Mari Durward-Akhurst will be making her Paralympic debut in Paris, but she couldn’t ask for a more experienced partner than Di Redfern’s 17-year-old all-star Athene Lindebjerg (Gribaldi x Diamant).
Athene is a bona fide legend at grade I and has already won nine international gold medals with her former riders Sophie Christiansen and Julie Payne.
She’s also a former able bodied national elementary champion under Jess Thompson.
A proven champion
At Athene’s last Games in Rio she won triple gold with Sophie, and scored the highest mark of the whole competition scoring 79.7% in the freestyle with her beautiful piano-based music that left onlookers in tears.
Rio was an emotional Games for Sophie who had been considering giving up the sport after a tough year in which she changed coach and battled illness.
On top of that, Athene contracted an infection in the build-up and it wasn’t until the day the horses flew to Rio that Sophie knew for sure whether the horse she describes as a “grade I supermodel” would be up for it.
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“A year ago I was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll win three gold medals’, but this year has taught me that anything can happen in sport, and never to take anything for granted,” Sophie told Horse & Hound in 2016.
“For Athene to go into that arena and do that – I’m over the moon.”
Julie Payne riding Athene Lindeberg at the European Championships.
(Image credit: Kevin Sparrow)
A year later, Athene partnered championship first-timer Julie Payne to another trio of gold medals this time at the European Championships.
The pair were last to go in the team competition, and with the pressure on, knew they had to score above 74.6% to secure gold.
As silence descended across the arena in Gothenburg, the pair produced a flawless performance, full of purpose and relaxation, to score 78.1% – the highest score of the event.
“That was the hardest test I have ever ridden in my life,” Julie said. “It took absolutely everything I had but Athene gave me everything.
“My legs didn’t want to work, my pelvis didn’t want to move, but she just stayed with me.”
A perfect match
Julie’s re-classification from grade I to grade II saw her partnership with Athene come to an end. Athene then spent a spell at stud, where she had two foals herself, and two via surrogates.
When Di took Athene back from stud in 2023, Mari was the first person she offered the ride to.
Di has known Mari since she was just 11-years-old attending training days at South Bucks Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) at Di’s Mill House Farm.
“I went to try Athene and fell in love instantly,” Mari – who is herself a silver medallist from the 2019 European Championships – recalls.
“I’d seen and heard so much about her so to be on her was incredible. Riding her was even more amazing than watching her – I mean that walk!
“From the first ride we started to form a partnership, and with the help of my coach Rob Waine, it wasn’t long before we were out competing together.”
However, it was all plain sailing, and the combination had to overcome some challenges.
“The grade I grand prix test had changed, and Athene has had to become more uphill,” Mari explained. “That was a challenge at first as I cannot use my legs.
“But now she understands my whips are my legs. I’ve had to become fitter and stronger in my core to ride her big movement, so I spend my time doing rowing, strength and conditioning.”
Setting their sights on Paris
Mari and Athene’s competition career got off to a tentative start as the pair got to know one another.
“People would say to me, you must be feeling so much pressure, but I just went with it, and because we didn’t win straight away, the pressure really was off,” said Mari.
But it didn’t take long for the wins to start coming in, and in September 2023 they were crowned grade I national champions. This achievement was even more remarkable as Mari had just been released from the hospital following a two-week battle with a kidney infection.
“I knew I was going to make it here, I just wasn’t sure how,” Mari said at the time. “I was still a bit wibbly-wobbly after being in the hospital but she knows what she has to do and I was really happy – in fact I think it was the best test we’ve ever done.”
Since then the pair have never finished outside the top two in international competition. This June, they swept all the grade I classes at Wellington CPEDI3*, setting personal bests in all three, during a run of eight consecutive wins that saw them rise to the top of the FEI world rankings.
“Athene is a dream to ride, and her walk is incredible,” Mari said. “Her ears prick the minute we go down the centre line and once in the white boards she knows her job and always shows off her square halts. One of the judges has said she appears to smile as she is doing her test!”
Their top form and status as world number ones made them shoo-ins for Paris, where Athene will make her championship comeback and add another remarkable chapter to her already illustrious career.
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Oscar joined Horse & Hound in October 2023 and is the magazine’s dressage editor and sports manager, overseeing coverage of equestrian sport. After studying equine science at Myerscough College, he spent four years working for leading dressage rider Emile Faurie, competing at the 2015 National Dressage Championships and travelling with the yard to CDIs including Aachen and Saumur. He holds a master’s degree in Literature from York St John University (2021).
