Twenty-nine-year-old French international dressage rider and owner of the respected French Connections Sporthorses business, Milena Aubry, spends her days scouting, training, producing and selling top quality horses at her base in The Netherlands. The former French Young riders team member who competed at the 2014 and 2015 European Young Riders Championships with Uline and Babyface and rode in her last international show over seven years ago on Babyface at the CDI Saumur in May 2016, now owns and rides around ten to fifteen horses from foal to Grand Prix.
How did horses come into your life?
Milena and her 3yo stallion by Dynamic Dream x bordeaux. She says "One to watch in the future"
Ever since I saw a horse I immediately fell in love with them and all I would ever want was to be around them, ride them and just be connected to them. I started riding when I was three at the stables where my mom was riding and it happened to be the stables of a well known 5* judge, French judge Isabelle Judet. I fell in love with dressage there and actually never really tried jumping, maybe a couple times for fun.
When and where do you ride?
I ride everyday at my home base in Eersel pretty much from 7am until mid afternoon.
Who do you train with?
Milena's homebred pride, Lombard
I train with Rieky Young, usually once a week. She has been my trainer for the last 3 years and she is the absolute best. I wouldn’t be where I am now without her. I m very grateful for her and I love that she gives each horse an equal chance regardless of their talent or pedigree. She has a solution to every problem and it s always a very positive way of training which I totally vibe with.
What are you and your horses currently working on?
I ride horses from just broken 3yo to GP horses so I would say I train everything but of course the basis are the same for everyone. Straightness, self carriage, transitions and variation of training.
What do you love about riding?
Milena sold Lombard last year to Olympic rider Steffen Peters after training him through the levels
I love everything about riding, especially the connection with my horses and these moments suspended in time, just me and my horse and nothing else matters.
What would you like to do in the future, and do you have any goals?
I love what I m doing and I wish to keep going in the same direction, keep expanding and always aim for more. Of course I would like to compete my young ones in some young horse classes and maybe keep one 7yo long enough to compete at GP some day.
It takes a team to do dressage, who is in your support team?
Milena with Lombard. Her dream horse
I m very grateful for my team at home, they are the best.
Have you ever had to deal with nerves in riding?
When I was younger I would be very stressed before my shows because I had a pony going crazy for some specific movements so I would be very anxious.
How do you deal with them?
I just got older and now I m way more relaxed. I just control what I can control and enjoy the moment. I also always try to put things into perspective so nothing seems undoable.
Do you have any rituals before competing?
Milena recently sold 7yo Malchus P to a top rider after training him up to a green GP horse
Ride my test in my head.
Your Top Tip
Less is more
What is the best piece of advice that you have ever been given?
Live in the moment and never give up.
Want More?
If you enjoyed meeting Milena you might like to view more dressage rider “chatting with” interviews here. You can keep up with Milena’s progress and check out her instagram page here