Alexa Fairchild: "10 Things I Hate About the High Level Equestrian World"

Focus

F.O.C.U.S.

Belgian Grand Prix rider Alexa Fairchild recently shared an open-hearted message on her social media account titled "10 Things I Hate About the High Level Equestrian World."

Representing Belgium as a Dressage Athlete

With the long-time support of her parents Stephen and Erin, Alexa Fairchild has built a career as a dressage rider and is now adding some teaching to her work duties.

The 31-year old Alexa was a fixed member of the Belgian youth teams between 2007 and 2015. She competed at nine European Championships from Ponies to Young Riders with six different ponies and horses.

As a senior Grand Prix rider she represented Belgium at the 2021 European Dressage Championships in Hagen. She was the reserve for the Belgian team for the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo.

After moving from Brussels to Paris in 2025, Fairchild got back in the race for Belgian team selection. With her horse Fairplay she finished 7th at the 2026 World Cup Finals in Fort Worth, but will not be up for team selection for the 2026 World Championships in Aachen as she is pregnant with her first child. Alexa trains with Norbert van Laak.

Through her parents' connection with the fashion world, Alexa briefly branched out of the horse world when she launched a clothing collection. She also designed the delegation sportswear outfits for Team Belgium for the 2024 Olympics. She was invited to do the job again for 2028 L.A. but declined in order to focus on her riding career and family.

10 Things I Hate About the High Level Equestrian World"

In her social media post of 25 April Alexa wrote, "I’ve been in this sport long enough to say this out loud. Some of it will make you uncomfortable, good."

These are the 10 insights Alexa shares:

1) The industry that sells little girls a dream and then charges them everything to live it
Lessons. Shows. Equipment. Horses. Coaches. By the time you're good enough, you 're also broke enough.

2) Horses kept in boxes 24 hours a day because the owner is scared of a scratch before the show.
That's not protection. That's a life prison sentence.

3) Horses over-medicated to perform and under-cared for when they can't.
The vet is called to get them in the ring. Not to listen to them.

4) The show system that rewards tension and flashiness over genuine harmony
Tight neck. Big trot. High score. The horse is screaming. The judges are clapping.

5) The gossip that travels faster than any horse
News spreads in the equestrian world before you've even untacked.

6) The normalization of fear-based training at the highest level.
If your horse pints his ears every time you walk in the stable, that's not attitude. That's information.

7) The hierarchy that has nothing to do with riding.
The best riders have the worst horses and the worst sponsor. And somehow the opposite is also true.

8) The smile you're expected to keep no matter what.
Horse colicked the night before. Back is destroyed. Bank account is empty. Smile for the prize giving

9) Young riders pushed way beyond their level because the parents to to live their own dream.
The horse pays for it. The kid pays for it. The parents post it.

10) That we all know someone who should not own a horse.
And nobody says anything. Because abuse is present at every level.