A couple from Christchurch are hoping to break New Zealand's 12-year medal drought in the equestrian at this year's Olympic Games.
Equestrian is one of the few Olympic sports in which men and women compete against one another, and has been one of New Zealand's most successful Olympic sports since Sir Mark Todd and the mighty Charisma claimed the first of their individual gold medals in 1984.
Husband and wife duo Tim and Jonelle Price made history in 2022, as the only married couple to have held first and second place in the world rankings.
Following a few injuries, the pair told 1News they're in good form ahead of next month's Paris Games.
"It's all based on hope and dreams, but we feel very good about the upcoming games," said Tim. "We've had a good year, the horses are all feeling healthy, you know we live and breathe by how well our horses are — unlike other sports they aren't a machine."
The same can't be said for Team Price who appear to be a very well-oiled machine. The two athletes at the top of their game juggle their own professions, sharing horses, property, staff and two young children - seven-year-old Otis and Abel, four.
"We're used to the organised chaos," laughed Jonelle.
However, managing everyone's workload — particularly the horses — and keeping up with the demanding competition schedule was a challenge.
"The turn around can be tight, we can easily get home Monday morning, having travelled through the night then leave again abroad that evening again," Jonelle said.
The Prices first met as teenagers in Christchurch, before they moved to the UK almost 20 years ago to both pursue careers in equestrian.
They moved to Cheddington Estate, South West of England, last year where they train and look after 35 horses between them and manage eight staff.
Tim and Jonelle are the most successful couple in the equestrian world, with very few duos riding at such a high level. They've managed to work their partnership to their favour, playing off each other's strengths and weaknesses (Tim is more relaxed, while Jonelle is more organised), but Tim said it's been an evolution.
"We now understand we're different and arrive at our destinations in a slightly different way, and we don't get on each other about why you don't do this or that, because we've seen them be successful with that process time and time again," he said.
The pair were part of the New Zealand equestrian team who placed fourth in Rio and fifth in Tokyo.
Jonelle also won bronze as part of the 2012 London team. Now, there's hope another medal can finally be won.
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