Humble beginnings in London led to high stakes for Lisa Trappitt
This interview is part of HorseGrooms’ ongoing groom interview series, featured throughout the Wellington season in partnership with Wellington International and Paper Horse.
There are few large areas of greenery on a map of Central London but one of them, Dulwich Park, is home to the riding school where top dressage groom Britain’s Lisa Trappitt’s venture into horses began. “My dad was a postman, and my mum worked part-time at a garden center,” she said. “There’s not really any horse history in my family – my great-grandmother had something to do with it because my dad did the family tree once – but I just had an early sort of love for horses.”
Lisa Trappitt’s journey to top level dressage began in Central London. Photo: Lily Forado
The local Riding School gave Trappitt a chance to ride, but due to their age policy, she had to wait patiently until she was eligible. “When I turned 11, my mom and dad said we can afford one lesson a week. So I used to get on the bus, or my dad or mom would take me, and off we went.”
Trappitt became a working student at the Dulwich Riding School adding British Horse Society certificates to her resume by passing exams including the stringent AI – Assistant Instructor – test. She then followed her heart into working with show jumpers before transitioning to dressage. Her career gathered momentum as she worked for respected riders and trainers across England, including time with Fiona Bigwood, when she moved up to the world of international competition where she later worked for Spain’s Beatriz Ferrer-Salat and for Losos de Muniz from the Dominican Republic.
Taking the win – Pablo’s victory at Friday Night Lights meant a $500 check for Lisa. Photo: Centre Line Media
Travel has been a defining feature of Trappitt’s working life. “I’m extremely lucky with my job,” she said. “I’ve loved every minute and there’s not many jobs that give you that opportunity to travel.” She has worked in multiple Western European countries and even driven horses by truck all the way to Moscow, an experience she describes as unforgettable, but not one she would repeat. She moved to the United States and is based in Wellington for the winters and Europe – Belgium, Germany – in the summers working with Pablo Gómez Molina, since 2013 under the umbrella of Cristina Danguillecourt and Javier Bacariza’s Yeguada De Ymas.
Trappitt now holds the elevated position of Barn Manager and in her role she takes her charges to the showgrounds and was at hand for Friday Night Stars when Molina, or ‘Pau’ as his friends know him, won the Coastal Steel Structures CDI4* with Servus Ymas at the Global Dressage Festival – a victory made all the more impactful given it was the 13-year old Hanoverian gelding’s first ever CDI Freestyle and debut performance in a night class.
“It’s a nice working relationship – we have fun,” said Lisa of her role working for ‘Pau’ and Yeguada De Ymas
Molina has hopes of being on the national team at the World Equestrian Championships in Aachen, Germany in August this year. The owners’ daughter Natalia Bacariza has represented Spain at European Junior and Young Riders Championships and will be competing at U25 level this year. It is Trappitt’s job to keep order behind-the-scenes for everyone’s aspirations to be realized. She oversees 22 horses and five grooms based out of two separate barns on the same property in Wellington. “We have the newer barn and the old original barn, which is where all the main horses are,” she said.
On the flip side, the facilities are exceptional – complete with the unusual addition of manmade hills, giving the horses a Florida rarity of being able to enjoy an undulated work out, where usually only flat terrain is on offer.
Backstate at Global Dressage Festival when the stakes are high. Pau, Servus Ymas and Lisa.
“The hills are good for the horses,” said Trappitt. “They’re not huge, but it’s more than what most people have, and we have a big track around the farm. We have a water treadmill, a horse walker, paddocks – it’s beautiful and we’re very lucky where we are.”
In spite of the ambitions involved, the mood at home is kept light. “It’s just a nice atmosphere,” Trappitt said. “We have a laugh, it’s not always so serious. At the end of the day also, it is their top dressage horses. But we have a nice working relationship with everyone and everyone’s very easy going.”
“We have a laugh. It’s not always so serious,” Lisa said.
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