PHOTOS:
Ella with her beloved horses - and mum!
Ella Richardson
Ella comes into transition

Ella Richardson was previously best known as a very talented young horsewoman who did really well at the ‘Horse of the Year’ show with her miniature ponies but has certainly spread her sporting wings in the meanwhile as she has tested herself in a series of sporting challenges.
 
These culminated in Ella taking on the ‘Iron Man Wales’ event in Tenby where she certainly showed she is an iron lady as the youngest female competitor. She began her training in January and completed a ‘sprint triathlon’ in Fishguard as part of the build-up, having previously undertaken eight marathons, which she felt made running her trump card for the big day in Tenby.

 
Preparing for three disciplines

 
“I was OK at cycling but wasn’t over-eager to do long distances on a bike,” admitted Ella, “but I gradually got better at it.
“It was a similar story in the swimming component because although I enjoyed it I wasn’t all that proficient until I had some lessons from Neil Thomas. I also developed my sea swimming as mum (Sian) followed me in a kayak and my five spaniels did the dogs’ paddle alongside me,” said Ella with a chuckle!
 
“I completed the middle distance in the ‘Long Course Weekend’ which in hindsight might have been too close to the ‘Iron Man’ but at least I knew that I was on the right track with my preparation.”
 

Terrific support and equine interests

 
Ask Ella about support and she would immediately nominate Sian for always being there whilst dad Alan is always supportive – and particularly important with supplying financial help. Ian Evans was also a help with her swimming and Mark Rendall, of Mike’s Bikes in Haverfordwest, has been a great sponsor in the cycling area.
 
Prior to involvement in activities like ‘Iron man’, Ella was brought up with horses and actually has her own stud where her speciality is breeding miniature ponies. Ella has over 20 miniature ponies which include two fine mature stallions in ‘Apache’ (American) and ‘Goldeneye’, plus two other younger stallions that look good prospects, plus three foals born this year. These are looked after alongside bigger horses which she enjoys training for hunting because Ella is the ‘Whipper-In’ for the Pembrokeshire Hunt, where her role is to look after the hounds on their regular trips around the countryside.
 

‘Horse of the Year’ success

 
She came second in the ‘Horse of the Year’ show with her lovely home-bred mare called ‘Barley Sweet Pea’, a British miniature horse. Her speciality was in hand showing and such is the difficulty of qualifying for the world-famous event, now televised on Sky TV, that she came second in five shows before winning at Sunnybank in Somerset to qualify for the ‘Horse of the Year’ show.
 
“But it was worth the wait, all the travel and hard work,” Ella told us, “because to take part in that arena, in front of thousands of cheering people, was an amazing experience which I wouldn’t have missed for the world!”
 

Interest in Endurance

 
Ella actually started her interest in Endurance Races on horseback as she took part in the ‘Man versus Horse’ event near Llanwrtyd Wells in Mid Wales, riding 24 miles over rough terrain and a very tiring day out for horse and rider. She also intends enrolling for a competition with one of her endurance horses over 100 miles one day!
 
Ella and mum recently decided to go from St Davids to London to visit the Expo about the ‘Marathon Des Sables’, which involves running five and a half marathons in six days in the Sahara Desert, often in heat as high as 40+ degrees and with a pack on the back containing food, water and a tent!
But not for them the train or the bus to the ‘Big Smoke’ – they cycled it and took longer than the 350+ miles they planned because of getting lost en route!
 “The worst part,” said Ella, “was having to ride in the dark to reach pre-booked B&Bs so next time we would carry our own tents so we could stop whenever we wanted in some scenic place.

 
Inspired to go on by James and Kenton

 
 “At the Expo we met inspirational people like Olympic oarsman James Cracknell and Kenton Cool, an Everest guide who certainly lived up to his name. It costs in the region of £3,500 and then there is sponsorship for the ‘Mencap’ charity on top of that – but I have until 2015 to sort it out, so who knows?”
 
There is also the prospect of another ‘Iron man’ entry because Ella enjoyed her debut, even to the manic nature of the swim, where tempers from some fierce competitors got a little frayed.
“It was like riding the rapids for the first half mile before things settled down,” laughed Ella!
They drove to Tenby at 3am with her parents joined by her sister Jemima and brothers Ben, Hal and Wil to give her maximum support.
Ella admits she was a little nervous before the start but the worst moment came with the realisation that she had forgotten her timing chip, which meant she had to buy another one before she could start. (Now that did mean a chase around to find a cash machine for poor old mum and dad!)
 

All’s well that ends well

 
But all’s well that ends well and after completing the swim in one hour 13 minutes she managed the 126 cycle run in around seven and a half hours, with the spell between Carew and Templeton as her low point, followed by the 26-mile run that was completed in five hours, 30 minutes-ish, a little slower than she had hoped but good in the circumstances of such a long day.
“It was like being on a magic carpet for the last quarter of a mile,” said Ella, “and a great moment when I entered the final straight and heard my name called, saw my picture on the big screen and then received my medal, which I will always treasure.”
 
She was also interviewed on BBC Wales afterwards and it nicely rounded off a day to remember for Ella and the rest of the Richardson family.
“I would love to thank everyone who supported me,” said Ella, “and now I am looking forward to another challenge, perhaps the ‘Brutal’ event in Snowdonia which is centred on Llanberis, and which involves another long distance triathlon.”
 
And do you know what? Having met this modest young lady from St Davids we are confident that she will complete that one, too!