16
Dutch Breeding THE NEXT STEP Sydney 3DE / CDI – Carl Hester SUPER interview HORSE THE MAGAZINE JUNE 2013 $7.50

Horse magazine june 2013

  • Upload
    hrcs

  • View
    235

  • Download
    3

Embed Size (px)

DESCRIPTION

www.horsemagazine.com

Citation preview

Page 1: Horse magazine june 2013

Dutch Breeding

the next step

Sydney 3DE / CDI – Carl Hester SUPER interview

HORSETHE

MAGAZINEJUne 2013 $7.50

Page 2: Horse magazine june 2013

VOLUME 30 No. 6

ISSN 0817-7686. ABN 33 007 410 960JUNE 2013

60

Sydney CDI – Rebecca Ashton Reports Greg Best SJ Masterclass Exclusive interview with Carl Hester

Dressage Breeders’ Feature Dutch Breeding – What’s next? Equimec Rider of the Month

Princess Nathalie Returns Choose a Horse with Maree Tomkinson Ultimate Masterclass – Final Episode

34

108

18 28

103

58

89

76

100

114

8

14

98

Transitions Free Rein with Mary Hanna

Subscribe for your chance to win a pair of Dublin Intensity Boots and Gaiters!

Horsetalk

Eventing Leaderboard

ClIMBING THE

ClASSICAl PYRAMID

with steffen peters & Jonah oliver

Page 3: Horse magazine june 2013

Choose a Horse with Maree Tomkinson

Editor: Chris Hector CEO: Roz NeaveDesign: Kristen Lambert Assistant Editor: Susan MackenziePhone: (+61) 3 9421 3320 Fax (+61) 3 9421 3375E-mail: [email protected] Address: PO Box 2316 Richmond South 3121

Printed by Print Graphics (Mt. Waverley). Distributed by Network. All material appearing in The Horse Magazine is copyright. Reproduction in whole or part without written permission is not permitted. Produced by Sporthorse International.

Keep up to date with all the latest gossip - follow thehorsemag on twitter!

www.horsemagazine.com

50page

On The Cover: Charmeur - is he the new face of Dutch dressage?Photo: Jacob Melissen

Page 4: Horse magazine june 2013

he house was full, the champagne flowed and the weather was perfect. The Sydney CDI lived up to all expectations after some soul

searching by the organisers following a less than dynamic Nationals late last year.

However, there were two notable absentees. Mary Hanna’s Sancette was recovering from an injury, a result of the surface at Equitana late last year. Maree Tomkinson’s Diamantina made the trip up from Victoria but Maree decided not to compete the mare. “I don’t feel I have to do every CDI,” she informed me. “She’s only 10 and I have to do the right thing by her. I wanted to work on a few things like suppleness in the neck and the passage and not be at her in competition mode all the time. I’ve also just moved house, so I’ve had a lot of things on.”

That allowed Prestige VDL and Sheridyn Ashwood from Queensland to dance away with the Big Tour trifecta. I was sitting next to Sheridyn’s parents before the Hamilton Island Grand Prix Freestyle. Mother Lauren couldn’t breathe. Sometimes it’s tougher being on the sidelines than in the arena. Earlier Sheridyn had told me, “I don’t really get nervous. I come in and I’m prepared to compete, so I’m not nervous because I can’t do the work. The work I’m doing is varying degrees of good. It’s not like my horse can’t piaffe and I just hope to get through it.”

The combination was showing a new freestyle – the music was still getting the finishing touches applied that afternoon. “We change it every year. I like powerful emotive music but we decided to make it a little bit more difficult and show off the piaffe and passage a bit more. The girl who does the music for me is here with her computer and gear. She’s been working on the freestyle this morning for about four hours. She’ll have it ready for tonight.”

Sheridyn smiled the whole way around and with good reason; no other combination came close. All judges had

her first on 73.975% with German judge Katrina Wuest topping the marks with 76%. The next three places in the Kür were filled by New South Welshmen: Heath Ryan on the reliable Regardez Moi was second on 71.6%, just pipping Rozzie Ryan on GV Bullwinkle who produced a flawless test scoring 71.125%, to the crowd’s enthusiastic delight. David Shoobridge and OO Seven took fourth with 70.775%, with the pirouettes letting them down. The black

stallion had a few words to say about them and threatened to kick a couple of times. However, the flashy Dutch import looked pretty proud of himself by the end.

But could it be that the after party, that rocked on until 4:00am was the biggest hit? No names will be mentioned as to who brought out those ‘80s dance moves performed atop tables. You know who you were.

SYDNEY CDI Story: Rebecca AshtonPhotos: Julie Wilson and Rebecca Ashton

INTERNATIoNAl DRESSAGE EvENT

Three out of three for Sheridyn and Mr P

T

18 - the horse Magazine

Page 5: Horse magazine june 2013

THE SMAll ToUR

There is an abundance of super talented horses in the Australian Small Tour at the moment. If most of these stars make it to the Grand Prix, it will be exciting times indeed.

Another horse swept the pool in the Need for Steeds Prix St Georges, the Mulawa Intermediate I and the Zilco Intermediate I freestyle (CDN). DP Weltmieser, ridden by Brett Parbery, was bred by coach and A level judge Susie Duddy. I spoke to Susie about the horse.

“I bred him out of a mare called Catherston Debutante who I purchased as a yearling from Jennie Loriston Clarke. The mare is about 25 now and is built like a Sherman tank. She was purchased as a riding horse but she really wasn’t into exercise so I put her in foal and her first foal was DP Christopher by Salute. Weltmieser was her second last foal. She always bred horses that had good tempo and never missed a beat but I wanted to add more movement to her so bred her to Weltmeyer. A lot of people think he’s out of Donna Carrera because he’s black.”

“He’s 10 now. Brett has been riding him for four or five years. I’ve known Brett for a long time. He was in Tamworth, where I come from, so I knew Brett well from there and obviously I’ve followed his riding and was impressed with what I saw.He is a real horseman.”

“Plans are to move DP Weltmieser up to Big Tour towards the end of the year; perhaps do the entry level test that they’ve introduced. The first part of the year has been so busy with all the CDIs. It’s very hard to work on one-times changes and then have to turn up to a competition and expect the horse to do a Prix St Georges test. He’s a real sweetie and totally addicted to sugar, I’ve discovered!”

THE YoUNG RIDERS

Not only were the younger horses excelling, but so were the young riders. Eighteen-year-old Grace Kay has been causing quite a stir lately with her success in both dressage and jumping. At the CDI, she had horses competing in the young horse classes and the young horse jumping. I wanted to get to know more about her.

Grace finished school last year and is now at Newcastle University doing a business degree. “I would like the international business that I’m studying to apply to horses. I want to export them.” Looking to the future and knowing that the Chinese market is opening up, she is thinking ahead and planning to study Mandarin as well.

Grace has five horses at home at the moment. Celerity Park Faberge came sixth in the five-year-old dressage horse class. “I’m so happy with him,” Grace says of the horse who she also competed in the young horse jumping classes. “He jumped really beautifully but we just got in too deep and pulled a rail. I’m green! He carries me sometimes. He’s just fantastic.”

“I’ve been riding since about two or three when Mum chucked me on a horse. I started having lessons when I was five with Kim Peterson.”

She jumps and she rides dressage - Grace Kay and CP Farberge

Small tour success for DP Weltmeisser and Brett Parbery

the horse Magazine - 19

Page 6: Horse magazine june 2013

Okay, I know I have said it more than once, but it is worth saying again and again, Greg Best is a genius. If I keep saying it often enough, maybe one of the jumping experts in the EA federal office might even hear, better, they might even realise that one of the world’s greatest jumping coaches is just across ‘the ditch’ in New Zealand…At this year’s DJWTS, Greg conducted a magical master class. For a lot of the time, he concentrated on using a gymnastic line he invented to teach the horses and riders to get the revs up coming out of the corner on the approach to the jump, so they could gradually power down as they actually came to the jumps. “This line is really good for developing the horse’s front end. It also teaches the riders to come out of a corner and really commit. It also teaches horses to respect and come back to the rider.”“It is a line that I have probably seen nearly 20,000 horses jump, and I have seen it jumped, maybe a quarter of a million times. It is a line that I use a lot…”“It is actually one of those lines that Pony Hunters, Jumpers, Eventers, they can all do the line. The ponies can go down and do the five strides to one stride very safely. I can have amateur riders do it, and because it is only vertical, vertical at a low height, it is a very safe line. Even if they happen to bounce out, or get into trouble and get four and a half instead of five, or four and a half instead of four, the double vertical combination is very very forgiving.” “It is oxer, vertical, vertical; 57 feet to 21 feet. 57 feet being about three feet short

of a normal four strides, and 21 being about three feet short of a normal one stride – between two verticals, even 24 feet is quite short. It is one of those lines where people might not think it through, they think, oh if it is three feet short of a normal four stride distance, then three feet short of a normal one stride distance then they are both equally short. Wrong. On a per stride basis, the one stride is three feet short of a normal one stride, while on a per stride basis for the four

strides, it is actually less that one foot short of the normal length per stride. So the four is on a per stride basis, much longer than the one stride distance.” “This exercise is going to ask for adjustability, for lengthening and shortening. Not long and slow, not lengthening and flattening, lots of trainers use longer and faster interchangeably

“It is a line that I have probably seen nearly 20,000 horses jump, and I have seen it jumped, maybe a quarter of a million times. It is a line that I use a lot…”

Story: Chris HectorPhotos: Roz Neave

GREG BEST Masterclass

57 feet

28 - the horse Magazine

Page 7: Horse magazine june 2013

– they are very different qualities. Use more leg and body to ask the horse to go bigger, use your voice to slow them down.”“When you go down the line you are reducing about six inches per stride. On the first stride after landing you might take a few ounces with your hands, but just before the next jump, you might need to take with lots more weight. Some days we can train with a feather touch, some days, it’s a sledge hammer.”“How much (forward) should you start with? As much as you can control, you don’t want to accelerate over the oxer, you want to accelerate out of the turn. That is one of the hardest commitments to make in jumping, to commit to lengthen before you can see a stride. If you are going to make the commitment to the right length of stride, six strides out, you have to do it before you see a distance. I’d rather you missed your distance on the right length of stride, than get the distance, on the wrong stride. Horses can help you find the distance, they can’t help you find the length of stride.”“This is a line I practise a lot to encourage the horses to progressively decrease down a line. I ask the riders to start with more than average, and finish with less than average. Most lines, riders think of riding into the line with a length of stride that is required on average throughout the line, but not all lines are set that way. Some times you have a line that is say, a shorter four stride, to a bit of a longer one or two. To me it makes sense that you should jump into that line with a shorter stride and allow the horse’s

stride to gradually progress. Naturally horses do that well, naturally riders come out of a turn with a shorter stride than what’s required on average, it lets them procrastinate a little bit longer. Every rider feels more confident if they hold until they see a distance, rather than riding forward to see a distance. What my exercise does, is that it tests both the rider’s ability to start with more, and finish with less, and we then challenge the horse to also finish with less. As much as the riders are inclined to start with less, the horses are also inclined to finish with more.”When you say ‘less’ – do you really mean just increasing the impulsion and the collection of the stride or do you really mean, less?“This is something that is really unique about this line, the end of the line really requires no impulsion, all the horses have to do is jump straight up in the air. They don’t need a lot of power to just go straight up in the air. It is actually a line that challenges the rider to be able to control the length of stride for sure but also control the energy in the stride too. The energetic, quick horses, really struggle with this line. The slow moving lazy horses, eat it for lunch. It is a line where the riders are challenged to create this lively energetic longer stride to the oxer, then this progressively decreasing length of stride, and controlling the energy in that stride as well. I am a big fan with this line, of getting the riders to use their voice, I think the voice isn’t there to control the length of stride, the voice is there to control the animation and the energy within whatever stride length

“This is a line I practise a lot to encourage the horses to progressively decrease down a line. I ask the riders to start with more than average, and finish with less than average.

The magic line

21 feet

the horse Magazine - 29

Page 8: Horse magazine june 2013

ou’ve recovered from the Olympics?“I must say last year, whatever a nervous

breakdown felt like, I was having one. Oh god, it was just horrific. I don’t know what that was; before and after the Olympics, I hated it. Terrible Muriel! [this in his best

Aussie accent] I was just shattered, shocked, worried, so much resting on our shoulders. Thank god Charlotte was really good through it. She stayed pretty upright through the whole thing. And I couldn’t let her know what I was feeling.”

“I had had a bad preparation for the Games. I hadn’t had the time to put into

Uthopia, he was too fat and then he pulled a shoe off just before Hagen and went lame and then I had to deal with everyone saying, ‘He’s lame! He’s lame! He’s done a tendon!’ You get all of this added pressure because people assume that you’re just covering up but I wasn’t, it was actually the truth.”

I’m making sandwiches with Carl Hester. “You have to try this butter. it’s amazing,” Carl says, handing me the bright, yellow delicacy only available from his homeland, sark. “or as it’s often referred to, six hundred alcoholics clinging to a rock,” he offers.

i’ve known the olympic gold medallist for approximately ten minutes and straight away i can tell this is going to be a cool interview. it’s been about eight months since his london olympic success and i want to know what he’s been up to and what’s next for the star…

WHAT’S NEXT?

Y

CARl HESTERRebecca Ashton meets valegro and interviews the world’s nicest dressage rider...

Photo: Kit Houghton

34 - the horse Magazine

Page 9: Horse magazine june 2013

WHAT’S NEXT?CARl HESTER

“I just got into this awful mindset, is my horse going to go lame? Is Charlotte’s horse going to go lame? Is Laura’s horse going to go lame? Every day I was just panicking. Anything that could go wrong was always flashing through my head because I realised how important it was for our country - let alone myself or Charlotte or Laura. And I just couldn’t bear to think that this one opportunity in our life would escape. That’s what it was, I’m sure.”

“No... I can’t say it was an enjoyable time. Obviously, looking back now, it was amazing. I enjoy it now but not then.”

Sports psychology help? “I don’t do sports psychology, no. I have done it in the past, but it doesn’t work for me. I’m much better left alone just to fester away. I just tuck myself away, I smoke and drink for a night, feel shocking the next day and off I go. I like to do it like that. I left home at 15, I like that sort of independent brain thing of ‘I’ll sort it out’.”

And your up-and-coming horses?“Dances With Wolves is really going to be my next one. He is a top horse but he is still very nervous and temperamental. I have to be very tactful with him and train him in the right way. Like Escapado. It’s a full time job having a horse like that.”

“Fine Time, I’m riding for a client who’s pregnant. Don’t hang around me, that’s what happens. I’ve picked up a few good rides like that. If I like your horse, you’re going to get pregnant! He has a very secure temperament. He has come to Grand Prix quickly. Some horses can be spoilt if you go too quickly and some can relish the challenge. He received 71% in his first Grand Prix.”

Will you campaign them for the Europeans in August?“Fine Time would be fine temperamentally for it. If Dances With Wolves grows up very quickly this season then I could consider him. It’s exciting.”

Tell us more about Dances With Wolves.“He’s such a cool horse and it’s such a cool story. He was owned by Jane Gregory, a friend of mine who died. She had a heart attack, which is really tragic.”

“Jane and I used to talk about this horse and she was like, ‘He’s so strong; he’s so hot headed but I’m sure he’s brilliant, but I just struggle with him because he is enormous.’ She was right. He’s the biggest horse in our yard and he is VAST. When he’s strong, he is strong. It doesn’t

feel like dressage anymore, it’s like waterskiing. You know, it’s just GO!” [Carl is laughing, in case you’ve missed the point, Carl laughs, a lot.]

“He has done a lot for my body, I tell you! Jane said to me when we were in the Maldives on holidays the year she died, ‘Carl if I can’t ride it, you’ll have to ride it.’ And I thought, ‘Jane, you’ll never let me ride it because you’ll never give up’.”

“So it was so sad because I did get to ride it but not how I wanted to. But the nice thing is, for her friends and myself and her husband, every time he does something great it’s really good because we have a good memory about Jane and it keeps it really alive - so it’s a good story for us really.”

“I didn’t think I would bond with it. The first six months it was here I thought well I can’t ride it. I just can’t ride it. What am I going to do? How am I going to tell Jane’s husband I can’t ride it and I can’t get on with him?”

“I expect my horses here to fit in and they all hack on a Wednesday; they all hack on a Saturday. They all get cantered around the field and they all get turned out. And of course I think they were so worried when he came here, they said, “Don’t hack him out; don’t ride him on the grass whatever you do, he’ll run off.”

“Three days later I thought, you know what? This horse has just got to fit in with everything else. I’m not going to make concessions for him. So we’ve been through hedges out hacking; he’s done it all, but he’s come out the other side. He has to be a normal horse if he’s going to cope with the pressures of competing, I think.”

What is happening with Uthopia with all the disputes between creditors and Sasha Stewart, who went through bankruptcy in 2010?“He’s [Uthopia] still here. It’s still going on. [He sighs] We have had court cases and basically I’m just waiting for the outcome It’s a question of ownership. I own half of him with Sasha’s father.”

The new star in the Hester Stable - Golly (aka Dances with Wolves)Photo: Rui Godinho

the horse Magazine - 35

Page 10: Horse magazine june 2013

rganisers, you’ve gotta love them. Each year they front up again, working their guts out to make their event happen, and more often

than not, there’s not much by way of a reward. So it was great to see the concept of a combined eventing and showjumping weekend actually come together at SIEC. There were good crowds for both the jumping and the eventing (with more than a few spectators drifting from one to the other) and a real buzz around the normally soulless SIEC. Well done to Rose Read and her (mostly) merry band of helpers.

Okay, there’s still a bit of tweaking to do. The jumping Grand Prix would probably work better on the Saturday night – come late Sunday, most folk want to load their floats and head on home. And the Eventing Young Horse classes really haven’t found their format yet.The young event horse classes dragged on for practically a whole day – little wonder that for a while I thought I was the only spectator. Instead of having three complete and separate rounds, dressage, showjumping, cross country, for each age group, get it all happening at once. Get the three specialist judges working together (this is always better in

young horse classes) and judge the class as one event. Horses in groups of three come into the arena and at the direction of the judges, walk, trot, canter, halt, rein back, whatever the judges ask for, using all the space available, then straight on to popping over a couple of showjumps, and on to a little cross country course that could now take up the whole of the main arena. The judges bring back their top three horses, strip them down and critique their conformation as eventing horses, and tie the ribbons. Each class could all be done and dusted in half an hour.

Sydney 3DE –

o

48 - the horse Magazine

1

5

6

Page 11: Horse magazine june 2013

The conformation critique to my mind is crucial. There are many reasons why eventing at the top level in Australia is at something of a low, but one of them is that too many of our top riders spent way too long trying to turn heavy Warmbloods into eventers. No matter how loudly the salesmen yell, it just doesn’t work. But look at all the horses at the Olympics that are winning medals, they are all Warmbloods, cry the salesman. Wrong, wrong, wrong. They may be wearing Warmblood brands but look at their pedigrees and their blood is overwhelmingly of the Thoroughbred variety.

I think the first horse I saw, was in the four-year-old class, and it was already too heavy to event at the top level – what is it going to be like when it is in its eventing prime from about eight to twelve years old?The four-year-old class was won by Christine Bates on yet another lovely Thoroughbred, JP Ned Kelly (Golden Snake / Nassipour); second to Crystal Conning and CP Aurelio (Contenda / Silky Baby) and third, Jessica Rae and Rascal (Regardez Moi / Jingara Debonair).The five-year-old winners were Niki Rose and Riverside Krissy (Kapitan / Parken),

second – Andrew Barnett and Bradgate Park Fonzie (Falsterbo / Jazz), third – Koko Pop and Cassie Lowe.While in the six-year-old, it was Niki Rose again, this time with Dicavalli Diesel (Donautraum / Alabaster), second, Felicity Cribb and Feldale Regardless R (Regardez Moi) and third Bella Mowbray and Aerodynamic (Falveton / Dolphin Street). Dicavalli Diesel went on to be overall champion.

Young Horse Champs

1. Dicavalli Diesel 2. JP Ned Kelly 3. Riverside Krissy 4. Bradgate Park Fonzie 5. Feldale Regardless R 6. CP Aurelio

the horse Magazine - 49

Story – Chris HectorPhotos – Roz Neave and Julie Wilson

23

4

Page 12: Horse magazine june 2013

on the 2012/2013 KWPN dressage stallions breeding values, it is no surprise to find that Jazz

(Cocktail / Ulster) is once again top-of-the-pops with a breeding value of 194 and a reliability of 97. The Dutch values are now separated not by the age of the stallion’s competitors, as they have been in the past, but into the reliability rankings. Thus Jazz heads the group of stallions with at least 10 offspring in dressage, and a reliability of 90 or more. He was also responsible for the most foals last season from this group of stallions – 100 – though he was far from the most used stallion in Holland, that honour goes to Charmeur (Florencio / Jazz) who put a staggering 301 foals on the ground in 2012.

However, while Jazz has the highest breeding value and reliability index, he certainly doesn’t have the best ‘strike rate’. Jazz’s evaluation is based on the performances of 770 dressage competitors – out of a progeny total of 2199 (that’s progeny over the age of four years old, not all progeny, we’re looking at

the horses who would be competing, further references to progeny in this article refer to horses over the age of four) that’s 35%. The stallion with the best progeny-to-performer ratio in this group is the Weltmeyer son, Welt Hit II (Weltmeyer / Hill Hawk xx), with 266 competitors out of 636 progeny over four, that’s 41.8%.

Obviously the stallions in this group are the older ones, with more progeny, and a greater chance of a high reliability

rating and right now there is nothing spectacular challenging Jazz for top spot. In fact the next six stallions after Jazz on the rankings – Contango (Contender / Kronprinz), Clavicimbel (Statuar / Apple King xx), Aktion (Pion / Akteur), Gribaldi (Kostolany / Ibikus), Welt Hit II and Havidoff (Clavicimbel / Farn), are all dead.

Negro (Ferro / Variant) is the next highest ranked with a value of 147 with a reliability of 93 – he produced 49 foals in 2012, no doubt influenced by Valegro’s starring performance at the 2010 Europeans in Rotterdam. His ‘strike rate’ is not wonderful, 268 out of 1027 (26%). Metall (Ferro / Ramiro), the sire of the other star on the British team, Uthopia, is further down the rankings on a breeding value of 126 (94 reliability) but he produced 46 foals last season, so it would seem that these two somewhat neglected sons of Ferro may be getting their chance to prove their worth. Metall’s proportion of competitors to progeny is slightly better 342 out of 1113 – 30.7%.

Former world young horse champion, Florencio (Florestan / Weltmeyer) is in this group, in =12th, with a value of 140 (90 reliability) and 86 foals last season. He has a ratio of competitors to progeny of 28% (181 out of 641).

Florencio is another of a growing group of young Dutch dressage stallions, all of whom have set out on the path to the ‘big sport’ – Grand Prix competition – all of whom have fallen by the wayside, even though they have gone to good competition stables to further their careers, in Florencio’s case (and for that matter, most of the others) those of Hans Peter Minderhoud. Florencio was second in the Prix St Georges at Aachen back in 2009, since then he has disappeared from the competition ring - while the horse that beat him in the Prix St Georges, Blind Date, recently carried Victoria Max-Theurer to victory in the Grand Prix at Bremen.

DUTCH BREEDING, HAS IT loST ITS DIRECTIoN?

Christopher Hector discovers some startling trends in the latest stallion rankings…

Photos by Roz Neave & Jacob Melissen

the rise and seemingly irresistible rise of the Kwpn dressage contingent on the world stage has been squarely on the shoulders of a group of stallions who were themselves Grand prix competitors. But now, the young ‘stars’ in the Dutch stallion line-up are failing to make it through to the international dressage ranks – are the Dutch about to lose the vital ingredient in their recipe for success? let’s look at the recently released Kwpn breeding values, and try to get a handle on what is happening…

76 - the horse Magazine

Grand Prix performer - GP sire, Jazz

Page 13: Horse magazine june 2013

Florencio has produced almost 1000 foals in Holland alone, with his first crop in 2003, and with his largely German breeding, he has been popular in that country as well… he should have Small Tour horses on the ground by now…

The most obvious candidate to fly Florencio’s flag is Charmeur. I first saw Charmeur at the 2010 KWPN Stallion licensing, and thought him the best colt in the line-up. While he was not crowned the champion of the licensing, he went on to win the performance test, and the licensing champion seems to have disappeared without trace.

At this year’s KWPN stallion show, Charmeur and Emmerlie Scholtens easily won the M-level Stallion championship. The trot was praised for its clear rhythm and uphill tendency. “Every step was right,” said the chairman of the Selection Committee, Arie Hamoen. “What else do you want to see? He gets a 10 from us.” The canter earned him a 9 and the walk went down to 7.5 as the stallion was a bit tense. Charmeur is too young to have a breeding value based on his progeny, although his value based on his own performance is right up there already, 175. It remains to be seen if he will go on and make it into Grand Prix ranks, and more importantly, produce progeny with the talent for the ‘big sport’.

Another ‘hot’ stallion in this group is Rousseau (Ferro / Roemer), who even though he moved to the United States soon after taking out reserve at the World Young Dressage horse five-year-old championships, continues to produce foals in Europe. He is another who has

never competed after his young horse success, although it is claimed that he is ‘trained to Grand Prix’ – don’t you love those Grand Prix stars in the privacy of their own arenas? Rousseau ranks = 15th with a breeding value of 134 (91). In Holland he has sired 643 progeny over four years, for 219 competitors – 34.06%.

The second group of stallions – those with a reliability between 80–89%, is headed up by the Jazz son, Olivi (out of an Aktion mare). This horse was sold to the French stud, Haras du Feuillard, and competed in France from 2008 to 2010 at small tour level. He too has failed to make the leap to Grand Prix. As the late great Herbert Rehbein remarked: “It seems not so far from Prix St Georges to Grand Prix. The problem is that the Alps are in between.” Olivi has a breeding value of 173 (89) and a good strike rate – 30% (144 out of 480).

The next horse on the list is the eleven-year-old Vivaldi (Krack C / Jazz). This year his owner put an end to his competition career, and he was moved from Hans Peter Minderhoud’s training stables to the Van Uytert stallion station, after he too failed to cross those Alps. In 2009 Vivaldi was the second most popular breeding stallion in The Netherlands with 285 mares. In 2011 Vivaldi only covered 33 mares, which I guess shows just how important success in the sport can be for a Dutch stallion. Vivaldi has a breeding value of 158 (82) and an appalling strike rate: 16% (61 out of 371).

In sixth place in this group we find Tango who on paper should be very much the real deal. He is by Jazz, the highest

ranked stallion on the 90+ standings, out of a mare by the second placed stallion in this group, Contango. He was bred by the 2006 KWPN Breeder of the Year, Huub van Helvoirt, who also bred Jazz.

Tango has been trained to Grand Prix level by Hans Peter Minderhoud and soon after his Grand Prix debut, was winning classes. He collected two second place finishes in the Grand Prix and the Special at s’Hertogenbosch in 2011, and at Odense 2011 he won the Freestyle with 79.300%. And then…? Since then the horse seems to have had tendon problems; he was scheduled to compete at s’Hertogenbosch in March, but was withdrawn.Tango has a breeding value of 146 (84) – his strike rate is encouraging – 31.27% (86 out of 275).

In ninth we find another very popular stallion, Johnson (Jazz / Flemmingh), who sired 202 foals in the last season, which just goes to prove that the breeders are not always influenced by ‘the numbers’. Last year his breeding value was 146 (84), this year it is 139 (89). He has so far produced 773 progeny four years and older, with 149 competitors, a very modest 19.27%. Johnson should just be maturing into his Grand Prix career, but alas, even with the assistance of Hans Peter Minderhoud (no wonder he is so thin!) he has not made it out of the small tour.

The next group of stallions, those with a reliability below 80, is headed by a stallion who last November came second in the Grand Prix of Bremen – Wynton (Jazz / Matador). The stallion scored 71.383, just behind Blind Date on 73.191, although the

the horse Magazine - 77

Ampère stalled in the Small Tour?

Another Grand Prix performer / sire, Ferro

Page 14: Horse magazine june 2013

STEffEN PETERS DEMoNSTRATING oN DANTESteffen demonstrated and discussed training techniques for both canter pirouettes and the piaffe on Beau & Linda Dowsett’s lovely grey Grand Prix Gelding, Dante (Imp). Dante’s sire is Depardieu (De Niro / Luciano) and his dam is Schimel (Inschallah / Weltmeister). Dante is currently trained and ridden by Nicole Tough.

CANTER PIRoUETTECoNTRolSteffen: “One of the biggest mistakes that I see, from a judge’s standpoint, which I really need to agree with, is that most pirouettes only become quite good when the horse has already moved away from the centre line. It is very important to understand that the pirouette starts on the line and not in the turn. When you get nines and the occasional ten for the canter pirouette, the comment from the judges is not ‘good pirouette’ it is ‘good control’. Ravel had a few tens on his pirouettes and the comments were ‘very controlled’. It was the perfect comment because we all know we should keep the energy, and we all know that it takes eight strides to do it, but the placing of the pirouette is that each stride is an

THE MITAvITE UlTIMATE MASTERClASSStory - Karen Hosie Pix - Tricia osborne

ClIMBING THE

ClASSICAl PYRAMID

with steffen peters & Jonah oliver

the pinnacle well folks we’re there. together we have now reached the summit of the Classical Dressage training pyramid, and what a journey it has been. each month you have followed the progress of six horse and rider combinations as they have worked their way through the training levels of classical dressage. By now you should all be relaxed, rhythmic, connected, energised, straight, collected and able to enjoy a new degree of emotional stability aboard your mount. if you are not quite there yet, there is no doubt that both steffen peters and Jonah oliver will have provided you with useful tools and ideas; that at least you now understand the concepts and the real journey can begin, putting theory into practice. there is a quiet (or not so quiet depending on your viewpoint) revolution occurring in the world of dressage and that revolution is the ground swell of renewed interest in classical dressage, or classical riding. Classical riding is best explained as ‘correct riding’ and extolled by such luminaries such as nuno, podhajsky, Klimke (reiner & ingrid), Balkenhol and of course, steffen peters.

88 - the horse Magazine

Page 15: Horse magazine june 2013

”even slice of a pie.” The question to ask is ‘is my horse covering the same distance with each stride?’ Let’s say my intention is to ride the horse on the centre line – however most horses do it this way, [Steffen demonstrates by allowing Dante to drift ever so slightly away from being truly straight on the centre line] they move away from the centre line and go a little bit haunches in over here, and all of a sudden, over here, we do a perfect pirouette. But is starts right there – on the centre line – and that is why it is so important that we always test the collection on the centre line.”

although the f.e.i. rule book states that the full pirouette should consist of six to eight strides, most trainers like to use eight steps with a forty-five degree turn on each step (like a pie cut into eight pieces, each step represents an even slice of the pie). this produces a pirouette that a rider can easily judge and therefore control, as you ride the pirouette, count the steps you have rid-den and check to be sure you are facing the correct spot in the arena.

ENERGYSteffen: “Is the energy there going into the pirouette? By collecting him to this degree does he have the energy to maintain the movement and complete the pirouette? If it is not there, don’t do it. Practise it over and over again, if it is not there, push him quickly forward and say ‘look buddy I really mean business when I collect you to this degree you have to think forward’. With your leg staying near him, not driving him. The spur should correct something; the spur should not support something, especially not in the training. If you need to get it done in the

show arena I understand, but if you train with this idea at home (of not using the spur to support a movement) he will offer it a bit more in the show arena. Testing the pirouette again now, let’s see if I ease up on my outside leg does he keep the haunches in? Yes he does. Okay now a couple of half pirouettes keeping his mind on the subject, using lines that are parallel to the centre line. Oh, energy lost there, not staying in the pirouette, we lose the energy, he’s trying, ok we give him a quick break for that. If you feel that you are struggling a little in the movement, don’t stay in it, that is the moment to get quickly out. Nicole, I am pretty happy with the canter pirouette, it didn’t need to get a whole lot better, but it did need to become more reliable, his understanding is there; the idea of sitting and engaging, that is good and we do not have to teach it.”

I asked Nicole if Steffen’s comments were going to make a change to Dante’s training.

Nicole: “I learnt to lift my expectations again. Steffen is always looking for train-ing opportunities and doesn’t miss a trick! For me, I discovered that the mistake Dante was making in the competition are-na with the canter pirouettes was coming from a lack of suppleness and energy in my training at home; and not because he was ‘ring smart’ as I was thinking. Steffen was persistent with training the canter pirouette on the centre line as it is in the Grand Prix test. If the energy declines go out, don’t stay there and save it. He insisted that every moment of the canter pirouette be measured and under the rider’s control, and it must be reliable every time – then it is competition ready.”

as the pirouette requires impulsion, balance,

proficiency, and the action of the reins going through

the body, it is considered to be one of the most difficult

exercises. if any of these factors are insufficient the pirouette will not only be

short of perfection, but may fail altogether. the performance in the

pirouette will present the best picture of the standard of training and the abilities

of the horse.alois podhajsky

From the greatest dressage book of modern times - Das Dressure Pferd by Harry Boldt - the superb photos are by the late Werner Ernst

the horse Magazine - 89

Page 16: Horse magazine june 2013

*Off

er e

nds

30t

h j

un

e 20

13

q New Subscriber q Current Subscriber

Name: ___________________________________________________________________________________ Phone: _______________

Address: ______________________________________________________________________________________ Postcode: ________

Email: _________________________________________________________________________ Starting Month: _________________

Payment Method: q Cheque/Money Order - (Payable to Sporthorse International)

q Credit card - Please debit my: q Visa q Mastercard q Amex

Card Number: __________________________________________________ Expiry: _____/_____ Signature: ___________________

I enclOse $80 (Aus Only Inc. gst) fOr 12 greAt Issues Of the hOrse MAgAzIne

& ring to subscribe on (03) 9421 3320 or fax this form to (03) 9421 3375@ email to [email protected] or online at www.horsemagazine.com+ post to: The Horse Magazine, Po Box 2316, Richmond South, victoria 3121

Subscribe for your chance to win!A pair of Dublin Intensity Zip Jodphur Boots and Gaiters in Limited Edition Patriot Blue Patent!

SUB

SCR

IBE

WIN

&

TOTAL VALUE $379.90