James Arkins on life on the road in Europe
To many watching from Australia, James Arkins’ life in Europe seems almost effortless. Prestigious shows, glamorous venues and horses travelling smoothly from one destination to the next.
The reality is far less simple. Every competition sits on a foundation of detailed planning and constant problem-solving. Paperwork, biosecurity requirements, borders, ferries, toll passes, late show acceptances, language difficulties. At times, just arriving at a venue feels like its own milestone.
James says. “I get a lot of comments when people see social media, like how amazing it must be and you have such an incredible life. And don’t get me wrong, I do. But with that comes a huge amount of stress and pressure.”
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For James, the steepest learning curve was discovering how little guidance exists for riders arriving from outside Europe.
“Every country has different rules, different regulations, and it’s just meant to be assumed knowledge,” he says. “No one tells you that. There’s no handbook. It’s a matter of asking questions from colleagues and let me tell you, I’ve made plenty of mistakes. Sometimes timely, sometimes costly.”
“Horses travelling between almost all countries need health papers from where they’re leaving and where they’re arriving,” he explains. “Including the day that they’re leaving, the day that they’re arriving. And there’s not much flexibility around that. The rules are actually getting stricter.”
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“You sometimes even have to put the route that you’re traveling on,” he says. “The road that you are meant to take. And you’re not meant to go off that route. Ministry vets have a database of where your horse is at any particular time.”
Add in the constant need to switch between languages, and the days can become overwhelming very fast. “We’re in three or four different countries in the same day,” he says. “To begin with, it was a huge challenge.”
Getting into major European shows adds another layer. “Often we might request to go to a show and we’re way down on the wait list and we have an A plan, a B plan, a C plan, sometimes a D plan,” he says.
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One trip in particular sticks in his mind. “We were in Italy and I was trying really, really hard to get into the five star in Rome, which was the A plan,” he recalls. “The B plan was sort of divided between going to Greece or going to Saint Tropez. Greece said we could come, so that was kind of my locked in B plan. And we asked about Saint Tropez and they basically said, no, we can’t come without paying for a VIP table, which I was not prepared to do.”
“At the last minute we were told we didn’t get into Rome and then we decided, okay, we’ll put everything in motion to go to Greece,” James says. “The night before we were leaving for Greece, Saint Tropez called and said, okay, you guys can come.
“In hindsight, Saint Tropez was a much better option because it was seven hours away and also a really nice show. But for Greece we’d already booked all the ferry, we had the health papers, it was a three day drive.
Even straightforward details can also become problems.“We have a trailer,” he says. “I didn’t realise we had to make that as a separate booking and I got in a bit of trouble for turning up with a trailer that wasn’t booked on the ferry.”
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European riders often have entire teams behind them which certainly makes a massive difference. “They have office managers that do it all,” James says. “Unfortunately we don’t have the budget or a big enough team to be able to do that. So we’re doing the admin, I’m driving the truck, we’re doing the show entries, we’re riding the horses, we’re doing it all.”
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One thing that changed everything was the truck.
“When I got to Europe, I didn’t know how long I would stay,” he says. “I didn’t want to buy a truck straight away.”
He spoke to several companies before landing on Theault. “I actually end up going with Theault,” he says. “They were incredibly helpful from the very first phone call. Luis in Australia put me in touch with the team in France, and they came back with an option that worked perfectly.”
“Initially I leased the truck or rented the truck that I have now,” he explains. “And then when I decided I was going to stay longer, we changed it over to a lease to buy option. I’m paying the truck off in monthly instalments.”
He has tried other brands.“I have rented other brands while I was there,” he says. “I won’t name them, but the quality with Theault is so much better. And to drive? It’s sensational. I absolutely love it. And so do my staff.”
The truck also became a home base at shows. “North America is very different,” he says. “To be honest, I much prefer the European trucks. They’re more like what we have in Australia.
Before committing to a show, James leans heavily on other riders.“We talk to riders who have been there,” he says. “Find out what the show is like. Whether it’s worth going. Then how to get there.”
Some routes don’t work at all. “For example, going from Netherlands or Belgium to Italy, apparently you don’t want to go through Switzerland because of the tunnel,” he says. “So you go through Germany instead.”
Europe has given James room to grow.“It has really allowed me to build a solid network and establish my name a little bit in Europe,” he says.
His next aim is to expand across continents.“At the end of the year I’d like to go back to Florida for the winter,” he says. “Then see if we can build a business between the US, Europe and Australia.”
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Europe wasn’t always easy. “I found Europe a very, very lonely place,” he says of his first stint. “I was a lot younger then, a lot less experienced.”
This year has been different. “Now, having built a bigger group of friends and a bit of a support network certainly makes it easier.”He offers clear advice to Australians considering the move.
“Speak to the riders that are there,” he says. “Get the facts on both Europe and North America.”
And be realistic about the horses. “I’ve made the mistake of taking some horses that they consider normal in Europe,” he says. “They’re almost impossible to sell.”
Through all the travel and logistics, there’s a genuine focus on what James is trying to achieve. He’s laying the foundations for the next stage of his career.
Listen to James’ full story on the ‘All Clear’ Podcast live now on the following platforms:
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