At 17, William Matthew headed to Europe for an equestrian gap year. Twelve years later the 29-year-old is training with Isabell Werth and has two horses at Grand Prix level – one of which he hopes could make the Australian team for the Paris Olympics.

“The plan is to aim for Paris
with Mysterious Star.”

“We have competed in two internationals now and he made a big step forward from the first to the second,” says Will Matthew regarding Grand Prix horse Mysterious Star. “I hope we can keep going like this and by next year start to have all the small details really on point so that we can start to get those higher scores.” The 10-year-old gelding, by Métall out of a Fürst Heinrich mare, is owned by Stephanie Göller and has been ridden by Will since he was a five-year-old.

This season, they’ve stepped up to international Big Tour level and competed at a CDI3* in Tolbert, the Netherlands, where they scored 67.804% in the Grand Prix for 10th place and 67.000% in the Grand Prix Special for 11th. Their second CDI3*, also in the Netherlands at Exloo, saw a marked improvement in scores, with 69.174% in the Grand Prix and 70.894% for third in the Special.

“Mysterious Star is going great, the last test in Exloo he was really fighting for me and started to show how good it will be in the future,” enthuses Will. “With him it’s so cool, I know him so well and I really feel he knows me just as well. He has huge talent for all the collected work and is really always fighting for the rider, so I think he can be a really top horse.”

Will hopes that the horse continues to develop and progress at the level, giving them the opportunity to vie for Paris Olympic team selection. “The plan is to aim for Paris with Mysterious Star. I think he is already on the right track to be able to get good enough scores by next year.”

FABULOUS FREISCHÜTZ

Mysterious Star is not the only Big Tour horse that Will rides; he’s also competing Madeline Winter-Schulze’s nine-year-old gelding Freischütz 5, by Foundation 2 out of a Del Martino 2 mare, who’s recently stepped up following success at Small Tour.

Earlier in the season, the pair won the Inter II at Schloss Wickrath with 73.991%, and then last month at Horses & Dreams in Hagen, they won the first leg of the Louisdor Prize – a prestigious German championship series for developing Grand Prix horses – qualifying them for the final in Frankfurt in December.

Initially they were second in the first round, the Inter II, on a score of 71.368%, with Isabell Werth and Gut Wettlkam’s Chuck Bass finishing at the top of the leaderboard. However, the tables were turned in the final – a Short Grand Prix test – where Will and Freischütz scored 74.404% to claim first place.

“It was really special, and a little unexpected; I knew Freischütz was in good shape and he has the potential to do well, but that weekend it really came together. Isabell was really proud; it’s her training that got us there! Hagen in general was amazing, just to watch all those amazing riders the whole day it was very inspiring. I think that also helped me with my test.”

“I’m sure Isabell will
have a plan for us!”

Will has been riding Freischütz for two years. “Madeline bought him from Hof Kassellman, because she and Isabell could see his quality. Normally Isabell tries to make sure that we all have a few interesting projects to bring on, and I was lucky enough that she thought Freischütz would suit me well,” says Will of how his partnership with the horse began.

“To be honest, we weren’t sure if he would be a Grand Prix horse; he was a bit of a diesel. He could be quite strong and lazy in the beginning and at the shows he would get quite nervous. It felt like he would stop breathing and then could really hold himself against the leg. Each year it has become better and now this year he has really learnt to use his body in a better way. Learning the more collected movements really helped, and with more experience at the shows he now stays much more relaxed there. In Hagen I really felt he was like he is at home, and we could really show what he can do!”

Looking ahead with Freischütz, Will says they don’t have an exact plan yet – after all, the horse is young and very new to Big Tour level. “Isabell told me I should do a National Grand Prix in the next few weeks, and we will see how he handles it. From there I’m sure Isabell will have a plan for us!”

MORE IN THE STABLE

Besides the two Grand Prix horses, Will has several other horses that he’s riding competitively at the moment. “I have one nine-year-old mare at home called Annamira, from a Finnish under-25 rider. The plan is to build her up for the U25 Grand Prix next year for owner Olivia Vliek to ride. I did one S (German Small Tour level) this year with her in Mettman Haus Alaquint with over 68% for third place. I think by the end of the autumn she will be able to move into the Inter II level. I then have two three-year-old stallions at home that are both really exciting; perhaps I will do some three-year-old tests at the end of the year with them.

“At Isabell’s I have a few interesting horses. There is one new nine-year-old that could be a very interesting Grand Prix horse for next year, and then a couple of good six-year-olds that are really exciting to build up; I think this year I will do some six-year-old tests with them. Then there are a couple of selling horses that I will need to compete in a few S levels this year. So I will definitely be busy enough!”

FROM PERTH TO GERMANY

Will has now been in Europe for the better part of a decade, however, his equestrian roots trace back to Perth, Western Australia. In the saddle by age five, he grew up through the Pony Club system and competed in just about every discipline along the way. Will didn’t have his own horse in the early days, but his trainer at the time, Alisa Dodds, gave him every opportunity she could and leased him riding school ponies in exchange for stable work. Will credits Alisa with fostering his initial love of dressage and showing him the importance of good training and working with a system.

Following high school, an equestrian gap year in the UK with coach, trainer and Lusitano enthusiast Kate Malby kickstarted his professional career with horses. Will spent eight months with Kate before returning home to refill the coffers, and then it was back to Europe six months later – this time to train with fellow Perth native Hayley Beresford. It was Will’s first taste of a professional competition stable, and he was hooked. After eight months with Hayley, it was back to the UK for a six-month stint at another stable before the opportunity arose to work for another Aussie, Warwick McLean. Will had spent a few weeks with Warwick when he was first in the UK – as Warwick had been based there at the time – on the recommendation of Alisa Dodds. Having the opportunity to base full-time with Warwick and wife Carolina in Germany at McLean Reitsport was an opportunity too good to miss.

Five years later and the time came to experience something new, so Will accepted a job offer in Holland from Leida Collins-Strijk, and then when she moved to Florida, Will began working for Beatrice Buchwald and the Hödl family. By 2019, he was planning to go independent – but fate tweaked that idea a litte. The Höldl family had horses they wanted to sell and asked if Will could go with them to show them to Isabell Werth; this chance meeting was the catalyst for Will’s current working arrangement.

TRAINING WITH ISABELL

Since 2019, Will has ridden half days, six days per week for Isabell with several horses in work for her, and is then self-employed the remainder of the time and rides horses for clients such as the Hödl family. “It works really well, as I get the opportunity to learn a lot in the mornings with Isabell, and then practise what I see and learn alone at home.”

So, when Will travelled overseas at 17, did he ever think it would lead to training with Isabell and producing a Grand Prix horse for an owner such as Madeline Winter-Schulze?

“I mean, I was always really ambitious and still want to be the best I can, but to be riding for Isabell and training with her is a dream come true; I watched videos of Isabell riding my whole childhood, I definitely didn’t think then that one day I would be training with her, it’s amazing! And to be able to produce a horse for Madeline Winter-Schultze, that’s a huge privilege.”

HOME AWAY FROM HOME

Having based with Australians for many of his early years abroad, Will feels having that Aussie connection as the new kid in Europe certainly helped him settle in. “It was definitely helpful, both Warwick and Hayley had both been through the whole experience of leaving home, family and friends, so I think they both had a level of understanding and could always, and still do, give me good advice.

“With Warwick, I was there for so long… he and his family are like family to me now, and that’s really cool because I still feel like I have family over here. All the holidays – such as Christmas, New Year and Easter – we usually spend together, and we are catching up most weeks, so it really gives me a sense of family and home.

“I think the sport is really cool like that, because in the end there are so many young riders in the same situation that come to Europe to ride that leave their families and friends, so over the years I’ve built up a really great friendship group. I guess we are like a big family and we are all in the same situation, so we look out for each other. I think that’s definitely important; you have to have people to support you, and you definitely need to have some fun in between, because the job can get stressful.”

Of course, Will still misses his family back home and very much enjoys heading back to Perth to visit when he can. “I try to always go home for two weeks during the (northern) winter, as that breaks the winter up a bit. I was home last year at Christmas, which was so nice!”

One of the main things Will misses about Perth is of course the sunshine, and as the northern hemisphere begins to head into summer, he’s glad to see the last of the German winter. “I’m so happy summer is on its way, I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to the German winter. For me it’s the short days that are the real killer: you leave the house in the dark and come home in the dark, and that makes it quite hard to stay motivated the whole day, but the passion for the job gets you through it. And I have to say, the European summer does make up for it!” EQ

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Perth Boy Finds His True Werth – Equestrian Life, December 2021