TYRONE’s Olivia Roulston joined a list of esteemed riders when she was chosen by top international show jumping coach Johan Heins as the winner of the coveted RDS Bursary. Olivia (20) has been based with Woods Rosbotham since 2017 and is trained by Lisa Rosbotham. She also takes lessons from Dermott Lennon as well as Clare Abbott from time to time.

Roulston said: “I’m delighted to have won the Young Rider Bursary at the RDS. It has been a goal of mine for a long time and to be recognised by the great Johan Heins is truly overwhelming. I have started to build a great team of horses and they have been on top form recently so it’s nice when hard work pays off in such a way. Winning this bursary will open a lot of doors for me and I’m excited to see where it can take me. A big ‘thank you’ to Woods Rosbotham and family for making this possible.”

Ineternational pedigree

Roulston is no stranger to success and was part of the Irish pony team that took silver at the European Championships in 2015. She was also a former winner in the RDS on ponies and has qualified in the young rider arena since moving up the ranks. Moving into horses, she was placed in Lanaken last year with Miss Valent and the duo claimed the six and seven-year-old Dengie Championship at Balmoral International.

As well as being consistently placed in the young rider classes, she is a familiar face in the line-ups in the ISH Showjumping series with Clovalent and Miss Valent. This year the rider has also clocked up a series of impressive results with Novellent and Erico.

Former European Champion, show jumping coach, Heins commented: “In my opinion they were all winners and the standard was so high.” In his travels, Heins said he sees great Irish riders on the circuit and now “knows where they are coming from’’. He added that in the past, riders needed to be strong to ride good horses, but now as the breeding has changed, he commented that it is all about “technique, good feeling and good trainers’’.

Roulston who was riding Erico last Sunday afternoon was joined by Jack Ryan (Cavalier Teaca), Ciaran Ryan (Ballyfair Deal), and Max Wachman (Cesha Old) to contest for the Bursary.

From 1977 until 1980, Heins worked for Zangersheide Stud in Belgium. His achievements including winning the Benelux Championship on two occasions, and he won a silver medal with the team and placed fourth individually at the World Championships in 1978. In the Sydney Olympic Games 2000, Johan served as coach for Jeroen Dubbeldam who won the individual gold medal. In 1980, Johan set up his own trading stables, ‘Stud Johan Heins’, in The Netherlands where he trains young horses and riders at international level.

In the first round, riders rode their own horses and Heins was impressed at how each of them handled the course. He commented that Jack Ryan corrected the one mistake he made when given a second chance. Heins said Ciaran Nallon had very good control and “a big chance to go further”. He said Olivia showed great rhythm on her horse. Regarding Max Wachman, he was also full of praise.

In the second round, Ciaran Nallon was first to go on Erico and Heins thought that the horse looked to be strong but Nallon handled it well. Next up, Max Wachman rode Cavalier Teaca. Wachman was praised for handling the forward-going horse well and for not fighting her.

Jack rode Ballyfair Deal so well that Heins commented that it was hard to believe that he hadn’t ridden the horse before. Last to go, Olivia rode Cesha Old and he was full of praise for her well executed round.