the door opened eventually and my father walked in and I said, Good afternoon, Tony and that was how we reconnected again. It's all good and I think, you know, looking back at how it all started, I think everybody in my situation, or particularly their situation, you know, did the best they could.
Presenter asks
28:51How are you feeling about Paris 2024? Are you looking forward to your next Olympics?
I'm hoping to go there. I mean, I do realize now, of course, there's lots of people snapping at my heels. Only three riders will get to go. So it's certainly not a given that I will be competing there. I've got my heart set on it. I would love to get another Olympics and help the team again. I have to say, this is the first time after a major competition. And we've had two major championships this year in the Olympics and Europeans. But this is the first time I've actually finished those championships. And instead of saying, oh, I wish I didn't have to do this anymore, I am thinking, I really would love to go and do one more. And Paris is only a stone's throw away compared to the traveling I've done with horses in the past.
“He was always a professor from the age of four. He was easy to break in. He understood all the things we asked of him.”
“I think actually going to boarding school, that is what shaped me. I think I probably would never have pushed myself if I stayed on Sark.”
“Riding without a saddle certainly gives you core strength. And we used to do a lot of that. And we used to gallop around the cliff paths. And I look at it now when I go back there, and I think, how did we ever get away without having an accident? All it would have needed was a horse to slip, and you could have gone straight over a 200-foot cliff. But you don't, of course, have that sort of fear when you're young. But it's certainly where I learned about balance.”
“the one thing that changed my life was a pillow and a special pillow that how it supports my head and neck and shoulders. And this pillow has already been around the world with me. I am quite forgetful. So I have left it in New Zealand. I've left it in Australia. I've left it in Canada. I've left it in America. And it's got more air miles than me.”