She’s honest. She’s determined. She’s 16 years old. Her name is Ashley Lupondo, a Zimbabwean equestrian athlete, who is here to show Africa – against the odds – quitting is not an option.
At just 16, Ashley Lupondo has already experienced her own swing offs of equestrian show tricks and sporting hardships, firsts and fails, heartbreak, hope, anxiety and loneliness, that come with competing globally for the high ground.
Born to a humble Zimbabwean family, growing up in an outback cottage on a farmstead with horses – and sharing casual outrides with her best friend as a young girl – World Qualifying Equestrian Vaulter, Ashley Lupondo, could never have imagined the life that was being teed up for her in the wings.
It was a regular afternoon on the training grounds, when Ashley was told she made it through to the World Vaulting Championships. “Haibo – that’s what they all said when I qualified,” says Ashley, “Haibo, how does she go?!” She was set to leave for Europe in the Summer where she’d train in the Netherlands and compete as Zimbabwean’s first, in Austria.
“It felt like paradise,” says Ashley, “knowing I’d achieved what I‘d really been hungry for all this time. I was training hard to qualify for the overseas competition – and to have achieved a qualifying score was the truest ‘Haibo moment’ of my life.”
But behind that ‘Haibo moment’ stood a complex web of logistical and financial barriers. Ashley’s passport had expired. A Schengen visa required multiple embassy visits. Training access was limited and depended on the kindness of coaches who trained Ashley at no charge – and the cost of travelling to Europe was impossible for her family.
As Ashley was about to become the first athlete in the nation’s history to compete at the FEI Junior World Vaulting Championships, the opportunity meant so much more to her than its representation alone. It meant the reframing of her breadline story; one of a young immigrant African girl, daughter of a domestic worker and handyman who lived on a funded small holding; a story where money was short, children and parents shared bedrooms, and lunch sandwiches were rarely packed for the long day at school.
In Austria, the FEI Solidarity Fund stepped in with competition entry fees, accommodation, training horses, unitards, and all essential logistics, while the Zimbabwe Sports Council contributed funding for her formal kit and competition attire.
“I really needed support, because I come from a family with no money – and this is where Discover Sport’s™ involvement changed everything for me,” says Ashley. Through Discover Sport’s™ belief in Ashley’s talent, and with their partnership with Air France/KLM Airlines, Ashley’s flights to the Netherlands and Austria were fully sponsored, opening a door that money alone would have closed forever.
From Firsts to Freakouts
Ashley’s entry into the World Championships marked a series of firsts for the Vaulting newcomer athlete: A first trip abroad, a first-time airplane experience and the first Zimbabwean to ever compete globally in Equestrian Vaulting. However, for Ashley, the pressure became real, and nerves quickly overshadowed the excitement abroad.
“I freaked out,” says Ashley. “I felt extremely anxious in the arena, things just started playing out in my head, I didn’t have any familiar faces or family around me, and I wasn’t sure how Einstein (Ashley’s horse) would manage me,” says Ashley.
With contending variables on hand, and a sense of loneliness, Ashley’s performance on the global stage was an overwhelming one – and not the fairytale ending she was hoping for.
“Nobody will tell you how tough it is to compete alone, and lose alone”
“It did not go well for me and Einstein – and it broke my heart actually,” she says. “I remember running out of the arena and my Dutch trainer, Cynthia Danvers, was there and she gave me a big hug and she said, it’s okay. It’s okay. You both freaked out, but it’s okay.”
With a final score of 5.205, placing 54th out of 58 in the Junior Female Category, Ashley found herself dealing with the aftermath of defeat long after she landed back on home-ground. “Nobody will tell you how tough it is to compete alone, and lose alone; not to have the warmth and cheer of your family around you, and not to be competing on Idunn (my horse back home) certainly adds mountains of pressure to the competition, and it lingers with you,” says Ashley.
Training with a broken heart
“To underperform really hits hard,” says Ashley, “and now I’m back home but I am honestly still working through the ache. I’m training with a broken heart,” she says.
While Ashley is hard at work, challenging herself, training three times a week, incorporating new tricks and moves, she says she’s coming to terms with her own humanness in the game, and she’s learning that staying positive and determined is an empowering feeling.
“Quitting is not an option for me. If I quit, it will break me even more. You have to fight through the failures, and all the odds, and also those days you have nothing in your lunchbox,” says Ashley. “It’s just how it goes; but when you believe you can accomplish anything by yourself, life can take you places, and chances will come your way,” she says.
“It takes attitude, faith, self-confidence and, also, good people to help you”
“There’s a lot of young people out there in Africa, like me, that have big dreams, but don’t have the means or the right background to change their lives – but they can. It takes attitude, faith, self-confidence and, also, good people to help you. I am so grateful for the opportunities I have been given – and it’s with thanks to people like my funders, trainers and mentors, that my life has changed. Sport can, and will, continue to impact the world but lives can only be changed with the right people backing you,” she says.
Ashley’s journey is a reminder that sporting achievement rarely begins in easy places. It grows out of challenges, setbacks and small acts of courage. These are the kinds of stories that shape the spirit of any athlete long before the world is watching; and it’s platforms like Discover Sport ™ and the Discover Sport ™ Foundation that continue to give voice to the unsung heroes of the game.
Ashley’s achievements to date echo far beyond her scorecard. In 2025 alone, she secured her CVI 2* qualifying score under intense pressure, became Zimbabwe’s first-ever representative at the FEI Junior World Championships, trained under internationally recognised coaches like Cynthia Danvers and Brooke Holm, and formed part of a multicultural training squad in the Netherlands. Her historic appearance in Austria has already positioned her as a role model for future Zimbabwean and African vaulters.
With a strong mindset, and her ambition to keep competing, Ashley takes comfort in the lessons sport is teaching her every day. “You learn through experiences like this that you’re never truly alone, and the truest power is in fact inside you.”
“I want all young African riders to know this: depend on yourself, compete for yourself, take time with your horse, remind yourself to have fun in the arena – and always keep fighting through a broken heart,” ends Ashley.