EXCLUSIVE interview

Grand Prix dressage rider, Alice Oppenheimer, shares how she juggled running and riding while training for the London Marathon

Alice and Headmore Bella Ruby competing at HOYS 2021

As told to Kiera Boyle. Photos: 1st Class Images, Jon Stroud, MarathonFoto

"Alice was more than ready to take on the marathon once and for all"

Brutal and gruelling are among the words Grand Prix dressage rider, Alice Oppenheimer, used to describe her experience training for the London Marathon. Having completed the demanding training programme not once but twice in the wake of the pandemic, Alice was more than ready to take on the marathon once and for all on 3 October 2021. Sandwiched between the British Dressage National Championships and Horse of the Year Show (HOYS), Alice certainly had a mammoth task ahead. Not only did she have her supporters’ generous donations spurring her on, but also charity, Brooke, remained her real motivation behind the challenge. From someone who admittedly detests running, Alice explains how she reached the finish line and the steps she took to get there, all while juggling her fleet of homebred dressage horses in-between.

Meet Alice

Alice decided that dressage would be her focus from a young age after her childhood pony, Dusty, continually unseated her by stopping at fences. “I’d fall off over her ears, so that steered me away from wanting to leave the ground,” said Alice. Later, though, her mum, Sarah –a keen rider at the time – became ill with breast cancer, so nine-year-old Alice stepped up to help look after her dressage horse Dacapo II (Dexy). “He really inspired me to follow the dressage pathway. I had a family pony who I produced, then bought my first dressage horse. Mum really got into the breeding side of things, too, and everything went from there really. Now we’ve got a string of mainly homebred dressage horses who’ve gone all the way up to Grand Prix.”