Alanna Richards and Mist of Titanium OLD competing at CHIO Rotterdam. Image by DigiShots.
There are moments in every rider’s career where the dream suddenly becomes real. For Australian dressage rider Alanna Richards, that moment came while trotting around the arena before the bell at her first CDI Grand Prix in Europe aboard Mist of Titanium OLD.
“I was just smiling,” Alanna recalls. “Like, we’re doing it. We’re really doing it. I’ve always dreamed of that happening.”
It is a fitting image for a rider whose pathway into elite dressage has been anything but conventional. Alanna’s rise to Grand Prix has not followed the carefully plotted trajectory often associated with the sport. Instead, it has been fuelled by instinct, bold decisions and an unwavering willingness to throw herself into the deep end.
And nowhere is that more obvious than in her partnership with the charismatic Mist of Titanium OLD – better known around the barn as “Tito” or, more affectionately, “Burrito”.
Alanna and Tito post-test at CDI Achleiten. Image supplied by CDI Achleiten.
A CHANCE MEETING
Whilst training in Florida, Alanna was riding with Sasha Newman, who was looking for a Grand Prix horse for a client and was sent a video of Tito.
“She showed me the video, and I was in love with him,” Alanna says. “I nicknamed him Tito after Tito’s vodka. Since we were in America and they mainly drink Tito’s vodka, there would be Tito’s signs everywhere and I’d go ‘Dad see, that’s a sign, we should buy him.’ And he’d keep telling me it was an American vodka and the answer was no.”
A month later, on 4 July 2024, they flew over to Europe to try Tito in person.
“The first time I sat on him, I just looked at my dad and said, ‘This is the horse.’”
That instinctive certainty would prove correct. After officially securing Tito later that year, he came to Florida and the pair quickly developing a partnership that has already accelerated Alanna into the international spotlight. Despite having only recently stepped into Grand Prix competition, Alanna and Tito have already made an impression on the European circuit, with the Australian rider boldly making her CDI Grand Prix debut after her recent move to Denmark, to base at Helgstrand, at the start of May this year.
Rather than easing cautiously into the sport’s pinnacle, Alanna embraced the challenge head-on. “I definitely threw myself in the deep end a little bit,” she laughs.
The experience, however, became one she will never forget. Riding through the warm-up before entering the arena at CDI Aalborg in Denmark, Alanna found herself overwhelmed not by nerves, but by disbelief that she had finally reached the level she had always dreamed about.
“It was definitely a dream,” she says. “I was smiling before they rang the bell.”
Alanna Richards riding Emmaline Count’s Chica AK in a CDI-YH Five-Year-Old class, in both the rider and horse’s CDI debut in Florida. Image by Centre Line Media.
The pair produced a promising test, for 68.348%, even with a mistake in their one-tempis – which is normally a party trick for them. For their international debut and second Grand Prix test ever (the first being a CDN at Adequan Global Dressage Festival in Florida for 69.595%), the combination shows immense promise.
Even more remarkably, Alanna admits she had also entered the Grand Prix Special at CDI Aalborg without practicing it at home.
“We’d only decided to do it a few weeks before,” she explains. “I was riding around thinking, ‘This is the first time I’ve actually done this test… where am I going?’”
The pair finished on 65.656% despite some green mistakes. The partnership’s natural harmony and Tito’s large-than-life personality shone through. “He loves to be a show horse,” Alanna says. “When we turn around in the arena and I’m like ‘See, they’re all here to watch you’, he’s like, ‘Wow, they’re all here for me, aren’t they?’”
The gelding’s confidence and flair for the spotlight have made the transition to Grand Prix even more enjoyable. “He’s so much fun in the ring,” she says. “Training Grand Prix is like nothing else.”
AN UNCONVENTIONAL PATHWAY
Unlike many riders competing internationally at Grand Prix, Alanna did not come through a traditional dressage system.
Introduced to horses by her mother as a toddler, Alanna grew up immersed in Pony Club and Australia’s competitive show horse scene. Dressage was initially something she “dabbled in” alongside campaigning teams of show horses throughout the country.
Her early years in the saddle were shaped less by polished dressage mounts and more by notoriously difficult ponies. “I had a very naughty pony called Honey,” she laughs. “All she used to do was rear and buck.”
Despite the chaos, Alanna’s natural competitiveness and determination were already evident. After moving from her hometown to Adelaide and later Melbourne, her focus slowly began shifting more seriously toward dressage. While living in Melbourne she trained with David Shoobridge and began riding lower-level dressage horses, discovering a genuine passion for the discipline.
“I was like, I really, really like this.”
That curiosity soon evolved into looking at some horses whilst on a trip to Europe, despite her father initially being less enthusiastic about the idea. “I said, ‘Can we go look at some dressage horses?’ and Dad said, ‘Absolutely not’,” Alanna laughs.
Persistence eventually paid off. Alanna purchased her first dressage horse, Quasir, from Germany’s Helgstrand before bringing him to Australia. At the end of 2024, she relocated to Wellington, Florida, where her father’s US headquarters were nearby, fully immersing herself in dressage training and competition. There, she successfully campaigned Quasir through to Prix St Georges level.
Alanna and Tito at Helgstrand in Denmark. Image supplied.
“As long as I’ve got
my dog, my horse, a car
and a bed, I’m happy.”
MOVE TO EUROPE
Now based in Denmark with Helgstrand, Alanna’s days revolve almost entirely around horses. After meeting the Weel family in Wellington during the season and forming a family-like community, it has made the transition from America to Europe an easy one with a small Australian contingent within and outside of the dressage stable.
“I get up at 5:30am and take my dog Tilly for a walk,” Alanna explains. “Then Abby and I jump in the car and get to the barn at 7:00am. Abby and I will have lunch together before I train on Burrito in the afternoon. It’s honestly a dream come true,” she says.
Alanna has embraced the constant movement and change that has defined the past few years of her life. Having already relocated several times across Australia before moving internationally, she approaches each transition with a practical mindset.
“I’ll go wherever I need to go,” she says. “As long as I’ve got my dog, my horse, a car and a bed, I’m happy.”
Alanna and Tito competing at CHIO Rotterdam. Image by DigiShots.
LOOKING AHEAD
Although Alanna’s rise through the levels has been rapid, she remains grounded about the future while acknowledging the opportunities now in front of her.
Further European starts at CDI Achleiten and CHIO Rotterdam have continued to provide valuable international mileage as she continues developing alongside Tito against some of the world’s strongest competition.
And while Australian team aspirations are inevitably part of the conversation, Alanna is careful not to get ahead of herself. “That’s obviously the dream, right?” she says. “There are amazing riders riding for Australia, so even to be in contention is really cool.”
With one Grand Prix qualifying score from CDI Aalborg, as well as competing in the CDI Grand Prix Special, the combination are halfway to meeting the Australian selection policy’s Competition Criteria.
For now, however, the focus remains firmly on continuing to learn, improve and enjoy every stage of the process. With a horse she describes as perfectly aligned with her, a growing European campaign and an infectious enthusiasm for the sport, Alanna’s Grand Prix journey feels like it is only just beginning.
And if the opening chapters are anything to go by, she is more than happy continuing to throw herself into the deep end. EQ
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