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JUNE 2014 $7.50 Badminton Special Report

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Page 1: Horse magazine june 2014

JUNE 2014 $7.50

Badminton Special Report

Page 2: Horse magazine june 2014

4

JUNE 2014

Transitions WEG Countdown

Eventing Leaderboard

Tekna Leaderboard

Sydney CDI Dressage Breeders Special Great riding tells its own story: Part Three

Subscribe and win!Sydney 3DE - Reaping the Rewards

Free Rein

Showjumping Leaderboard

Rider of the Month

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14 66 94

10538

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Page 80 Page 98Magic Michi

Page46

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On the Cover: Shane Rose & CP Qualified, Sam Buchanan & Diamond B Vixen, and Caroline Wagner & Tango; Sam Griffiths winning at Badminton. Photos: Roz Neave, Julie Wilson & Kit Houghton

Editor: Chris Hector CEO: Roz NeaveAssistant Editor: Ute RaabeDesign: Alexandra Meyer Accounts: Peter BosnakisPhone: (+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 Gordon and Gotch. All material appearing in The Horse Magazine is copyright. Reproduction in whole or part without written permission is not permitted. Produced by Sporthorse International.

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Page 28All the

Action at Lyon

www.horsemagazine.com VOLUME 31 No. 6ISSN 0817-7686.

ABN 33 007 410 960

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Rebecca Ashton reports Julie Wilson and Rebecca Ashton took the photos

It’s all happening – hold onto your… shoes

I was expecting a fairly steady-as-she-goes CDI this year with only one yes/no WEG contender and no Kiwi riders for the first time in twenty years, but it turned out to be more exciting than predicted. This year was the year of the foot. Oh that’s right, I’m not allowed to mention “the foot” incident. There hasn’t been as good a foot story since Exellent stood on the nail at the World Cup Finals in 2000. It all happened during the Bates Saddles Grand Prix Special on Saturday.

Is it a bird, is it a tortoise? No! It’s Clive’s flying fiberglass foot! An unprecedented moment of a horse’s foot casing (which is used to support the wall of the hoof and attached under the shoe) coming off mid-test in the Special, not only momentarily confusing judges and spectators (many taking the first chance to see the London star in action), but also leading to elimination for Kylie Riddell and her ex-Olympian mount Clive. Such an item is considered a boot, something that is illegal in dressage under FEI rules. It wasn’t the incident in itself that caused so much interest to me, as the way it was dealt with. A horse was eliminated and it’s there on the results board for all to see. Surely we should know why. Instead it became all a bit ‘closed ranks’ and it was very difficult to find out what exactly why the horse was eliminated. One official said it should not be mentioned or talked about because highlighting the situation was

bad for the sport. Another was happy to discuss any other issue but, “obviously I can’t talk about that situation in particular.” Why? From what I can tell, the correct procedure was followed by those in charge and there was probably just a misunderstanding by the owner who was only trying to do the right thing by their horse. I think what is bad for the sport is not having open discussion and not making the situation clear and instead it just lead to a weekend of behind-the-back rumour mongering and gossip. If there are grey areas in the rules, it is no blight on show organisers or officials, but a great opportunity for the FEI to perhaps revisit some rules and make them clear for everyone, especially when there could be numerous other top level horses receiving the same shoeing techniques. With technologies advancing, especially in the area of shoeing, maybe there needs to be clearer guidelines.

The class was eventually won by Heath Ryan and the 18-year-old Regardez Moi, who went on to win the Kür on the Saturday night as well. Heath was involved with breeding the black stallion and with the horse heading towards the end of his career, many might consider finishing on a high, but not Heath, “We’re not going to retire because he just loves it and I love riding him. When you’re riding, you’re learning all the time and I don’t know if I’ll ever have a horse as magnificent as this ever again in my life. The odds are that I won’t. We certainly started off as an embarrassment to everyone but we’ve grown and I do suspect in years to come, because we’re going to keep coming back, we’ll be an embarrassment as we go over the hill but it’s been a wonderful journey,” joked the New South Welshman.

Heath need not worry as he has Regardez Moi’s son Utopian Cardinal hot on his Grand Prix heels and the

Sydney CDI

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gelding showed he is ready to take over filling some of the lower placings over the weekend.

There were high hopes for Caroline Wagner and Tango V. The pair won the Pryde’s EasiFeed Grand Prix on the first day but failed to fill the top spot for the next two tests, coming second in the Special and the Kür with the hot gelding just a bit spooky in the indoor on the final night, still winning the Grand Prix means that Caroline and Tango are Australian Grand Prix Champions for 2014.

Caroline spoke to me about her concerns before taking a ‘nana nap’ in preparation for the very late draw she had for the final freestyle. “This indoor is much more in their face than any of the others. It’s brighter and lighter and people are a bit above so there’s more atmosphere and there’s nowhere to escape with stands on all four sides. It’s a tough atmosphere and especially at night because you come in from quite a dark warm-up as opposed from an indoor to an indoor

where you have similar lighting. The indoor is almost duller during the day. Tango was OK in here this morning with the warm-up, but there were a lot less people too. He’s pretty good at looking at things! It’s hard to beat Heath on his home turf as well and

that horse really lifts himself.” “I actually thought he would be

brighter and more forward outside in the Special but no. I think the surface did make a difference. It is a lot better indoors now but still not so great outside there. It’s a bit dead. But he’s been getting better and better. He was certainly better on Grand Prix day. He’s come an awful long way from a couple of years ago. He’s feeling very brave and very good and we just hope to go from strength to strength and work on consistency.”

And her plans for WEG? “I think we’ve come to the

conclusion that’s it all just a bit too hard. At home we keep looking at the logistics of it but the puzzle is just not fitting together. Opportunities don’t always come at the best moment! We’re not in a position shop wise either. It’s a long time away from our staff. Four months away out of the business. Four months is a long time but in some ways it’s not long enough either to get as much benefit out of the trip, which is a huge amount of money. You’re doing the shows but you’re perhaps not getting the most benefit out of the training that you might, simply because you don’t have enough time to do the quantity of shows you need for WEG with rest days and what have you in between. We would love to and it’s the perfect time for the horse. He’s 14, which is a great age. He’s mentally at the right space.”

“Perhaps now we will look at Rio and we go to Europe the season prior to Rio. That’s how we’ll realistically have to qualify. But he’s feeling terrific.”

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THM is proud to have had Vicki Roycroft as our accredited correspondent at the World Cup Finals in Lyon

Vicki Roycroft in LyonOne of the really excellent things of being over there in Europe, is that you realise just what nice people the top riders really are. Here is a little story about the winner, Daniel Deusser. It was on the last morning of the finals, he was in the top 3, I was at hotel reception, I needed a train ticket printed out and I was aware of someone waiting behind me. It was taking a bit of time and I said to the receptionist, ‘Look, let this guy go first’, I turned around and it was Daniel Deusser standing there patiently, no sign of arrogance. That was the nice thing about this World Cup, in my opinion the three winners are all very decent people. Daniel, I don’t know so well, but that was so sweet, he looked a little surprised and was quite happy to wait, even though this was potentially the biggest day in his life.

Ludger (Beerbaum) is simply a wonderful guy and has been at the top for a long time. The third placed rider, Scott Brash, is an amazing rider, such a natural. The nice thing about Daniel and especially Scott is that when you watch them work their horses it is so horse friendly and correct. Scott Brash rides in a simple snaffle, no draw reins, not even a martingale. The majority of those top boys now, they ride so beautifully.

The standard now is so high, these horses are super athletes, and are bred ‘careful’, with a lot of blood (read Thoroughbred for sensitivity), so there is not so much evidence of obvious ‘tuning’. And the one that was looking a bit, ahem, over-careful in the first round of the Final GP, ran out of gas, and had a couple down in the second round.

The course designer at Lyon, Frank Rothenberger is an expert and very good at this job but he found a whole new challenge at Lyon. It was interesting, his comments at the last press conference, he said ‘Look, normally I’m in competition with the riders but in this case my biggest competition was the footing.’ Because the footing was so good, that it threw the times out.

There was nearly a punch up in the press conference between Frank and John Roche from the FEI . Normally if the designer has got the time wrong, then there is the option to fix it after the first two or three, but when Frank wanted to shorten the time because the going was so good, John Roche, representing the FEI, suddenly said, ‘You cannot change the time, if you measured it at 350 metres, that’s what it has to stay.’ The rule apparently reads that you can only change the time only if it’s a gross miscalculation. But the thing is, as I said to John, there was no way the designer and the ground jury could have predicted what happened. It was the best footing I have ever seen anywhere, indoors or outdoors, and you just can’t compare 350 mpm on this footing with 350 mpm on normal grass footing. This footing, even indoors, the riders could go at 375 if not 400 mpm easily.

The first courses I walked, I am stepping them and I think, ‘Yes that will ride well, a steady seven or a forward six’, they were doing it in five! The horses were making up so much ground in this footing.

The Inside Story

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Jacob Melissen took the photos

Top three: Ludger Beerbaum, Daniel Deusser and Scott Brash Above: A winning round for Daniel and Cornet D’Amour

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The organizers of the Sydney Three Day event started out with about everything going against them. Okay the venue was wonderful for the Games (although Centennial Park and Sydney Cricket Ground would have been better) but the ‘legacy’ was a double edged sword. A political decision saw an equestrian venue in the middle of a totally non-horsey area (well, the guys in the cars on the top of the hill were reputedly doing a fair trade in horse….) with a topography that was difficult to make spectator friendly, an infra-structure that didn’t really fit post

Games events, and not surprisingly, the fans stayed away in their droves…

But Rose Read and her crew are not quitters. They just kept bouncing up again and again, trying hard to find new angles to entice spectators to Sydney’s wild west, and at last they seem to be succeeding. They even seemed to have fair numbers taking advantage of the bus ride and behind the scenes tour of the venue. The incorporation of a World Cup Showjumping Qualifier into the program has widened the appeal, and there is getting to be a nice cross-over

effect between the two disciplines.It was a major coup to entice

Sydney Games course designer, Mike Etherington-Smith back into the ranks, although this year, his three-star track took a back seat as hard won funds were directed to upgrading Stuart Tinney’s two-star track.

“Much of the spend this year has been on the one and two stars,” Mike told me. “They were very short of fences. I’m not sure if we built any new fences, I re-cycled a few, moved a few things around without upsetting the balance of the course. What I am

...reaping the rewardsStory by Chris Hector & Photos by Roz Neave and Julie Wilson

Sydney

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trying to do over a period of time is create more flexibility in the routes through the venue, so we can get more variety in feel and terrain, but that takes time. This year, because Stuart has had nothing to work with for the last couple of years, we thought in fairness, many of the two-star fences were heading towards being firewood and there was a need to allocate most of the budget in that direction.”

“What I would like to do is turn the course around and run it in the other direction. I’m not wild about the second water being three fences from home, I’d like to have it earlier. It is all just a question of trying to keep the course in the front of spectators so that it is user friendly, competitor and spectator friendly.”

Friendly is a bit of the Sydney formula… A large part of Sydney’s success comes from the laid back and welcoming feel. There is a nicely appointed VIP tent set up next to the dressage arena, and nary a pass nazi to be seen…

The dressage gets off to a pretty good start, the ‘test’ test is ridden by Stuart Tinney on his four-star front-liner, Pluto Mio. The grey Warmblood hurt himself in the water at Albury, and while he came right in time to show his dressage skills, he was, in Stuart’s opinion, a couple of gallops off match fit – Melbourne is next step in their campaign. It’s a lovely assured test, marked by very pleasant contact.

At the end of the day, it is clear there is more work to be done on the first phase if we are to be in the hunt for medals at the WEG, and it has got to the stage where medals are a grim

necessity if any of our equestrian sports are to continue to get funding, but of that, more later. No combination cracks the magic 40, though a couple go pretty close.

Leading the field is Megan Jones on the Warmblood, Flowervale Maserati – and this is serious Warmblood Warmblood – by the Ferro son, Metall (who is out of a Ramiro mare) and out of a mare with two crosses of the very old fashioned Hanoverian, Ferdi, on paper this does not look an eventing prospect – but the black gelding is smooth and assured, and aside from a messy first halt, it was an effortless display.

Megan ended the day on 41, just 0.60 points in front of Shane Rose and CP Qualified, with two of the three judges preferring Shane’s test.

Qualified is another whose pedigree does not immediately suggest a career in eventing. He was imported as a young showjumping stallion boasting great bloodlines – by Quite Capitol (who is by the late, great, Quidam de Revel out of Capitol’s full-sister). Qualified is out of a mare by the Corrado son, Corofino. Trouble is, he didn’t seem to care if he hit a rail. So after a few curious twists of fate, he ended up in Shane’s care, and continues to go better and better in his new career. I have never seen Shane ride so pro-actively, really deep into the saddle and calling the shots, it is a very cool test, and perhaps in a more exciting venue where the judges get a bit more excited, might well have cracked the 40 mark.

How’s this for a test horse? Pluto Mio and Stuart

MES talks about his course

Second after the dressage - CP Qualified and Shane Rose

Winning the dressage - Megan Jones and Flowervale Maserati

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With WEG looming on the equestrian horizon, the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials were graced by no less than eleven Australian combinations ranging from former winners, to Olympians and rookie first timers. They made up nearly 10% of the 82 strong starting line-up and only the British were better represented. The competitors had all picked a historic year to make an attempt to get their names on the honour roll as 2014 was going to be the first year in 25 when event director Hugh Thomas was not also designing the course. Hugh had handed over that task to Italy’s well-known Technical Delegate, Guiseppe Della Chiesa, who previously designed the championship course at Pratoni in his home country of Italy.

It had taken no little effort for the Australians to assemble en masse. Natalie Blundell and Seumas Marwood had travelled direct from home, with the horses clad in Black Caviar style pressure suits for the journey. Seumas had staged a series of fund raising events to pay for the trip and on arrival was heard to remark that Wild Oats would need to do well

to pay for the return trip! Wendy Schaeffer arrived a little sooner so she and Koyuna Sun Dancer could have a preparation run or two in England first. Wendy warmed up for the CIC*** at Burnham Market by winning a 1.50m Grand Prix show jumping class at Bury Farm!

Peter Atkins and Henry Jota Hampton, who are based in the US, were the last of the travellers in the party, because Peter left making a decision on a start at Rolex or Badminton as late as possible. “My flight over was fine,” he said “but the truck ride from Amsterdam to the UK was what I can only describe as fraught! But when I arrived, the amazing Catherine Burrell, with whom I am staying, lent me her lovely truck to stay in and couldn’t have been more helpful so everything has turned out OK so far.”

Chris Burton, who was hosting Seumas at his yard, had been reunited with his Adelaide winner TS Jamaimo, now bought for him to ride on a more permanent basis. Bill Levett, who probably had the shortest journey from home was quietly making a bid for his place at WEG with two

entries, Shannondale Titan and Silk Stone. Emma Dougall and Kelecyn Ice Age might not be the most well known of the party, but the pair had been making a name for themselves in England for racking up a string of double clears over testing tracks.

Two riders in the Aussie contingent need little introduction, both already having their names inscribed on the Whitbread Trophy. Paul Tapner was hoping to go a few places better on his 2013 ride Kilronan and Lucinda was making a first Badminton attempt with Flying Finish, her Olympic ride of 2012. Lucinda had had to go through every horse owner’s worst nightmare, only weeks before, losing her beloved and legendary ride Headley Britannia, who had to be put down after an accident on exercise.

Last of the group was championship team member Sam Griffiths and the lovely mare Paulank Brockagh, who appeared to have had a trouble free journey from home in Dorset and an uninterrupted preparation, finishing with a good placing at the CIC*** at Burnham Market. “It’s all gone well so far,” laughed Sam, before his dressage test!

An exclusive report from Lulu Kyriacou Photos by the master, Kit Houghton

Aussie Rules...

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With the Germans conspicuous by their absence (their final trial for WEG is at Luhmühlen) the dressage was a little more open than usual. So open that the press photographers were absent when the first rider cracked the 40 penalty barrier. Francis Whittington has been working with Ian Woodhead on his dressage and his grey gelding Easy Target, performed a flowing test despite torrential rain to score 36.2 and set the standard. This horse is owned by Mrs Catherine Witt, who had just returned from Rolex as the winning owner. Her other horse, Parklane Hawk, who is ridden by William Fox Pitt, was also in the top ten.

However Francis’ reign at the top of the leader board was short lived because by the end of the day, Australia’s Paul Tapner had wrested the lead from him, on another grey, Fred and Penny Barker’s Kilronan, albeit by only .2 of a penalty. “Obviously I am happy with the performance but it wasn’t just the judges’ opinion, Kilronan felt as good

or better than I have ever had him in the dressage, although he usually does a decent test,” remarked Paul.

Lucinda Fredericks also did a great test to initially slot into third on Flying Finish after the first day’s competition but all three of the leaders were demoted a place by almost the last competitor to go on the second day, visiting American, Clark Montgomery. Riding the Irish bred Loughan Glen he

put nearly three penalties between himself and the chasing pack but was not convinced his horse would get anywhere close to the 11.30 minute optimum time, “So I might need them…” he laughed at the press conference.

Of the other main contenders, Sir Mark Todd finished in the top ten with both his mounts NZB Campino and Leonidas II, both of whom were making four star debuts. Andrew Nicholson was also amongst the leaders on Nereo as was Pippa Funnell with another debutant to the level, Billy Beware. Pippa’s other ride, Redesigned, would have also been close had not Pippa been fined six penalties for beginning her test after the 45 second start time had elapsed!

The other Australians had mixed fortunes. Natalie Blundell was more than happy with her score of 49.8 on Algebra. “He could have been a little more relaxed but on the whole the journey has gone to plan so far and I am loving my time in England.”

Seumas also thought Wild Oats was a little tense. “You can’t train them for the atmosphere here, it is unique and she did get a bit tight but overall, I am happy with our score of 56.8.” Wild Oats had missed a few days work on arrival after she ran a temperature, but the former team selector was positive about his trip. “This is really the culmination of a 52 year journey for me, never mind the 52 hour flight. I have visited before, as a selector, but the course looks tougher to me, maybe because I am riding it this time!!”

Chris, Sam and Bill all did solid tests to leave themselves in the top 30 and well in touch with the leaders. Wendy, Peter and Emma were both near the bottom of the field after dressage but with only 22 penalties covering the contestants from first to last, there was everything to play for on Saturday.

DRESSAGE

Paul Tapner and Kilronan

Seumas Marwood and Wild Oats

Lulu Kyriacou

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The latest KWPN breeding values have been released, and once again, Jazz (Cocktail / Ulster) heads the dressage standings for stallions with a reliability index of 90% or better. Jazz has a breeding value of 196 and a reliability of 97%. Once again, Jazz has a fine foal to competitor ratio, with 2513 progeny over the age of four, of whom 815 or 32.431% are registered competition horses.

Last season poor old Jazz was fairly lonely at the top of the values since stallions 2 through to 7 were all dead! Although this year’s second and third sires, Contango (Contender / Kronprinz - breeding value 165 / 92%) and Clavecimbel (Statuar / Apple King xx) 157 / 92%) have gone to the great collecting shed in the sky, Jazz has real live company in fourth place, with Negro (Ferro / Variant) moving up from 8th spot, with his breeding value up from 147 / 93% to 155 / 93%, although his strike rate is not wonderful, 1066 foals with 283 (26.548%) competitors.

The loss that was the early demise of Gribaldi (Kostolany / Ibikus) is underscored, as his progeny continue to shine at the highest level – the most recent to make a mark is the rising star of German dressage, Jessica von

Bredow-Werndl’s Unee BB. He sits in 5th with a value of 154 (97%) and an impressive competitor ratio, 910 out of 2902 or 31.358%.

Then comes Welt Hit II (152 / 93% - Weltmeyer / Hill Hawk xx), Ferro (147 / 97% - Ulft / Farn), Havidoff (147 / 93% - Clavecimbel / Farn), Cabochon (144 / 95% - Vincent / Commandant) and to round out the top ten, Democraat (144 / 91% - Pion / Silvano).

Perhaps the most promising son of Jazz, Johnson (out of a Flemmingh mare) has moved from the group of stallions with a reliability of 80-89% to the over 90% list, coming in at 16th place with a value of 136 (92%). So far he has 987 progeny over four, with 229 (23.201%) competitors which means his ratio is less than that of the next best ranked Jazz, Olivi (Jazz / Aktion) who heads the list of stallions with a reliability of 80-89%. Olivi has a breeding value of 178 with a reliability of 89%. Should Olivi’s reliability increase by a mere 1% then he would rocket up into second place behind his sire Jazz on the big kids scoreboard… Olivi has produced 491 progeny over 4 years old, with 149 competitors, 30.362%.

There are the usual claims that

the French based Olivi is the sire of ‘several’ Grand Prix dressage horses, the only one that I can find on the FEI data base is Triviant II, who sold to Ann Kathrin Linsenhoff at the 2005 PSI auction for €420,000 – the horse is ridden by the Swede Charlotte Haid Bondergaard and is ranked 117th in the world. In April 2014, Fie Skarsoe made a return to the competition arena, with a 73.1% for third in the Grand Prix freestyle at NW en St Joostland CDI*** riding One Night Stand (Olivia / Ferro).

Second on the 80-89 standings is Painted Black (Gribaldi / Ferro) a moderately successful Grand Prix horse with Anky van Grunsven, who then carried the young Spanish rider, Morgan Barbançon Mestre to 19th in the Grand Prix at the London Games, since then he seems to have disappeared totally. He has a breeding value of 161 (87%) with 487 progeny for 126 competitors (25.872%).

Others in the top ten are: Rubiquil (Rubinstein / Roemer) 157 / 89% competitor ratio = 28.915%; Montecristo (El Corona / Clavecimbel) 150 / 86%, cr = 37.984%; Tolando (Krack C / Rubinstein) 149 / 81%, cr = 19.620%; Vivaldi (Krack C / Jazz) 147 / 87%, cr = 19.281%; Tango

2014 Dutch Breeding ValuesStory by Christopher Hector Photos by Roz Neave & Jacob Melissen

Painting of Jazz by Anwen Keeling www.anwenkeeling.com.au

what’s new?

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(Jazz / Contango) 144 / 86%, cr = 19.281%; Sir Sinclair (Lord Sinclair / Flemmingh) 143 / 86%, cr = 40.728%; Westpoint (Jazz / Michelangelo) 141 / 80%, cr = 16.519%; Valdez (Houston / Jazz) 138 / 80%, cr = 23.580. Just outside the ten is Olivi’s US based son, UB 40 (out of a Michelangelo mare) 135 /81%, cr = 25.193%.

Heading up the stallions with a reliability factor of less that 80% is Ziësto (Lancet / Clavecimbel) who was purchased by the Glock Horse Performance Centre for Hans Peter Minderhoud to ride. At their debut in April 2013, the pair scored 71.58% in a Prix St Georges. He has a breeding value of 171 (65%) with his first progeny coming into the sport in 2008, there are only 12 of them, but out of a total of 49, for a ratio of 24.489%. His sire, the Hanoverian, Lancet (Wenzel / Shogun xx) competed in the Dutch dressage team at the Athens Games with Imke Schellekens-Bartels, then in the British team with Emma Hindle at three European Championships and the Beijing Games.

The rest of the top ten is a mixture of the promising and promise-never-fulfilled: Wynton (Jazz / Matador) 166 (77%), cr = 33.333%; Zhivago (Krack

C / Jazz) 160 (70%), cr = 8.843%; Vic (Jazz / Flemmingh) 157 (65%), cr = 19.672%; Son de Niro (De Niro / Balzflug) 154 (71%), cr = 32.967%; Universeel (Olivi / Zuidhorn) 154 (63%), cr = 11.827%; Zizi Top (Tango / Ferro) 153 (71%), cr = 15%; Citango

(Contango / Jazz) 153 (71%), cr = 19.083%; Welcome (World Cup I / Grande) 151 (69%), cr = 42.857%; Riant (Jazz / Julio Mariner xx) 150 (72%), cr = 22.881%.

There are also standings for stallions with less than 10 progeny in competition, and these are headed by Zardando (Tango / Gribaldi) 163 (58%); Bordeaux (United / Gribaldi) 162 (56%); Bodyguard Moorland (Gribaldi / Negro) 158 (53%); Hofrat (Gribaldi / Güter Planet) 158 (44%); Amazing Star (Flemmingh / Ferro) 157 (56%); Apache (UB 40 / Krack C) 155 (64%); Arlando (Paddox / Mytens xx)150 (48%); Armani (United / Jazz) 150 (61%) and Zenon (Rousseau / Whinny Jackson) 150 (56%)

There is another set of standings for stallions that do not have any progeny in competition, and these are headed by Chagall D&R (Jazz / De Niro) 199 (46%). This value is quite astounding – it is three points better than Jazz! This is how the system works, since the values come from the relatives, and they don’t get a lot better than Jazz and De Niro… especially when his dam is also the mother of the much hyped Bretton Woods, who recently won his first Prix St Georges with a 70+ score

with Matthias Alexander Rath.At his performance test Chagall

D&R scored modestly for walk and trot, a pair of 7.5s but better in canter for 9, and a score of 8 for talent as a dressage horse. His progeny report is encouraging but not sensational:

A uniform collection of long-legged foals with more than sufficient to good development and good dressage horse conformation, nobility, and presence. The hind leg is a little long. The legs are clean but sometimes a little fine-boned. The walk has good scope and elasticity. The trot is light-footed with good scope and joint articulation. The canter is light-footed, uphill, and has more than sufficient to good scope. The foals move with good self-carriage and use their bodies well. The quality of the dams was more than sufficient to good. The collection consisted of eight foals which were invited by the KWPN, and three which were submitted by their registered parties. Two of the foals invited by the KWPN were absent.

Chagall D&R can improve dressage horse conformation and movement. He should be paired with mares which have correct front legs.

The six year old stallion was sent to the training stables of Patrick van der Meer in September 2013 but the new pairing has yet to register on the FEI data base. Chagall D&R will certainly have to be some sort of super star to live up to his breeding value…

The standings then run: Don Tango B (Contango / Jazz) 196 (47%);

Cachet L (Jazz / Ferro) 181 (49%); Bretton Woods (Johnson / De Niro) 175 (45%); Feel Good (Contango / OO Seven) 172 (43%); Fellini (Ampère / Jazz) 172 (37%); Charmeur (Florencio / Jazz) 171 (47%); Bristol (Jazz / Goodtimes) 170 (51%); Dark

Johnson - is he the best Jazz?

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Great riding tells its own story: Episode ThreeStory by Christopher Hector & Photos by Roz Neave

Jennifer Sekrève trains with Johan Hamminga

Our time with Jen and Johan is coming to an end but there is still one more treat, Jennifer is back in the arena now, this time on a rising five-year-old San Amour / De Niro stallion. It’s a nice engaged trot, forward into the contact, the rider’s hands a little wider this time, but just as still. The horse looks a real De Niro, a trifle bored with this lower level stuff, waiting for the hard bits to show what he can do.

“What is important is always to leave the door open,” says Johan, “When you pull the reins, you close the front door, but the horse needs an escape – put his neck a little longer, and a bit lower, and then he can go forward and open that front door.”

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Johan is once again using the photos Roslyn took on our first visit to make his point: “The Damon Hill mare from the last time (this is the mare we saw again this trip, you saw her in May), they are such nice photos that I use them often. Most times when you stretch the neck, they fall down in front, but here you can see in the photo, the neck is a little bit too short, but her right hind leg comes to the

ground earlier than the front leg, she is a little bit up hill – that is the right way to stretch the neck. When you make the horse longer and you give him more rein and you keep the contact, you develop a longer neck, and then it is possible for the horse to stretch his hind legs under his body, like in the canter photo where the hindleg is nearly to the girth, and that is riding for me.”

I asked Jennifer about her warm up, with some very angled leg yields…“It is difficult for him to give his body – he does everything, but it is as if he is holding his breath. I make him a little quicker, do walk trot transitions, push him a little sideways, push him to use his body more, then after I have a different horse. He is maybe not the most spectacular in the movements but I think he is going to learn all the work because he is really smart.”

Here is the San Amour/De Niro in 2012, just after he had completed his licensing, and what Johan had to say about him then: “I bought him in a foal auction in Germany. I liked the bloodlines but also the topline connection - the wither to the back to the loins to the croup. His negative point is his neck, it is long enough but it could be more up from the wither and cleaner on the bottom of the neck. The most important thing to look for is a body in good proportion, with an uphill tendency and connected from the front to the back. One of his problems is that he is so big. He is 173 cm and he grew three or four centimetres last month. That takes a lot out of them, he is really muscled more like a three-year-old than a two-year-old.”

The stallion is now four and a half, and we watched Jennifer work him while Johan was teaching. Jennifer is a photographer’s joy – no waiting for the right moment, even corrections are examples of how it should be done.

Page 16: Horse magazine june 2014

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Story by Ute Raabe, Photos by Julia Rau & Roz Neave

MICHAEL JUNG TALKS ABOUT TRAINING EVENTING HORSES

Fitness training with Chippieh, the

mount of Michael’s student Kenki Sato

Always choose a straight approach to go up or down a hill, stay balanced and don’t hesitate to ride up short, steep gradients in a canter…

“ “

“Sam is still my number one horse for WEG. After winning the Two Star in Fontainebleau he will only compete in three more events, all at Three Star level. Our home event in Marbach in May will be one of them. He is just so reliable and excels in all three disciplines, that’s what makes him special.”

“Rocana will be my mount for Luhmühlen in June. If she goes well there, she will be my reserve horse for Normandy. My European Champs partner, Halunke will be entered for Pau Four Star in autumn.”

“My youngsters, Star Connection and Lennox both show great potential. They went super around Fontainebleau and I hope that they will develop well in the future.”

And as we head into our winter, things are getting brighter for the Europeans as they gear up for Caen and the world champs…

“This morning I went for a canter with the horses, the weather is improving so we can do lots of outdoor training now. I will do some flatwork and dressage training in the afternoon. There’s no competition this weekend, but then it goes non-stop until autumn!”

Michael has produced several Championship horses, from young horse classes to Four-Star level. But how exactly does the WEG, European and Olympic Gold medallist train his horses? There’s no ‘magic formula’ on how to become a Champion. Michael grew up in the riding school of his parents and his father Joachim Jung is an accomplished dressage and showjumping rider who taught his son the classical German training system.

Back in 2008, a fresh-faced Michael had to write a thesis as part of his riding instructor exam. It gives valuable insights into the training routine at the Jung stables, particularly on training eventing horses at one-star level.

With the Australian eventing season coming into full swing, it’s a good time to learn from “Magic Michi”.

It’s the year of the WEG, time for a quick word with the reigning World Champion to see how his preparation for Normandy is coming along.

Page 17: Horse magazine june 2014

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PART 1: DRESSAGEThe German legacy is obvious; Michael puts the emphasis on dressage and flatwork. After fitness work, dressage is the second most important part of his training. Most of his wins have been secured in the dressage arena; he usually delivers a dressage score around or below 30 points: a score many of our riders dream of.

He trains according to the classical scale: establishing rhythm, throughness and contact before progressing to impulsion, straightness and collection. But dressage work doesn’t need to be boring. Michael recommends getting out of a dull indoor arena as often as possible: “Why not ride your dressage movements out in the open, in the field or the back paddock? Chances are your horse will be brighter, more forward and focussed.”

Eventing horses need exercise and plenty of it. Walkers and treadmills are great as you can work your horse without the added burden of a rider weight, but if you don’t have these at your disposal, long walks on a loose rein or paddock time are equally beneficial.

Daily work begins and ends with the walk. “Make sure you have a rhythmical, free walk – irregularities caused by a short rein can prove difficult to get rid of later,” Michael says.

His working session starts with rising trot and includes plenty of bending. Riding one and two-loop serpentines, circles, leg-yield and lots of transitions all encourage rhythm and suppleness. “On a straight line

you should establish an even contact on both reins, on a curved line such as a circle, you can increase your inside leg to outside rein aid, but keep your outside leg on. Half halts are the nuts-and-bolts of riding. They serve to lengthen or shorten the stride, improve collection and self-carriage, draw attention to a new movement or correct contact and acceptance of the bit.”

After 20-30 minutes of warming up, your horse should be supple and relaxed, displaying the same ease and bend on both reins. You can test this by giving the reins, the horse will stretch its neck without running away.

Eventing dressage does not require as much collection, nonetheless you need to be able to perform a rhythmic and lengthened medium trot. To makes his horse more active from behind Michael rides plenty of transitions and throws in some simple

changes, half circles and voltes: “I do some trot-canter transitions and then try a medium trot. If there is no loss of rhythm, no leaning on the bit, but instead a lovely lengthening of the frame, then these exercises have fulfilled their purpose.”

These frequent transitions between trot and canter are an essential part of dressage work at the Jung’s place. Michael also points out that half halts, full halts, rein-back, turns on the haunches and half circles back to the track are all effective exercises for eventing horses. “With my more advanced horses, I do a lot of shoulder-in. This really shifts the centre of gravity to the back end and my horse becomes more collected. The shoulder is freed up and the forward-

lateral movement helps fine-tune the leg aids and therefore the overall throughness. I need to make my horse loose in the poll, the preparatory exercise is the shoulder fore.”

And travers? It is a more demanding movement, asking for more bend and collection, Michael’s advice: “You should always ride travers after the shoulder-in and not as often and long.”

PART 2: SHOWJUMPINGShowjumping training does not mean jumping enormously high obstacles; it is about improving technique. An eventing horse has to be able go around the course in a fluent and easy style, jumping powerfully and with bascule. Just like fellow teammate Ingrid Klimke Michael loves cavaletti work. Cavalettis and small jumping lines can also be practised in the off-season and up to twice a week. Michael usually sets up four to six

fences, they don’t need to be higher than 60-100 cm. Change your course regularly, he says, there’s nothing more boring that jumping the same thing week after week.

“I jump these grids pre-dominantly from the trot. You see so many riders trying to control the take-off by giving strong halts - that is wrong. Your horse needs to learn to find the take-off spot himself, the rider should support him, not disturb him.”

These exercises relax the back and neck muscles as well as improve the reaction and technique of the front legs. Your horse’s conformation and ability dictate the volume of work. But if you have problems, lower your demands. Just a few well-placed fences can achieve better training results.

“Why not ride your dressage movements out in the open, in the field or the back paddock? Chances are your horse will be brighter, more forward and focussed.”

Handy Hint 1: Maximise your dressage score by riding all movements and school figures to the correct markers.

Page 18: Horse magazine june 2014

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