‘I never dreamt I’d be jumping 1.60m – now I want to go higher and faster!’: young rider surprises herself on the path to stardom

Young showjumper Ella Dalton has long been an exciting talent on the national circuit, grabbing the headlines with her 2022 victory in the Hickstead speed Derby. But in a breakthrough year for the 22-year-old, she’s stepped up impressively to jumping 1.60m tracks, surprising even herself in the process.

“It’s been crazy, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to jump 1.60m – I didn’t even know if I wanted to, to be honest – but here we are!” says Ella, who credits her brilliant new partner Hurricane VDL for giving her the belief to step up.

“With him, I don’t think any jump or course could ever look too big, it’s bizarre,” she says of the 12-year-old gelding. “I walked the course for the Cock o’the North at the Great Yorkshire, my first 1.60m, and thought actually this is possible. I never used to like jumping big at all! Hurricane was very cool.”

New beginnings for showjumper Ella Dalton

Ella teamed up with new owner Klodian Allajbeu a year ago and is now based in Suffolk where she has 10 horses in work.

“Our aim is to have a few younger ones to bring up through, too,” says Ella. “It’s been a bit of a changeover this year and a great opportunity, so you just have to see where it takes you.”

Hurricane VDL and Orya Van Koekenhuyze, AKA Rita, are among her impressive string of quality 1.50m horses.

“Hurricane is fun, he’s so brave and he makes you fearless,” she says. “He’s a strange character in that he wants to love you – and he does love you – but he doesn’t want to show it because he’s quite grumpy at times.

“The plan for next year is just to try to get more experience round the bigger tracks,” adds Ella, who has also been selected for British Showjumping’s gold development programme. “I think that will be really helpful. It’s a great way to brighten up your future, open your eyes to different things and offer you training. Which also means I don’t have to blame my mum anymore!”

Ella’s turning point in the sport

While Ella’s mum was a showjumper, her daughter’s passion for the sport wasn’t immediately obvious.

“When I was little, Mum took me to Hickstead to watch the 128cm jumping and she said, ‘You’d like to do this wouldn’t you?’ and I said ‘No, not at all – you’ll have to adopt a child if you want them to do that, it’s not for me!’

“The turning point was getting the ride on [speed Derby winner] Quality Rubies N Diamonds as she’s quite similar to Hurricane in that she will give you so much confidence,” says Ella.

“The problem is you see all the good riders jumping and they never seem to make mistakes, so you feel like you’re the only one that’s useless – I think you always feel worse than you are.

“I do look back and realise how much I’ve progressed, so I’d like to keep going until I’m up there with all the big names,” adds Ella, who looks up to Ben Maher and Marcus Ehning as her favourite riders.

Ella’s plan is to continue within the under-25 age bracket while she’s still eligible, and then?

“Then I’d just like to keep going higher and faster!” she says.

Watch this space.

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