Latest / Between the Flags / Oliver Barrett, 22yrs old and just getting started.
Transcript
- Fiona Hughes: G'day legends and welcome to Between the Flags, your Aussie eventing chat show. We'll bring you honest conversations, expert insights and a bit of cheeky fun from the riders, the coaches and even those amazing folks shaping our sport in Australia and beyond. Whether you're a young rider chasing your first star class start, a parent, a horse owner who lives and breathes eventing, Between the Flags is your go-to chat show. Oliver Barrett: Thank Fiona Hughes: ride along with Prue Barrett and Fiona Hughes. Stirrups up, let's go eventing. Prue: Hi everyone and welcome to the show. Today's guest is Oliver Barrett. So he is known as Oliver O. Ollie. Olvey as he's known and as Amanda Ross said in her Adelaide commentary, seems like he's been around forever. However, he is just 22 but is currently making his mark on the eventing scene in Australia. Oliver grew up in Brangston, near South Wales in the Hunter Valley and was given opportunity to ride from an early age. Now, a disclaimer here, I am actually his mother, so I have access to information that he may not want to be mentioned here. Oliver had some wonderful ponies to start his journey that were known to us by great friends like Jenny Irvine Brown and Carleen Barton. His eventing competition journey started with Caroola Nadori, aka Rory, at Mirabook Summer Camp when he was just eight years old. Rory was the most amazing pony and he continued to compete up to 95 centimetres until Oliver was 11. Through our very good friend, Carleen, we were able to lease a wonderful thoroughbred called Boardwalk, aka Bedzie. He rode Bedzie for a few years and competed up to one star level. When the lease ran out on Bedzie, we knew he was going to be hard to replace and the obvious choice was made for Oliver to ride Sandhill Special. Special up until then had been my horse. But Oliver wrote her a lot when I went away for coaching duties, so it was a very smooth transition. To say that Oliver had been infatuated with eventing for many years would be an understatement. When I asked him what I wanted for his ninth birthday, he casually said, I want an event. The Sandhills Invitational was born. Oliver started his FEI eventing journey when he was 14 years old on a wonderful schoolmaster, Ballyhoo, AKA Kappa. Oliver Barrett: you Prue: Special in Kappa became an integral part of Oliver's life and travelled to Melbourne Junior 2 Star, Wallaby Hill Junior 2 Star and most events in New South Wales. In 2020, at the age of 16, he made his three-star debut on both Kappa and Special. In 2022, he made his debut as an Australian representative in the young rider Oceana team at Werribee on Special. It was an exciting time for Oliver, although this event had a show jumping around that he probably wants to forget. The sport has shown Oliver both the highs and the lows, and he'd probably be the first to admit that while there have been some great successes, there's been plenty of tough moments along the way. Oliver made his senior Australian team debut in New Zealand on Special in 2024 at the age of 20 and finished fourth. For what started as a need for another horse, Special and Oliver became a formidable partnership, which also included a win at Adelaide three-star long, third at Adelaide four-star short, and a win in their final event together at Sydney Four Star Short. He's known as a walking database of eventing information and we have all come to rely on this quite a lot. You don't want to bet against Oliver on an eventing data question. Oliver has now forged a partnership with Sandhills Briar that he has just won Adelaide Five Star on their debut. I'm in awe of you, Alvie. If I say any more, we will all be crying and it will be a very short interview. Love your work, Olvi. Welcome to the show. Over to you, Fee. Fiona Hughes: Well, what an introduction, Prue. Thank you very much. Hi, everyone. Well, Oliver, welcome to Between the Flags. And of course, we've been watching your journey. So here we go. What an event with Briar at the Adelaide Five Star and even more special, your dad winning there 14 years ago on Sandhills Brelaire. Just a little round of applause for you. Oliver Barrett: Fee and thanks, Fee. Thanks for having me on. I've been a big fan of the podcast so far, so let's hope that I can live up to the high bar that's been set. But yeah, look, the last week at Adelaide was, yeah, a pretty exceptional one and... Yeah, I mean, I think first of all, the first thing that comes to mind is the horse that I was riding and he's a bit of a freak and ⁓ on that last day, I wouldn't have been wanting to ride any other horse. And I think he showed how, ⁓ I think he showed his class and yeah, it is special when you mentioned about dad winning in 2012. And that was probably part of the reason that ⁓ wanted to get into riding. I think I was seven or eight back then and remember watching it on the live stream ⁓ and yeah I think that was definitely part of the reason I caught the bug for eventing and ⁓ yeah here we are. Fiona Hughes: Thanks Olvi. And look, my first question was, and really you've just kind of captured it all, but what did Adelaide 5 Star win mean to you in your life as your career going forward? Oliver Barrett: ⁓ Obviously there's a huge excitement around it personally and for everybody around us. I ⁓ think there's a whole heap of emotions that come with it. One of them is definitely relief. There was a lot of, you know, it's ⁓ bit of a mammoth task. ⁓ trying to get to a five star, especially we had two horses there and to be able to get there in the first place was really incredible. to be able to pull off ⁓ a win, think that for me personally, I'm not exactly, I'm probably not the person that was not gonna be the one jumping up and down or hitting the pubs and clubs for the whole night afterwards. For me personally, I think it's getting extreme. ⁓ satisfaction out of the, you know, knowing the work that was put in for that effort. And I think it's extremely validating ⁓ for me and the sand hills and the system that we put in place for our horses, you know, sort of, as we mentioned before about dad winning and I don't think it's, yeah, like I Fiona Hughes: doesn't go unrecognised. Any of the history gone into it does it, definitely. I think it was even, Olvi, a big call to set yourself and say there was a chance to be selected on the oceanic team in the challenge and you, I think you set your sights on the five star. Oliver Barrett: No, no. Yeah, and it's, I think it's... Fiona Hughes: Well you tell me, when did you set your sights on riding at Adelaide in the 5 Star? Oliver Barrett: Well, I mean, I guess, ⁓ when did I set my sights on it? You know, that was a long time ago, but I think in terms of the horse, ⁓ I think this, this is, we knew with this horse for a long time from when it first went two star, you know, that this was going to be a proper five star horse. You know, he has the scope. He's really bold. ⁓ which is what five stars all about, you know, the jumps become a lot wider in it. ⁓ Fiona Hughes: Ha ha ha! Oliver Barrett: becomes more of a stamina test and I think that plays into Briar's hands. And in terms of that decision to do the five star, it just came down to what suited the horse. And ⁓ yeah, it was a bit of a, don't know if it was a gamble, but we could have gone either way and yeah, it's paid off. ⁓ yeah, like I said, I just thought that the, I think we. as a team thought that the five-star was really going to play into his hands and that was what he was bred for. ⁓ Fiona Hughes: Yeah, that's definitely reiterated with all of your interviews post your win and that certainly stands you in fabulous stead for the future with Briar. All right, Olvi, let's go back. Let's go back to the very beginning. And I kind of want to know. When you were at school or when there were moments, did you realise that the Sandhills, the family and the whole shooting match was a big presence in the Australian eventing world, let alone that there was a lot of international flavour involved in where you were ⁓ born into? Is that something that you were aware of early on? Oliver Barrett: ⁓ probably, I guess so. Like I think from, like I said, ⁓ so I was probably seven or eight when mum got the job with EA, ⁓ as high performance director for eventing. And, I think I, I definitely had an insight from very early on what it was like to be, ⁓ a top writer and a, ⁓ you know, what it was like to be a top rider competing at those big events. And I got, I was really privileged and ⁓ blessed to have access to a lot of those events. And yeah, I think I got an insight into what it was like. so, no, I definitely wasn't completely oblivious to what was going on around me and what I was growing up in. But in saying that, also wasn't, ⁓ that's not what consumed me as a kid. It was still for me at that age I loved soccer and cricket and I was playing all these different sports and I was staying at friends places while mum and dad were away at events when I wanted to go play soccer on the weekends. So there was a very good balance I think between the two. Fiona Hughes: Yeah, healthy mix of all sorts of sports. So take us back to your first few ponies, paint us a picture of those early days. What are your vivid memories of your first ponies that you were riding, Alvie? Oliver Barrett: I've seen a lot of photos ⁓ of horses that I was getting led around on and tying them up to posts and whatnot outside the kitchen and ⁓ personally I don't really remember that. My first memory I think would probably be riding Feather Duster, ⁓ who I think maybe Golly mentioned in her podcast. ⁓ Fiona Hughes: She did, she did, she did indeed. Yes. Oliver Barrett: Yeah, so I remember Feathers and then after that it was Rory, Mum mentioned, Karool and Midori. yeah, we did our first event together at Mirabuka. And yeah, he was probably looking back on it. He was a bit of a freak of a pony and he's still up the back there. There was a lot of, think a lot of our communication was definitely telepathic. I think Rory's for some reason, he, I don't know if mum or dad had shown him the cross-country out course or something, or was swiping him through the photos, but he looked after me and also Jesper as well. Fiona Hughes: Yeah, those top ponies when you're starting out are definitely the big picture when you're kicking out and going around the cross country. remember commentating at ⁓ Goulburn years ago ⁓ and were up there next me, I reckon you were about eight or nine. Oliver Barrett: well, I definitely remember ⁓ moment at Goulburn sitting at the sunken road or the road crossing. ⁓ But yeah, I think ⁓ was that age ⁓ that sort of was definitely starting to clue on to what everybody was about. And it's probably, you know, when mum mentioned in her introduction you know, knowing all the stats and stuff, that's probably around that time that I definitely started to take it more serious. And ⁓ I was probably started to get an appreciation for the top riders and you know, how fast they were going, how slow were they going? Were they trying to win Goulburn or were they trying to save their horse for three weeks later at Adelaide? Fiona Hughes: you Oliver Barrett: I definitely remember sitting on that hill thinking about all these things. I probably didn't look like that at the time, but ⁓ they were definitely... Fiona Hughes: Yeah. No, definitely it sounded like that, like I knew you were right onto it. Oliver Barrett: It may not have appeared like I was onto it, I think I was definitely gaining an appreciation for that side of the sport. Fiona Hughes: were you when it really came home that this was something that you were going to your sights on? I know I've got in my mind a picture of ⁓ exactly the event. ⁓ Oliver Barrett: Yeah, well, there's probably, there's definitely two events that come to mind. I think you're probably thinking about one of them. The first one is Arkin. So ⁓ in 2013, we, ⁓ the whole family, mum had been going back and forth overseas with her job. And then for some reason or another, she thought she'd bring the whole family with her for this trip. And yeah, I think I... Chris Burton was riding Leilani and I had probably had a bit of a crush on Birdo from when I was younger and I think he was, no one had gone inside the time the whole day and then all of sudden he came in four or five seconds under the time and was looking at his watch as he jumped the last fence and I remember Mum in my ear saying. you know, whatever you do, if he comes in and he's winning, you're not allowed to jump up and down or scream or anything like that because we were in a tent full of German people and they were all wanting Michael or Sandra Wolf after win, but I couldn't quite contain myself. And I think I was doing star jumps and screaming at the TV. ⁓ But yeah, that. Fiona Hughes: That's it. How old were you there, Old V? How old were you there when you were the first Aachen? Oliver Barrett: That was I was yeah, I was I I think or nine 2013 so yeah Yeah, yeah And then and then Adelaide I think yeah Adelaide later that year ⁓ When watched dad right in the five-star the year after he had won And yeah, that was Fiona Hughes: eight or nine and here's the kid lifting the roof off. Fabulous, fabulous. ⁓ Oliver Barrett: Definitely by the end of that year, I was taking it very seriously, I think. Fiona Hughes: or when you were probably still in primary school. We've talked about plenty of your family influencing your writing. I'm wondering outside of your family, have there been others that have helped influence your career? Other writers, coaches? Oliver Barrett: Yeah. Yeah, well, yeah, definitely. mean, where do I start? think, Well, first one the other week, you know, at Adelaide, first one that comes on mind is Rod, Rod Brown. He obviously he's show jumping coach and he's been up with me at probably most of the three day events now. It's very rare that he's not at a three day event and I sort of ⁓ was able to be guided through with him through squad clinics and stuff when I first got on a squad. So he's been a big help. ⁓ And then other You know, I think we have a pretty tight-knit group of people around ⁓ at Sandhills. There's, you know, some family names that come to mind. Fiona Hughes: There's been many, many writers come along with the people that have gone to big three day events ⁓ through Sandhills and so on. Especially, I mean, I could probably name a few and prompt you, but I think there's been plenty of writers up there that have... Oliver Barrett: Yeah. Yeah, so well, you know, the three sort of main ones that I definitely remember was first one was Jess Manson, second one was ⁓ Shanae and then Golly was after that. ⁓ And I think they really set the tone ⁓ in terms of work ethic around here, ⁓ people to look up to. ⁓ Fiona Hughes: Yeah. for sure for sure Oliver Barrett: And, you know, they were all three of them just had an incredible bond with the horse, you know, like it was always, I just used to watch them and be like, can't I like just make it look that effortless? And so, and you know, lot of the breaking in stuff that I do now at home was from just watching Golly on school holidays and stuff like that. ⁓ Fiona Hughes: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Oliver Barrett: So yeah, and I think at the end of the day, we're also really competitive. we probably, no one ever said it, but we probably had in the back of our minds that, know, well for me anyway, I don't know about them, but I sort of wanted to be as good as them and challenge them in ⁓ you know, respectful and competitive way. Fiona Hughes: Yeah. Yeah, I think that's very, very influential, Olvi, and you know, that's, you've had that all through pretty much of your career as a writer, is a big, going to squad schools and all of those things that they, that... dare you say it's not so much competitive, it's just watching them and seeing what they do and so on and so forth that you gain more knowledge over and over and over. I think that's very, that's very impacting. Okay, so we're getting down to the end of our interview, Olvi, and do you feel as though you're ready to give us an unfiltered version of what does the day in the life of Oliver look like? Oliver Barrett: Well, it's probably that's Yeah, well to the most through a lot of people is probably pretty bored Fiona Hughes: Go on, give us all the nuts and bolts of it, all me. Go on. Oliver Barrett: Well, get up is Probably I I start riding racehorses for Matt Smith Luskin Park in Luskin tire at 630 ⁓ and Well, Matt in general has been a great support and Mel as wife and Claudia actually Spain was grooming for me in Adelaide. So They've been a big support to me, but they've allowed me to go there and ride ⁓ And I'm probably there till ⁓ mid morning, 10, 10.30. ⁓ And then the unfiltered version is, think this is probably what mom wants me to say, is that there's probably a fair bit of food and biscuits and chocolate chip ⁓ cookies and whatever's in the pantry for a little while after that. And then from about midday till... ⁓ I don't know, whenever until the horses are done we have usually between eight and ten eventers in work at home ranging from right from starting under saddle to the briers and the gems. ⁓ and yeah, that's the day in the life of Oliver. Fiona Hughes: Do you think there's a really hard part of that that most people wouldn't know about? Is there something that's not the easy bit, the dirty grungy bit? Oliver Barrett: Yeah, I think ⁓ with horses, consistency is one of the biggest things. ⁓ when you're trying to find consistency, well, that's repetition. So you're doing the same thing over and over again every day. I think, you know, I've seen people that have tried to ⁓ do it and it's not for them, which, you know, that's okay. But... ⁓ You know, you do have to, it's very much of the same thing every day. you know, there's, it's that round yard in the, in the black rubber round yard can get pretty hot at times. ⁓ but you know, we, ⁓ I wouldn't. Fiona Hughes: The youngins, the youngins are probably the struggle, aren't they? They're the ones that make you work the hardest, don't they? Oliver Barrett: Yeah, they test your patience. ⁓ But I wouldn't be swapping it for anything. And I really enjoy working with the horses. And I'd like to think that even if there wasn't a competitive side of what we do, I'd still be riding horses. ⁓ And yeah, I think you've just got to love the daily grind of it, I guess. Fiona Hughes: And Brian must have been one of those youngins too, mustn't he? You like you started him off. Oliver Barrett: Yeah, think, well, Golly first of all started him under saddle and it was probably a bit of a, was a combination of Golly, Mum and me in the beginning. I think I did his first event on him, but we all had a bit of a go and yeah, that's a good example of a horse that, you know, has been started out here and it's, yeah, gone right the way through. Fiona Hughes: a team effort. You must have had a few special really horses that you've got a soft spot for, Alvie. Who are they? Which horse do you feel as though that's the one? Oliver Barrett: ⁓ well, I'm probably going to be, I'm not going to answer your question exactly because I can't choose one. There's two. and that would be, ⁓ Ballyhoo and Special. ⁓ I don't think I can split the two. I think, you know, ⁓ what's, what's the saying about, Fiona Hughes: Yeah. ⁓ Yeah. Oliver Barrett: your first horse or first good sort of horse has a lot to answer for. And I think that that's definitely the case for me. think they ⁓ taught me a ⁓ specific way of riding that's held me in good stead for a lot of the horses that I ride now. ⁓ For example, with Kappa, he was extremely fast cross country and you were able to just pick the fences out of a gallop just. like that and it sort of just gave you that and I still feel that confidence now and I probably wouldn't have that confidence if I hadn't written it. ⁓ And special was you sort of had to, ⁓ you really had to work out a way. Fiona Hughes: You certainly learned a lot ⁓ from her, didn't you? She was one of those girls that let you know it was on her terms. Oliver Barrett: Yeah. Yeah, you had to work out, you had to work out a quite a polite way of telling her to do things, I think, without, ⁓ you had to be really effective, but also not be overbearing. And I think that's probably something that's helped me in good stead with a lot of the horses I ride now. ⁓ So yeah, I probably, I owe a lot to those two horses. Fiona Hughes: Ha ha ha ha. Absolutely. Now here's our final bit of my interview, Alvie. Breeding's such a big part of Sandhills and your family's role in Australian eventing. Do you see that's something that you'd carry on in the future? Oliver Barrett: ⁓ Yeah, for sure. I think that ⁓ we're not in a position to be sourcing horses as four or five-year-olds because it's ⁓ at the moment, truth be, it's just too expensive to be able to do it that way. And this is an affordable way that we're able to do it. And in the future, I think that's something I will have to look into as well. And I'm just really fortunate that I've seen the path to be able to produce these horses to a level. ⁓ And so, yeah, I think that's definitely a way in the future that I will be able to produce more top level horses. Fiona Hughes: Yeah, an imported seaman and all following the breed lines like you do, you know, the ins and outs of all of the top horses all over the world. Alvie, what other interests in the eventing world are you diving into? Oliver Barrett: Yeah, good question. Well, recently I've, I thought for my horses to get better cross country that I would probably have to make a few more cross country jumps. I did woodwork at school. I wasn't very much good at it, but ⁓ I ⁓ of remembered a few things and I... put all the bits and pieces in my brain together to sort of somehow make a cross country jump and then I made two and then I made three and they're all down in the paddock at the moment. That's been a huge help in, ⁓ you know, being able to get my horses to perform well. So yeah, cross building cross country jumps is actually something that I'm looking into. I probably have to get a bit better first before I start going ⁓ and gloating about it. Yeah. ⁓ Fiona Hughes: professional, professional. I think it's a big deal to be able to see things that you think is a challenge and have it at home Oliver Barrett: Yeah, yeah. Fiona Hughes: I sandhills invitational that. ⁓ Look, did woodwork ⁓ at which is probably a little bit weird, but it's something that I quite dig, that ⁓ ability ⁓ create that brings out that artistic nature Olvi, I know your birthday celebrations weren't exactly fairy bread ⁓ or apple bobbing. They had a bit of a Sandhills twist. What did those look like? Oliver Barrett: Yeah, so in the introduction mom mentioned about the Santils Invitational and Yeah, I for some reason I wanted to have a one-day event where we invited some friends and It actually seemed like a good idea at the time until I fell off for the first three years in a row and all of a sudden I thought that maybe it wasn't such a good idea but Fiona Hughes: Ha ha ha ha. Oliver Barrett: Yeah, it was a great, they were always great days, great comradery and we had some dress up fun and it was always entertaining seeing what dad would design down in the cross country paddock, I think a few people, ⁓ you know, or some people would always ⁓ bite off a bit more than they could chew. ⁓ And that was always entertaining, but yeah, they were good days. ⁓ yeah, I think I, in the end, I may have won a couple of times. So I got, I got, I got back at everyone. Fiona Hughes: that it was a pretty epic event, I do remember being the commentator at of them. ⁓ Yep, yep, yep. ⁓ There was plenty of ⁓ fathers' challenges all sorts of things, there? Oliver Barrett: Yeah, now we brought in the big guns. ⁓ Yeah, yeah, absolutely. were dogs chasing people on 20 meter circles and ⁓ shout out to Abigail ⁓ Groyston who came and judged every single year and yeah, it was always ⁓ great entertainment for everybody involved. Prue: So, Oliver, we have at the end ⁓ what call cool down questions. So they're becoming a bit of a tradition, but you know what traditions are like. They're always good when you just sort of tweak them a little bit. And now, as you know, Fiona and I will just keep on tweaking things. So we've actually got some special guests who are going to deliver your cool down questions. So apart from the fact that I'm your mother and it was just weird for me to ask you questions. But anyway, so I've come up with three people that you know very well. Now, Fiona's gonna play the question and you need to tell us who the person is and then to the best of your ability, answer the question. All the tape, Fee. Fiona Hughes: Go for it. Hey, Olvi, your number one fan here. Huge congratulations for last weekend. A win at five star on your debut is pretty amazing. Now, I know you're a very avid sportsman and very competitive at all sports that you play, but I was just wondering, at what age did you stop throwing golf clubs? Oliver Barrett: I'm petrified. ⁓ well thanks for that question Golly. ⁓ It is a good one. What days did I stop throwing golf clubs? Well, I... There was a particular incident on a Bart and Barrett golf, well golf day that is better off forgotten but I don't think, I think I... didn't portray myself in the best of light that day and let's just say that I got a, I think we were probably on about the fourth or fifth hole and I was marched straight back to the car and I had to wait for a couple of hours till the rest of them finished and I think from that moment on I probably was contemplating my life choices and probably wasn't the best way to go about things. So I'd like to think that I've improved since then and ⁓ but yeah, not one of my finest, not one of my finest eras, that's for sure. Fiona Hughes: Thanks for pointing that out. ⁓ Prue: You missed a bit about the age. How old were you, Alvie? Oliver Barrett: How old was I? was probably 12, 13? 12. Well I definitely wasn't good enough and I definitely didn't know enough about golf to be getting cranky, that's for sure. Prue: Okay, righty-o. So we have question number two, Fee. Fiona Hughes: Hey Oliver, your second biggest fan here. Just wondering how you would rate your time management and communication skills. Just asking for a friend. Oliver Barrett: ⁓ well, thanks Ruby for that great question. How would I rate my communication and time management skills? Well, I think they're quite good, but apparently, I don't think that's what she was getting at. anyway, well, I would give myself, they're quite a high number, but. ⁓ It's probably best that I throw that back at Ruby to tell me seeing as she may not think I'm very good at communication. But from my end, I think it's quite good. Fiona Hughes: Ha ha ha! Fair enough! Prue: Rightio, we have one final question. Fiona Hughes: Oliver, you're clearly competitive as evidenced by your eventing career, but many people may not realise that you have many other competitive pursuits as well. A quick multiple choice question. If you weren't to be an equestrian rider, would you be A, a go-kart driver, B, a professional high jumper, C, would you be a professional golfer? Or D, would you be in the professional sphere of sports commentary? Oliver Barrett: ⁓ D-Wong, Dave. I think Dave, every, I think Dave can never quite forgive me for shooting one over at Pacific Dunes that day and then coming off a long spell and shooting three over again, but I won't rub the, I won't rub it in too much. He's only been trying for however many years. ⁓ Good question. I think, yeah, no, the golfers will get that. ⁓ I think golf is... I would have to... To be a good golfer you'd probably have to put in the same exact amount of hours that we put into the horses. Golf is definitely my other passion in terms of sport but all the other options that he mentioned aren't too bad either. I wouldn't mind giving them a crack. Fiona Hughes: Fair enough, fair enough. Well, thanks so much for sharing all of that journey with us, Oliver. And it's fascinating to ⁓ ride along and hear about all those things from the outset of a young man and all the way up to the Adelaide five star. And special thanks to our... Do we call them special guests or do we call them, what sort of guests may they be? ⁓ Golly Barton which is also known, which is we love to know her as Golly Barton but she's Olivia Barton and Ruby Gorton and also Dave Irwin and Prue thanks for bringing us all the good oil. Plenty of insight there for our listeners to take away. And it definitely feels like there's still more to come Oliver and we'll be watching closely as the next chapter unfolds. Until then thanks for joining Thank you. Prue: Thanks, V. Oliver Barrett: Thanks, Fetty. Thank you. Fiona Hughes: Thank you very much and we'll catch you next time between the flags. Thanks for riding along with us. We hope you enjoyed the show. Catch you next time, Between the Flags.