Show Circuit Magazine - June / July 16 by Show Circuit Magazine

SHOWCIRCUIT June - July 2016 www.showcircuitmagazine.com

New Zealand’s Ultimate Equestrian Magazine

THE

Winter ISSUE EVENT COVERAGE

HARRISON LANE JUMPING SPECTACULAR NZ PONY CLUB EVENTING CHAMPS NORTH ISLAND SHOW JUMPING CHAMPS NZ WARMBLOOD CHAMPIONSHIP SHOW GLISTENING WATERS SHOW JUMPING KIHIKIHI INTERNATIONAL HORSE TRIAL AUCKLAND ROYAL EASTER SHOW

INTERVIEWS

DEBBIE & PETER BARKE CHRIS McKECHNIE AMANDA FRASER ROB & SALLY ESSEX KEAAN COOPER CHANELLE WALSH OLIVIA BROOKS ABRIELE MORSE MILLIE DEVER

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ANDREW NICHOLSON CHARELLE MARSHALL ANDREA BANK ANNA STEPHEN

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Alycia Burton & Goldrush OUR INCREDIBLE PARTNERSHIP

EQUINE TOUCH SENSES - How this plays a vital role in communication

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JUNE / JULY 2016

PUBLISHER'S LETTER

t’s been a super busy last couple of months. The season has now come to an end for most, and many horses and riders are enjoying a well-deserved break. It’s a time when we review last season’s triumphs and tragedies, get everything into perspective and start thinking about our plans for the new season and all the excitement that it will bring. We are also waiting with bated breath for the announcement of the riders who will be selected to contend Olympic glory! Our cover star, free rider Alycia Burton, is nothing short of inspiring. Aside from the quiet, thoughtful way she works with horses, Alycia has a long term plan to support young people in need of some guidance in the future. Not one to chase glory, she made the decision to stop competing her superstar jumper Classic Goldrush four years ago and hasn’t looked back, saying that her horse has benefitted from the change and so has her riding. Watching him at the Horse of the Year show, soaring over Grand Prix sized fences with no bridle and no saddle, you would never have known that Classic Goldrush is nervous of big crowds and competitions! Truly remarkable. Continuing on from Alycia's interview on page 16, young-gun show jumper Keean Cooper shares some insights into his busy life, and quiet achiever and talented horseman Chris McKechnie tells the story of his roller-coaster ride so far with his show horses. We certainly hope to see more of him next season. We go Behind the Scenes with two of Auckland’s most prolific volunteers, Sally and Rob Essex, followed by Five Minutes with Chanelle Walsh. Since arriving in our beautiful country, Debbie and Peter Barke have become valued members of New Zealand's dressage community. Their thought-provoking insights are on page 32. The smiliest face of showing, Amanda Fraser, recalls some of her adventures over on page 36. Champion Show Hunter rider Stephie Joustra and Australian show jumper Jono Smith tied the knot earlier in the year, and they share the story of their big day together with stunning pictures on page 38. Andrew Nicholson is an absolute legend, with his decades at the very top of the sport of eventing earning him the title of “Mr Consistency”. With the equestrian world celebrating Andrew’s return to the saddle and to competition after his potentially career-ending fall last year, we find out how he warms up to achieve at the very highest level. Germany-based dressage rider Andrea Bank was back in New Zealand for a short time recently, and held a Masterclass at Burnham, south of Christchurch, with various levels of horses and riders coupled with equine professionals who co-presented. Pip Hume was there to find out more. Charelle Marshall puts young rider Eden Hall through her paces to show how flatwork helps every Show Hunter horse, and Anna Stephen shares some tips on how to retrain an ex-racehorse. Our event coverage starts on page 68 with the Royal Easter Show. The North Island Warmblood Championships follows on, and we also cover the North Island Show Jumping Championships and the Kihikihi International Horse Trial. The Harrison Lane Jumping Spectacular was exactly that. Set on the picturesque polo field on the Van den Brinks’ farm, the stunning backdrop of the Manukau Harbour set the scene for a fantastic show. Also check out the Pony Club Eventing Championships and Glistening Waters Show Jumping from page 102. Horses are extremely sensitive creatures, and you can find out more about Equine Senses on page 126. For the eventers we have 10 Steps to Getting Eventing Fit on page 130 to help you on your way to success at your next competition, and while you are there, read our article about posture and how it affects your riding. There are SO many things we can do throughout our daily lives that can help us in the saddle. With Ashleigh Henwood stepping down as editor, we thank her for her outstanding contribution to Show Circuit Magazine and we look forward to following her future successes in her equestrian pursuits. Until next time, enjoy all that we have in store for you this issue. I hope you are all getting enough horse time in with the shorter winter days!

10 | SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE

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PUBLISHER:

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EDITOR:

Ashleigh Henwood

SUBSCRIPTIONS & ENQUIRIES: enquiries@showcircuit.co.nz

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Sheryll Davies sheryll@showcircuit.co.nz Phone: 021 810 576

PRODUCTION & DESIGN: Ryan Teece ryan@showcircuit.co.nz

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS: Cheleken Photography Confectionary Photography Eye Witness Photography Frances Haydon Photography Jon Stroud kampic.com Pip Hume Ryan Teece

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Alicia Collin Chloe Phillips-Harris Debbie Knowles Dominique Visini Edward Bostock Michelle Zielazo Nicola Smith Pip Hume Rebecca Harper Sarah Bostock Sophie Wilkinson

WEBSITE: www.showcircuitmagazine.com

SHOWCIRCUIT magazine is published bi-monthly. Articles reflect the personal opinion of the author and not necessarily the view of Waiata Publishing Ltd or Show Circuit Magazine. This publication cannot be reproduced in whole or in part in any way without the publisher’s express written permission. All contributions are submitted at the sender’s risk. Waiata Publishing Ltd accepts no responsibility for loss or damage.

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contents REGULARS

10 14 20 64 116 117 118 120 121 122 123 124 134 136 138

Editor's Letter Top Shot Trending | International News Retail | Winter Necessities Eventing Point of View Show Jumping Point of View Dressage Point of View Pleasure Point of View Warmblood Society News Pony Breeders Society News Equine Legal Advice New Products Shop Assistant Business Directory Subscribe

INTERVIEWS 16 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36

JUNE / JULY 2016

CHRIS MCKECHNIE MAN IN BLACK

Chris's competition time has been severely limited through an unfortunate run of bad luck with various horses over the past few years, so most of his time here has been spent breaking-in, schooling horses for other people, and teaching.

MILLIE DEVER & BRIDIE PERFORMANCE PONIES

Milly’s main competition pony is Bridie, or Pinky as she is known at home. During the week Milly boards at Iona College in Havelock North, where she is heavily involved in the equestrian team and enjoys competing at Interschool competitions.

SPECIAL FEATURE 38

The wedding of Stephie Joustra and Jono Smith

TRAINING 42 48 54 60

Eventing | Andrew Nicholson Dressage | Andrea Bank Show Hunter | Charelle Marshall Off the Track | Anna Stephen

EVENT COVERAGE 68 78 82 86 94 102 108

Auckland Royal Easter Show North Island Warmblood Championships North Island Show Jumping Championships Kihikihi International Horse Trial Harrison Lane Jumping Spectacular Pony Club Championships Glistening Waters Show Jumping

HEALTH 126 130 132 133

Equine Senses 10 Steps to Getting Eventing Fit Improve Your Posture Winter Warmer Recipe

ON THE COVER Alycia Burton & Goldrush during their 2016 Horse of the Year demonstration.

12 | SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE

ANDREW NICHOLSON EVENTING TRAINING

Andrew Nicholson is legendary for his smooth, elegant cross-country rounds. But how does he train his horses to achieve them? He shares some of his favourite exercises with us.

EQUINE SENSES TOUCHY BEHAVIOUR

126

Our equine friends are exquisitely sensitive animals. We use our horses’ sense of touch every day – without it, working with them would be very difficult.

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1 Only the best quality ingredients When it comes to the ingredients we use in your horse’s feeds we are fussy (to say the least) and once they arrive at the mill they undergo a series of tests to make sure they are up to our standard. 2 Same high quality ingredients in every bag At Pryde’s, each feed has its own set recipe that is used to make that feed-day in, day out. This means you get the same high quality product in every bag of feed you buy. We don’t least cost mix any of our feeds. 3 Feeds are made in a dedicated horse mill The highest priority is placed on feed safety for your horses. Dedicated to Equine, we only produce horse feed, guaranteeing you the ultimate in safe manufacturing processes. 4 Regular feed analysis We have our own in-house, high tech laboratory that is used to constantly monitor feed, protein, quality and moisture levels. Feeds are also regularly and extensively tested by an independent laboratory. 5 Quality assurance programs Pryde’s EasiFeed is a Feed Safe accredited mill, with all feeds being produced under the Feed Safe code of good manufacturing practice. 6 Complete feeds Pryde’s EasiFeeds are fully balanced, no need to add extra vitamins/minerals,

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TOP SHOT The perfect autumn ride down Auckland’s Karioitahi beach with dog in tow PHOTO Ryan Teece

Interview | Free Riding PHOTO kampic.com

16 | SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE

Burton ALYCIA

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WHAT DREAMS ARE MADE OF ALYCIA BURTON AND HER SMALL BUT MIGHTY PINTO GOLDRUSH ARE A PARTNERSHIP DREAMS ARE MADE OF. WHEN THEY ARE JUMPING TOGETHER, OR EVEN JUST RIDING DOWN THE BEACH, THEY MOVE TOGETHER AS ONE. IT IS A BEAUTIFUL SIGHT AND SOMETHING MANY RIDERS STRIVE TO ACHIEVE WITH THEIR HORSES. ASHLEIGH HENWOOD CAUGHT UP WITH ALYCIA TO FIND OUT JUST WHAT IT IS THAT MAKES THEIR PARTNERSHIP SO INCREDIBLE. READ ON FOR SOME SERIOUS INSPIRATION. CHANGING FOCUS Always one to put her horses’ needs before her own, Alycia made the tough decision to stop competing Goldrush four years ago in order to focus on their partnership. He is very sensitive and big crowds overwhelm him, so she felt that it was in his best interests for her to stop focusing on competition and instead concentrate on being the best she could be. She hasn’t looked back from that decision, and credits her success to her change in focus, as shortly afterwards she started to experience attention from all over the world. “When I decided to stop competing, I stopped trying to be better than other people and started to try and be the best that I could be. You may never be the best but you can always be better then you were,” she explains. “Not long after this change, Free Riding NZ went global we have had over 13 million views on YouTube and have hundreds of thousands of followers from around the world.” TAKING CHANCES It was a risk for Alycia to make the trip from Christchurch with her sensitive gelding to the Horse of the Year show, and was a decision she didn’t make lightly. “Since I stopped competing I have not wanted to give any large demonstrations. Instead, I have been focusing on training horses at home and staying low key,” she says. “However Horse of the Year 2016 became of interest to me after being contacted by some large organisations about the possibility of performing

overseas. Demonstrating at Horse of the Year was a good way to test the waters to see if it was something I wanted to pursue, and to see whether Goldrush would still be rideable in the big atmosphere.” The gamble paid off for the pair as they flawlessly tackled 1.70m like it was nothing, giving the illusion the jump was much smaller. “I absolutely loved the experience and the feedback from people was really encouraging. I will continue to look at the idea of going overseas and if the right doors open for us at the right time, I will take the opportunity,” Alycia says with excitement. “I’m not going to lie - I had no idea how Horse of the Year was going to go. It could have been a complete success or a complete failure. He is naturally a very sensitive, hot horse and gets scared easily when I am not on him.” Due to this, taking him to a big atmosphere with an electric crowd, booming speakers, and difficult lighting was a huge ask. “I went in with zero expectations except to keep him as calm as possible.” Prior to entering the main arena, Alycia could feel that Goldrush was feeding off the energy from the crowd. “I could feel he wanted to explode but he was such a good boy and stayed calm. I was so proud of him because there were so many factors that could have altered his ability to judge the rail heights - the main one being the shadows cast by the lighting - but he executed them flawlessly.”

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“WHEN WE STOP ASKING SO MUCH OF OUR HORSES AND WE MAKING IT WORK In previous years Alycia has kept around 15 horses in MAKE IT SIMPLE AND VERY CLEAR TO THEM WHAT WE ARE work, but for the past year she has made the decision to ASKING OF THEM, AND WE PRAISE THEM EACH TIME THEY focus on having three or four of her own horses and a few TRY, THEN WE START GETTING A REALLY GOOD PARTNERSHIP clients’ horses for re-training. “This allows me more time WITH OUR HORSES, BECAUSE UNDERSTANDING COMES IN. to travel and teach - when you have too many horses in TOO MANY HORSES ARE CONFUSED, SCARED, OR DON’T work this is almost impossible!” She enjoys being able to devote more time to the horses, with one of her biggest UNDERSTAND WHAT WE WANT AND DON’T TRUST US.” strengths being able to read each horse individually and work with him in a way that best suits him. “Every horse is different with their personality, temperament and previous life experiences. I have done a lot of re-breaks on dangerous horses that were about to be put down. Being able to rehabilitate them into happy horses that love working with people is the most rewarding return as a trainer,” she beams. Recently Alycia has been putting much of her energy into working on her clothing line when she isn’t out with her beloved horses. “The t-shirts were a huge success at Horse of the Year and on the Free Rider website worldwide. With feedback from our customers, I am working on expanding the brand so there are more options including hats, jackets and hoodies, and a wider range of sizes.” Her short-term goals come as no surprise and are focused around the Free Rider brand. “Collaborating with different distributors is time-consuming but necessary to ensure that the products sold are high quality with appealing designs. The Free Rider clothing brand makes a statement and the feedback has been that riders love it! It is important that they are classy enough to wear out to town but still tough and durable enough for riding in,” she explains. HAVING AN IMPACT In the long-term, Alycia’s goals are much bigger. “I would love nothing more than to be in a position where I can impact our youth in a serious way,” she says. “My horse success is the platform that joins us together, but my real heart is for youth who are struggling with depression, anxiety, low self-esteem and who generally believe the lie that they are good for nothing. The goal is to show our youth that it doesn’t matter what background you come from, that you are important and have so much value to give. Everyone is over-developed in some areas PHOTO kampic.com and under-developed in others, so it’s about bringing out what they are passionate about and speaking and sowing good It is very rare that Alycia ever finds herself disappointed with a into their lives.” horse, even if they have a terrible training day. “A person can only Admirably, when Alycia dies she doesn’t want to be remembered be disappointed if their expectations are broken. So I avoid being as ‘the horse chick who jumped big’ - she wants to be known as disappointed by having realistic expectations of both myself and someone who helped change the direction of people’s lives when no my horses,” she says. “I don’t let my emotions come into training one else would. “To me that’s what actually matters.” because human emotions change all the time and we shouldn’t act on how we feel, we should act on what we know is right. A horse FINDING HARMONY Alycia has only had around 15 lessons since she was 12. “I stopped needs consistency and it doesn’t help any situation by letting our having lessons because most of them caused me to fight with my emotions go up and down around them.” As a trainer she feels that it is important to expect that problems horse or they didn’t make sense to me,” she explains. “I didn’t have the money for regular lessons anyway, so I learned from a very young will happen, to know that some days will be bad, that there will age to listen to my horses and became very tuned into them. I have be highs and there will be lows. “There will be freak accidents, had hundreds of horses, mostly off-the-track, rejects or dangerous miracles, and all the amazing times in between which balance ones - and those have taught me the most. What I thought was the it all out. I make it crystal clear to my horses exactly what I am biggest curse, never having the money to buy a nice horse, has turned wanting from them. I work with my horses as individuals and I am very quick to calculate and react to situations. Success is made up into the biggest blessing because now I have made a career from it.” Alycia is a self-proclaimed perfectionist when it comes to her of hundreds of small fixed failures. If I fail at something I get up position, striding and jump technique with both horse and rider. again every time and try another way until I get it right. It might “When a horse comes in and has a bad jump technique, such as be fail - get up - try another way…fail - get up - try another way… hanging his toes or jumping crookedly, through much experience until finally finding success.” Alycia also thanks and credits Dynavyte NZ for their amazing I have developed methods that offer a permanent solution while support to her team. “You can only get out what you put in.” C still working in harmony with the horse.”

18 | SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE

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TRENDING Meet Patrick, the Mini who was bound for Rolex 2016! The cute pint-sized horse made his second appearance at Rolex this year, wowing the crowds and gaining many fans as he soared over jumps taller than himself. No stranger to the limelight, Patrick has been performing in local and state competitions for the last 14 years. He is also the official mascot for the Secretariat Festival. At 22 years old he has fans from all over the world, and over 20,000 Instagram followers! He is also a registered therapy horse making visits to hospitals, schools and rest homes, and was named Equine Ambassador Extraordinaire by the American Miniature Horse Association.

Charlotte Dujardin riding Uthopia in the Grand Prix Freestyle at the Reem Acra FEI World Cup Dressage, London International Horse Show, December 2015 PHOTO Jon Stroud

Also at Rolex, riders wore their Pony Club badges with pride for the first time at this level of competition. More than 60 percent of riders in this year’s event were Pony Club alumni from all around the world.

PHOTO Jessica Schaaf

Closer to home riders have been buzzing about the beginning of construction for the new Centre of Excellence at the National Equestrian Centre in Taupo. Toted as being world-class, the $1.8 million 3500m2 facility comes complete with indoor arena, conference facilities, a commercial kitchen and café, as well as grandstand seating. The centre is expected to be completed by April 2017.

Former Olympic dressage champion Uthopia is to be sold by unreserved public auction later this month. Uti, as he is known to friends, was campaigned to many international victories by Carl Hester, who says he is appalled at the decision to sell him this way. The 15-year-old KWPN licensed stallion by Metall won double silver at the 2011 European Championships, team gold at the 2012 London Olympic Games, and team bronze at the 2013 European Championships. Fortunately, as we went to print, it was looking like Carl had raised funds to purchase the stallion and give him the retirement he deserves.

PHOTO Pip Hume

Happily all 104 wild Kaimanawa horses mustered found homes at this year’s biennial muster. There had been worries that the Department of Conservation’s decision to move the muster to an earlier April date would mean there wasn’t enough time to find homes for all the horses, but in the end there were more applications than horses available!

20 | SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE

Julie Brougham and her beautiful dancing partner Vom Feinstein left for Europe in their bid for Olympic selection after Horse of the Year, and updates show Steiny looking fantastic. The pair gained 66.7% in their first Grand Prix start at Mannheim CDI, the first stage of thier European tour as they work towards Olympic selectionselection, where Helen Langehanenberg clinched the victory on Damsey FRH with 73.7%. We look forward to following them in the lead-up to Olympic selection.

Tim Price riding Wesko the CCI**** Etoiles De Pau International Horse Trials in 2015 PHOTO Trevor Holt

Sad news from Tim Price with the announcement that his champion Wesko has sustained an injury, which saw his withdrawal from Rolex. We are sending him healing vibes and hope he will be back on track quickly! Andrew Nicholson and Jock Paget have announced the retirement of their champions Avebury and Clifton Promise. Described by many as being one of the most successful eventers in history, 16-year-old Avebury won the prestigious 4* Burghley event three consecutive times (2012-2014), and is also the only horse to have won the 3* Barbury Castle event four times in a row from 2012 to 2015. Andrew has said that Avebury will remain at their farm in Wiltshire, England and his wife Wiggy is looking forward to hacking him out and enjoying some fun schooling and jumping from time to time. Meanwhile Clifton Promise enjoyed his retirement ceremony at Badminton. Promise and Jock came together in 2007, won Badminton in 2013, finished 6th at the 2010 World Equestrian Games and made up part of the New Zealand team that won bronze at the 2012 London Olympics. C

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SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE | 21

Interview | Show Jumping

YOUNG RIDER

Keean Cooper

WORDS Ashleigh Henwood | PHOTO kampic.com

HUMBLE AND TALENTED KEEAN COOPER IS LOOKING TO TAKE THE SHOW JUMPING WORLD BY STORM. FRESH FROM WINNING THE YOUNG RIDER OF THE YEAR TITLE AT THE 2016 HORSE OF THE YEAR SHOW, KEEAN HAS GOT HIS SIGHTS SET ON BIGGER AND BETTER THINGS COME NEXT SEASON AND BEYOND, LOOKING TO EVENTUALLY COMPETE AT WORLD CUP LEVEL. How long have you been show jumping? I got my first show jumping pony when I was nine. He was a Connemara called Takou Bay Moonlight. He was really hot and a little bit mad. Everyone thought we were a bit crazy because of the speed we went. To be honest though, we only went that fast because I couldn’t hold him to start with. He taught me a lot of things. When and why did you decide to focus solely on show jumping? I used to event more than I show jumped, but I was not very good at the dressage phase so I started focusing on show jumping when I was 12 years old. I actually had ‘Scary’ written on a dressage test three times once! Who are your current team of horses? I have three horses in my team at the moment. Amarula MVNZ or Spencer as he is known at home, Double J Angelic (aka Jolie) and a youngster, LC Lola. Tell us a bit more about them and your partnership with them: Spencer is a 12-year-old gelding by Pico Bello out of a Moonspirit mare. I have had him just over two years. He took me from riding ponies and has taught me so much. He is quite quirky and can have the odd moment but is a horse in a million and I owe him a lot. I have only had Jolie for about three months. She is a 12-year-old mare by Repicharge out of Winchester Girl. Jolie is like an overgrown pony and is so much fun. She can turn on a dime and you have to be ready when she does otherwise you will be sitting on thin air. Lola is a five-year-old mare by Lindberg Des Hayettes out of a Cortland mare. She has not long been broken in so I hope to have her out next season. What is your favourite competition? I have two really - Horse of the Year and the Taupo Christmas Classic. I love the atmosphere of them both and I love getting into the Christmas spirit at Taupo. What was it like to win at Horse of the Year? It was the most amazing feeling. I had hoped just to get around the course and had never dreamt that we could have won it on our first attempt. All the other riders were so fantastic and nice that it really made it extra special. What are your short-term goals? I would like to step up to Grand Prix with Spencer next season and do some age series classes on Lola. What are your long-term goals and aspirations? Longer term I would love to be competitive at World Cup level. Who inspires you in your riding? All the other riders I compete against. I think that there is just so much talent in New Zealand. If you want to learn, just go and watch some of your fellow riders. Who do you train with? I am currently training with John Cottle. He is just amazing; I would never have got there without him. He really gets me and my horses. He has so much experience and understanding and he knows how to get the best out of you both physically and mentally. What have been some of your career highlights and most memorable competitions? This year’s Horse of the Year was definitely a career highlight! To win Young Rider of the Year and then two days later to finish second in the Speed Horse of the Year was definitely special. Another couple of special moments were winning the Junior Rider class at Taupo Christmas Classic this season and riding in the Pony of the Year three seasons ago, even if things didn’t go as planned that time. How do you deal with the highs and lows of horses and the sport? You just have to remember that tomorrow is a new day - not every day

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will be perfect and not every day will be terrible. Stay humble because horses are great levellers. What advice do you have for riders who are aspiring to be successful? Just keep working and trying your best. Every day you will learn something new and get one step closer to your goals. What sets you apart from other riders? I don’t think there is anything that sets me apart. You only have to look around to see the same drive and determination in all the other riders competing. I just try to do my best and remember to enjoy it as well. What is one thing that you couldn’t be without? My Mum and Dad. Without their support and belief in me I could never have got this far. What are some factors that contribute to your success? Hard work, great instructors, fantastic horses and amazing support at home. Without any one of these I would not have been able to do any of this. If you could train with anyone in the world, who would it be? I don’t think I would want to train with anyone aside from John. However, I wouldn’t mind having a lesson with George Morris, even though he scares me a bit to be honest! If you could ride any horse, alive or dead, who would it be? It would have to be Stroller. I have watched videos of him and he just defied the laws of gravity. He was the most amazing horse. What has been a defining moment in your career, or a moment which has really changed the way you train or compete? About 18 months ago things were not going very well and I was getting really frustrated and down. A friend suggested I try having some lessons with John Cottle. He has taught me that there is more to riding than just the physical side and has helped me believe in myself again. What do you do outside of horses? In the winter I like to snowboard. I also do a bit of squash to keep me fit and I compete in weightlifting. What is your funniest moment you’ve had competing? I don’t know about funniest, but at the Woodhill show before Horse of the Year I managed to get jumped off at the last fence in the Young Rider class. I just lay there like a starfish. I was so embarrassed as Spencer cantered away from me through the finish flags and I was left lying on the ground. Not a good lead-in to Horse of the Year I thought, but at least I got a few laughs from the crowd. What is something many people wouldn’t know about you? Most people most likely don’t know that I play the trombone or that I do competitive weightlifting. If your horse was a celebrity, who would they be? I’m not sure about celebrity but if I was to pick a character I would say Spencer would be Austin Powers - he thinks he is the best but is always just a few seconds behind everyone else to get the joke. He is really funny. Jolie is a Britney Spears, she is good-looking but really hyper and way out of left field. Lola would be Katy Perry, she is like the girl-nextdoor and everyone loves her. What sort of qualities do you look for in a horse? I like a naturally athletic horse with an inquisitive nature. If you go into a paddock of mares and foals, I like to see which ones are brave enough to come and see what’s going on. Good conformation is preferable but they don’t have to be perfect to be great. Do you get nervous before an event? I’m really lucky that I don’t get nervous. My mum says I’m the only person she knows that will eat two mince and cheese pies right before going in the ring. Mum gets nervous enough for both of us! Who are your sponsors? Just Mum and Dad at the moment, but I would love to get a couple of sponsors on-board for next season. C

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Interview | Showing

WHO IS THAT MAN IN BLACK? PHOTO Show Circuit Magazine

WORDS Debbie Knowles

”

A great horse should sit up in front, eat up the ground and carry you like you are the king of the world. This means it also has the education to back it up and make your ride look effortless. Well educated doesn’t mean boring though.

”

CHRIS MCKECHNIE SAYS THE ATTRIBUTES HE LOOKS FOR IN A TOP HORSE INCLUDE THE ABOVE AND, FOR HIM PERSONALLY, HE LOVES THOROUGHBREDS. “ALL GOOD HORSES CATCH THE EYE AND MAKE YOU THINK ‘I WANT TO RIDE THAT ONE’ OR ‘I WISH MY HORSE WENT LIKE THAT’, BUT IT’S THE VITAL ELEMENT OF BEING BUILT IN BALANCE AND TRAVELLING IN BALANCE THAT TOPS IT ALL OFF.”

Just who is that man in black? Waikato and Auckland showies were all asking “Who is that man in black?” when Chris stepped out at Matamata Show in 2013 on his black novice hack, he then went on to win Champion Novice at Waikato Show. Having to start again, Chris produced another lovely young hack in Argus. This thoroughbred gelding caught many an eye this season, winning novice and open championships before unfortunately succumbing to head-flicking right before Horse of the Year. So, without a ride, Chris helped Natalie Toeke and Anne Hjorth at Horse of the Year as well as supporting his wife Karen there. While in the Hawke’s Bay, Chris admits to having picked up “yet another thoroughbred,” and will simply start all over again while continuing to break-in, train and help other riders. “This new one, a saviour from the Hawke’s Bay Hunt Kennels, has passed my highly systematic selection and trial process and doesn’t bronc too bad! He’s an ex-Hong Kong racehorse so is currently being re-mouthed and is on long reins for a month. He’s been a bit neglected and round the traps I think. Not a bad shape though and a hundred kilos will make a world of difference to him.”

Early days With much showing success behind him in Australia, Chris describes his most special win as winning Champion Gentleman Equestrian at the Sydney Royal Easter on Julie Gittoes’ big 17.3hh thoroughbred The Captain. “The old show grounds were so special to ride in. Winning Champion

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Chris riding Natalie Toeke’s High Class at the Auckland Royal Easter Show

Gentleman rider at Adelaide, when I was only 18, kicked off a lot of good opportunities too.” “We grew up in country Australia where all four of us kids rode at Pony Club. There were lots of gymkhanas, shows, novelties, and bareback swimming in the river. Nobody was precious or specialised on their horses back then - they all had to do absolutely everything. “Mum wasn’t horsey by birth but loves them and was massively supportive to all of us, carting us everywhere. I was very fortunate to grow up surrounded by salt-of-the-earth horsemen and women, in all disciplines. There wasn’t a lot of formal instruction but plenty of mentoring and advice. How you rode and schooled your horses was much more important than who got the ribbons. You were in deep trouble if you blamed a horse for your own failings! “I went through Pony Club to A Certificate and State Champs in dressage andhorse trials. We did lots of cattle work growing up, a lot of riding for a local breaker and horse dealer, and the whole A&P circuit led on to riding some lovely horses at the various Eastern Royals – Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Canberra. Pony Club eventing led into horse trials proper and I had a couple of good seasons there. It was rare to ever have a weekend fully at home.”

you are working your backside off just to get your horse going round the circle, it’s not the best look!” With regard to schooling at home, Chris says “We were raised that a horse is only as good as its rider. The better you ride, the better you can school your horse to go. Personally I do lots of work without irons - develop your own seat and balance, teach your horse to carry you, not you carry it. Don’t make excuses for hard work and perseverance.”

Creating success for others

Unfortunately, having had a bad run of luck for quite a few years with various horses, Chris’s competition time has been severely limited. Most of his riding time here has been spent breaking-in, teaching and schooling horses for other people. “I’m very much enjoying getting back into the ring as much as I can though,” he says. The eye-catching Saddle Hunter Amatheon Vanquish, owned, bred and shown by Carolyn Wratt, is one superstar who Chris broke-in and has coached from the start. He says “It helps to know what the finished product has to be when you are breaking them in, and to have the patience and planning to bring it all together!” Chris rode the horse in his first show at Matamata, and Carolyn has had an amazing Sound training season since with multiple champions, “I have just been lucky to have learned from a supremes and placings at Horse of the Year - all lot of good people over the years and watched in the first twelve months since being started. some great horsemen and women at work. I come from the same district as Andrew Hoy Home life at home and he was a big influence on riding Chris is married to Karen and, when asked correctly in our area. I was so lucky to ride how they met, he laughs. “I sorted out a show hacks for Julie Gittoes, and our legendary naughty horse for her and broke-in another!” farrier, Bobby Dick, gave us all a legacy of Karen, nee Cooper, was equine massage honest horsemanship and practicality. therapist to the first New Zealand gold medal“Then I came to New Zealand, went over and winning endurance team in Dubai, and went rode in the States, had a summer in the UK, with Kallista Field to Sydney in 2000, Jerez in re-educated thoroughbreds off the track for 2002 and then Aachen in 2006. Karen has the Jockey Club up in Hong Kong and have had much success with her nice big grey riding been breaking-in, educating and re-educating horse Damascus Steel. She is also kept busy horses non-stop since I was 18.” with helping her clients and plenty of massage A long way now from his original home therapy work. and first job, which was jackarooing at Home Their family is completed by daughter Elizabeth Station, Chris is currently a Senior Sergeant and son Rory. Elizabeth is nine and just winding Operations for the Aviation Security Service in up on her little grey pony Banjo, the pair having Auckland, which means either an early or late a ball with Pony Club and jumping, while Rory shift. He generally rides at least two horses a is currently giving rowing a go. day and is also doing a business paper through Massey University in his spare time. Chris recalls his first horse as being a little part bred Welsh pinto mare named Patch, and tells Quick Questions: the story of his first Pony Club rally. “Patchy When did you start riding? Six years old. rolled in a huge puddle on me just outside the gate (we all rode to Pony Club in those days) Pets apart from horses? A Jack Russell and so I went in bawling my eyes out, muddy and a Whippet. soaked. She did it again on the ride home!” Hobbies apart from horses? Fishing, working on the farm and tinkering in the Showmanship man cave. Being the great competitor that he is, Chris likes all our showing classes and doesn’t have a favourite. “Since we can’t all have the nicest horse in the class, it’s great to see someone clean up in Paced and Mannered because of their hard work in schooling and developing that horse into being a pure pleasure to ride.” He does have a favoured show workout tip however! “It’s called showmanship for a reason. Don’t ride like you are apologising to the judge for being there! Sit up and make them beat you. And sit still! If you look like

Are you a night owl or a lark? After 17 years of rotating shift work I have no idea any longer, but more morning for sure. Favourite article of saddlery? My precious breaking-in saddle that has given me 30 years’ service - huge holes worn in the flaps and all. Your own favourite horse ever? Think I will have to save that answer until I hang up my boots…the best might still be coming! C

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SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE | 25

Interview | Behind the scenes

BEHIND THE SCENES

Rob & Sally Essex ROB AND SALLY ESSEX ARE DRIVING FORCES BEHIND THE RUNNING OF MANY EVENTS AROUND THE AUCKLAND REGION - THEY TURN UP, NEVER GIVE UP AND ARE GENERALLY IRREPLACEABLE.

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WHAT ORGANISATIONS ARE YOU INVOLVED WITH AND HELP OUT WITH? R: I am on the Springbush committee and New Zealand Pony Club Association Technical and Rules committee. S: ESNZ Para Dressage, Auckland Manakau Dressage Group, NZPCA, and Eventing NZ. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN VOLUNTEERING? R: Since 1980, when Sally and I started helping out with the Waiuku Endurance Riding Club. I helped to make and measure the courses and was also involved on the weight scales and vet checks. Since then I have been involved with the Bombay Pony Club committee, have been Tuakau Pony Club President and Franklin Thames Valley Chairman, and I am an ESNZ Steward. S: I have been involved for the last 36 years, starting with endurance in 1980! HOW DID YOU BOTH GET INTO THE EQUESTRIAN WORLD? R: I met Sally, married Sally and had two horses less than two weeks later! I mucked around with the horses, but being a Pony Club dad was what got me right into it. S: As a rider in my 20’s I competed in eventing, dressage (for fun) and endurance. Then I was a Pony Club mother at Tuakau and Bombay Pony Clubs, and was also Franklin District Commissioner and Secretary for Franklin Thames Valley for six years. TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUNDS: R: I didn’t have a horse background until I met Sally! As an Australian I love the surf, as did my dad; though I consider myself to be an ANZAC as my mum is a Kiwi. After Sally and I married, the door to horses opened and it has been all go ever since! S: I am also from a non-horsey family. I first got on a horse when I was 12 in Somerset, UK. I never had my own horse until two weeks after I married Rob in 1976. I was the eldest of six children so horses never really fitted into our family life. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE COMPETITION? R: Springbush of course! It is a world-class event, run by a fantastic crew. S: As a volunteer I love Taupo Three Day, as a rider it would be Horse of the Year. CAN YOU TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOUR DAUGHTER NICOLA’S RIDING CAREER? R: Nicola started Pony Club when she was eight years old and competed in all disciplines. Her passion was always eventing but her career was cut short just as she reached Intermediate with a nice team of promising young horses. S: She, like me, developed aggressive rheumatoid arthritis. It took nine years to find a drug to make her comfortable enough to ride. Both of us are graded Level III para dressage riders and Nicola is the riders’ rep for us. WHO ARE YOUR CURRENT TEAM OF HORSES? S: I compete on Cider Rose, a nine-year-old thoroughbred x Clydesdale mare. My other horse Ngamatea Times Two is 28 now and we retired him two years ago! TELL US A BIT MORE ABOUT THEM AND YOUR PARTNERSHIP WITH THEM: S: Thomas (Ngamatea Times Two) eased me back into competition after

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25 years of health problems. He is just a lovely old boy with a bit of a naughty streak. Cider Rose is a lovely kind mare who always tries hard and we have just completed our second season, although last year was cut short as I had ankle surgery and couldn’t ride for a while! HOW MANY SHOWS DO YOU TEND TO GO TO IN A SEASON? R: About 15-20 NZPCA and ESNZ events a season for Horse Trials, and about 10 dressage shows. S: Nicola and I compete at about 20 shows a season and I manage the start box for eventing at about seven shows. WHAT HAVE BEEN SOME OF YOUR CAREER HIGHLIGHTS? R: Being awarded the ESNZ Volunteer of the Year award! After 10 years of service, Springbush winning Best Event was very humbling. S: Bringing home Para Grade III Reserve Champion at Bay of Plenty Dressage Champs two years in a row. HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO HAVE PEOPLE INVOLVED IN THE BEHIND THE SCENES RUNNING OF SHOWS? R: Really important - the event won’t run itself! S: It’s vital! Shows do not run themselves and I always say dollar notes don’t put up jumps! In this world people think that money is the answer when really what is needed is enthusiasm and shared knowledge. WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE MOST IMPORTANT HAPPENING, EVOLUTION OR TREND IN EQUESTRIAN SPORT NATIONALLY AND INTERNATIONALLY AT THE MOMENT? R: Not enough people helping at events is a challenge. People need to stand up and take responsibility for their sport. S: A lack of volunteers seems to be a trend at the moment. Those out there doing it mainly tend to be of the older generation and they help out here, there and everywhere. It is a worry - where will we find replacements? WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE CHANGED IN THE SPORT? R: Bring back long format three-day events! WHAT DO YOU THINK IS DONE WELL IN THE SPORT AT THE MOMENT? R: There is more and way better publicity! S: Eventing does well recognising its volunteer officials. HOW DO YOU JUGGLE FAMILY LIFE WITH YOUR EQUESTRIAN LIFE? R: Love. S: I am lucky that Rob has always been very supportive, especially when the children were young. He would come home from work and I would just about have the car running, ready to go and ride for a couple of hours! The kids always came to events, no matter how early the start was. WHAT DO YOU DO OUTSIDE OF HORSES? R: Sleep! I love the beach, fishing and snow with family and friends. S: I work 20 hours a week as an occupational therapy assistant for Counties Manukau DHB at Pukekohe Hospital. DO YOU GET NERVOUS BEFORE THE EVENT? S: Yes, I’m normally worried about forgetting my tests, although that has improved in the last four years! HOW DO YOU MANAGE YOUR NERVES AND KEEP FOCUSED? S: I keep busy and once I am on my horse I am usually good, I just focus on getting out there and doing my best. At least I am having a go! C

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Interview | Dressage

CHANELLE WALSH PHOTO Pip Hume

5 MINUTES WITH CHANELLE TURNED HEADS IN THE DRESSAGE RING LAST SEASON WHEN SHE RODE NICOLA DALMEIDA’S BEAUTIFUL GYPSY COB STALLION THE LOVABLE ROGUE TO MANY WINS AND PLACINGS. ASIDE FROM RIBBONS, THEY ALSO COLLECTED MANY ADMIRING FANS ALL OVER THE CIRCUIT. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN RIDING DRESSAGE? I have been riding dressage for about 14 years now WHEN AND WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO FOCUS SOLELY ON DRESSAGE? I started riding at age six at a riding school. I did jump and go through the Pony Club system but only really enjoyed dressage. At 14, I got my first hack and started to do dressage competitions. We were far from successful in the early stages of competing! WHO ARE YOUR CURRENT TEAM OF HORSES? I have two competition mounts. The Lovable Rogue (Tommy) is a purebred Gypsy Cob imported from Scotland by his owner, Nicola Dalmeida. We have had our first season at Level 1 and are looking forward to Level 2 next season. My second horse is one I own with my Mum, Beaumont D’zire SW (Darby) who we are aiming to take out at Level 4 next season. TELL US MORE ABOUT THEM AND YOUR PARTNERSHIP WITH THEM: I am very lucky to be able to ride these two beautiful, but very different horses! I absolutely adore Tommy. He is the first stallion I have ever ridden and worked with and he just has the most incredible temperament. He came to me last June fairly green-broken and just looking to have six weeks or so dressage schooling, so that he would be easier for his owners to ride. However, things just progressed from there and we went to his first competition in July and gained some very positive scores and feedback. I was quite nervous about how he would be received on the dressage scene but it has been an amazingly positive response. We set our sights on qualifying for Horse of the Year and ended up with a very successful Level 1 season, culminating in 7th overall in Level 1 Horse of the Year which we were totally thrilled with. Darby is very different to Tommy! He is by Don Quattro and is a much more sensitive ride. Darby is a total workaholic and I’ve never met a horse who tries harder to please than him. We purchased him as a three-anda-half-year-old from Sheena Ross. In the last two years we have been schooling his dressage and he has also been furthering his education in show jumping with Ryan Lim and eventing with Dannie Lodder. Darby is currently back to focusing more on dressage and we are going to be training hard this winter to come out at a new level next season. WHAT IS IT LIKE TO RIDE A GYPSY COB IN DRESSAGE? I’ve never had so much attention at competitions before! Our team would joke about being offended that everyone said Tommy was “so cute” when we were trying to be seen as serious competition! Riding a horse that is really not specifically bred for the discipline we are competing in certainly presents its challenges but Tommy is such a superstar and tries so hard, which has made it a lot easier. The fitness was our biggest issue initially, and leading up to Horse of the Year, he was getting ridden twice a day, several days a week to help increase his stamina. Tommy moves incredibly well so it has always been a case of just keeping him soft and balanced and giving him the time to build up strength for the work we were asking him to do. I really thrive on a challenge however and I feel very privileged to be working with this horse, so I wouldn’t change him for the world! WHAT ARE YOUR LONG-TERM GOALS AND ASPIRATIONS? I have always had a goal that I want to produce my own horse to Grand Prix and my ultimate goal is to compete at the Sydney CDI on one of my horses. WHAT HAVE BEEN SOME OF YOUR CAREER HIGHLIGHTS AND MOST MEMORABLE COMPETITIONS? I was very lucky to have had a lesson with Steffen Peters riding Sheena’s ex-Grand Prix horse Glenbrae Ivanhoe - that was several years ago but was an incredible experience! A competition highlight would be winning the Preliminary FEI World Challenge on Vollrath Wanted back in 2011. Most recently, apart from Tommy’s success, I was very proud to see my pupils gain top 6 placings overall in both Level 1 and Level 2 Pony of the Year. I am extremely invested in my pupils when they are competing and try to be at all their events to help them warm up, so their success is always a real buzz for me.

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Chanelle Walsh - THE LOVEABLE ROGUE, owned by Nicola Dalmeida, Champion Ridden Purebred Gypsy Cob at Horse of the Year 2016 WHAT DOES A TYPICAL DAY LOOK LIKE FOR YOU? My day starts at 6.30-7.00am with computer/admin/marketing work. At 9.30am I do a gym session with my personal trainer, then between 10.30am and 2.00pm I’m riding and schooling. At 2.00-3.30pm it’s usually a chance for a break, and from 3.30pm onwards I’m teaching lessons, often until 7 or 8pm in the summer months. I’m very fortunate to have my groom Deni Murray, and Brenda Lindner on-hand at home to keep things running smoothly. As we all know, horses are a huge time commitment so between riding, coaching and looking after the horses onsite, I work seven days a week. WHAT IS ONE THING THAT YOU COULDN’T BE WITHOUT? My parents! My mum has always been my rock and without their support, I would not have the opportunities I have today. WHAT ARE SOME FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO YOUR SUCCESS? The amazing team behind me! Nicola, who owns Tommy, and our friend Stacy Kerrison (photographer for Kowhai July) have made going away on the competition circuit so much fun! I love every minute of competing with these girls around. We have formed a very strong team bond and it keeps me driven to continue to improve so we can be successful. I’m also very stubborn and headstrong and 100% determined to achieve the goals I have set myself! WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A GREAT PLACING OR A GREAT SCORE? I’m a big believer in focusing only on what you can control. So since I can’t control who I am competing against or the marks the judges give me, I’m happy so long as I know I have ridden my best and my horse has tried his best. WHO ARE YOUR SPONSORS? I am very lucky to have some amazing sponsors. Duwell Ltd provide feed supplements that keep the horses looking and feeling fabulous! We are also supported by Angela Downs with Bowen therapy, RAZORweb Design, DBR Finance, Cabinet World, Crayon Concepts, Transport Technology, Kowhai July photography and Anything Equestrian. C

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NORTH ISLAND PONY CLUB STAR

Interview | Pony Club

OLIVIA BROOKS PONY CLUB STAR OLIVIA BROOKS ENJOYS GAMES AS HER DISCIPLINE OF CHOICE, ONE WHICH HAS TAKEN HER ALL AROUND NEW ZEALAND AND EVEN TO THE USA! Parents: Rochelle and Lindsay Brooks-Hore National Pairs and Teams competition. It is a whole Siblings: Morgan Brooks-Hore week of games and all Age: 14 of my games friends are there. This year I rode in Pony Club: Puketapu Pony Club Career highlights: Representing New the Open grade for teams Zealand in the Under 17 World Mounted and loved the thrill and Games competition in Florida, USA in pace of the competition!” Olivia has four ponies December 2015. It was an amazing at the moment, two competition and I learnt heaps. games ponies Briar and Friendly faces Concerto, and two Heavily involved in Pony Club and even jumping ponies Misty more so in team competitions, Olivia mostly and Jett; however she enjoys the friends she has made as a member says that she is just so of Pony Club. “The friends I have made and keen on games that she the opportunity to compete against other might need to find new people from other regions is what I love homes for Misty and Jett. the most,” she says. “It’s fun catching up Briar is Olivia’s new games pony, and she with the friends I have made when I go to is a games machine, being three-quarter games competitions. Pony Club is a great thoroughbred and very fast. “Her previous place to learn about riding and different owner was a World Champion games rider, disciplines and it is where I first got into and I am so excited to have her and can’t games! We only had about 10 members wait for next season!” at our branch so when we first trialed for Her other games pony Concerto was lent to a games competition pretty much everyone Olivia from a good friend of hers, and she is from Eskview Pony Club was on the team - also very experienced and great at what she we even made the Zones competition!” does. “There is no mucking around with Con, Some of her best memories of Pony you need to get your vaults with her or she will Club include representing Heretaunga for leave you in the dust! She only worries about mounted games at Northern Zone Games being first across the finish line,” she laughs. last year, being captain of the Puketapu Panthers games team, and winning Zone Team captain 3 Games two years in a row. Not only The Puketapu Panthers were fierce at this interested in the more thrilling side of Pony season’s Zone Games and Olivia was thrilled to Club, Olivia also enjoys the more relaxed captain them to victory in Zone 3. “It was pretty cool to win. We had been practicing together Pony Club rallies like beach rides and treks. since before Christmas, and we also entered as All fun and games a team for Horse of the Year,” she explains. Olivia’s strengths as a rider come from being “We had put a lot of time into getting very determined and enthusiastic about there, we all rode really well with very few mounted games. “I love that it requires a mistakes,” she says proudly. “The competition strong partnership with your pony and that at Zones was tough but we kept it all together the ponies love games as much as their riders and took the win once again. We always have do! They really do watch the start flag!” she a great time when we travel to competitions laughs. “My favourite competition is Horse together and our team are all good friends.” of the Year, where every year they hold the Being captain was an important job for

Olivia and one she took seriously. “You have to keep the team focused, and if a mistake is made in a race you need to keep everyone positive and moving on,” she says. “You have to let the mistake go and get in the zone for the next game. With a team it is really important to be supportive but also to be determined as a captain to ensure your team does the best it can.” Olivia prefers to compete as a team or pair, compared to competing as an individual, as you can laugh and enjoy the sport together. “If one team member isn’t as strong in one game the other team mates can catch the team up. We can support each other and give each other hints and tips on what might work better or make the team stronger.” Olivia’s next goal is to be selected for the next Under 17 World Mounted Games Championship and to travel overseas and compete again. We have no doubt that with her determination, talent and passion she will get there and do New Zealand proud once more. TOP TIPS: Have fun – and be really kind to your pony! C

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FLYING HIGH ON HER TWO GORGEOUS TEAM MATES, ABRIELE’S HOPES ARE TO ONE DAY REPRESENT ALL NEW ZEALAND PONY CLUBS BY BEING SELECTED FOR THE INTER PACIFIC TEAM, ONE OF THE HIGHEST HONOURS FOR ANY PONY CLUBBER! Parents: Karen and Steve Morse Siblings: Kadin and Tayla Age: 16 Pony Club: Otipua Pony Club, working towards my B certificate. Otipua Pony Club Abriele started out when she was given a riding lesson for her ninth birthday. None of her family ride and she nagged them for a long time to be allowed to have a go. “Eventually my parents gave in and hoped that I wouldn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would. Unfortunately for them I loved it,” she laughs. “I went to a little riding school for a while, and soon after that I got my first pony Jake. Jake was the perfect first pony. He was clever and cheeky and he taught me how to stay in a saddle. We lived in town at that stage, and Jake lived down the road with my coach.” Abriele doesn’t have any riding buddies close to home, so she loves being able to get together with her friends at Pony Club rallies. “We all get on well and have a lot of fun together,” she says. “There is always something to learn at Pony Club. Although Otipua is a very small branch, with only a dozen riding members, we are competitive. In 2014 our composite team came 10th at Springston Trophy and last year we were seventh. I have also been in our branch’s team at the South Island Show Jumping Champs for the last three years.” Abriele loves competing in a team and being part of a group with a common goal. “There is a bit of stress caused by not wanting to let your teammates down, but my experiences have all been good. Things don’t always go as planned, but everyone supports each other,” she says proudly. Long-term she would love to make it onto the NZPCA Inter-Pacific team. “Big dreams, but I believe anything is possible if you work hard enough.”

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TOP TIP: Fake it until you make it. I was a bit of a wuss when I started cross-country and my coach told me I had to pretend to be brave so I didn’t worry my pony. Practice something for long enough and it will happen!

Wembleybrook O’Driscoll and Mai Tai Abriele is paired with two fantastic ponies in Wembleybrook O’Driscoll (Drizzle) and her new addition Mai Tai (Maia). Drizzle is a nine-year-old Connemara who she has had for almost four years. “He is only 141.4cm but he doesn’t seem to realise it. He loves to do stuff - he doesn’t care what it is, as long as he gets to do something!” she says. “Drizz is a very competitive pony and a lot of fun to live with. He is bold and smart but careful and he looks after me.” Abriele credits Drizzle as the reason she has been able to enjoy so much success in a variety of disciplines in the last three years. “We have done so much together including eventing, show jumping, dressage, Show Hunter, RTR and pony hunter, Pony Club camp… It’s very rare, regardless of what discipline we are competing in, for us to come home without a placing.” Sadly for Abriele, this will be her last season eventing with Drizzle as she is outgrowing him. She describes her other pony Maia as being a real lady. “I got Maia about eight months ago. Maia is a show jumper and I competed up to Mini Prix on her last season. I have been schooling her in dressage and crosscountry and have now had a few eventing starts with her up to 95cm and I hope to take her to 105cm this season. She is so bold and has taken to it really well. I took her on her first hunt recently and she was great. She’s so calm and confident and honest and I love her.”

compete in ESNZ events as they give her the opportunity to compete against adults on hacks. “I’ve had a few comments about being the little girl on the small grey pony, standing amongst the big guys in mounted prize givings,” she laughs. Prize givings are a familiar scene for the pair, who were most notably placed at the last two South Island Three Day Eventing Championships, and who also last year achieved the highest combined score at the Canterbury Interschool Dressage event. “My first Springston Trophy was a big deal,” she recalls. “It was my first team event and it was very exciting. I have been to three Springston Trophy events, and finished in the top four in my height each year. Last year I finished in second place for my competition height. My trip to NZPCA Eventing Champs in Kihikihi 2014 was a big step up. It was a long trip, but worth it. I made a whoopsie on the cross country course in very wet conditions, but it was a fantastic event to be a part of.” C PHOTO Pip Hume

SOUTH ISLAND PONY CLUB STAR

ABRIELE MORSE

The girl on the little grey pony Never one to let size stop her from achieving her goals, Abriele loves to

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www.prydes.co.nz SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE | 31

Interview | Dressage Debbie competing on Lucrative SW, Reserve Champion Level 8, North Island Dressage Championships and current members of the New Zealand High Performance Accelerator Squad

DEBBIE & PETER BARKE: WHAT I KNOW

In the words of Debbie

It was after midnight at a winter show jumping event in England when I decided to turn to dressage. I had been waiting for ages to ride my jump-off round, and was frozen to the bone. I had a truck full of students and a two hour drive back to the yard, where work was due to start at 6.30 a.m. that morning, and I thought to myself - “This isn’t FUN!” So that was that, pretty much! As a former event rider I had always enjoyed the dressage phase the most - though I have to admit there is nothing like meeting a fence on that perfect stride and feeling a horse jump beneath you (as you can see, the little bit of perfection queen was always there in the jumping!). For Peter, it was breaking his pelvis in 2004 that shifted his focus. After six bedridden weeks in hospital and a long painful recovery, he started to join me at dressage shows. I was doing a fair amount of dressage with Mzungu at the time and we had bred some young horses for the future. It wasn’t long before Peter began to see the attraction - or obsession! – of dressage. I have competed in some pretty amazing places around the world, from representing Kenya in Zimbabwe, to travelling all over the UK, Kenya, Australia and, of course, New Zealand. Peter competed in the UK too, but he says the really cool thing about New Zealand compared to the rest of the world is how accessible competing is to a wide number of people. In many, many parts of the world, it is a rich man’s sport and can be quite elitist. Currently we have built and bred ourselves a team of six competing horses, with two yearlings and three foals in the wings – and two foals in utero as well! We love the breeding side, which is just as well as it is hard work, expensive and can be very tough, but we have the facilities and experience to foal and run young horses and then produce them ourselves, so for us it is a rewarding way of being able to have better-bred horses. Peter and I plan our shows depending on the horses’ needs, and the surfaces and facilities available at shows. We don’t have that many shows that currently count in the eyes of the selectors Regional and Island Championships, Nationals and Horse of the Year. We also have to be mindful of travel distances due to cost and time away from home, as we have an amazing group of friends and family that help out when we are away from the farm, so we don’t want to abuse that! Basically we try to go to the shows we enjoy most and which have the best surfaces for our horses, then try to schedule it so they are not competing too much. Peter and I like to have time after competitions to relax the horses with some hacking days and stretching days, and then ideally have a few days or a week or so to continue their training, perhaps working on the weaknesses that showed up under the pressure of competition - ours and theirs!

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Then there are the young horses that have to get life experience, so they tend to go to the local shows or down to Taupo for their education. The young horses are produced at their own speed, depending on size, maturity and mental capacity. Some are eager to do a bit more and are physically up to it, while others take a little more time. As a broad rule of thumb we back them lightly as two-and-a-half-year-olds, taking a couple of weeks to teach them to lunge and be ridden at walk and trot. Then they go back out for a period of time (usually dictated by our work schedule). The summer that they turn three they get a few more weeks’ work here and there, so they are confident and calm, mostly hacking around the farm. We do very minimal arena work, just teaching them to walk, trot and canter on the correct lead. The winter of their third year, when they are rising four-year-olds, then gets a bit more serious, in that they will be consistently worked for three or four days a week. This still includes a lot of hacking, as we are trying to build strength, co-ordination and fitness. If they are ready and we have space on the truck then they compete as four-year-olds; if not, they are worked at home until they are ready. We really enjoy doing our own young horses, as we know them pretty well and it’s usually a real pleasure to back them and ride them. We no longer take other people’s horses for breaking-in - life is just too short! Long-term, without a doubt we would both love to compete internationally for New Zealand, but closer to home our day-to-day vision involves looking at each horse and trying to map its path to Grand Prix. We do that with our clients too - discuss their goals and try to help map out the plan to get there and beyond. Some progress faster than others, some need different things, but we hope that all of our horses will get to Grand Prix. Maybe for some it will be Prix St Georges, small tour level, but that’s our aim. Alongside that, the horses need to do what they are good at and enjoy, so we do jump them to give them variety - and if they shine as jumpers, they may well end up going jumping! And just because the long-term goal is Grand Prix doesn’t mean we go mad with the young horses; we just follow a system, but the Grand Prix goal is very much the benchmark. There are many great riders that inspire us for many different reasons. Reiner Klimke in his time, and now look at the beautiful way Ingrid produces top class event and dressage horses. Kyra Kirkland has an amazing way of clearly coaching and training horses. Carl Hester is the man of the moment, but how could you not be inspired by such a nice man? He is a grounded gentleman with a great sense of humour, and as a horseman he has produced many, many horses to the top level - and by his own admission, some were not that classy when he got them!

Peter on Partridge Donnamour, competing in Level 4 at Horse of the Year 2016

PHOTOS Pip Hume Photography My advice to other riders is to be a good, honest person to yourself and your horses. Work out the core values of what you would like to be remembered for. Richie McCaw is a great example of that - not only is he an all-time outstanding rugby player, but he would appear to be a genuinely good bloke and a man worth following. Nelson Mandela would be another example. What is success to you? If you think about it, you don’t have to win a class to have a successful day. That’s something I really try to help young riders and riders needing to gain confidence to understand. “Success” comes in many, many forms. There is usually only one winner of a class, but does that mean everyone else in that class was not successful? No! It may have been a goal as simple as remembering your test, not spooking in every movement, a clean set of tempi changes, a good transition, better halts, more power - if you achieve a goal or goals that you have set yourself, that is success. Our sport has to evolve into a product that television can sell to the world, as that is what pays to make the Olympics and world-wide sports happen. Is that good for dressage or not? Well yes, in some ways, but definitely not in others. I think this can cause some of the conflict between “harmony and softness” versus “power and the WOW factor”. Sure, the very best in the world get it right, but sadly many do not and then it becomes unpleasant to watch. Then there is the discussion around the classical ideals on which the sport and rules are based, and what can be seen and rewarded in the competition arena. Our sport is evolving, horses are being bred that dance with breathtaking beauty and this evolution is inevitable, so let’s all keep talking and listening. It will always be difficult to strike the perfect balance of preserving the art of training

horses along correct lines and riding horses in competitions, but all of us, riders and judges alike, are responsible for the welfare of the horses, the art and the sport. I would love to see more people in New Zealand becoming involved with their sport on the administrative or volunteer side of things. We are all busy, but if we all took a little time to help out, it would go a long way towards making dressage a better sport for many, in so many ways. My other fear is that dressage becomes financially out of reach for many people in this country. This ties back into my first point, and creates a bit of a vicious circle. When the horse you love is not perfect but is the horse you enjoy working with, take the challenge to train him to be the best you can be together. Learn his strengths and weaknesses, know your own and make a plan! Some of my greatest achievements have been with horses that were far from perfect. Peter and I are so grateful to have support from the amazing Zilco NZ Ltd, who are also National sponsors of the musical freestyles and accumulator series. With my rug fetish, in need of a rug for every season and three spares per horse, Zilco are dream sponsors! We also ride in Amerigo and Vega saddles, which we love, and Zilco have pretty much every bit of equipment you could need. We have also been sponsored by Dunstan Horse Feeds for at least 10 years. We feel very privileged, as Dunstan have the only equine specific mill in New Zealand and they produce the feed to order, so it is fresh and that has got to be a big nutritional bonus for our team. C

SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE | 33

Interview | Performance Ponies

PHOTO kampic.com

Jack Dever rides Bridie in the FMG Grand Prix Open Pony at the Central Hawke’s Bay A&P Show in 2009

THERE IS NOTHING THAT WAIKAREMOANA TEENAGER MILLY DEVER LOVES MORE THAN HER PONIES. GROWING UP ON A FARM, SHE HAS ALWAYS ENJOYED RIDING ALONG WITH HER TWO OLDER BROTHERS, JACK, 21 AND TOM, 18. ASIDE FROM RIDING SHE GOES ON ALL SORTS OF ADVENTURES, INCLUDING PIG HUNTING WITH JACK AND TOM AT NIGHT! SCHOOL LIFE During the week Milly boards at Iona College in Havelock North, where she is heavily involved in the equestrian team and enjoys competing at the Interschool competitions. “I am very lucky that my parents keep my ponies fit while I am away at school. My dad drives all the way from Waikaremoana to come and pick me up and then we go off to competitions,” Milly says. “I get really excited knowing that Dad is on the way with my pony and we are going to have some fun together.” While she is boarding, Milly is lucky enough to be able to go and ride her friend Anna’s ponies after school. “I am also on the school polo team and I really love it! It has been really fun riding a different horse each week and learning something new.” Not one to sit around doing nothing, Milly

likes to stay super busy, which includes getting out of school in the weekends. When she isn’t competing, she goes hunting with her 74-yearold grandfather with the Hawke’s Bay Hunt Club. “Some weekends I also come back to Wairoa and hunt with the Mahia Hunt Club too with Dad,” she says. “My parents Russell and Margot are my biggest supporters. They come from horsey backgrounds, and Dad shoes and clips my ponies as well as riding them while I am at school! I really couldn’t be without the support of my parents and grandparents!” THE MAIN CHARACTER - BRIDIE Milly’s main pony she competes on is Bridie, or Pinky as she is known at home. Pinky is a 15-year-old part Arab mare. “Having Arab in her can make her a little fiery,” Milly laughs. “She is very bossy and is the matriarch at home here with the other horses. She is highly intelligent and as soon as I go into the ring and go up to the judge’s box to give my name she starts to dance, and then as soon as she hears that bell she means business. Mum always reckons she can tell how Pinky is going to be on the day when she is plaiting her before the class. If Pinky is fidgety and cheeky, Mum then warns me to hold on because she is going to be full of herself!” The family got Pinky when she was seven and Milly recalls the days when Jack was competing

PER FORM ANCE PONIES

her. “Dad would have to ride her all morning on our steep hills and then bring her home, wash her and put her straight on the horse float otherwise she wouldn’t load and would hassle us for ages!” Pinky is full of character and quirks - she hates water and will jump creeks with almighty leaps, which has meant Milly has got really good at holding on, especially in winter time when there is a lot of water around! “I have made her swim in the river to overcome her problem with water and that has slightly helped,” Milly explains. “As she has got older, she has learnt how to sleep at a show and we can have her tied up at the side of the truck and she will be settled. In her early days she would have taken the truck or float for a walk if we had left her there tied up!” The pair have had many ups and downs in their time together. “One of my career highlights was when I got Reserve Champion Working Hunter Pony at Central Hawke’s Bay Show in 2015. One of my most memorable moments, however, was when I was at the same show when I was 11 years old. It was my first season on Pinky and she knew a lot more than me. I was doing the Pony Working Hunter and it all went horribly wrong. Pinky took off on me and I couldn’t stop her. The only way to stop her was all the parents running out in the arena forming a line and waving their arms in the air. Pinky came to a sudden stop and I went flying,” she exclaims.

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Milly Dever riding Bridie in the Pony 1.05m, Hawke’s Bay A&P Show 2015

BRIDIE’S LITTLE BROTHER BRUNO Aside from her adventures with Bridie, Milly also has her younger brother Bruno, who is six years old now. “He can be very fit and dance around a lot as he is only young, but with all this farm riding he is settling down a lot and can handle a lot more now,” she explains. “He is very free moving and can really march along in a good walk, and he’s learning to be a good jumper. Bruno is really friendly and will follow you around the paddock when you are walking past, he is very nosey and will try and walk into the shipping container where we store all the horse feed. He will happily stand in there and get the feed out of any container that he can get the lid off!” Milly has big hopes for Bruno in the future and is looking forward to getting him out and about to the shows when he is ready. She gives both the ponies plenty of variety in their work, including working them on the steep hills for fitness work. “We are very lucky that we have a nice flat paddock to put up our course of show jumps. I also like doing flatwork once I get back from a ride around the farm. After flatwork I usually do a course of jumps which I change around a lot.” The future is looking great for Milly and her ponies, and we wish them all the best for the season ahead. C

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Providing nutrients utilised by the horse to resolve gut ulcers.

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SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE | 35

Interview| Showing

SHOW & TELL

AMANDA FRASER

Leading show rider Amanda Fraser is one of the friendliest faces around the showing circuit. She has every reason to be proud of her achievements, and has had some amazing adventures over the years. WORDS Ashleigh Henwood

PHOTOS Show Circuit Magazine

STEALING THE SHOW

Amanda and Harry pictured after winning Supreme Saddle Hunter of the Year 2015

Amanda’s superstar King of Hearts, known as Harry, started out his life with the Fraser family as her husband Johnny’s hunter. “Harry has a fantastic bold, honest jump but he needed some schooling on the flat. I had lost my pride and joy, Mr. Inquisitive, to a paddock accident so I took over the ride on Harry,” Amanda recalls. “This all happened quite late in the season last year, so by the time we got to Horse of the Year we had only done three shows!” With his huge presence and fabulous canter and gallop, the pair were soon very competitive in the show ring. “I entered Horse of the Year for mileage…and the rest is history!” Amanda and Harry not only took out the 2015 Rising Star Saddle Hunter title, but went on to win Supreme Saddle Hunter of the Year, giving them the invitation to compete at the Australian National Showing Championships in Werribee. Amanda admits to feeling a little crazy taking a horse with limited showing experience to compete in Werribee, but the opportunity to wear the silver fern doesn’t come around very often, so she leapt at the chance. “Harry definitely rose to the occasion and I couldn’t be prouder of how far he has come in such a short time,” she beams. “He was a fabulous horse to take to Aussie - the flying and the new environment didn’t faze him at all. He loved the indoor arena and the atmosphere that was put in front of us. I’m so excited to be riding this lovely big horse, as he has the kindest of temperaments and will give anything a go.” She describes the whole experience as being amazing, with an extremely well-run show and outstanding facilities. “I was grateful that we chose to go a week early to accommodate the horses. We got them into routines and had the opportunity to ride in the indoor prior to show day, which was great preparation,” she says. “It was amazing to watch the best of the best of the Aussie horses and ponies. Their turnout was outstanding, and talking to the people in the different barns about their ways of doing things was very interesting. It really is a true profession over there - not like me riding out of a farmyard! I had to pinch myself and say “Yeeha - we are doing this, Harry! Do you realise you are in Australia?!” When the combination returned from Australia their first show was the New Zealand National Horse and Pony Show, where they were awarded New Zealand National Champion Saddle Hunter, backing up their work they had put in to get to Australia.

SUPREME PRODUCTS...

FOR WHEN PRESENTATION MATTERS

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Amanda and Harry pictured during their workout that saw them finish 3rd in Saddle Hunter of the Year 2016

A ROYAL CONNECTION

SETTING THE BAR

Before Amanda turned her focus to showing, she thrived on the polo field. She only moved into the show ring when she was at university, because she only had time to put work into one horse, not six polo ponies. “I’ve always had the competitive bug so showing was a great option, plus it’s a great way to meet people and see your mates every weekend,” she explains. Her love for polo took her all around the world and eventually led to a job with Prince Charles, grooming at Buckingham Palace. “The coolest place I have ever competed was at Guards Polo Club – that was an amazing experience. Grooming for Prince Charles was very cool and the stables at Buckingham Palace are out of this world. Another great time was competing in Hawaii with Sylvester Stallone! He was a great host and a brilliant polo player,” she reminisces. “I’ve had some huge highlights over the years - travelling all around the world with the polo ponies, fox hunting in Middleburg, Virginia and following the Show Hunter circuit over there. I even won the USA Groom’s Award, which was amazing!”

Aside from her recent achievements with Harry, Amanda has had countless victories in the show ring with the numerous horses she has produced over the years. Point Clear was Reserve Working Hunter and Saddle Hunter at Horse of the Year 2004; My Distraction was Reserve Saddle Hunter at Nationals; and her beautiful Mr. Inquisitive won many Champion and Reserve Champion ribbons throughout his showing career - the highlights being Champion Riding Horse at North Island Premier Show, Reserve Riding Horse at Nationals and being placed in the top six at Horse of the Year for six years in a row. “All of these horses started as novices in the show ring, and I brought them through to the open classes,” Amanda explains. “It is such a thrill to ride something you have started yourself, and qualifying with Harry to compete in Australia was just the icing on the cake.” To add to her accolades in 2015, she also won the Senior Female Sportsperson of the Year at the Central Hawke’s Bay Sports Awards. “It was a huge honour to win and a great recognition to equestrian sport. I have since been presented with an Award of Excellence from our local Mayor for equestrian within our community. I love helping people.” C

AS GOOD AS GOLD

SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE | 37

Special Feature | Wedding

an equestrian

Love Affair THE TALE OF A CHAMPION SHOW HUNTER RIDER AND FORMER MISS UNIVERSE NEW ZEALAND FINALIST MEETING A TALENTED AUSTRALIAN SHOW JUMPER, MARRIAGE AND AN EXCITING FUTURE Rewind a few years to when Stephie was a teenager and had a wonderful jumping horse called Mandella. He was a bit of a handful for Stephie, who describes herself as being a twig back then, so she decided to focus on Show Hunter to hone her skills.“I got hooked and haven’t looked back since,” she says. “As a sport it really reflects my personality. A perfectionist who likes doing things the correct way, and I like things to look pretty! I’m a bit of a scaredy-cat and anything over 1.30m doesn’t look like fun to me, so Show Hunter is perfect!” Currently her team of stars include Disney, Hirondelle (his half sister who Jono has claimed for himself) and new addition Bloom. “I’ve had Disney for six years now and we’ve become an old married couple really. He’s extremely quirky and likes to give me a tune up a few times every season but I still love him to bits.” Disney has royal connections in his bloodline. His dam is called Hino who is the granddaughter of Tira Mink, the sire of Charisma, so it is no surprise that he is not only good looking but an amazing jumper. Bloom is a very exciting young horse Stephie recently acquired from his breeder Claudia Hay, by Euro Sport Heartbreaker. “I can’t wait to get him out to his first shows next season, he is very flash and exciting,” she beams. Stephie has many people around her that she gathers inspiration from for her riding. “I’m lucky to always have Jono on the ground to give me a tune-up if I need it. It’s great to have someone to bounce ideas around that I’ve seen online with. I’m always coming up with new ideas – most of them don’t work but some do! Jono’s mum

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Sue is an amazing dressage coach and I love it when she comes over from Australia to see us. Des Lowe really started my serious riding career and has been hugely influential - and he still is!” Stephie and Jono both come from horsey families. Stephie’s family all ride and Jono’s are super competitive and amazing riders in their own right - his dad Chris, was selected to ride for the Australian show jumping team in the Moscow Olympics and won many championships including the Olympic Cup in New Zealand, and his mum Sue is a Grand Prix dressage rider, so it is easy to see where the talent comes from.

NOT WITHOUT CHALLENGES

One title that Stephie has been chasing for a few years now is the elusive Show Hunter of the Year. “I don’t think Disney, or any horse that I will compete in Show Hunter, as I compete in Amateur Show Hunter too, will win in the current format, which is a real shame,” she says sadly. “Currently the Open title is held on the last day of the Show Hunter competition after all the Junior, Amateur, Equitation and Open championship titles and series classes have finished. By this stage all the true Show Hunter horses are fairly tired, especially with typically terrible ground conditions. Jumpers come in with fresh legs and win it. I’m not sure what the answer is to change it but I think the quality of competition would significantly improve if it did. Nearly everything else is done well. ESNZ Showhunter and the area groups where we attend shows are run by fantastic and passionate people who love the sport as much as I do - we are so thankful for them.”

Outside of the competition ring Stephie has had to overcome tall poppy syndrome, terrible loss and sadness. “Having a very thick skin has been something I’ve had to develop a lot over the years. Tall poppy syndrome is still alive and well! No one likes coming second but you just have to go home, work hard and come out blazing next weekend,” she says. “There was a year where I had just clicked with Disney and Mandella was still competing where I did extremely well. That year was extremely tough as my dad had just died, and I was very vulnerable and got bullied quite badly at the shows for doing well. He died suddenly when I was 18 and he never got to see me win a major title or national championship, which still sticks with me every day. I wish he had got to see me do well - he’s where I got my competitiveness from and I miss him so much. That year was really tough. But it taught me that hard work speaks louder than words, and that if you want to do well you actually have to put the yards in and not make excuses as to why you can’t win. I think being tough on myself has contributed a lot to my success. It’s very rare for me to come out of the ring 100% happy with my ride around every corner and to every fence. There is always something that can be improved and I make sure I never make the same mistake twice. Some say I’m too tough on myself, I say I learn more and quicker!” In addition to losing her dad and rising above bullying, Stephie has to deal with a few health problems on a daily basis. “It can make things a bit tricky, you would definitely sack me if I was a horse!”

SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE | 39

Special Feature | Wedding

A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN

Not surprisingly Stephie and Jono met at a horse show – Horse of the Year 2012. “Jono came over to ride for New Zealand Performance Horses and was staying with friends of mine,” she recalls. “We got along like a house on fire and then somehow Jono managed to miss his flight home. No-one believed us that it wasn’t on purpose!” Not one to waste time, she flew to Australia the following week and they haven’t been apart since. It is easy to see how much Stephie adores her husband. Other than being the best show groom ever, he’s her support system, truck driver, very-naughty-horse rider, in-house comedian, sous chef, horse breaker, coach, biggest fan, toughest critic and her best friend all in one. “Things are much more fun when we do them together,” she says. Juggling family life and horses comes naturally to the newly-wed’s close family. “We all ride! Mum and her partner hunt during the winter, Jono show jumps and my sister Meg competes in Show Hunter as well. It is actually the thing we all have in common. My English and Dutch nonhorsey grandparents have had to learn to love them over the years!” Outside of horses Stephie manages events and works in PR, as she loves styling, being creative and using those talents and passion in her work.

WEDDING BELLS

The happy couple were married on 22nd January 2016 at a beautiful spot in Queenstown called Jack’s Point. “I was down there for work in February last year and by chance met a fellow stylist and event planner and she told me about it. It worked out perfectly as we had lots of overseas guests and Queenstown is perfect for tourists. It’s our favourite place and now we have even more fond memories there,” she smiles. “We went to Wanaka for three days afterwards to relax but we are hopefully heading off to the United States and Canada for a month or two next winter for a proper honeymoon.” Stephie says married life has been exactly the same as before, just with a lot less money in their bank account - but plenty of fond memories that are worth every cent. There’s no rest ahead for the pair, however, as they have some big adventures planned for the coming year. “We are looking forward to our big trip next year - the honeymoon. We did three months in Europe in 2014 which was incredible, and we have been getting the travel fever back again recently! We can’t wait to see what the future brings for Stephie and Jono, and wish them all the best in their coming ventures. C

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Better RIDING Learn something new or refresh an old technique with advice from our leading trainers in this issue

Top Show Hunter rider Charelle Marshall works with young rider Eden Hall as they perfect turning, stride control and position

With the return of Andrew Nicholson to the saddle we thought it would be appropriate to bring you some of this talented man’s training advice

48 Andrea Bank and Sarah Gray work in with other experts of their field for a unique training clinic in the South Island. We were lucky enough to be invited and are able to share some of their knowledge with you

60 Starting with a horse off the track can be daunting, Anna Stephen takes us through Blade’s first jump lesson with rider Karina Valster SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE | 41

Training | Eventing

“No matter what you start with, if the horse wants to do it with you, anything is possible.”

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05 - Tru Care - ShowCircuit.pdf 1 29-Apr-16 12:49:16 PM

Create a thinking

WORDS Kelly McCarthy-Maine PHOTOS Jon Stroud

Our expert:

horse

Eventing legend Andrew Nicholson became ‘Mr Consistency’ in 2014 by winning Burghley for an incredible third time in a row on his charismatic grey gelding, Avebury. A veteran of six Olympic Games, he is based in Wiltshire in the United Kingdom. Andrew has overcome the odds following a crashing fall on the cross-country at Gatcombe last year that almost left him paralysed, and is now back in the saddle. In this clinic, Andrew rode three young up-and-coming stars: fiveyear-old Zachari, five-year-old Ricardo, and Jet Set IV, an eightyear-old gelding competing at Advanced level.

Andrew Nicholson is legendary for his smooth, elegant crosscountry rounds. But how does he train his horses to achieve them? Here he shares some of his favourite exercises with us.

o matter where I am, at home or at a competition, I go through the same warm-up routine with my horses. And I get started straightaway so neither one of us has the chance to get nervous and my horse doesn’t have time to gawp at the flags or a crowd, or get scared of the atmosphere. Here’s the basic plan...

•

Walk for a minute, usually just to get where we are going. I don’t think horses really warm-up in walk. I believe they like to know what is going to happen next. When you establish a routine, you take away some of the surprises. The horse starts to relax into the routine and to trust his rider. Trot. Straightaway I ask the horse to listen to me and to work with me. I ask him to go forward and come back to me, always asking for little changes as I work around

the arena – in this case, around the jumps. There may be scary corners or areas, so he needs to learn to look while still paying attention and listening to his rider. Canter. It’s the same principle as the trot. I move the horse forward and back, around the arena and away from my leg. The canter needs to be active with the hind leg punching up off the ground. Take time to play in canter, allowing it to change and each time finding the new balance, then changing the canter again. MY

CMY

•

SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE | 43

Training | Eventing

things

First first: Setting up the arena

Rider discipline

The tractor will come in to harrow the school and the jumps will get moved around, but I’m not hung up on clearing them away. I find having jumps to work around helps teach the young horses to move away from my leg and gives them something to think about rather than trying to buck me off. When I ask my horses to move sideways to get around a physical object like a jump, they seem to naturally catch on to the theory of leg-yielding.

As a rider, discipline is very important. If you set the boundaries from the start, your horse will be much happier and more settled. When he knows what you want, he’ll find it easy to come and work for you. Be positive and clear with what you want him to do. If you don’t insist on crisp transitions, he won’t learn how to do crisp transitions. It’s up to you to teach him. You’ve got to be disciplined. It’s not “Dear horse, would you like to walk?” It’s “Walk”. Clear. Simple.

Exercise One: Slither, don’t balloon The idea behind jumping small uprights and oxers is to teach your horse to measure up what is in front of him and pop over the jumps. If your horse learns when he is young to jump by picking up his front legs, then picking up his back legs and gliding over the jumps, you will have a much safer and easier time teaching him to jump crosscountry fences. But this exercise still works for older horses. Keep the same, steady canter rhythm as you approach the fence. It is natural that your horse may look, so be prepared to support him with your leg. Turning, jumping and changing direction over little fences will not create big, flashy, powerful jumping efforts, but it will teach your horse safe cross-country technique. These little jumps teach your horse to pop the fence and measure

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up what is in front of him. Young horses and those with lots of natural ability can balloon over fences on the cross-country course. You might think it looks great, but if they jump way up in the air, it makes it a very long way down to the ground – especially if there’s a drop on landing. And it can take you too far into a combination on a related distance or make you overshoot a turn. Horses who over-jump can easily give themselves a fright coming down a drop or into water. When you walk a cross-country course and spot one fence that’s smaller than the others, the chances are it’s small because there is water or a drop on the other side. You’ve got to teach your horse to scale the size of his jump to the question in front of him, no matter how much natural ability or enthusiasm he has for the job.

05 - Tru Care - ShowCircuit.pdf 1 29-Apr-16 12:49:16 PM

TOP tip Keep the jumps small and allow the learning to happen safely.

Still over-jumping

CMY

Learning to step over

Exercise Two: Clock face

Popping over the jumps

In detail:

Set up four upright fences on a large circle. • Use single poles with no ground line. I don’t walk or measure the distances between the uprights for this exercise. The most important thing is to maintain a positive, steady canter rhythm. This exercise helps your horse to learn to sort the stride out for himself, but that results in some awkward moments, at least at the • beginning. The most important thing is to stay committed and keep riding around the circle – don’t stop and start. Keep the jumps small and allow the learning to happen safely. It’s up to you to stay in balance and • focus on the rhythm. The amazing thing is that, with a good rhythm, the stride to each upright becomes easy. This exercise is great to help your horse focus and think for himself.

If your horse picks up the wrong canter lead or becomes disunited, don’t stop and correct him. Just stay focused on the rhythm and keep riding to the next fence. Cantering on the wrong leg or disunited is hard work for him, but so long as you keep the rhythm, he’ll want to correct himself and will have learned from the experience. Cross-poles are more punishing because if you aren’t central, the sloping sides can catch him out. With just one pole there’s less to get tangled up in if you knock it and it’s quicker for your helper to put back up. You can begin this exercise by using poles on the floor – it’s easier that way. But don’t get too confident – as soon as you make them uprights, the test is lots harder! You don’t need to make the fences very big – 70cm is plenty to have an effect.

SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE | 45

Training | Eventing

TOP tip

It’s always easier to turn closer to a fence than it is to ride to a fence in a straight line from a long way away. The turn helps you maintain a good quality canter.

Exercise Three: Changing rein Changing rein over a small fence is hard work for your horse, because he has to keep pushing and adjusting with his hind legs.

Seeing a stride I like to know exactly what stride I’ll be on from at least seven strides out from the jump. That’s when you should make your decision or changes to the rhythm. The rest of the strides leading up to the fence more or less belong to your horse. That might sound impossible, but it’s all about creating a smooth approach. The smoother the approach to the fence, the less chance there is for error. And the more you practise riding in a rhythm, the better you will become at creating the right distance. There’s really no substitute for putting in the homework!

Exercise Four: Upright with guiding V-poles Now that your horse is jumping out of a good rhythm, it’s nice to finish with a slightly larger fence to remind him of his good technique. Your focus is on maintaining the good canter rhythm that you have created.

I use V-poles to give the horse something to focus on at the top of the fence. Zachari jumps in balance, not rushing his fences

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05 - Tru Care - ShowCircuit.pdf 1 29-Apr-16 12:49:16 PM

I jump the planks one way and then the other, changing direction all the time. This certainly tests your balance as a rider!

When he starts to find the planks easy, test him by jumping the plank, an upright and then changing direction over the next plank.

TOP tip Exercises that tire the horses out mentally as well as physically. They sleep better and are much easier to ride the next day! C

CMY

Ride around the corner in an active, short canter and let your horse do the jumping

Exercise Five: Where to next?

Exercise Six: Grid

I like to test my horse’s ability to tune in, listen and look for the next fence. To do this, I set up two upright planks about 80cm high, parallel to the arena wall and about five metres in from the wall. When I ask my horse to turn, he needs to turn straightaway, as there may be a jump or a change of direction coming up. This exercise teaches him to think on his feet.

Many people build grids with the fences getting progressively bigger. I find this can teach horses to rush, so I like the second fence in a grid to be easy and the first distance to be quite short. This helps your horse to condense and organise himself. I use grids to teach quite a specific skill – in this case, condensing and waiting – so don’t labour the point. It shouldn’t take more than four or five trips through the grid for your horse to absorb it. n

SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE | 47

Training | Dressage

Don’t use competing to improve your training, use competing to measure your level of training.

A FOUNDATION FOR SUCCESS PHOTOS & WORDS Pip Hume

FRIENDS ANDREA BANK AND SARAH GRAY CAME THROUGH THE DRESSAGE RANKS IN NEW ZEALAND BEFORE MAKING THE HUGE COMMITMENT TO TRAIN IN EUROPE. THE PAIR ARE NOW PASSIONATE ABOUT SHARING THE KNOWLEDGE THEY HAVE ACCUMULATED OVERSEAS WITH RIDERS IN THIS COUNTRY. Initially, Andrea travelled to Germany each winter to train, then furthered her competitive career back here during the summer months, amassing New Zealand titles and representing New Zealand on four occasions. However in 2013 she felt the time was right to relocate to Germany with her talented stallion Doringcourt, aiming to compete successfully in Europe. With partner Brett Davey, Andrea is currently based in Abbendorf, Germany with renowned German trainer Jonny Hilberath, who coached Germany to team silver at the London Olympics in 2012. She travels back to New Zealand several times a year, conducting clinics and training individual riders. Sarah spent eighteen months at the barn of Hubertus Hufendiek as a working pupil, followed by a year as a professional rider in the dressage team at the Holsteiner Verband, preparing the dressage horses for competition/sale and working with the young stallions for their licensing exams. Last year she returned to Germany for six

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weeks, training at Hof Bettenrode with Grand Prix rider Philipp Hess. Sarah runs her own graphic design studio Snaffle Design as well as a boutique dressage training program at Silver Linings Complete Equine in North Canterbury. With the idea of running a master class to disseminate knowledge to a broader base than is possible in individual lessons, Andrea and Sarah saw the opportunity to involve other equestrian professionals in order to encompass more than just the ridden work. Dressage can be a tough sport at the best of times, and it’s a huge responsibility to take on the physical and mental development of a horse. The Europeans take this very seriously, which is why they’re so successful, and Andrea and Sarah have both seen how important it is to have a strong network and support system where riders and professionals create successful partnerships. “The impact of being able to ride and train in Europe cannot be

underestimated,” explained Andrea, “but more than that, there is so much expertise available over there around the other factors that contribute to success – the importance of the scale of training as the basis for developing a physically sound and confident horse, and the attention to all aspects of the well-being of the horse. We want to encourage riders here to pay attention to those facets as well as the ridden work, in order to develop a more holistic approach to the training process. “Because of New Zealand’s small population, competition success is largely viewed in terms of placings. It would be great if riders here were instead to set goals based on percentages. In Germany, there might be up to 90 competitors in a M (Level 5) class so we wouldn’t be going out unless we were focused on high percentages through having the basics correct. Don’t use competing to improve your training, use competing to measure your level of training.”

THE PRELIM HORSE In the first ridden section of the master class the two guest riders, Linda Cocks and Nikki van Groen, were riding relatively green horses at the start of their dressage careers. Andrea started with an explanation of the first three building blocks of the dressage training scale – rhythm, suppleness and contact. Initially, the atmosphere was difficult for both horses and riders, and the tension was evident. Andrea encouraged the riders to concentrate on relaxation, asking them to sit quietly to encourage the horses to “let go” and become more “through” and softer over the back. “When the horse is tense, he doesn’t let you into his back. Once he relaxes, you have a place to sit,” she explained. With each horse establishing working trot, Andrea worked with the riders on contact, asking them to be even through both reins. “Encourage the communication between horse and rider. Think of using just your hand, not your whole arm. It’s like squeezing the water out of a sponge, so that you are moving the bit over the tongue. Pulling back on the inside rein is a common problem – as the horse starts to develop more confidence he won’t rely on the inside hand.” As the horses moved through circles and leg yield in trot, the audience was able to see them

starting to find a nice rhythm, moving with more energy, purpose and confidence. Their breathing became more audible, and Andrea urged the riders to pay attention to this. “This rhythmic breathing and snorting shows that the horse isn’t holding tension in the body,” she commented. Andrea continued to encourage the riders to give - to soften hands and keep legs on, while using their core to discourage the horse from becoming longer. An exercise for the riders was to ride alternate sitting and rising trot on the circle. “Riders tend to not do enough sitting trot. It’s not comfortable, so they avoid it, but it’s so important that they push themselves to develop the sitting trot, and this is a good exercise for that,” Andrea said. At first, neither horse managed a good transition into canter. Andrea stressed the importance of all transitions, and asked the riders to tap the whip in rhythm with the trot to encourage the horses to pick up their hind legs. Once cantering, she wanted the horses to travel purposefully around the arena. Andrea also urged the audience to pay attention to the improvement evident in each horse’s trot after the canter work, saying that the canter work always improves the trot.

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Training | Dressage

THE ELEMENTARY HORSE The first guest rider for this segment was Rhiannon Horridge riding her mare Hannah. Rhiannon has been achieving reasonable scores competing at Elementary level, and was looking for ways to improve these further. To help Rhiannon (and the audience) understand how she could achieve better scores, Anthea Dixon provided commentary during the lesson. Anthea is a List 5 dressage judge and New Zealand Paralympic representative rider, who has trained and competed extensively internationally. Anthea’s commentary explained what judges were looking for during a test. As the coach, Andrea’s initial impression of Hannah was a soft and willing mare, and she thought that with more confidence and purpose in the movements and gaits, a satisfying improvement should be relatively easy for Rhiannon to attain. Anthea commented that she would score Hannah’s medium walk at a 6.5-7, explaining that the walk showed good purpose, but to score over 7 would require that the walk show more energy – more of a marching pace – while remaining consistent and regular.

The trot work showed a nice connection, but to achieve marks in the region of 7.5-8 would again need to show more energy, and Anthea commented that Hannah tended to lose impulsion slightly. With Andrea asking Rhiannon to ride forward more positively, Rhiannon was able to encourage Hannah to engage more and lift through the wither.

Working on alternating medium paces with more collection in both trot and canter resulted in an evident improvement in the quality of both paces. “This is a great trot. She’s starting to open up through the shoulder a little more and you can see the cadence starting to come – I would score this at an 8,” commented Anthea.

THE MEDIUM HORSE Sarah Gray has achieved competitive success at Level 4 with her mare Lexas NZ, and has been training at Level 5. Andrea explained that Lexi is a super talented and sensitive (but not always easy) mare, who is now physically ready to take the next steps towards collection. After warming up, Sarah and Lexi started the training session with lateral work – leg yield, shoulder-in and half-pass. Commenting that Lexi was a little quarters-in, Andrea asked Sarah to work on the quarter line: shoulderin - straighten - half-pass. This is an effective exercise for straightening the horse. The zigzag movement: half-pass left - shoulderin - half-pass right encouraged Lexi to release at the base of the neck and become softer over the back. She then progressed to working on a straightforward zigzag (half-pass left – straighten – half-pass right). Andrea commented that Lexi struggles to let go through the right side, so when the mare didn’t stay released in the neck in the half-pass Sarah returned to shoulder-in. As a result of this gymnastic work, Lexi started to produce some very high quality trot, leading Anthea to comment positively on the adjustability and responsiveness she showed. “She’s very tuned in; very receptive and responsive,” she said. Sarah then demonstrated the first few half steps through walk – piaffe – walk, with Andrea explaining that “They really have to want to do this. There has to be enough tension to take the steps forward, but with the horse not stressed.” Bev Uttridge and her seven-year-old mare Katja competed successfully at Level 3 last season and are currently training towards the movements required for Levels 4 and 5.

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The goal here was to show some development in the canter pace, encouraging Katja to remain forward and through in both counter canter and the collected canter. Again, Andrea used the medium canter – collected canter – medium canter transitions to build the energy and then take it through into the collection. “Remember that collection is hard work, so she needs plenty of opportunities to stretch and release,” she cautioned Bev. Through the counter canter, Bev worked on maintaining the correct flexion, checking that tension in her inside hand was not acting as a handbrake. Andrea commented that counter canter must be ridden exactly the same as true canter, with a little shoulder-fore, saying that too much inside rein shuts the horse down. When Katja put in an unrequested flying change, Andrea asked Bev to simply restart the canter. “It’s not a problem at all,” she told Bev. “She’s been working on flying changes, so it’s to be expected that she might make a mistake. Just restart.” Through this work, it was possible for the audience to see Katja become more responsive to the leg, more engaged and really lift up in front. • Ride from the seat, not the hands. Work on maintaining the connection throughout the whole training session or dressage test. • The inside hand can be a handbrake and cause the horse to shut down. • Sit quietly and think forward. • When developing cadence, take the hands up, not back.

LIVING ANATOMY OF THE HORSE Nicolett Geldermann

German-qualified Equine Physiotherapist (DIPO) Nicolett Geldermann’s wealth of knowledge encompasses not only a large number of physical therapies, but also, with a Diploma in Horse Breeding, Training and Care, she is uniquely qualified to discuss the importance of working our horses through the training scale to encourage correct movement and muscle development as well as preventing injury.

TAKEAWAY MESSAGES “The Rider Forms the Horse” – Function & Development of the Muscles of the Riding Horse by Udo Burger and Otto Zietzschmann – read it! When we experience problems with our horses, whether under saddle or on the ground, there are three possibilities we can look at: • The horse doesn’t understand what is required. • The horse is not capable, either mentally or physically, of doing what is required. • It hurts the horse. The horse’s back is designed for locomotion rather than for weight carrying. A hollow back compresses the spinal processes. Strong abdominal muscles enable the back to lift, separating the spinal processes. Correct training takes time, knowledge and management. The foundation training should take two to three years, with an emphasis on stretching and relaxation to build the correct musculature. Support the muscular system with massage and other physical therapies to maintain flexibility.

THE DENTAL VET Marieke van den Enden

Marieke runs a veterinary practice in Canterbury focusing on equine dental health and surgery called “The Dental Vet”. Her skills include advanced treatment options for gum disease, pulps (root canals) and minimally invasive extractions. She is passionate about educating horse owners about dental pathology and challenging the thought that dentistry revolves around grinding down sharp teeth. She is the New Zealand representative for ‘Equine Dental Vets’, an international organisation that provides veterinary info to horse owners through online content and clinics such as this master class. Marieke grew up in the south of the Netherlands, and graduated as a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine at Utrecht University before moving to New Zealand in 2009. Since then she has gained MANZCVS, a veterinary qualification in equine dentistry which takes a minimum of 4 years before exams are sat. Marieke explained that many problems relating to bitting and the bridle are subtle and hidden, and can only be uncovered by a full dental examination. However riders can take the first steps in the process to ensure that the bridle and bit fit correctly and are comfortable for the horse. Do a complete assessment of your horse • Check the head shape and size. • Look for any lumps or bumps. • Check for marks, cuts and bruises • Flip the lip from the front and side and look at the shape of the lips, how much space there is between the roof of the mouth and the tongue, whether the bars of the mouth are sharp or blunt, wide or narrow. • Assess the condition of the bit. • Check for wear and any rough or sharp parts. • Ensure hygiene – make sure the bit is clean. • There should be ¼ to ½ an inch on each side of the bit.

Wrinkles at the corners of the mouth are not an accurate indicator of where the bit sits in the mouth – flip the lip and have a look to ensure it is not touching any unerupted teeth and that there is enough room between the tongue and the palate to accommodate the thickness of the bit.

TAKEAWAY MESSAGES Horses’ teeth do not continue to grow as they age, however they do continue to erupt. Because the structures of the horse’s mouth change over time, the thickess of the bit that will fit comfortably changes over time. Remember to check that your bit still fits!

SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE | 51

Training | Dressage

We need to work in harmony with the horse to improve performance,”

HORSE & RIDER PHYSIO Sophie Hargreaves

Sophie Hargreaves was brought up with horses and has been involved in many equestrian disciplines. She graduated as a human physiotherapist from Otago in 1990 and then went to the UK to train as a horse physiotherapist. Since then she has undertaken on-going training in a variety of physiotherapeutic techniques and philosophies and works in private practice as an ACC registered physical therapist, treating a variety of sports injuries and chronic pain as well as having an involvement with occupational health. She has always enjoyed movement analysis and treating riders. Since attending Equipilates training in 2014 in the UK with Lindsay Wilcox-Reid, Sophie focuses on rider positioning and Pilates-based exercises to improve symmetry, flexibility, core stability and breathing awareness. Sophie explained that the rider has a huge influence on the horse, which we often forget, with riders tending to concentrate on their horses’ fitness and physical requirements ahead of their own. “We need to work in harmony with the

horse to improve performance,” she said, adding that we are all physically different, and what we do when on our horses’ backs mirrors what we do when off our horses. An explanation of Sophie’s A, B, C of riding provided the starting point for her approach to assisting riders: A Awareness Alignment B Breathing Balance C Centering Coordination Core A number of exercises focusing on body awareness and symmetry gave the audience a chance to participate and assess how their own body awareness and alignment, balance, symmetry, coordination and flexibility may be affecting their riding. Tools were introduced that riders can use were also introduced - the Swiss ball and the rocking stool for improving balance, stability and core strength, and the Visualise jacket, which features coloured strips to make any asymmetry more readily apparent.

TAKEAWAY MESSAGES •

•

When asking the horse to bend around your inside leg, make sure the bend is through the horse’s body, not just the neck. Judges often see too much bend through the neck. The walk should show looseness, swing and suppleness. In the free walk the ears should be below the level of the withers and the horse should show a good over-track. Go right into the corners of the arena to give yourself those extra strides to prepare for transitions. Also use the

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• • • • •

corners to get the horse more through. Don’t be afraid to ask for more energy and go outside your comfort zone. The collected trot is just as active as the working / medium trot, but the steps are shorter. When asking the horse to come back to your seat, check that she stays in front of the leg. Judges are looking at the quality of the training first, and arena craft second. Don’t always work on the outside track. Ride up the centre line or the quarter line

• •

so your horse does not use the outside track for security. Make sure you have some weight in your hands – there should be a positive connection. Work in collected canter is like weight lifting for your horse – don’t ask too much at one time before you let the horse stretch to allow the muscles to recover. The horse should be able to stretch out and down in walk, trot and canter. Trust the horse! C

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Training | Show Hunter

Show Hunter PUTTING FLATWORK FIRST

CHARELLE MARSHALL

EDEN HALL

Based in Rotorua Show Hunter competitor Charelle Marshall has been a fixture on the national circuit since she was 15 and just moving onto hacks. Since 1999 she has been a regular in the prize line ups for Equitation, Classics, Championships, Series Leaderboards & Title Classes on at least one of her mounts. Training with Jill Ullrich since the age of 10, Charelle has not only become one of the top competitors on the National Show Hunter circuit, but is a National level Judge, the Bay of Plenty Area Delegate on the ESNZ Show Hunter Committee, a Course Designer and a respected trainer.

13-year-old Eden Hall rides her pony Rosie for this lesson. She is currently a member of .... Pony Club and has started to compete in ESNZ Show Hunter. Her goal is for her and Rosie to qualify for Horse of the Year this coming season. For this lesson their aim is to work hard on their flatwork to prepare them well for the jumping. They have been having some problems getting the striding rift between the jumps which is a very important part of Show Hunter so perfecting their flatwork is going to help with this and make the jumping much better, setting them up for success when they enter the show ring.

LESSON OBJECTIVES This lesson had a big focus on perfecting position, technique and the basic way of going on the flat before looking at jumping anything. Charelle really values her time spent on the flat and feels it makes a huge difference when she comes to jump. She also emphasises that there are many exercises, some of which are outlined in this article, that can prepare you for jumping without having to actually jump a lot of fences, which ultimately is far better for your horse in the long run!

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FIRST IMPRESSIONS Charelle asks Eden to ride out using the whole arena in rising trot, and she stands back to watch Eden’s usual warm-up before getting into teaching. “First I like to see how they normally ride and how they normally sit on a horse,” she explains, as that way she can see what improvements need to be made and what the pair do well together. In this case, Charelle immediately notices that Rosie can be a little lazy and Eden tends to nag at her a bit to keep her going, which can make a dull horse even more dull over time as they just stop listening to the aids altogether. “Ask her forward to walk,” Charelle tells her. “See how she really died there? You asked her to walk and she fell into it. Next time I want you to go forward to walk again and then forward to trot again, and I want you to keep a little bit more leg on. You don’t want her to drop behind your leg because her whole body goes out behind her when she does.” It is important for Eden to keep Rosie in front of her leg, and trot the hind legs under into her walk transition - that way she will continue to use her hind leg, stay off the forehand and remain active into the walk. Charelle tells her to always be disciplined in the downward transitions. “Take care of your transition and then take a break. Never get into the habit where you flop into a transition and take a break straight away!” Charelle has a helpful analogy for Eden to think about when she is riding through transitions. “It would be like if Mum was driving the car and she just turned the car off and then on again. So you’re in walk, then when you trot, it’s like you’re turning her engine back on again. Keep the engine running and just slow it down.” Charelle likes to use lots of transitions in the warm-up

TRANSITIONS ARE YOUR FRIEND Charelle explains that she likes to use lots of walk-trot transitions when she is warming her horses up, because then she can start schooling them straight away without it being stressful for them. “We are finding out about how she is with your leg today, before we get cantering and before we start jumping jumps,” she says.

KEEP MARCHING ON Next, Charelle asks Eden to change the rein by doing a little half circle to the inside and then going forward into trot straight away. “When you come back from trot into walk you can see she still wants to fall into the walk and stop a bit, but you are making her keep going and keeping her in front of you and now that is coming into a better trot. When she goes to walk, I want her to really march forward, like she is going somewhere really exciting and she wants to get there,” she says to Eden.

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Training | Show Hunter

PERFECT YOUR POSITION Now Charelle turns her focus to Eden’s basic position and challenges her to think about keeping her pony going well and riding effectively while working on her own position. “Now as we continue to work on her, I want to start working on you as well. What I have noticed is that there is a gap between your thigh and your saddle, so think about squeezing your thigh into your saddle to keep your position a little neater as you go and do your transitions. It is a fairly minor problem when your lower leg is so great,” she encourages. Even though it is minor it is still important in Show Hunter to be as perfect as possible, so these things are all good to work on. “I want you to use your calf and your thigh together to make her go. So now you are going to carry on with those walk-trot transitions while keeping your thigh closed as well.” Next she asks Eden to focus on what her leg is doing, and how it feels when she has it in the correct position and then releases it back to how it naturally wants to sit. “Can you feel right now what your leg is doing? As you ride up it’s not flapping anymore. Now relax your thigh and let it go wobbly, but suddenly it feels hard to relax, doesn’t it? Relax it now and see if you can feel all that movement that you used to have through your leg and knee. Now tighten up your thigh again. There you go, much better.” Now that they have fixed her leg position, Charelle turns her attention to Eden’s arm position. “Your arms want to be like an ‘L’ shape, where your elbow makes them into an ‘L’. Now can you feel how nice and straight the line is from your elbow, to your hand, to your horse’s mouth? It is lovely and straight now, and do you feel her start to soften as well? She will appreciate your hands being there,” Charelle says. Rosie is naturally a very straight pony, so Eden must work hard on creating bend

Charelle shows how riding with a closed thigh can affect her position

STRAIGHTNESS AND BEND Charelle then asks Eden to ride a three loop serpentine through the arena. Rosie naturally travels very straight which is great, as it is often something riders have to work really hard on correcting, and straightness really needs to come before everything else on the training scale. “Now we are going to add some bend to her straightness. You will feel that when she goes around the corner she’s a little stiff and she isn’t bending quite well enough. She kind of throws herself through the corner,” Charelle points out.

LEG YIELD ON A CIRCLE A good exercise to increase bend and suppleness is to do some leg yields on a circle. “As you are trotting on the big circle now, I want you to use your inside leg to push her tummy out while keeping that nice contact, and quietly squeeze on the inside rein to get her to look in the right direction. That doesn’t mean pulling on the inside rein, but just politely ask her to look around. It is just like a little sponge; ask her head to the inside. Now you are going to add some smaller circles into the big one. Through those little circles you are going to ask her to bend her body by pushing her tummy out.” As Eden starts this exercise, Charelle’s sharp eye notices a common problem. “Your circle started beautifully and then about halfway around she started to fall in because your legs got tired from pushing her out. You come to the corner and she falls around the corner so she is just laying on your inside leg.” This seems like a simple exercise, but lots of people forget that this is really important in the jumping and they don’t focus on it so much. “When you are jumping this is super important. If you are wanting to be a Show Hunter so you need to get better at this,” she says. “If you jump down a line of jumps and then do a bad corner, how are you going to get to the next jump? It’s going to be really tricky and you probably aren’t going to get a good flying change.” She reminds Eden that her focus when she rides circles is to get them perfect and a nice, even shape throughout. “I want you to ride a nice circle then ride nice and straight away down the long side before you circle again. Show Hunter is about two things - being able to have that nice circle but still being able to go straight.”

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Training | Show Hunter

OUTSIDE REIN TO TURN

Relying on the inside rein causes Rosie to run out When Eden changes the rein to work on through the shoulder the other side of Rosie’s body, Charelle finds that she encounters the opposite problem. Most horses have a good rein and a notso-good rein, so it isn’t too surprising that Rosie is the same in this instance. “So there she did the opposite, she found it really hard and then tried a new thing to avoid the exercise and drifted out. That is when you use your outside leg just to catch her. I turn with both my outside leg and my outside rein set on their side. Don’t rely just on the inside rein because that is what happens,” she says. Never rely on just your inside rein to turn, as it is the outside rein that turns the horse and the inside rein is just used for bend and flexion. If you only rely on your inside rein then you open yourself up to letting the horse drift through the outside shoulder and become crooked.

RHYTHM Rosie has a lovely rhythm - she just trots along and doesn’t get faster or slower. “Rhythm is the most important thing for Show Hunter other than the jumping technique,” Charelle says. If your horse isn’t so good at maintaining rhythm, he might rush and argue a bit or drop behind the leg all the time. Be sure to focus on this when you are schooling your horse, both on the flat and over jumps.

TOP TIP: If Rosie falls behind your leg, don’t be afraid to use your whip. I would rather see someone use their whip once and get a reaction than kick, kick, kick and nag their horse.

Practising your jumping position on the flat is a great way to improve muscle memory

When Eden uses her outside rein to turn, the canter remains balanced

PERFECTING A SECURE JUMP POSITION Before Eden even looks at a jump, Charelle asks her to work on her jumping position on the flat. She reminds Eden that when she is riding in two-point and jumping over fences, she has to make sure that her lower leg doesn’t go too far backwards. “If you go into your jump position but your leg slips back from your knee, it makes you a little weak through that position. If your lower leg has dropped backwards, then what part of your body is holding you on your pony? You end up gripping with your knee,” she explains. “When you are ready, go into your jump position in trot and focus on keeping that lower leg forward.” Charelle commends Eden on her naturally beautiful upper body position. “It is something that is very hard to teach so well done!”

TRAINING MUSCLE MEMORY It is important to train your position correctly because every time you ride, you are training muscle memory, meaning that it becomes second nature and you are not having to think about it at all. “By training your jumping position on the flat, you are training muscle memory without having to jump a whole lot of fences,” Charelle explains. “You don’t want to be jumping your horse over lots of fences every day so this is a fantastic exercise.” Doing this at rising trot means you can practise it every day. “If you practise this for even a minute every day, pretty soon your body is going to get really strong and it is going to develop muscle memory which will make your job super easy.”

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With the flatwork behind them, Rosie and Eden make light work of the jumping lines

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CANTER ON

JUMPING TIME!

When you are warming up and schooling on the flat, always think about whether the canter is good enough to achieve the required amount of strides that you would need on course. Rhythm is huge in Show Hunter and without it you are unlikely to end up in the ribbons at the end of the day. Rosie has a great natural canter rhythm so Eden doesn’t have to try and fix anything; she just needs to focus on riding her well. “Now we are going to go into canter, and from that take her big canter step forward as if you would to jump. It isn’t a fast canter, it’s just a longer step. That’s what we want for all of the canter work today. From that we are going to add in some turns like we did in trot.” Again Rosie struggles a bit with bend and suppleness, so the aim in this exercise is to work on that, just as they did in the trot work.

Now that they have done all this good flatwork, Charelle explains to Eden that they aren’t going to need to have to do a whole lot to warm-up over jumps. “Many people will warm-up over one jump, but I like to start down a line first. That way I can canter down the line, count the strides and that will tell me straight away if I am on the right rhythm or not. Rosie is already quite tired from her flatwork so we don’t want to waste lots of energy warming up over a single fence on the wrong rhythm. We might as well get it all right.” They applied the principles from the flatwork to the jumping, using three fences on a half circle and focusing on using the new outside aids - the outside rein to turn. Their hard work resulted in a picture perfect couple who could jump around the full track with flow, rhythm and balance! C

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Training | Off the Track

INTRODUCTION

Karina Valster has had Blade for around a month, so it’s still early days for this new partnership. She has been taking her time with him, letting him adjust to his new lifestyle as a sport horse. “He’s quite a cruisey horse,” she says. “He was with (owner/trainer) Kirsty Lawrence, so he’s had more education than a lot of off-the-track Thoroughbreds. As a youngster he was shown inhand and did very well for her.” Blade is by Guillotine and was lightly raced under the racing name Laquiante. He has had one outing since Karina has owned him. “I took him to a jumping day at Te Marua, just for a look around really.” This is Blade’s first formal jumping session. Karina is an experienced rider and has produced a number of Thoroughbreds off the track. She has trained with Anna Stephen at Otawa Equestrian for a number of years, so they know each other well. The objective of today’s lesson is to evaluate Blade’s potential for jumping - his attitude and his work ethic - and to look at what training strategies will suit him moving forward. Ultimately, Karina would like to event him at Training or Pre-Novice level. “He’s only just got shoes on and he will need time to strengthen and develop, so we’ll give him about 20 minutes or half an hour with plenty of walk breaks, just to see what he can do and how he reacts,” explains Anna. “We don’t want to stress him physically or mentally at this stage.”

ABOUT ANNA

Karina rides her circles and corners with an open rein

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Anna Stephen, 34, is a full-time equestrian based near Carterton, in the centre of the Wairarapa. She discovered her passion for horses at an early age, and takes great pleasure in producing wellschooled happy young horses, primarily for show jumping. In 2013, she set up Otawa Equestrian where she teaches most days and accepts a limited number of horses for schooling and sale. In 1999, Anna won the five-year-old Horse of the Year title, backing it up by winning the six-yearold title the following year on her home-produced thoroughbred mare, Misconception, who is now happily retired after several years as the foundation broodmare for a select breeding program that has already produced some talented young horses. Highlights of Anna’s career include the Nationwide Trophy for the most points in show jumping at the Horse of the Year show in 1999 and 2015, winning the Speed Horse of the Year in 2004 with Dealer LS, placing 4th in the Lady Rider of the Year in 2000 with Classic County and 6th with Justaboy in 2005. She was a member of the New Zealand Young Rider Squad in 1999 and a member of the New Zealand Senior Team to South Korea in 2011. In total, Anna has produced eight horses from youngsters through to Grand Prix, three of which she has gone on to compete with at World Cup or Premier League level. She is most known for her highly-competitive partnership with top horse Constantine, a 15.2hh off-the-track giveaway who due to his large personality, only cost the price of the transporter home. With Constantine, Anna has won the seven-year-old Series, placed 2nd in the New Zealand Grand Prix Series, and won the National Derby and the Speed Horse of the Year title, along with many other Grand Prix wins and placings.

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WITH ANNA STEPHEN PIP HUME SITS IN ON THE FIRST FORMAL JUMPING SESSION FOR BLADE, A FOURYEAR-OLD THOROUGHBRED RECENTLY RETIRED FROM THE RACETRACK.

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The session starts with a look around the arena for Blade

THE LESSON

The lesson starts with a walk around the arena for he doesn’t fall out through the shoulder. “I’m very fussy about straightness – keeping Blade, so that he can have a good look at everything, loosen up and relax in a new enviroment. the horse squarely underneath you on circles and Once he picks up the trot, Anna wants to see him corners – because once you start riding courses travelling straight and it’s critical to setting up your in a nice purposeful Anna explains. “I’M VERY FUSSY ABOUT lines,” Blade looks comfortable in rhythm. She stresses STRAIGHTNESS – KEEPING trot, so Anna asks Karina to to Karina that it’s pick up the canter. Again, important to have him THE HORSE SQUARELY forward and in front of she wants Blade travelling UNDERNEATH YOU ON the leg, supporting him freely into an even, light around the turns with CIRCLES AND CORNERS – contact. She wants Karina to let him find his own balance. an open inside rein, “He’s too weak at the and not worrying about BECAUSE ONCE YOU START moment to hold a frame for his head carriage or RIDING COURSES IT’S whether he is on the bit. more than a stride or two,” CRITICAL TO SETTING UP she points out. With Blade Blade remains very calm maintaining a good YOUR LINES” forward trot in a nice and settled in canter, so some contact, Anna asks for some 20-metre circles large circles are added in the corners of the arena in the corners. She reminds Karina to open her as the very beginning stages of encouraging him inside rein to encourage Blade to bend, and to to engage the hindquarters more, before allowing support him with her legs and outside rein so that him to travel straight along the side of the arena.

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Training | Off the Track

JUMPING

The next step is for Blade to work another short walk break. At this over three poles on the ground. stage Blade has been trotting The objective is to let Blade have happily over the obstacles. Anna a look at these and work out how would like to see how he canters to step between them, with Karina over a jump, so she uses a three allowing him to stretch forward stride combination set at an 11ft and down, encouraging him to use distance. his neck and shoulders. “He won’t really be travelling at Anna feels that three poles are canter after the first jump, and we enough of a question for a young don’t want to have to chase him horse to handle. She has them set at to make the distance or encourage a fairly short distance to make it easy him to run at the jump and end for him, and to encourage him to up with a flat jump,” she explains. stay in his rhythm without rushing. “We want to teach him to get to Blade remains relaxed and the base of the fence on a rhythm confident, and is happy to walk without losing any relaxation.” and then trot through the poles, The combination is working on the same principles straightforward and poses no as before – a forward, straight, problems, with Blade trotting and rhythmic trot, accurate corner, then cantering through, so they and relaxation through his neck move on to a more testing oneand shoulders as he trots over the stride double. poles. Karina works on keeping After a crooked approach, him straight and staying relaxed, Blade baulks at the double before with an even contact that follows running out at the second element. his mouth as he stretches down “It’s not a biggie. At this early over the poles. stage, it’s easy for these things to Karina then pops Blade through happen,“ Anna tells Karina. “He a deconstructed cross-bar, with wasn’t straight and he took the the poles on the ground between easy way out. Just trot through the jump stands. again and Anna puts up the “IT’S VERY IMPORTANT make sure he rails and Blade and THAT YOU MAINTAIN isthatstraight, is happy to trot you keep over the small THAT SOFT CONTACT the same even obstacle. and GOING INTO THE JUMP contact Karina’s job stay relaxed and AND DON’T DROP IT” committed to the here is to ride accurately second fence.” through the corner without letting Anna also steps into the second Blade fall out through his shoulder, element, just to ‘close the door’ and to ride him straight over the jump, make it easier for Karina. Karina and to maintain a soft, even has a much smoother ride with contact at the base of the jump a straighter approach, and Blade and through landing. jumps through both elements. “It’s very important that you Trotting through the combination maintain that soft contact going a couple of times increases Blade’s into the jump and don’t drop it,” confidence and when asked says Anna. to canter, he goes through the Because Blade has remained combination easily. totally happy and relaxed and is There are just a couple more showing no signs of being spooky obstacles for Blade to have a look or unsettled, after another short at. A narrow stile with a half barrel walk break, fillers are introduced. filler, and a wall painted in a red The oxer has a small spread, with brick pattern pose no problems, but painted tyres as fillers placed Blade’s first error of the day happens alongside the jump stands (away when he takes off too early at the from the centre of the crossed final fence - a rail with a blue plastic rails). It’s a busy jump to look at, filler - and knocks it behind. Anna but Anna says that because the and Karina are both pleased that centre of the oxer is clear it poses he does not overreact or become no problems for young horses. worried by the rail and comes Anna explains to Karina that she back around to jump it cleanly and needs to focus on straightness confidently a couple more times. going into the jump and on Finally, Anna works out a simple, maintaining the quality of the trot, flowing course with no traps. rather than speed. Blade has seen all of the jumps and Again, Blade jumps competently is confident with them, and the and without problems two or pair make easy work of jumping three times, and is rewarded by around it.

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Showing confidence over the poles in trot

By taking things slow, Blade’s first look at the oxer is not an issue

Nearing the end of the lesson, Blade is growing in confidence

Karina gives Blade a lot of praise

Blade makes light work of the short course

OVERVIEW • • • • • • • •

Concentrate on straightness and rhythm. Let the horse travel. Lots of walk breaks of 20-30 seconds to provide a mental release. Keep sessions short and sweet – 20 minutes is plenty for a young horse. Lots of praise – whenever Blade makes an effort, he gets a pat to let him know he has done well. Encourage him forward with a tongue click – that can be invaluable. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Horses are not machines. It only has to be good enough. Don’t worry if your horse makes a mistake. Mistakes are how we learn.

VERDICT

Blade is a very nice young horse with a lovely attitude. He progressed further in the session than many young horses would have, as he stayed relaxed and coped easily with the questions presented to him. Had there been an issue then we would have made the obstacle easier, by lowering the fence, or adding guide rails, and finished when he had successfully cleared the obstacle in a relaxed confident fashion a couple of times. Some young horses can only cope with a few single fences to start with, while others, like Blade, take to jumping easily. At this stage, it’s all about teaching the horse that jumping is easy and not something to get worked up about, otherwise you create hot, stressed horses that get difficult to ride and lose their technique over the fences. C

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“I have witnessed an amazing transformation after using the Hanley Formula on a yearling colt. When ‘Sid’ arrived at our place in early December, he was severely underweight and had a huge worm burden. I immediately wormed him and started him on the Hanley Formula. Six weeks later, he is a totally different horse... glossy coat, bright eyes, fat over his ribs, a great topline and now he spends a lot of time playing in his paddock because he feels so well. We also ended up having to rear an orphan foal at around the same time as ‘Sid’ arrived, so I started the foal on the Hanley Formula and again the results were amazing. You would never pick the foal to be an orphan he is at the same height and weight that I would expect a foal on its own mother to be. I am totally sold on the Hanley Formula, and am now using it on all our young horses. I would recommend the Hanley Formula to anyone with horses it’s a fabulous product.” Anna Miles, Pear Tree Farm. Horse Agistment

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the Hanley Formula on a yearling colt. When 'Sid' arrived at our place in early December, he was severely underweight and had a huge worm burden. I immediately wormed him and started Tested by the Human Nutrition Laboratory at Massey Universityhim on the Hanley Formula. Six weeks later, he is a totally different horse... glossy coat, bright eyes, fat over his ribs, a great topline - and now he spends a lot of time playing in his paddock because he feels so well.

0800 HANLEY (0800 426 539) www.hanley.co.nz SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE | 63

Retail | Winter Necessities

EQUILINE CINDY WOMEN’S COMPETITION SHIRT

Price: $250.00 From: Stirrups Equestrian, 6 Railway Street, Newmarket, Auckland. www.stirrupsnz.com or 09 523 2563

CRESCENDO HOLBROOK RAIN COMBO AND STABLE RUG

Price: Rain Combo $280.00 Stable Rug $149.00 From: Stirrups Equestrian, 6 Railway Street, Newmarket, Auckland. www.stirrupsnz.com or 09 523 2563

ARIAT TERRACE JACKET

Price: $184.90. From: Horsesports Saddlery, 2/84 Spartan Rd, Takanini, Auckland. www.horsesports.co.nz

64 | SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE

Winter necessities 4

HIS AND HERS - PATRICIA AND VICTOR SOFTSHELL JACKETS FROM KINGSLAND Price: $324.50 - $345.50. From: AMS Saddlery. P: 09 298 7094 www.amssaddlery.co.nz E: sales@amssaddlery.co.nz

HORSEWARE RAMBO WALLABY

Price: $429.00 includes neck rug & removable 200g liner. From: www.horsefit.co.nz Contact: 09 216 3665 info@horsefit.co.nz

HORSETECH BLIZZARD CHAPS & GLOVES

Price: Chaps $49.99 - Gloves $24.99 From: Saddlery Warehouse stores or visit www.saddlerywarehouse.co.nz

SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE | 65

Retail | Winter Necessities

CHAMPION AINTREE UNISEX JACKET Price: RRP $199.95 From: Nicholson Imports nicholsonimports@xtra.co.nz or 027 490 5245

COZY STABLE RUG FROM ZILCO

Price: $184.90 From: Your local Zilco stockist or www.zilco.co.nz

THOMAS COOK DELORAINE BOOTS

Price:$59.99 From: Saddlery Warehouse stores or visit www.saddlerywarehouse.co.nz

RAMBO GRAND PRIX COMPETITION SHEET

Price: $128.00 From: South Canterbury Saddlery, 300 Hilton Highway, Washdyke, Timaru 7910. P: 03 688 2555. www.scsaddlery.co.nz E: sales@scsaddlery.co.nz

KINGSLAND CARLOS UNISEX RAIN JACKET

Price: $469.50 From: AMS Saddlery www.amssaddlery.co.nz E: sales@amssaddlery.co.nz ph: 09 298 7094

DUBLIN STELLA JACKET

Price: $149.99 From: Your local Dublin stockist. Visit www.dublinclothing.co.nz

66 | SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE

BREED TO SUCCEED

FOUNDATION Fidertanz - De Vito - Andiamo

STONEYLEA FARM NEW ZEALAND

Orders need to be in by July 31st

Europe’s most outstanding performance stallions through conception method... frozen AI

VILANCIO Vitalis - Lancet - Rubinstein I

LISSARO VAN DE HELLE Lissabon - Matcho - Garibaldi II

TAILORMADE TOP GEAR Totilas - Don Frederico - Sandro Hit

ACTION BLUE Action Breaker - Chacco-Blue - Landor S

CLINTONS HEART Clinton - Heartbreaker - Grandeur

BUCKINGHAM Bordeaux - Rousseau - Renville

DANCIER De Niro - Lancier - Espri

LIVALDON Vivaldi - Donnerhall - Eiger II

QUATERHALL Quaterback - Donnerhall - Walt Disney

GREY FLANELL Gribaldi - Clavecimbel - Ferro

NZ Agents for IHB go to stoneyleafarm.co.nz to view stallions list. Stoneylea Farm NZ agents for IHB.

To discuss your breeding requirements please contact Angela Smith phone 09 2353996 or 021499734 or email : inquires@stoneyleafarm.co.nz

Photo Essay | Showing

“THE ROYAL EASTER SHOW IS DELIGHTED TO DONATE $1400 TO THE CATWALK TRUST. THIS DONATION HAS REPLACED THE RAS EQUESTRIAN LEVY.”

68 | SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE

PHOTOS

Show Circuit Magazine and

Pip Hume

Shenae Mackenzie - CS SHELAZOTTI, Champion Park Hack

Regent Park - VIXEN ROUGE RP, Champion Adult Sporthorse and Supreme Led Horse, pictured with judge Vicki Matheson

Ella Hansen - BEECHCROFT MARTINI, Champion Pony over 138cm & not exceeding 148cm

Chris McKechnie - HALLMARK, Champion Senior Rider

Dorothy Lennard - GLENTULLOCK, Sue Yearbury Memorial Winner, pictured with judges Andrew Matheson, Lorri Mansell, Cyril Yearbury (sponsor), Gail Iskra and Vicki Matheson; Champion Saddle Hunter

Colin Hicks - KARDI TOP GEAR, Champion Harness Horse

Vanessa Everton - LADY’S HONOUR RP, Champion Hack, winner of the 1990 Perpetual Trophy for mares under saddle and Supreme Champion Open Horse of the Show

12. Renee Rushton - DC MYTEEE ATLAS, Champion Broken Colour

Bellamy Lodge - WAIMAI SENSATION, Champion Senior Welsh, led by Tegan Macnab, pictured with judge Gail Iskra

Anne Watts - BJK CASHMERE, 5th in the Sue Yearbury Memorial

14. Ellie Robinson - WINDVALE FARAYAH, Champion Purebred Arabian Mare and Supreme Champion Purebred Arabian, pictured with judge Gail Iskra

12 13

10. Michelle Fleming - DOUGIE MAGUIRE, Reserve Champion Senior Standardbred 11. Julia Murch - LIBERTY CURRITO, winner of Rider on the flat – 17 years & under in the Kaimanawa section 13. Chloe Chipperfield - KS B-WITCHED, Reserve Champion Leading Rein Pony

SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE | 69

Photo Essay | Showing

3 1.

Trey Cadwallader - EASTDALE DIVA, Champion Pony 128cm & under, winner of the New Zealand-bred pony 148cm & under and Supreme Champion Open Pony of the Show

Caitlin Officer - TIROHANGA KIWI COCKTAIL, Champion Saddle Hunter Pony

Jessie Bennett - RUNE HOLLOW INDIAN DOLL, winner of the Unity Class for riders 10 years & under, with judges Gail Iskra, Lorri Mansell, Andrew and Vicki Matheson

Carolyn Wratt - KS LIBERTY, Champion Junior Sporthorse

Anne Hjorth - SAVILE ROW, Reserve Champion Adult Sporthorse, led by Peter Hill

Chloe Van Den Boorn - MIRROR BELLA MOLLY, Champion Hunter

Brooke Cadwallader - LEEARA PARK FIRST EDITION, Champion First Ridden Pony

Nicole Roberts - VANILEES BLING BLING, Champion Newcomer Saddle Hunter

70 | SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE

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Donnerubin is a double cross of the strongly inheritable Donnerhall bloodline crossed with Rubinstein – closely related to Damon Hill’s bloodlines. These bloodlines have proven for years now to be the most successful bloodlines in the top international dressage horses . Donnerubin is highly fertile making breeding a breeze. That highly inheritable Donnerhall gene has resulted in many of Donnerubin’s progeny winning Champion in hand titles nationwide and now under saddle in showing, dressage and eventing. National stars of 2015-16 - Donneregal Reserve HOYS L1 Dressage Champion and Donnerbella 5th. Fernlea Diamond Day Sth Is L1 Dressage Champion and MFS L2 SI series champ. Aschwood Acapella 4th HOYS Rising Star Champ. Donnerubin himself turning 10yrs in Nov 16, is about to debut at Grand Prix level Dressage - making him the first stallion in NZ’s history to go from a foal to GP with one rider, let alone one who had never before him ridden above Level 5 dressage! What a testament to his trainable nature, temperament and movement!

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Rohdinger is by Rohdiamant (Rubinstein), who is sire of some of the worlds top dressage horses including Glocks Romanov and dam sire of Glocks Voice with Edward Gal and Hans Peter Minderhoud. As if that isn’t impressive enough, Rohdinger’s damlines are almost all state or Verband premium classified mares. Rohdinger himself has the most beautiful nature. Despite being a busy breeding stallion he is out competing successfully in the upper levels. This is the best testament to his highly trainable nature and temperament, especially at such a young age. He is also highly fertile so decreases mare owner costs with high success rates in pregnancy off the first dose. His progeny are fabulous moving, share his stunning head and conformation. He has progeny his beautiful nature and are true international FEI dressage prospects. Rohdinger’s young progeny are now out winning championships in-hand showing, none are under saddle yet, they have fantastic movement and Rohdingers cheeky willing nature - making him extremely popular.

Service Fee: $1200 + GST + Collecton Costs

Includes Live Foal Guarantee. AI nationwide. 10% discount for return mares or owners and multiple mares. Or $400 per dose Frozen Semen stored at Equibreed, freight costs apply if not inseminated at Equibreed.

VIDEOS OF BOTH STALLIONS ON YOU TUBE & IMAGES OF PROGENY ON THE STALLION’S FACEBOOK PAGES

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Feilding, New Zealand. • Contact: Jacinda Younger • Mobile (027) 220 4257 Email: jacindayounger@xtra.co.nz - www.donnerubin.co.nz

EACH STALLION HAS THEIR OWN REGULARLY UPDATED FACEBOOK PAGE - SEARCH THEIR NAME

Photo Essay | Showing

7 1.

Jason Green - GALAXY SUMMER STORM, Champion Youngstock Hack, pictured with judge Lorri Mansell

Carolyn Wratt - AMAETHON VANQUISH, 2nd in the Sue Yearbury Memorial and Champion Paced & Mannered Horse of the Show

Jennifer Edmunds - BALLINAMORE, Champion Senior Standardbred

Liam Murphy - WINDERMERE STEP N OUT, Reserve Champion Pony 128cm & under

Madison Schollum - AMADOR, Reserve Champion Newcomer Riding Horse and Reserve Champion Riding Horse

Tayla Mirabito - CAVALLINI TAYLAMADE, Reserve Champion Junior Sporthorse

Ashley Konig - SIENNA BELLA, Champion Newcomer Riding Horse

Top Class Equestrian - KS HONEY BOO BOO, Reserve Champion Senior Derivative or Anglo Arabian, Champion Junior Led Riding Pony and Supreme Champion Led Pony, led by Ben Thomson

Brooke Bennett - TIROHANGA TOUCH WOOD, winners of the Unity Class for riders 11-13 years, pictured with judges Andrew Matheson, Gail Iskra, Vicki Matheson and Lorri Mansell

72 | SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE

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Photo Essay | Showing

4 1.

Amy Sage - MAXWELLTON TUESDAY TREASURE, Reserve Champion Pony over 138cm & not exceeding 148cm and winner of the Unity Class for riders 14-16 years

Leigh Taylor - WOLF WHISTLE, Champion Side Saddle, pictured with judge Andrew Matheson

Amy Chamberlin - LLANDOVER FRANCESCA, Reserve Champion Senior Led Pony

Sian Sinclair - JUMPING JACK FLASH, Champion Ridden Standardbred

Kelly Sheely - DA VINCI, Captain Charles Ross Cholmondeley-Smith Salver winner and Champion Newcomer Hack, pictured with Mary Sheely

Paris Masterson - KS ROSE D’OR, Champion Junior/Intermediate Rider

Renee Kelly - ARMANI CODE, Champion Standardbred 5 years and under, led by Alessandra McFarlane

Coroview Stud - COROVIEW MASTER OF ARTS, Reserve Champion Junior Led Riding Pony

Chloe Roach - LINDEN FINE ART, Champion Newcomer Pony and Billie Roach - LINDEN SUMMER RHAPSODY, Reserve Champion Newcomer Pony, pictured with judge Gail Iskra

74 | SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE

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NZ Warmblood Association Inc A SUCCESFUL CLASSIFICATION TOUR On Saturday 5th March, the 2016 New Zealand Warmblood Classification kicked off in Karaka, Auckland. The tour proceeded to travel to Hawkes Bay, Taupo and Rotorua, Palmerston North, Wellington, Nelson and finished in Christchurch the following Sunday. Gerd Kust was our Assessor, freshly imported from Germany, and his exceptionally trained eye was greatly appreciated. Each horse was carefully assessed on conformation and movement in all three gaits. A detailed report was then completed and provided to the owners for their records. There was also time for some great discussions on the evolution of the warmblood horse in New Zealand, and how breeding is changing internationally. Gerd himself has trained and ridden to a high level, and comes from a family dedicated to warmblood breeding. As well as being a fully qualified Assessor, Gerd currently has some exceptional horses that he has bred competing successfully in Europe. It was wonderful to see a range of New Zealand warmbloods and their owners and breeders across our tour. Some exceptional horses were presented who scored highly and were compared to European examples which was very gratifying for our members.

RESULTS OF THE TOUR: 1

Highest Scoring Horse of the Tour – WISEMAN (Whisper x Luxor), Jody Hartstone (Raglan) Awarded a rug from kind sponsors Fanfaire Rugs n Covers – www.rugsncovers.co.nz

2 Champion Warmblood Stallion – ASTEK QUARTERMASTER (Quarterback x Fleur Di Mimosa), Sue Fowler (Nelson) 3 Champion Warmblood Mare – ROSARI SAKANA (Sir Donnerhall x The Serenader), Catherine Smith (Rakaia) 4 Champion Warmblood Gelding – LINDT (Lingh x Sugar Babe), Bronwyn Paul (Waitoa) 5 Champion Warmblood Pony – PRIMA BELLA (Davidoff x Canningvale Bonny Kate), Amanda Lyons (Tauranga) 1 Champion Warmblood Foal – WISEMAN (Whisper x Luxor), Jody Hartstone (Raglan) 3 Champion Warmblood Youngstock – QUENDRIX (Quarterhall x Rosari Sakana), Catherine Smith (Rakaia) 7 Champion Warmblood Derivative – DONNERVINCI (Donnerhall x Storm), Aveael Webb (Waiuku)

New Zealand Warmbloods are out there!

“Moving into the future New Zealand Warmbloods” Champions re of the tour we red kindly sponso ssage by Walton Dre eders and Stables – bre quality producers of orses warmblood h

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Photo Essay | Warmbloods

North Island Warmblood Championship Show 1

78 | SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE

2 PHOTOS Pip Hume Photography 1.

Shenae Mackenzie - DEBFORD, New Zealand Warmblood Association Supreme Champion Led Warmblood Horse

Belinda Caminada - ASTEK QUATAR, New Zealand Warmblood Association Supreme Ridden Warmblood Horse

Sean Bignell - MEL LOVELACE, Reserve Champion Junior Filly

Amy McKenna - DONNERCLASS KS

Belinda Caminada - VOLLRATH LIAISON

SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE | 79

Photo Essay | Warmbloods

PHOTOS Pip Hume Photography 1.

Ben Thomson / Sandhill Performance Ponies - SANDHILL PHOENIX, Supreme Champion Led Warmblood Pony

Lexi Nolan - BENMORE ALPHA, Reserve Champion Led Senior Pony

Isabella Chatfield - AD DENNACHE, Reserve Champion Open Ridden and Champion Senior Led Pony

Shenae Mackenzie - CS SHELAZOTTI, Champion Open Ridden

Ben Thomson / Sandhill Performance Ponies - SANDHILL TOUCHSTONE, Reserve Champion Junior Warmblood Pony

80 | SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE

BREED TO SUCCEED

DANCIANO Dancier - Rotspon - Wolkenstein II

STONEYLEA FARM NEW ZEALAND

Orders need to be in by July 31st

Europe’s most outstanding performance stallions through conception method... frozen AI

FLORISCOUNT Florencio - Donnerhall - Walldorf

QUANTENSPRUNG Quando-Quando - Donnerhall - Lauries Crusador xx

DON INDEX Don Crusader - Wolkentanz I - Salvano

BORDEAUX United - Gribaldi - Donnerhall

FURSTENBALL Furst Heinrich - Donnerhall - Classiker v. Calypso II

STAKKATO Spartan - Pygmalion - Goldstern

TOTILAS Gribaldi - Glendale - Akteur

DE NIRO Donnerhall - Akzent II - Wiesenbaum xx

BRETTON WOODS Johnson - De Niro - Romancier

DAIRADO Diamant de Semily - Corrado I - Contender

BALOU DU ROUET Baloubet du Rouet - Continue - Domino

NZ Agents for IHB go to stoneyleafarm.co.nz to view stallions list. Stoneylea Farm NZ agents for IHB.

To discuss your breeding requirements please contact Angela Smith phone 09 2353996 or 021499734 or email : inquires@stoneyleafarm.co.nz

Photo Essay | Show Jumping

AUDI NORTH ISLAND SHOW JUMPING CHAMPIONSHIPS PHOTOS Cheleken Photography 1.

Mathew Dickey - QUANGO, North Island Excel Premier Grand Prix Champion

Kirsten Worker - MELANIE’S CHOICE, North Island East Coast Performance Horses Five Year Old Champion

Emily Hayward-Morgan - YANDOO LADY GOLD, winner of the North Island Telford Junior Rider, sponsored by Woodview Construction and the North Island 1.35m Champion, sponsored by Virbac

Christine Cornege - VAREKAI SL, 2nd in the North Island 1.35m Championship class, sponsored by Virbac

Kate Hewlett - CAPATINO GNZ, North Island Caledonian Amateur Rider winner, sponsored by Oceanbridge

Briar Burnett-Grant - FIBER FRESH VEROANA, North Island ESNZ Seven Year Old Champion

Olivia Dalton - SIMPLY SAMANTHA HH, 2nd in the North Island Country TV Pony Grand Prix

Catherine Cameron - WTF CABELLO, 5th in the North Island Excel Premier Grand Prix

82 | SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE

SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE | 83

Photo Essay | Show Jumping

1 PHOTOS Cheleken Photography

84 | SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE

Charlotte Wear – HAWAI HAKA, 3rd in the North Island Country TV Pony Grand Prix

Georgia Massie - LARINIUM LS, 8th in the Welcome 1.20 University Series

Drew Carson - DOUBLE SHOTT, 5th in the North Island Telford Junior Rider, sponsored by Woodview Construction

Tors Rattray - LAFAYETTE CSNZ, 2nd in the North Island Horse 1.15m Championship, sponsored by Fiber Fresh

Rosie Commons - ATHENA GNZ, 2nd in the Welcome 1.20 University Series and 5th in the North Island ESNZ Seven Year Old Class

Shelley Ross - ONWARD, 2nd in the North Island Let’s Bale Pro Am

Emelia Forsyth - SOLEADO, North Island Country TV Pony Grand Prix winners

Jono Smith - MONTY PYTHON, winner of the Torque Digital Welcome Horse 1.20m

SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE | 85

Photo Essay | Eventing

KIHIKIHI International Horse Trial

86 | SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE

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5 PHOTOS Cheleken Photography & *Show Circuit Magazine 1.

Katharine Van Tuyl - DOUBLE J SUNSHINE, winners of the Waipa Home of Champions CIC3*

Megan Finlayson - GREENSLEEVES, 3rd in the AON CIC2*

Jeffrey Amon - JA CANDY GIRL, in the Prestige Equestrian Ltd CIC1*

Samantha Felton - RICKER RIDGE PICO BOO, winner of the AON CIC2*

Andrew Daines - SPRING PANORAMA, 5th in the Waipa Home of Champions CIC3*

SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE | 87

Photo Essay | Eventing

4* PHOTOS Cheleken Photography & *Show Circuit Magazine

88 | SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE

Abbey Thompson - ROCKIN IT, 5th in the Horselands CIC1*

Nick Brooks - VERSACE C, 8th in the AON CIC2*

Amanda Pottinger - JUST KIDDING, 4th in the Waipa Home of Champions CIC3*

Mary Matthews - HE’S A GEM, 7th in the CNC105 Amateur

Will Moffett - MUSTANG’S EDITION, in the Wade Equine Coaches CNC1*

Dannie Lodder - EON, winners of the Horselands CIC1*

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Photo Essay | Eventing

PHOTOS Cheleken Photography & *Show Circuit Magazine 1.

Winner and place getters in the PEL CNC105, 21 years and under from left: Jordie Watson - MEERSBROOK VIVA LA VIDA (5th), Vicky Browne-Cole - SECRET SENSATION (4th), Alex Chambers-Steward - MANUKA MEILEKKE (3rd), Elise Power CHOCOLATE LIQUEUR (2nd), and Abigail Long - MY TOM TOM (1st)

Karla Jamieson - WESTAMOUR, winner of the Wade Equine Coaches CNC1*

Aleisha Collett - MI FOCUS, 4th in the AON CIC2*

Elsa Wrathall - VINCITORE, 3rd in the CNC105 Amateur

Shannon Galloway - DAY WALKER, 2nd in the CNC105 Amateur

4* 5*

90 | SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE

Photo Essay | Eventing

1* 2*

3* PHOTOS Cheleken Photography & *Show Circuit Magazine 1.

Brooke Campbell - REALIGN, in the BetaVet CNC105

Jane Callaghan - WEITI WEST END, 5th in the CNC105 for 5 & 6 Year Old Horses

Abby Lawrence - DJANGO, 3rd in the CNC105 for 5 & 6 Year Old Horses

Kylee McCambridge - CHICAGO, winners of the BetaVet CNC105

Donna Edwards-Smith - MR HOKEY POKEY, 3rd in the Waipa Home of Champions CIC3*

Alex Anderson - GINA VT BLOEMENHOF, 4th in the Horselands CIC1*

92 | SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE

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Photo Essay | Show Jumping

HARRISON LANE JUMPING SPECTACULAR

6 7

94 | SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE

PHOTOS Show Circuit Magazine 1.

India Causebrook - QUINN, in the Hanley Formula Horse 1-1.05m

Vicki Ridley - MOSAIC II, winner of the Vet Post 1.10-1.15m Horse

Karen Riddle - LC UNFORGETTABLE, 4th in the Hanley Formula Horse 1-1.05m

Chloe Van den Boorn - MIRRABELLA MOLLY, winners of the Hanley Formula 1-1.05m Horse

Catherine Cameron - WTF CABELLO, in the Manfredi Horse Grand Prix

Greta van den Brink - SILVER LADY, in the 1.20-1.25m Horse

Sarah West - SHOWTYM CRUISER, in the Max Life Pony Grand Prix

10. Briar Burnett-Grant - MISS CASSINEI MS, 2nd in the Virbac 1-1.05m Horse

Olivia Dalton - SIMPLY SAMANTHA HH, winners of the Max Life Pony Grand Prix

11. Danielle Maurer - YALAMBI’S GUCCI GAL, winner of the 90-1m Horse

Liz Welch - COCO SHELL NELL, in the 1.201.25m Horse

12. Sheena Ross - QUIZ GNZ, in the 1.201.25m Horse

10 11

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www.harrisonlane.co.nz SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE | 95

Photo Essay | Show Jumping

Amy Barrack - GALAXY LUMINOSITY, in the Vet Post 1.10-1.15m Horse

Glen Beal - SACRAMENTO, 5th in the 1.30-1.35m Horse

Christine Cornege - VAREKAI SL, in the Manfredi Horse Grand Prix

Danielle Mills - BARNEY, in the Hanley Formula 1-1.05m Horse

Briar Burnett-Grant - FIBER FRESH CASALLITA, in the 1.20-1.25m Horse

Danielle Maurer - SUPERNOVA NZPH, 3rd in the 1.20-1.25m Horse

Natasha Brooks - KAPATTACK, winner of the Manfredi Horse Grand Prix

Zhana Gage - OOMOO, in the 1-1.05m Horse

Carissa McCall - ESTEBAN MVNZ, 6th in the Manfredi Horse Grand Prix

10. Megan Schischka - HOLLYWOOD WANNABE, winner of the Cheleken Equestrian 1.10-1-1.15m Horse

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5 4

Tess Clark - SINATRA II, 2nd in the 1.301.35m Horse

Maddy Marshall - MUTAIRE OL, in the Cheleken Equestrian 1.10-1-1.15m Horse

Karen Riddle - LC FUNNY LASS, winner of the 1.20-1.25m Horse

Rachel Malcolm - HENTON EXCALIBER, in the Manfredi Horse Grand Prix

Laura Inkster - STRATHCARRON ZAURAK, in the 1.30-1.35m Horse

Kalani Nicol - STARLIGHT IRON KNIGHT, in the Maxlife Pony Grand Prix

Samantha Morrison - FRANGIPANNE DE TOXANDRIA, winner of the Trudy Boyce Real Estate 1.20-1.25m

Emma Watson - FUN HOUSE, winner of the Westbury Stud 1.10-1.15m Pony

Samantha Maguire - STARLIGHT DAYTONA & STARLIGHT DEMETER, winner and 6th in the Virbac 1-1.05m Horse

10. John Cottle - LT ELOQUENCE, 6th in the 1.30-1.35m Horse

SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE | 97

Photo Essay | Social Circuit

SOCIALCIRCUIT It was sun, show jumping and style at the Karaka Spectacular run by Jaime Campbell and Travis Morgan at the van den Brinks’ stunning property overlooking the Manukau Harbour.

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Photo Essay | Pony Club

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PHOTOS Pip Hume Photography 1. 2.

Lucy Cochrane - INSPECTOR GADGET (Canterbury), winner of the MT Championship Aiden Viviers - GISELLE II (Wairarapa Wellington), winner of the A1 Championship 3.

Sophie Ware - HALLMARK COMMAND, winner of the Equissage NZPC 95 4.

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SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE | 103

Photo Essay | Pony Club

PHOTOS Pip Hume Photography 1.

Colleen Ware - ROSTOV (Manawatu-West Coast), competing in the MT Championship 2.

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Samantha Maguire - STARLIGHT DAYTONA (Franklin Thames Valley), 2nd DC Championship Beth Wilson - ALTO ET AUDAX (Franklin Thames Valley), winner of the DC Championship

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Photo Essay | Pony Club

PHOTOS Pip Hume Photography 1. 2. 3.

Will Moffett - MUSTANG’S EDITION (Hawke’s Bay), 3rd A1 Championship

Ashleigh Butler - DOUBLE FLASHBACK (Northland), competing in the MT Championship Murray Steel, Franklin Thames Valley Team Manager with the NZPCA Team Dressage Trophy 4.

Dianne Wallace - VELASQEZ, winner of the Equissage NZPC 80

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DREAM TEAM VICTORY FOR MARLBOROUGH-NELSON-WEST COAST WORDS Pip Hume The competition at the Pryde’s EasiFeed & PGG Wrightson NZPCA Eventing Championships held at Eyreton in North Canterbury kept the large crowd of onlookers and supporters spellbound throughout the three days of competition. Franklin-Thames Valley took out the team championship last year, and were well placed after a strong start in the dressage phase, with riders in this year’s team leading the A1 class, lying first and third in the DC section and in second place in the MT championship. However, it was a different story after the XC phase. Course designer Robbie McLean provided plenty of questions to test the riders, with the course featuring spreads and oxers suited to big, bold jumping along with technical combinations and skinnies requiring that riders “ride the lines”. The beautifully constructed water complex was particularly well utilised, with the upper level classes passing through the water twice. However while some riders found it a little daunting when they walked the course, this complex didn’t cause too many issues. An unfortunate fall during her XC warm-up led to the withdrawal of A1 overnight leader Zephania Steele (Javari JS), while bold, accurate riding took Wairarapa-Wellington rider Aiden Viviers into the lead, with Todd Magner (MNWC) in second

place, Will Moffett (Hawkes Bay) third and Brody Goodman-Preddle (Waitemata-Rodney) fourth. With Rebecca Wardle riding Sponge Bob in the lead in the DC section, and Kirk Magner (Marsden Magic) and Gretchen Anderson (Tallyho Cleopatra) lying second and third in the MT, the MarlboroughNelson-West Coast team moved into the lead, ahead of Canterbury and Waitemata-Rodney, with Franklin-Thames Valley dropping into fourth place. The show jumping on the final day tends to be a test of nerve as much as jumping, and this year was no different. In the A1 championship the three leaders all retained their composure to jump clear, finishing on their dressage scores, with Brody Goodman-Preddle, who had been in fourth place, collecting faults and slipping to fifth behind Brittany Tilson, riding Painted Rose for Hawke’s Bay. In the DC Championship, a rail down saw Rebecca Wardle on Sponge Bob (MNWC) drop to third, with the lead passing to Beth Wilson and Alto et Audax. Samantha Maguire riding Starlight Daytona (Franklin-Thames Valley) finished in second place on their dressage score. The place getters in the MT Championship all finished on their dressage scores. Lucy Cochrane (Canterbury) led throughout, with Kirk Magner (MNWC) in second place and Gretchen Anderson (MNWC) finishing third.

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GLISTENING

WATERS JUMPING

CHAMPIONSHIP ESNZ SJ & SH FINAL

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PHOTOS kampic.com 1.

Emily Hayward-Morgan - AP NINJA, winner of the Premier League Series Grand Final and 2nd in the Horse Grand Prix Final

Jo Andrews - KIWI RIDGE in the Horse 1.10m

Sophie Scott - BENROSE PLAYTIME, 3rd in the JLT Pony Welcome Stakes 1.15m and 3rd in the Country TV Pony Premier League Grand Final

Helen Kippen - VELOCITY NZPH, 6th in the Nano-Clear 7 Year Old Grand Final

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Photo Essay | Show Jumping

PHOTOS kampic.com 1.

Steffi Whittaker - MOONLIGHT GLOW, 2nd in the Country TV Pony Premier League Grand Final

Tracy Mason - WP STELLA, 4th in the East Coast Performance Horses 5 Year Old Series Grand Final

Bernard Denton - HORSESPORTS SEQUELL in the Mitavite 6 Year Old Grand Final

Harry Feast - DOUBLE J BOUNCER, 2nd in the NanoClear 7 Year Old Grand Final and 4th in the Copthorne Solway Park Horse Welcome Stakes 1.30m

Simon Wilson - MCMILLANS MIDWAY SMOOTH DUDE, 6th in the Equissage Horse Grand Prix Final

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Photo Essay | Show Jumping

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Photo Essay | Show Jumping

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Chloe Hansen - KIWI MOTTO, winner of the Let’s Bale Pro-Am Rider Series Grand Final

Rohan Tennekoon - MANGAKARAA CARBON COPY, 6th in the Country TV Pony Premier League Grand Final

Oliver Edgecombe - EQUADOR MW, 2nd in the East Coast Performance Horses 5 Year Old Series Grand Final

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SHOW JUMPING

Point of View

©Kimi Knight

Dominique Visini 20-year-old Dominique is successful both on and off horses, with a Bachelor of Business Studies in Marketing having led her to a fulltime career in that industry. Despite her busy working life, she still manages to fit in her true passion - show jumping aboard her gorgeous grey Don Perignon II (Dan). She has competed up to 1.25m and is currently focused on competing in the Young Rider series, and moving up to Grand Prix in the future.

WRAPPING UP FOR WINTER Well, we’re all falling into our winter routines now with the light fading and the cold returning. Horses are getting turned out or clipped, and riders are preparing for the winter circuit or heading overseas. Several young riders have already crossed the ditch to Australia and are proving their worth with some great results on borrowed horses. And thus we all bide our time until the next season starts!

SEASON WRAP UP Probably the greatest news from the finals this year was young rider Emily Hayward-Morgan collecting wins in the Junior Rider, Young Rider, and Horse Grand Prix series. What a phenomenal season she has had with a very special group of horses – I’m sure she’ll be one to watch in the big stuff next season. Another success story was Ally Carson who collected the majority of the pony titles in the country this summer, while her sister Drew notched up some very impressive placings in the Junior Rider classes as well. New boutique show the Harrison Lane Karaka Spectacular went down in Auckland with much positivity post-HOY – Jaime Campbell is gaining quite the reputation as an event organiser. The location was absolutely phenomenal, thanks to the generous Van den Brinks’ who provided the use of their beautiful polo field. I think the show jumpers have dreamed of riding there for a while, and it certainly didn’t disappoint with its harbour views and super surface. While the rain made for a bit of a dreary weekend, the riders still came out and there was very good jumping to be had. These small, single ring shows are definitely making their mark on the show jumping circuit. I suppose the big question is of financial viability, but the show had plenty of sponsorship and discarded series classes in favour of open jumping. Series classes, naturally, are the most expensive to run, with higher prize money dictated by rules than open classes. Karaka had very reasonable prize money when compared to other shows, and it could easily be argued that its ribbons, prizes and rugs were of a higher quality than many events on the calendar. There is a place for well-run, small shows that have limited classes, offering a sponsor-rich and very attractive opportunity for riders. The North Island Championships were held by the Waitemata group at local venue Woodhill Sands, one of several post-HOY events. The idea of life after Horse of the Year is a curious concept and I suppose the shows had reasonable numbers, with Series Finals and the Championships hosting 300-400 horses each. The events did have a bit of a quiet feeling to them, however, but then again HOY does signal the ‘end’ of the season for many riders and a nasty virus took several horses out of the running. Glistening Waters put on a fantastic

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show by all accounts and all who I spoke with said it was well worth the drive!

INTERNATIONAL APPEAL Though New Zealand quiets down now in terms of show jumping, the sport will be ramping up all over the world with this year’s big event - the 2016 Rio Olympics. Unfortunately the Kiwis won’t have a representative in jumping, so we’ll have to make do with watching our eventers and sole dressage rider instead. The show jumping could be anyone’s game with some serious British, German and French horsepower. Swiss rider and current Olympic champion Steve Guerdat will be present riding the same horse he won gold on four years ago, Nino des Buissonnets. One nation missing from the line-up will be Ireland, with a black cloud still over their selection after Cian O’Connor’s controversial round in the qualifier event. With a single spot still up for grabs, it will be interesting to see which Irish team member gets it – Bertram Allen is looking like a good bet, but his teammates have also clocked up some good results.

SOCIAL SINS Poor Bertram was the reason jumping last made headlines in a bad way; this time it was French rider Pénélope Leprevost. An overreaction in the warm-up arena was caught on camera at Gothenburg, and she was crucified for it over social media. It’s a shame to see our sport painted in such a negative light, and to see such harsh and unkind statements prompting a sort of bullying culture to prevail. It’s not that these things shouldn’t be brought to light; more that some trust has to be placed in the rules and professionals of the sport. Show jumping is the most objective of all horse sports – you leave the rails up or you don’t, you’re inside the time or you’re not. The only rules that are there are designed to protect horses and their riders, and professionals of the sport are there to enforce these rules and oversee the codes of conduct. I was pleased to see that she publicly apologised and no further action was taken. It doesn’t matter whether the rider in question was in the wrong – to some degree, they usually are to garner that much attention. What matters is that the public perception of equestrian shouldn’t be of cruelty and abuse, and that the comments on social media shouldn’t themselves be nasty, hateful or abusive. It scares sponsors away and perpetuates a culture that is very quick to judge. Good luck to all those competing overseas this year; and to those like me who will be staying home, playing with the young horses and braving the rain and mud, I wish you luck also! C

DRESSAGE

Point of View

Alicia Collin A pony-mad Alicia didn’t get her first pony until she was 13, and at 15 she began to specialise in dressage. She is now a Grand Prix dressage rider and trainer who is based in both New Zealand (Auckland) and Australia (Brisbane). Alicia is passionate about passing on her knowledge, teaching and developing horses into successful athletes, and she is a sought-after trainer in both New Zealand and Australia.

WHAT DO THE NUMBERS MEAN? CHASING THE PERCENTAGE SIGN To be competing in dressage is to be at the mercy of the final percentage. High percentages mean that your training is heading in the right direction, and are likely to mean that you’re having competitive success as well. A low percentage can mean anything – that your horse spooked at a blade of grass, that the rider had too many wines the night before and butchered their test, or it may be an indicator that your training is just not where it needs to be. Given that our Grand Prix riders are having such success this year, and that the general impression is that dressage in New Zealand is on an upward trajectory, I thought it might be interesting to crunch the numbers. (I’d like to put in a clause here that maths was never my strong point, so please don’t consider these numbers accurate enough to use in a thesis! They do however show some interesting things that have occurred over the past decade.)

ATTENDANCE – HIGHS AND LOWS It’s hard to make direct comparisons over the past ten years, as every few years the Nationals have been held in the South Island, and we have also had quite a few format changes over this time, including changes of tests, more splitting of levels, and different programmes of events. There was a slight decrease in entries at Nationals for some time, starting in the 2010 season when the event was still held at Taupo. Moving it to Manfeild may have had some effect on the numbers attending, as the last National Championships were the biggest since the lull point. Was this in part due to the introduction of stand-alone Amateur Championships? Possibly. It’s very interesting to see that the Amateur Championships didn’t have nearly the numbers competing compared to the Open Championships in Level 1. Only one quarter of all Level 1 combinations entered in the National Championships were in the Amateur Championship. In fact, there were more Amateurs entered in Level 1 at the Central Districts Championships (held at Manfeild less than four months earlier), and the costs are not that incomparable! If you’re an Amateur rider, perhaps competing at the National Championships could - and should - be a future goal for you? On the flip side, we are seeing increasing numbers in Levels 6 through 9, which surely bodes well for the future. The more riders we have experiencing this level of riding the better, as they are hopefully going to be able to reproduce their training efforts with future mounts, building on their knowledge and improving the quality of work as their riding careers continue.

WHERE ARE OUR SCORES GOING? The numbers show that the average score at every level has increased over the last ten years, with the biggest increases being in Level 1 with an

increase on average of 7%, and Level 8/9 which has increased by 4% – clearly dressage in New Zealand is going in the right direction! At the 2016 National Championships, the winning tests in Level 1 scored 75.7%, 75.4% and 74.2% - results which are simply outstanding. When you consider that the new benchmark score at Grand Prix level internationally is 80%, if our basic Level 1 work continues to be as good as it currently is, it appears that we can expect our Grand Prix scores to continue to increase in the same way. The highly regarded international dressage competition held mid-year in Aachen, Germany shows the same 4% average increase in scores between 2005 and 2015. Their top scores are of course much higher than ours, but this may be due to having exceptional horses paired with exceptional riders.

EXCEPTIONAL HORSES AND RIDERS For me the real change in the dressage world came when Totilas came down the centreline and started not only breaking, but completely obliterating world record scores, time after time. Totilas was not perfect, but he bought an element of near perfection to the sport that I had not seen before. After Totilas has come Valegro - again not perfect, but near to perfection - and I am sure we will continue to see these great “near perfection” horses. When paired with a talented rider, there is no reason these horses cannot continue to produce 80% plus scores. And that’s another thing I noticed when crunching the numbers - the same riders’ names came up time and time again, both within New Zealand and internationally. However I think the biggest difference comes down to horse power. The big players of recent time and of similar age - Valegro, Damon Hill, Totilas, Desperados - are in my opinion far superior in ability to anything we had in New Zealand at the same time. All of the above were successful in Young Horse classes, although not all were winners. Over the same time period (2004-2008), five New Zealand riders competed in Young Horse classes here, and those horses all went onto Grand Prix level. (Although it’s interesting to see that two of this country’s currently best performing Grand Prix horses - Déjà Vu MH and Antonello - actually never won the Young Horse Final in New Zealand.) To me this would suggest that a good-moving horse who performs well in Young Horse classes anywhere in the world is highly likely to go on and be a successful Grand Prix horse if he or she continues to be ridden by an exceptional rider. So if you want to succeed in dressage, the numbers suggest that the trick is to find yourself a good-moving young horse and train it to obtain high percentages, therefore making yourself an exceptional rider. Those starting now should hopefully find themselves in the 70% score range when they make it to Grand Prix, if we keep going the way we are now for the next ten years. C

SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE | 117

Point of View

Chloe Phillips-Harris Chloe is passionate about eventing, competing on her mount Cor Jet to 3* level. After winning the New Zealand Young Rider Horse Trials Circuit and sitting her riding exams in Germany in 2009, she started an equestrian business from her home in the Bay of Islands. In 2013 she rode 1000km across Mongolia in the world’s toughest horse race, the Mongol Derby. These days she splits her time between competing and producing eventing horses.

FOR LOVE OR MONEY? A SPECTATOR SPORT While everyone else seems to have wrapped up their competition season, eventers are still out and about in the cold weather. Our championships are not held until May, which proves that we eventers are the toughest, yet again…or are we? Change is afoot, and while we wait with bated breath to see who makes the Rio team, by the 2020 Olympic Games we might be witnessing drastic alterations to our sport. The International Olympic Committee aims “to create attractive, modern, TV- and spectator-friendly sports”, so eventing might have to change to fit in. On the home front, there has been great progress with lots of riders and horses stepping up to higher grades, while internationally we’ve seen the retirement of eventing superstars Avebury and Clifton Promise.

MONEY MATTERS To a run any sport in this day and age we need sponsors, from the lowest Pony Club level to the highest and most prestigious four-star events. This isn’t unique to equestrian events, of course - every sport needs sponsors in order to survive – and we are extremely grateful for those amazing people and businesses that keep our sport going. I also understand that from the Olympic committee’s point of view, if they are going to spend millions of dollars investing in a facility to run an event, they want to maximise their return, whether it’s from ticket sales or people turning on the TV to watch it. So even if I don’t particularly like it, I can understand why eventing is facing some tough challenges. Recent international FEI forums have raised new ideas including a name change, different scoring systems and even changes to the format of the sport itself.

WHAT’S IN A NAME? First of all, if you were going to change the name of eventing, what would you change it to? Of all the names being thrown around, if forced I think I would go with Triquestrian, rather than Equestrio or EquiTriathalon. At least it makes reference to the three phases and the fact that a horse is involved, although personally I don’t the see the need to change it. Golf isn’t exactly the most self-explanatory name for a sport that requires shuffling your feet while looking down at a tiny pitted white ball before smashing it with a club down a beautifully-maintained lawn. Nor do I really understand golf’s complicated scoring system. And while we’re on the subject of renaming sports, shouldn’t we call rugby “Smash, Tackle, Kick”? (I do at least understand the scoring of our national sport.) Anyway my point is that the general public seems to get their head around these incredibly popular sports, and sponsors are able to make million of dollars via television and advertising. So why can’t we do this for eventing and keep our name?

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The idea of changing to a positive scoring system and improving the marketing of the sport does, however, make a lot of sense. Highest score wins would be a much simpler concept for the general public to follow, and I think it would actually be easier than the current system of converting dressage percentages into penalty points to get the lowest score possible.

DO WHAT YOU LOVE, LOVE WHAT YOU DO Lastly, what do we want out of our sport and why? What will we sacrifice at the top level to make it align with the Olympic vision? I don't think we can deny that what happens at the top of the sport will trickle down through the levels as well. Personally I love eventing the way it is, because it’s so different from the other disciplines. Even within the short format, your horse still needs endurance, which requires an eventing rider to literally spend hours in the saddle, making sure their horse is fit and healthy. Eventers are not dressage horses that can lift their legs over a few jumps, or show jumpers that have learned a few fancy moves on the flat. An eventing horse needs bravery and the willingness and ability to jump at speed, and to be able to think for itself as well as listen to the rider. When we really look at what it takes, training-wise as well as physically, to make a good eventing horse, it becomes apparent what an art form it really is. I don’t want to lose this art form and the good horsemanship it involves to do it correctly. Nor do I want the bar lowered to allow more competitors of a lower standard to ride at the higher level. It’s going to be a fine balancing act to keep the integrity of our sport and the skills of horse and rider, yet also bring it into the mainstream of media and public awareness. This will definitely be something to watch carefully in the near future.

TIME TO STEP UP On a less stressful subject, it’s been great to see so many riders stepping up the grades recently. Puhinui saw many combinations attempting their first CIC3*, including young Renee Faulkner on Rubinstar HH who finished fourth, while Ashleigh McKinstry also gave her homebred Pioneer Brass Monkey his first run at this level. Always one of the premier events on the calendar, Kihikihi again provided its fair share of thrills. I would say it has to be the toughest as well as the most beautiful course in the country. Katherine Van Tuyl continued her winning form by taking out the title in the CIC3* with Double J Sunshine, following on from their victory at Puhinui. Dannie Lodder was consistent in all three phases for second, while Donna Edwards-Smith and the gorgeous but relatively inexperienced palomino Mr Hokey Pokey went steadily around the two jumping phases after leading the dressage to finish in third spot. C

CMY

PLEASURE

Point of View

Rebecca Harper Rebecca grew up pony mad in a non-horsey family - and never grew out of it! She lives on a sheep and beef farm in Pongaroa where her two horses come in handy for stock work, as well as turning their hooves to competing and hunting. She competed in the Pleasure ring for a season on her OTTB Mr Benny Hill and continues to follow the discipline with interest. With a background in agricultural journalism, Rebecca now freelances from home and loves a good equine assignment.

SEASON DONE AND DUSTED The busy show season has wrapped up, culminating with the Horse of the Year Show, the pinnacle of achievement for many Pleasure horse and pony riders. This year’s crop of entrants in the Pleasure section were truly the best of the best and the standard was very high, thanks in part to the introduction of affiliated shows, and the new ruling that only qualified horses were allowed to enter HOY. (Previously, anyone could enter these classes at HOY, though combinations still had to qualify for the title class.) Overall, this meant a huge improvement in the quality of horses and ponies presented, as well as trimming entry numbers to a much more manageable level. With the growing popularity of the Pleasure ring, this can only be a good move on the part of organisers. Congratulations to everyone who competed this season and especially those who qualified and rode at HOY. Special mention must go to Natalie Short and the super cute Golden Conquest, who were crowned Pleasure Horse of the Year, and to Madeleine Leslie and her lovely Classic Beauty, who were Champions in the pony ring. The consensus was that it was a great day, well-organised, and that it was lovely to have the full use of the showing area on the quieter (but very hot) Sunday morning. The winning combinations both epitomised the true meaning of a Pleasure mount, each looking like a real pleasure to ride and certainly being a pleasure to watch.

HIGH POINTS TO BE ANNOUNCED The High Points Performance Awards are currently being tallied up and the inaugural winners will be announced in July, being those who have accumulated the most points over the 2015/16 season. Look out for the results and interviews with the winners in upcoming columns. The High Points competition runs from 1st August to 31st July for NZEPS financial members that have joined the competition. Members who join after 1st August will have their points calculated from their joining date onwards. The annual fee to be part of the High Points competition is just $10 and riders receive a High Points Booklet, which is filled out and signed by an official at each show. Points can be earned in In-Hand, Recreational Pleasure, and Show Pleasure classes. The competition is well worth entering and there are some fabulous prizes up for grabs, including sashes and rugs for the winners of the three sections.

TIME TO AFFILIATE Now is the time for shows who haven’t already affiliated with NZEPS to start thinking about getting affiliated ahead of next season. The great little Dannevirke Social Riding Club, of which I am a member, made their annual ‘Poofter and Ruffee Show’ a HOY qualifier for the first

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time this year, and it was a huge thrill to see our first Poofter champion, Natalie, go on to take the honours at HOY. It just goes to show what can happen when you affiliate your show! There is no fee for running affiliated Pleasure classes. The society exists in order to standardise the section nationwide so that all competitors understand what to expect at any given show. NZEPS runs along similar lines to breed societies in this respect. To be an affiliated show, all you need to do is run your ring by NZEPS’ simple guidelines. The rules and schedule are approved by NZEPS in advance. The Society then promotes your show by advertising it on both their website and Facebook page, and actively encourages its members to support your show.

FASTEST-GROWING SECTION NATIONWIDE Shows that haven’t run a Pleasure ring before might be surprised at the number of entries they get – this section often dwarfs the Open rings at shows in the lower North Island. While Pleasure is not run in all regions, many competitors are willing to travel and shows may even find new competitors in their area who feel encouraged to compete on mounts that just wouldn’t cut it in Open company. So, if you’re involved with your local show and think you’d like to have a crack at running an affiliated Pleasure ring, don’t be shy! Get in touch with NZEPS - they’d love to hear from you.

AGM – NEW SECRETARY The NZEPS held its AGM on February 26th and, while attendance was lighter than hoped for, the committee has grown. Attendees worked hard to simplify the rules to make things easier for competitors and show secretaries, and the RAS also required some simplification before the NZEPS becomes affiliated. The hard-working and passionate secretary Lorraine Patmore, who was instrumental in setting up the society, has stepped down. Everyone is now looking forward to seeing Lorraine out and about on her young pleasure horse, Ollie. Megan Chamberlain, who is a well-known listed RAS judge, showie and supporter of the Pleasure section, has come on board as the new secretary. Other new committee members are Jaclyn Hartridge, Nic Smyth, Emma Jackson and Krystle Spademan. Many horses (and riders!) will be having a well-earned break over the winter, but the new season will be upon us before we know it. Winter is a great time to reflect on how your season went and to think about the goals you’d like to achieve next season, whether it’s competing at your first ever Pleasure show, or qualifying for Horse of the Year. C

WARMBLOOD

Point of View

Michelle Zielazo Michelle has been involved with the New Zealand Warmblood Association since she moved from Sydney to Christchurch in 2004, starting with volunteering to be the editor, right through to becoming President. A competitive rider, trainer and breeder, and holder of a Bachelor of Applied Science – Equine Studies degree, Michelle has been horse obsessed from a young age, and this passion doesn’t appear to be abating!

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING CLASSIFIED ASSESSING FOR THE FUTURE In March, the New Zealand Warmblood Association conducted a very successful classification tour throughout New Zealand with a specialist Verband assessor from Germany, Mr Gerd Kust. Classification is also known as ‘licensing’. You may hear horses being referred to as ‘approved’ and ‘inspected’ as well - all of which simply means that the horse in question has been inspected by a trained expert (or experts) in terms of suitability for breeding. If the horse passes inspection, it is then approved to breed (licensed) with that breed association so that its subsequent progeny can be registered. Classification inspection is undertaken by the NZWA on registered warmbloods, using an international assessor in order to provide unbiased and accurate assessments of the horses here in New Zealand. The horses are compared to a standard of excellence and awarded various scores for particular traits that are considered desirable to carry on in the pursuit of a superior performance horse. The higher the scores, the better the horse is rated for breeding purposes.

HOW CLASSIFICATION WORKS The traits that are assessed include conformational points such as head, neck, saddle position and shoulder, etc. These are assessed with the horse presented standing in-hand, with the assessor looking specifically at the alignment and correctness of the horse. Each individual trait is scored separately, and these are then totalled and an overall percentage mark is awarded for conformation. Next the horse is asked to move out, both in-hand and moving unrestrained in an enclosed arena. This allows the gaits to be analysed carefully, with scores being noted for each of the paces, including correctness, swing and elasticity. Again, each is score is added up and converted to an overall percentage score for movement. Stallions are required to complete the additional task of showing their free jumping technique. Free jumping is a very important component where the horse is allowed to move freely in the arena, then encouraged down a laneway with inviting jumps set up. During this phase of the classification process, the assessor is not just looking for jumping scope and correct technique, but also the overall outlook and attitude of the stallion. To complete the assessment, the individual percentages are combined and the average score is determined, which becomes the horse’s final score. Passing and failing of classification is based around a range of different scoring requirements throughout the sections, with certain marks needing to be achieved in each section in order to pass. Horses that pass classification inspection are considered to have

exceeded a particular standard and therefore are approved to produce progeny that can be registered with the NZWA and entered into special studbooks. There are generally some excellent examples of the breed that attain higher recognition through their scores, and are awarded special titles to acknowledge this.

WHY CLASSIFICATION IS IMPORTANT It is widely acknowledged that when it comes to breeding top performance horses, breed associations around the world that have maintained close records of breeding and constantly monitored the resultant progeny are breeding superior athletes today. This is true of a range of breeds, but can be seen very clearly in warmblood breeding in Europe (Trakehner, Hanoverian, Oldenburg, Holsteiner, etc). The excellence of the modern sport horse in FEI disciplines can be attributed to generations of assessments and the dedicated pursuit of improving each generation. In Europe it is simply unheard-of to breed to unlicensed stallions! The NZWA are not simply looking to maintain the integrity of warmblood breeding in New Zealand, but are aiming to continually improve it! By running classification tours with international assessors assessing foals, mares, gelding and stallions, we can assure breeders, purchasers and riders of registered and approved NZ warmbloods that their horses have exceeded a particular standard and will continue to improve the breed moving forward into the future. Using an international expert ensures that the NZWA can provide an impartial and international comparison of our horses for our members. There is the opportunity to understand not just the strengths and weaknesses of your horses, but to also discuss their breeding potential.

THE PATH AHEAD The NZWA have been assessing horses for many years, but we have recently increased the importance of this process by planning to close the studbooks. From 2020, only warmbloods that have been inspected and passed will be allowed to be recorded in the warmblood studbook, and only if both of their parents have also been inspected and passed. Classification is a great chance to get your registered warmbloods assessed and entered into the relevant studbooks, so that future generations can be evaluated and recorded accurately as well. It is about protecting your breeding ideals and goals for the future. For more information on the warmblood horses in New Zealand and the classification process, please go to our refreshed website at www.nzwarmbloods.co.nz and if you are interested in registering your warmblood or presenting your registered warmblood at our next classification tour, please contact us on general@nzwarmbloods.co.nz C

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PONY BREEDERS

Point of View

Sarah Bostock Sarah Bostock is the owner of successful pony stud KS Show Horses, located in Hawke’s Bay. Although still a relatively new stud, the KS ponies and horses have already won titles at National and Horse of the Year level. With her passion for pony breeding, Sarah joined the New Zealand Pony Breeders Committeemany years ago and is now president of the Society, which is one of New Zealand’s biggest and is the original registry for ponies under 148cm.

A SUCCESSFUL SEASON HORSE OF THE YEAR ROUND UP Congratulations to all the successful winners of our Pony Breeders Sashes throughout the country in the led, ridden and jumping rings. It has been fantastic to see such wonderful support for our sash classes throughout the country. Horse of the Year was once again well-supported, with excellent numbers in our led and ridden classes. Congratulations to the owners, producers and riders of these successful ponies. Firstly, in the led ring the Pony Breeders Society of New Zealand Youngstock sash was won by the yearling KS Mister Postman, owned by Gaylene Williams, produced by KS Show Horses and led by Ryan Teece. Runner-up was awarded to KS Honey Boo Boo, owned by Sheridene Swift, produced by Ben Thomson and led by Brandon East. In our sponsored ridden classes numbers in both height classes were excellent, and in the end 10 beautiful ponies were selected to come forward for final judging, with Aschbrooke Bobby Dazzler, beautifully ridden by Amy Vujcich, taking out the Pony Breeders Society of New Zealand Ridden sash for 2016, and runner-up going to Eastdale Diva and Trey Cadwallader. Beechcroft Martini (Ella Hansen), Brookfields Dreams Are Free (Adrienne van den Berk), Chelton Light Endeavour (Kristen Wareham), Maxwellton Penelope Pitstop (Brenna Tait), Eastdale Caberet (Lucy Norton-Collins), Linden Summer Rhapsody (Billie Roach), Beechcroft Glamour (Katelin Stuart) and Jamaican Me Crazy (Annalise Graham) rounded off the top 10. It’s so nice to see ponies from a wide variety of studs around New Zealand in this line-up and many of them went on to success in their Open titles. In fact, all six Pony of the Year titles were won by New Zealand-bred ponies, showing how well they stack up against their Australian-bred counterparts. Eastdale Diva continued a winning streak, again claiming the 12.2 Pony of the Year. Consistent performer Mansfield Park Magnolia, with new rider Meg Fleming, was awarded 13.2 Pony of the Year and Woodland’s Park Light O Day backed up last year’s win by taking out the 14.2 Pony of the Year. Over in the hunter section, the 12.2 Hunter Pony of the Year was won by Eden Annabell and Nanteos Autumn Gwyndaf. 13.2 Hunter Pony of the Year was won by Aschbrooke Bracken ridden by Ashleigh Everton, and Beechcroft Playboy, ridden by Grace Tripe, was awarded the 14.2 Hunter Pony of the Year.

BENEFITS FOR OUR YOUNG MEMBERS The Pony Breeders Council is very much aware that many of our registered ponies are owned by young riders. We wish to support them and encourage them to compete on their ponies by not only offering sash classes as mentioned earlier in my article, but through our National Performance Competition. This competition has been designed to support

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all levels, ages (of rider) and across many disciplines. On writing this, our performance convenor has received all her entries and the winners will be announced at our AGM in May. There are numerous categories in this competition, including Rising Stars, Senior and Junior sections and individual discipline winners in Showing, Dressage, Show Jumping, Show Hunter, RTR/WPH, Lead Rein, First Ridden and Mounted Games, to name just a few! Entering is simple - once you’ve signed up for the competition you keep a record of your pony’s winnings throughout the season. Then once the season is completed, your results sheet is posted in to the convenor and the points are tallied up. You have all season to enter, and there are rugs, trophies and sashes to be won, all proudly donated by the New Zealand Pony Breeders Society or by studs affiliated with Pony Breeders. Conditions to enter this competition are minimal - your pony must simply be measured 148cm and under and be fully registered with the Society. Information can be found on www.ponybreeders.co.nz, on our Facebook page or by contacting any of our council members.

AGM Our annual AGM is to be held on Saturday 21st May in Palmerston North at the Copthorne Palmerston North at 10am. We encourage all our members to attend for a chance to listen and have their say in all matters relating to our Society. It is also an opportunity for members to meet councillors, make suggestions or even join the Council if they wish. Many of our members forget that all our councillors hold their positions simply as they wish to give back in some way. All events run by the Society are done so by councillors. As a Society we are always looking for enthusiastic, motivated Council members who would like to contribute. You don’t have to be a breeder, stud owner or anything similar - a basic understanding of horses and ponies and a desire to help is all we ask for. Please feel free to attend our AGM, as next year’s will be in the South Island so we hope to see as many of our North Island members this year as possible.

FOAL REGISTRATION Just a reminder to breeders to get their registrations in before our cut-off date. A late fee of $50 will be charged if a foal is not registered by the 31st of July following birth. Registration forms can be printed off our website. Please contact our registration officer Viv Staples if you have any questions or are unsure if your foal is eligible to be registered. Viv Staples 75 Penrith Rd, RD 2, Napier Phone: 06 844 5549 E-mail: staples@clear.net.nz C

Advice | Law

Equine Law

with Edward Bostock

MADE E A S Y RESI D EN TI A L B UILDING CONT R ACT S

IN MOST, IF NOT ALL, OF MY PREVIOUS ARTICLES, I HAVE TRIED TO LOOK AT ISSUES THAT SPECIFICALLY RELATE TO HORSES AND PONIES. HOWEVER THIS TIME, I HAVE DECIDED TO TALK ABOUT RESIDENTIAL BUILDING CONTRACTS, WHICH CLEARLY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH HORSES BUT COULD AFFECT ANY OF US, AND WHICH I HOPE WILL BE OF INTEREST.

THE RIGHT PERSON FOR THE JOB At some time or other most of us will use (or at least consider using) a builder on a residential property, and with that in mind we thought it worth highlighting the rules relating to Residential Building Contracts, which came into effect on 1 January 2015. There are a number of considerations to be made when deciding to undertake some building work, whether it is to build a new home or to renovate an existing home. Most will consider finance to be the most important issue, however the choice of builder should be right up there as well. You need to know that the builder you hire is reputable, competent and a safe (financial) bet – I expect that everyone will have heard a story of someone losing their deposit (or other payment) to a builder, and while we will never be able to avoid this ever happening again, the rules governing Residential Building Contracts should help consumers when making the important decision as to which builder to use.

REGULATIONS & REQUIREMENTS The Building (Residential Consumer Rights and Remedies) Regulations 2014 inserted new requirements into the Building Act 2004 regarding Residential Building Contracts valued at $30,000 or more. 1. Checklist Firstly, a builder must give their client a prescribed checklist (a copy can be obtained from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment) which informs them of the steps to consider before entering into a contract. For example: • Advising how to ensure the builder you hire is competent; and • Advising how to compare, consider and agree on the price and the payments. 2. Disclosure Secondly, a builder must now disclose certain information about themselves to their clients prior to entering into the building contract. The Regulations detail the information that is to be disclosed and includes: • the skills, qualifications, and licensing status of the person undertaking the work; • information about any guarantees and warranties being offered by the builder; and

•

what insurance policies the builder holds or intends to take out to cover risks associated with the build. The requirement to provide the checklist and the relevant disclosure only kicks in if the building contract is valued at over $30,000 - however it is important to note that this information must also be provided (no matter the size of the job) if requested by the client. 3. Contracts Finally, and most significantly, the Regulations provide that Residential Building Contracts (over $30,000.00) must be: (a) in writing (b) dated, and (c) comply with the minimum requirements prescribed. It is not appropriate or possible to list all of the prescribed content, however listed below are some of the items that must now be included: • Each party’s contact details (physical address, postal address, address for service, phone numbers and email address); • Description of work to be undertaken and materials to be used (if known); • Names of the person(s) who will carry out the work and who will be supervising the work; • The expected start and completion dates; • Contract price and number (and frequency) of payments; and • Mechanisms for negotiating and agreeing variations.

WARRANTIES & REMEDIES The Building Act 2004 implies certain warranties into every Residential Building Contract, such as that the work must be: • carried out in a proper and competent manner; • in accordance with all laws and legal requirements; and • carried out with reasonable care and skill. The Building Act 2004 (as amended by the Building Amendment Act 2013) now specifies remedies for breaching these warranties. The remedies differ depending on whether the work is capable of being remedied, but they include the ability for the client to require the builder to remedy the breach and to obtain damages for any loss suffered as a result of the breach (loss must be reasonably foreseeable). These regulations are designed to assist clients by creating consistency across the building trade and therefore give clients more comfort in choosing which builder to engage in completing a significant job for them. C

If there are any topics that you would like me to cover in future issues or you require professional services, please contact me via email: edward@bglegal.co.nz or check out our website at: www.bglegal.co.nz. Copying, distributing or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited. Copyright ownership of all editorial sent to Show Circuit Magazine (for publishing purposes) is transferred to Waiata Publishing Ltd unless otherwise agreed to.

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Health | Senses

EQUINE TOUCH

SENSES

We use our horses’ sense of touch every day – without it, working with them would be very difficult. Vet Sophie Wilkinson tells us more about this incredibly sensitive animal.

f you watch your horse in his paddock, you’ll notice him frequently twitching, shaking his head and stamping his feet to rid himself of flies and other insects – thanks to his sense of touch, he can feel a fly land on a single hair, anywhere on his body. He can also feel sensations such as pressure, pain, heat and cold, which enable him to regulate his body temperature and keep himself from harm – for example, if he touches something that will cut or burn him, he’ll feel pain and his body will automatically back away from the dangerous object. Touching plays a vital role in communication between horses, particularly between mare and foal, and mutual grooming helps to cement friendships. Touch is also the most direct way we can communicate with our horses, and you use it when you ride – for example, applying your legs in the saddle – and when handling him on the ground – for example, applying pressure on the halter to ask him to stand while you open the gate.

OUR EXPERT

Sophie Wilkinson BVetMed MRCVS. She has a particular interest in equine lameness and surgery.

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Your horse’s skin

DID YOU KNOW?

At 12–24% of your horse’s bodyweight, his skin is the largest organ in his body and, being rich in nerve endings, it plays a very important role in the sense of touch. It consists of three layers – the epidermis (outermost layer), the dermis (middle layer) and the subcutaneous layer (innermost layer).

Before performing an intramuscular injection, your vet will often thump the injection site to numb the area.

Sensory receptors

Hair follicle

Sensory plexus

DID YOU KNOW?

Pain-detecting nerves require greater pressure than other sensory nerves before they are stimulated. 1. The epidermis provides a protective barrier. It contains several types of cell with different functions, including: ● Keratinocytes provide a protective layer that keeps in fluids, electrolytes and nutrients, while keeping out harmful agents. A process called keratinisation produces a compact layer of dead keratinocyte cells on the skin’s surface, which is constantly being renewed. ● Melanocytes produce the pigment melanin, which provides protection from the sun. They are located at the base of the epidermis, the outer root sheath of hairs, and the ducts of the sebaceous and sweat glands. ● Langerhans cells are part of the immune system, playing an important role in the skin’s response to foreign substances, such as the development of a rash when it is exposed to an irritating substance.

● Merkel cells are specialised cells that are in contact with nerve fibres and are associated with light touch. 2. The dermis nourishes the epidermis, and secretes proteins that give support and elasticity to the skin. The blood vessels that supply the epidermis with nutrients and regulate skin and body temperature are located here. Also present are immune cells which defend against infectious agents that pass through the epidermis, sensory nerves and hair follicles. 3. The subcutaneous layer contains fat and muscles, such as the twitch muscle that your horse uses to shake off flies. The subcutaneous fat provides insulation, a reservoir for fluids, electrolytes and energy, and is a shock absorber. Nerves and blood vessels that supply the skin are also found in this layer.

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Touching plays a vital role in communication between horses

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Help from hair It’s not just your horse’s skin that’s involved in touch - every hair on his body picks up sensations too. Each hair sits in a follicle in the skin and the base of the follicle is wrapped in a web of nerve endings called the sensory plexus. When the hair is moved, it stimulates these nerve endings and impulses are sent to the brain. This is how your horse knows exactly where a fly is. Some of the most important hairs on his body are the long, thick hairs around his eyes and on his muzzle that are specially designed for feeling things. We know them as guard hairs and whiskers, but their proper name is vibrissae. The roots of these hairs sit deeper in the skin than the normal hairs on his body, and the follicle has lots of nerve endings and incorporates a special capsule of blood called the blood sinus. The blood sinus amplifies any pressure on the hair, which is then detected by the nerves surrounding the follicle. The nerves send detailed information about the object, including its size, shape, texture and location, to the brain. Because your horse’s eyes are prominent, they can be easily knocked, so the vibrissae around his eyes let him know if his head is close to something before he bashes himself on it. The vibrissae on your horse’s muzzle enable him to feel things as we would with our hands. These hairs are particularly important to your horse because he is unable to see directly under his nose, so anything he wants to investigate can be safely examined with his whiskers before he actually makes contact with it.

DID YOU KNOW? Vibrissae hairs don’t moult like normal coat hairs. Vibrissae hairs are the first type of hair to develop on the horse when it is an embryo.

Super-sensitive skin

Your horse’s sense of touch is extremely acute. Some parts of his body are more sensitive than others and this is partly due to differences in thickness of the skin – the thinner the skin, the more sensitive it is. Skin thickness ranges from 1–6mm in horses, whereas ours ranges from 0.5–4mm, although it can vary with age, sex and breed, and from one individual to another – for example, Thoroughbreds tend to have thin, delicate skin, whereas draught horses have thick, coarse skin. The skin is thick over his back and thin under his tummy, and on his lower neck and his face. In addition, the skin is packed with sensory receptors including: l Mechanoreceptors (such as Merkel cells), which detect touch, vibration and pressure l Thermoreceptors, which detect temperature l Nociceptors, which detect pain. The number of these receptors varies from hundreds to thousands per square inch of skin on different parts of the body – the more sensory receptors there are, the more sensitive the area is. Many of these receptors are simple nerve endings, while some, which look like tiny bulbs or discs, are specifically sensitive to either light or sustained touch.

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Using touch to your advantage The nerves involved with touch tire easily, so if they are overstimulated by constant contact, it can cause a lack of response. This can be helpful if you have a horse who is oversensitive to touch, because repeated contact will eventually desensitise him so he feels more comfortable about being touched. However, it can also work against you – for example, if you nag your horse with your leg while you’re riding, he’ll become dead to the aid.

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Advice | 10 Steps

STEPS

TO Getting Eventing Fit READ ON FOR TEN FANTASTIC TIPS TO HELP YOU ON YOUR WAY TO TIP TOP FITNESS AS WE LOOK TO THE COMING SEASON. HAVE YOUR BEST PERFORMANCES YET BY ENSURING YOUR HORSE’S FITNESS IS UP TO SCRATCH. HAVING ADEQUATE FITNESS MAKES IT MORE ENJOYABLE FOR BOTH YOU AND YOUR HORSE!

1 2 3

Many eventers turn their horses out for a period of time at the conclusion of the autumn circuit, so they need to think carefully about implementing a sustainable program to bring them back into work. Start with two to four weeks of hacking out, beginning with walking for 20 – 30 minutes. From there, increase the time of your rides and introduce some trotting and then cantering. The amount of time your horse has had off will influence how much time you need to spend in this phase - a month off might only need two weeks of light hacking, but a few months off will need much longer. If your horse is fresh, try walking in the arena before you venture off into paddocks or down roads. Check your horse’s tack fits before you get back into your training. Remember that with some time off he will have lost some muscle and changed shape from the last time that you rode him, when he was fit for competition! As he becomes more fit he will also be changing shape, so keep checking regularly to make sure that your gear is still working with your horse, not against him. Ensure you give your horse at least one day off a week to recover and build muscle. It can be tempting to push on and try and get fit quickly, but this will only result in a tired, unhappy horse with a higher chance of being injured doing his work. Look after your horse’s body - as he comes into work he may feel some muscle fatigue and soreness, so get your physiotherapist to check him over regularly, and pay attention to any lumps and bumps he may have pop up, especially on his legs.

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Don’t over jump your horse. With a green horse, jump no more than twice a week; one day can be spent doing gymnastic work with poles, and another could be spent training on the cross country. An older, more experienced horse can get away with being jumped only once a week. On the other days work on dressage and fitness work, both of which will improve your jumping!

Most cross-country courses will have some hills, so ensure you do some of your training on the hills to build fitness and muscle. Remember that the better prepared your horse is for all elements of an event, the safer and more enjoyable it is for both of you. Try to avoid any form of work on hard ground, as the last thing you and your horse need is for him to break down with an injury! A good exercise is to slowly trot down a hill, adding some transitions to walk and back to trot. With an older horse you could do this in canter. As you will need to be able to jump downhill on a course, this is a great exercise that builds rider strength as well.

6 8 9 10

Work on your gallop! We are lucky in New Zealand with our picture perfect beaches and wide open spaces, which provide plenty of opportunity to get your horse out for a gallop. It is no good to leave it to cross-country day to have your first gallop of the season! Remember in any fitness session you want to be getting your horse’s heart rate up and have him sweating to reap the rewards. This is where hill work is fantastic, because you can get your horse’s heart rate up quickly and build muscle without putting too many miles on his legs. Don’t forget to work on your own fitness too! You owe it to your horse to be as fit as you can be. You don’t need a gym membership or fancy gear - there are plenty of exercises you can do at home with minimal or no equipment.

Spend time training on cross-country. Most people don’t have their own crosscountry course at home, but if possible, build a few of the trickier fences you might encounter at a competition so you can familiarise yourself and your horse. Try and get to a cross-country course for training at least once a month but remember, don’t thrash your horse by jumping a lot of fences!

Remember there are no short cuts to fitness and you will only reap the rewards if you put the necessary work in! Make a plan and write it down, then record which days you do what, so you can keep an easy track of what you have and haven’t done for the week. C

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Health | Rider

simple ways to

improve your posture The environment you put your body into each and every day has an impact on its biomechanics, which will in turn affect your posture and the way you ride your horse. For example if you sit a desk all day with rounded shoulders, this can not only affect your shoulder girdle function but it can also have a direct impact on your pelvis. A tight, stiff and unbalanced pelvis is going to make it really tough to give clear efficient aids to the horse. It can also cause the horse to become heavy on one side, be difficult to bend and have problems understanding your aids. So if your goal is to improve your riding and your overall health, pay attention to how you spend your time off your horse and the positions you put your body into each and every day. Here are three simple ways to help improve youe posture off your horse: STAND MORE

DRIVING YOUR CAR

WALK MORE

Can you spend 50% of your day standing or moving? The simple act of standing can burn 50 more calories than sitting and activates all your stabilizer muscles that are required for riding, plus improves your postural strength. So to avoid getting fatigued with sitting trot and during your schooling, start to improve your muscular endurance and your biomechanics by simply standing more throughout your day.

Some car seats cause you to sling back, drop your hip angle below 90 degrees and slouch your lower back. This is totally the case in my runaround Suzuki Swift, versus our tow vehicle. So I keep a cushion in the Swift to pop underneath my bottom when I’m driving. Then I can sit with good posture, square on both seat bones and my hip joint around 90 degrees which allows me to properly activate my stablizer muscles, create neutral spine and have better posture while driving. Often we also sling to one seat bone in the car and tilt our entire body to one side. Try to use your time in the car to balance your body and create a good neutral spine.

Walking is great for improving biomechanics and helping to balance out the body. The great thing about riding is that we generally have fairly active lifestyles to go along with it, so embrace walking more with a neutral spine and good posture. A good aim is to get 10,000 steps in each day (off your horse!). This will improve your fitness as well as help with your posture and overall muscular balance in the body.

Nicola Smith is a health and wellness expert, having been in the wellness industry since 2002. She runs a rider training programme through her website dressageridertraining.com, helping her members improve their health and fitness off their horse. Nicola is a qualified Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner, Check Practitioner, and has a Physical Education degree. Combining her exercise and nutrition knowledge with her passion for dressage riding allows Nicola to help riders improve their performance. C

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Health | Recipe

Slow-Cooker Oatmeal, Banana Maple Parfaits Jump-start your cold mornings with this healthy breakfast that cooks while you sleep.

Prep time 15 mins

Cook time Overnight

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients ½ cup half-and-half milk

1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese

1½ cups rolled oats

2 ripe bananas

¾ teaspoon salt

Pinch of mixed spice or cinnamon

7 Tablespoons maple syrup

Instructions 1.

Pour 3 cups water into slow-cooker insert. Place a slow-cooker liner into slow cooker (on top of water). Combine half-and-half, 5 ½ cups water, the oats and salt into slow cooker liner.

Cover and slow cook on LOW for 8 hours. Uncover and stir in 6 Tbsp of the maple syrup. Blend ricotta and remaining 1 Tbsp maple syrup.

Begin layering: Spoon ½ cup oatmeal into 6 cups or bowls. Top each with a heaped Tbsp of ricotta mixture. Peel and slice bananas. Spread about 4 banana slices onto each serving. Repeat layering with oatmeal, ricotta and banana slices. Drizzle each serving with a little maple syrup and sprinkle with mixed spice.

Have you got a great recipe? Email us: enquiries@showcircuit.co.nz or post your recipe to: Show Circuit PO Box 1245 Pukekohe, Auckland 2340

SHOWCIRCUIT MAGAZINE | 133

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Horses are better able to cope with the rigours of winter when nutritional levels are topped up. Balanced supplementation helps them utilise feed more efficiently which in turn assists in maintaining condition. Healthy horses have a better chance of avoiding hoof and skin conditions often associated with the stressors of winter. A horse kept in good health over winter will often return to peak condition for the competition season faster and more easily than one who has experienced setbacks.

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