Olympics commentator back in the saddle for Australian Showjumping Championships

By: Karen Ellis

As someone who lives and breathes horses, Vicki Roycroft’s passion has enabled her to enjoy a long and prestigious career in equestrian sport. Where many might trade on their famous surname, Vicki’s opportunities have never been handed to her because she is a Roycroft.  Vicki is down-to-earth and renowned as a hard worker. Her success is a direct result of her dedication and persistence.

With ten to twelve horses in work at any given time, Vicki is never idle. She does all her own admin and, as a self-confessed computer illiterate, it can be difficult to keep up with the paperwork involved, especially when it comes to entering the many shows throughout the season and the varying programs in each competition.

This year Vicki comes to the Australian Showjumping Championships with at least three horses, all of which are also entered at Melbourne Royal. Her plan is to compete at Boneo Park on her way down as she thinks the grounds at Boneo are fantastic and will be great preparation for the Australian Titles.

She will start in this year’s Senior Title on Congo Z, a horse she competed on last year.  In addition to Congo, Vicki will also bring two younger horses: Dynamic Bay, an exciting 7-year-old stallion by Casall, and St James Palace. She is also thinking about bringing one or two greener horses along for the ride. A hobby breeder, Vicki has two lovely mares that she breeds from every other year. This ensures there is always a steady stream of young horses coming up through the ranks at any given time.

Vicki suffered from a melanoma in 2007. She was diagnosed after her vision became blurred and her depth perception was affected. Prior to surgery, it felt like she was looking through a dirty windscreen. Unable to even read the second line of an eye chart, Vicki took to wearing a patch over her bad eye so she could see clearly through the other one but things went from bad to worse. Doctors diagnosed a melanoma and broke the news that there was no way her vision was coming back. A decision was made to remove the eye. Losing an eye means you don’t lose 50% of your vision – you lose 30%. Apart from sometimes having to turn her head to the side in order to see properly, and dealing with the traffic of other riders on occasion surprising her in the practice ring, Vicki has adapted extremely well to the loss of her eye. Despite the partial vision loss, Vicki still has the best eye for a fence out of most competitors on the showgrounds.

Having ridden at International level, Vicki is no stranger to the pressures professional riders face today with the high financial cost and standard of competition. As National Jumping Chair, Vicki was an advocate for riders only travelling to Europe in the year of a major Championship event. This removed the need to spend years over there trying to climb the ranks.  Being away from home for extended periods takes its toll on riders not to mention the extraordinary costs. Competing overseas isn’t quite as glamorous as it might seem. Vicki points out that she was very fortunate when she competed overseas with the little machine “Apache.” They were invited everywhere and fortunately wherever they competed their costs were covered. Quite a different arrangement to what riders face now.

Vicki maintains she has been incredibly lucky with her career.  She has had some fabulous opportunities that simply wouldn’t be available today. She now loves seeing up and coming riders rising through the ranks and hopes her successes serve as an example of what is possible in the sport and motivation for them to achieve longevity in their careers.

Vicki has been an amazing ambassador for the sport of equestrian and we wish her all the very best in her journey down to Werribee for the Australian Showjumping Championships this year.

The Australian Showjumping Championships are being held 15-18 September 2016 at Werribee Park.

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