Dressage NZ Bulletin Issue 38 November 2019

Issue 38 | November 2019

Success in Sydney EQUITANA EVERYTHING YOU MUST KNOW

National News CARL HESTER MASTERCLASS IN REVIEW

EDITORIAL

FROM THE EDITOR WELCOME TO ISSUE THIRTY EIGHT OF THE DRESSAGE NZ BULLETIN

T

YOUR BUSINESS COULD BE HERE sarah@snaffledesign.co.nz

here is so much to celebrate since our last issue – a huge thanks to Equidays for bringing Carl Hester to New Zealand. We should celebrate the fact that he had no hidden secrets to success. That developing innate talents of horses using simple (I didn’t say it is easy…) sound ethical principles is valuable for every horse and every rider – call it dressage if you want. Dressage has become synonymous with competition, but the word dressage literally means training; is early 20th century, from French, from dresser ‘to train’. Over time, this training has become more and more competition focused and now we have world class horses bring produced on our own doorstep. This certainly makes top level national and international success more accessible for a large number of riders with seriously good scores being achieved across the grades. But the availability of these wonderful horses does not mean that the training principles outlined by Carl can be ignored. We cannot deny that Carl has trained horses with that have “more ordinary” movement early in their careers, but their character and his training have made them world class. In essence, every horse can be improved with correct training. You may just be surprised that what you think initially is a sow’s ear can be turned into that silk purse… enjoy your journey because the destination is up to you. It is neither quick nor easy, but you may surprise yourself in the longer term.

A huge thanks to all the riders who bravely showed up as our demo riders for the Hester Masterclass. The audience was hugely appreciative that you made such a wonderful evening of learning possible.

On not such a positive note, I was sorry to learn a local show has been cancelled. The small main committee of the local group is busy organizing their championship show and called for volunteers to assist with the local event, offering support as required. Sadly, the offers were not forthcoming and so the show was cancelled. Riders must be increasingly aware that many volunteers are also time poor, many do not even compete. They only have so much of their own leisure time to make it possible for riders to enjoy their sport. No more to add.

Wishing you all satisfying training and enjoyable competitions. I’m looking forward to seeing Santa at Taihape…

The DressageNZ Bulletin is the official magazine of Dressage NZ a discipline of Equestrian Sports NZ

Editor: Wendy Hamerton E: dressage@nzequestrian.org.nz Design and Production: www.snaffledesign.co.nz

2 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | NOVEMBER 2019

Graphic Design Sales & Advertising: Sarah Gray Email: sarah@snaffledesign.co.nz Copyright © Snaffle Design and Dressage NZ 2018 Cover Image: Wendi Williamson & Don Amour MH Photo Credit: Stephen Mowbray

CONTENTS

4

10

14

22

24

CONTENTS

4

10

12

18

EQUITANA AUCKLAND

WENDI'S SYDNEY SUCCESS

JHT TOUCH DOWN

MITAVITE NUTRITION

Absolutely everything you need to know about this spectacular event ...

Don Amour MH bounces back with a vengence on Australian soil!...

with their stallions and make their presence felt known in NSW, Australia...

Mitavites discusses the Bone health of our youngstock and all equine athletes...

24

36

32

40

CARL HESTER MASTERCLASS

HUBERTUS HUFENDIEK

FEI WORLD CUP

OUR PEOPLE

Jess Roberts & Caitlin Benzie did an amazing job putting together part 1 of 3...

Thirteen years after he first came to NZ. German Master, Hubertus was back once again...

Western European League.

Dufour Dominates in Denmark...

Kaye Emeny & Sue Thorp QSM are this months Official and Volunteer of the month...

NOVEMBER 2019 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | 3

4 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | NOVEMBER 2019

EQUITANA PREVIEW

NOVEMBER 2019 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | 5

EQUITANA PREVIEW

equitana

6 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | NOVEMBER 2019

EQUITANA PREVIEW

equitana

NOVEMBER 2019 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | 7

EQUITANA PREVIEW

8 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | NOVEMBER 2019

EQUITANA PREVIEW

equitana

NOVEMBER 2019 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | 9

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Wendi Williamson & Don Amour MH with Bruce Farrar, CEO Equestrian NSW and Jane Ventura FEI 4* Judge (AUS)

DON AMOUR MH BOUNCES BACK FOR A RECORD HIGH SCORE Article by Wendy Hamerton Photos by © Stephen Mowbray

If Wendi Williamson had any doubts about a low-key preparation following Donny’s below par performance at Boneo in September and his subsequent recovery from a low-grade infection, these doubts were put to one side when her stable star came out firing in Sydney.

10 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | NOVEMBER 2019

A

fter Boneo, Donny travelled back back to Brett Parbery’s stable where he was nursed back to full strength just in the nick of time. “We only got the final bloods on the morning of the trot up, so it was right down to the wire. Brett was so positive we would get there but I wasn’t so sure. When you have a bad run at a show you lose a bit of confidence.”

They scored 69.03% in the CDIW Grand Prix for second place, denied the win by Lone Jorgensen and Corrina by just 0.26%. But Wendi’s indomitable spirit came to the fore in the Freestyle the following day when she knew the horse felt so well that she could ask for more. And what more could she ask for … a win on 76.18% setting a new freestyle record on Australian soil and giving Julie Brougham and Vom Feinsten’s Australasian record of 76.3% a serious nudge. New Zealand fans were incredibly proud and rightly so, celebrating and sharing the personal best score for both horse and rider.

“I have worked hard with Donny over the winter to improve his shape and other things.

I didn’t fire him up too much in the grand Prix because I wasn’t sure what I was going to get. In the freestyle I felt more confident to give him a boost. I’m not sure I expected 77 percent from the judges – that was just amazing.”

Australian Championship rules saw Lone Jorgensen, top placed Australian competitor awarded the national Grand Prix Championship title. Jorgensen hasn’t always been an Aussie though. She competed for Denmark at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 on FBW Kennedy. In 2009 she returned to Australia to conduct a masterclass and at the end of 2012 with her partner Ulli Eggers made the decision to permanently relocate to Australia. They left behind their Stuttgart based stable, where Lone had lived and worked for thirty years. The boots she wore down the centre line at Sydney in 2019, were the exact same boots she wore down the centre line at the Sydney Olympics.

Wendi’s Sydney success also increases her lead on the FEI Olympic rankings for Group G with just eight weeks left before it is decided which two nations earn a spot at Tokyo.

In second place on the table is the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games champion Young Shik Hwang who obtained the ride on Martin Schaudt’s 15-year old Hanoverian gelding Despino in 2018 with Tokyo 2020 his goal. Currently in third place is the Danish based Malaysian rider from Kuala Lumpur Qabil Ambak, but his fate over the next few weeks is undecided. Qualification appeared to be within the grasp of the

AS AT 31 OCTOBER THIS IS HOW THE GROUP G RANKING LOOKS. Athlete

Horse

NF

WILLIAMSON, Wendi

DON AMOUR MH

NZL

823

HWANG, Young-Shik

DESPINO 15

KOR

773

DATO’ MAHAMAD FATHIL, Mohd Qabil Ambak

DELATIO

MAS

769

CHEW, Caroline

TRIBIANI

SIN

712

VORA, Shruti

DENIGHTRON

IND

674

AGARWALLA, Anush

FLOVINOS FEINER KERL

IND

621

SIU, Jacqueline Wing Ying

FERRERA

HKG

337

WALL, Victoria

LETTY LEI EDH

NZL

331

dressage and showjump rider, and maybe Malaysia would have their first equestrian rider in the Olympics. But this quest has been dealt a major blow following the visa issue now faced by the rider.

The 39-year-old was recently deported from Denmark as he had overstayed his 90-day visa limit and is now barred from re-entering Europe. Qabil admitted he was at fault but hopes the relevant authorities will help him resolve

the issue as he needs to return to Europe to compete and keep his chances of qualifying for the Olympics alive.

Following this win, Wendi has re-evaluated her competition plan for the season and will travel back to Boneo to contest the Pacific League World Cup Dressage Final in December and the chance for a start at the FEI Dressage World Cup Final in Las Vegas next April. Watch this space…

https://www.facebook.com/Hobson-Horse-Coaches-Motorhomes-1629830687048570/

Proudly supporting

MANUFACTURERS OF LUXURY HORSE COACHES AND MOTORHOMES

for over 30 years

UNDER NEW OWNERSHIP - Shaun and Amber Smith | 0274 927 431 | hobhorse@xtra.co.nz | new website coming soon NOVEMBER 2019 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | 11

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

JHT EQUINE QUICK TO MAKE MARK IN NSW Photos by Simon Scully /Mulawa Performance Horses Holly Leach & HP Fresco, Kerry Goldthorpe, John Thompson & JHT Chemistry

12 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | NOVEMBER 2019

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

A

lthough its only a few short weeks since both John and Holly have both moved from the Waikato across the Tasman to New South Wales, they have soon made their presence felt on the local competition scene.

They currently live in Aracadia (Clemens & Judy Dierks country) just a few from minutes the Farrell family’s Mulawa Stud which specialises in both Arabians and Warmbloods where John coaches the Mulawa performance team of Katharine Farrell and Riley Alexander. Groom Kerry Goldthorpe from Nelson has also made the move to Mulawa as groom for the JHT team.

They see the move as bringing endless and exciting competition opportunities with good surfaces such as nearby SIEC where they both competed at the end of October, John on JHT Chemistry in PSG/Intermediate I and a debut for Mulawa’s Aber Fontaine MI (Aber Hallo 29 IMP X For Joy IMP) who scored 79.80%. Holly was delighted to be reunited with HP Fresco and gave John a good run for his money in the Prix St Georges but had to concede first place to Chemistry who won the class on 70.37%, Fresco hot on his heels for 70.29%.

Chemistry was second in the Int I and Fresco 3rd.

Next up for Chemistry will be Int II at SIEC with John hoping to qualify him for the Australian CDI’s after Christmas.

1.

2.

1. Holly Leach & HP Fresco

2. John Thompson & Mulawa Performance Horse's Aber Fontaine MI

NOVEMBER 2019 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | 13

EQUIDAYS REVIEW

L to R; Rhys Powell from Oceania Construction, Melissa Galloway (Windermere J'Obéi W) and Peter Nation, CEO of NZ National Fieldays Society / Equidays

EQUIDAYS: THE OCEANIA CONSTRUCTION GRAND PRIX CHAMPIONSHIP Article by Jess Roberts Photos by © Caitlin Benzie

When raw talent and brilliant horsepower meet hard work, the right training, and a solid support team… dressage supernova Melissa Galloway and J’Obéi W shone bright at Equidays 2019.

14 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | NOVEMBER 2019

T

his year the Championship consisted of two classes - the Grand Prix and the Grand Prix Musical Freestyle, held on consecutive days. Nine combinations lined up, with a mixture of seasoned campaigners and those new to Grand Prix, which made for interesting competitions With two horses to ride, Melissa Galloway went first in the Grand Prix on Windermere Johanson W, putting a healthy 65.69 up on the scoreboard. Next was Taumarunui’s Kieryn Walton, who recovered quickly from an early course error to coax Rosari Don Carlos through his test. This horse is not only new to GP but super sensitive to the indoor atmosphere and large crowds, so Kieryn was glad of the opportunity to give him some more experience.

Local rider Paula Stuart and her very sweet Aztec Lad followed, notching up 64.64. Then, making their senior level Grand Prix debut, was 21-year-old Lucarne Dolley and her chestnut Anamour gelding Ardmore. Lucarne’s riding is cool, calm and collected - equally pleasant and impressive to watch at this very high level, and the pair earned themselves some positive comments from the judges. It was another Anamour up next, this time the bay mare Aphrodite (owned

by Emily & Belinda Stuchbery) and ridden by our Aussie import Cooper Oborn. Waikato was then strongly represented: Bill Millar (Raukura Satori MH), who would ride into a very close second place having produced some high quality piaffe and passage – if they hadn’t missed the two times – who knows; Jody Hartstone, who had her work

cut out keeping a lid on the very enthusiastic Lusitano stallion Ali Baba, and Victoria Wall with her charming mare Letty Lei EDH. But it was a case of saving the best till last in this class: Melissa (26) and the peerless Windermere J’Obéi W performed a next-level test for 68.4 and the red ribbon. The Johnson gelding is still inexperienced (this was just his fourth Grand Prix), and Melissa sympathetically allows him to cover a little ground in the piaffe and so on, but goodness!

The moments of brilliance were goosebump-inducing. He is simply incredibly well managed and ridden

by Melissa. No-one could touch them in the Musical Freestyle the following day - those pirouettes! where they finished on a whopping 73.89 to take out the Oceania Construction Ltd Grand Prix title and win a fabulous arena mirror.

Cooper Oborn and Aphrodite really stepped up a class from the previous day with some clever choreography and fabulous music to earn their first ever 70% plus score at this level, their one-time changes particularly impressing the judges.

After the class, an elated Melissa said, “To think he’s getting these scores so young is just unbelievable,” said. “It’s really quite crazy! Although I do aim very high and had always hoped it would be this way. To be honest I am still hoping for a lot more yet. Once I feel he is very solid with all the Grand Prix work, then I can ask for more expression and I think that’s when it will be really exciting.”

It’s a huge achievement at just 26 years old to have two horses in the Grand Prix, both of whom Melissa has trained herself. When

she trained in Germany, she was able to ride horses up to Small Tour level, but beyond this she has had to educate herself on the step up to Grand Prix and learn how those movements should feel. “After Germany I felt relatively confident training to Prix St Georges but learning the Grand Prix movements has definitely been a big learning curve! I’m so blessed now that I have two horses to practice on.”

Melissa trained her previous horse Zeilinger up to L8, but Johanson is the very first horse that she has produced right through to Grand Prix. “I’ve had him since he was nearly four, and he was not easy as a lot of people know! I’m extremely proud to have got him to where he is now.”

Andrea Raves and Vanessa Way are Melissa’s long-time coaches. “I really appreciate them both, not only for their coaching but for how

DW DRESSAGE HORSES

PURPOSE BRED FOR GRAND PRIX 2019 FOALS • Franklin • Revolution • Rubin Royal • Johnson

2020 FOALS • Sezuan’s Donnerhall • Fidertanz • Grand Galaxy Win • For Romance II • Dante Weltino • Rubin Royal

YOUNGSTOCK AVAILABLE • Rubins Replica Dw - Rubin Royal/Ala Mode (Anamour/Dynamit) Yearling Gelding • Beaufort DW - Buckingham/Dallas DW (Doringcourt) 2yo Gelding • Balzane Du Trois DW - Bordeaux/Qurious DW (Quattro B ) 3yo Gelding

Windermere J'Obéi W (9)

Johnson x Miss Pompeii GP Champion Equidays & BOP

Windermere Johanson W (11)

Jax Johnson (8)

Johnson x Miss Phillips Johnson x (Anamour/Dynamit) South Island Grand Prix Champion Level 5 National Champion

David carefully selects stallions from a range of European studbooks and only chooses those with proven GP ability, strong genetics and high heritabilty which he breeds to his small band of NZ Warmblood/Thoroughbred mares.

All enquiries should be directed to David Woolley. Priced from $20,000 plus GST.

DAVID WOOLLEY - 021 430 455, david.woolley73@gmail.com

NOVEMBER 2019 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | 15

EQUIDAYS REVIEW

1.

amazing they are as support and mentors,” she acknowledges. As for the future, Melissa is very happy doing what she’s doing here in NZ. “At this stage I’d like to compete him here, and in Australia. I’d love to take him further overseas, but only to the right place. I’d only make such a huge move like that if I felt it was really 100% the right thing to do. Australia will be the next big step for us.”

RESULTS: GRAND PRIX Melissa Galloway & Windermere J’Obéi W, 68.4 William Millar & Raukura Satori MH, 67.57 Jody Hartstone & Ali Baba, 66.48 Melissa Galloway & Windermere Johanson W, 65.69 Paula Stuart & Aztec Lad, 64.64 Lucarne Dolley & Ardmore, 64.60 Victoria Wall & Letty Lei EDH, 64.31 Cooper Oborn & Aphrodite, 62.28 Kieryn Walton & Rosari Don Carlos, 59.42 RESULTS: GRAND PRIX FREESTYLE Melissa Galloway & Windermere J’Obéi W, 73.89 Cooper Oborn & Aphrodite, 70.78 Melissa Galloway & Windermere Johanson W, 69.59 Bill Millar & Raukura Satori MH, 69.57 Victoria Wall & Letty Lei EDH, 69.29 Lucarne Dolley & Ardmore, 67.79 Jody Hartstone & Ali Baba, 67.33 Kieryn Walton & Rosari Don Carlos, 66.11 Paula Stuart & Aztec Lad, 64.73

2.

1. William Millar & Raukura Satori MH 2. Victoria Wall & Letty Lei EDH 3. Cooper Oborn & Aphrodite 4. Lucarne Dolley & Ardmore Out of respect to the copyright of our photographers any 'Screenshot' photos posted on Social Media that are taken from the Dressage NZ Bulletin will be directed to the photographer for invoicing.

Photos: © Caitlin Benzie 3.

3.

4.

16 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | NOVEMBER 2019

®

NOVEMBER 2019 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | 17

NUTRITION

CLEAN X-RAYS: A MAKE OR BREAK FACTOR FOR SPORT HORSE BREEDERS The challenges of breeding sport horses for sale or for the breeders own use are many and varied.

U

nlike the thoroughbred industry where horses typically change hands through the sale ring as yearlings, sport horse breeders often retain ownership of their youngstock for much longer and spend countless hours and dollars producing a saleable young horse for a specific discipline or equestrian pursuit.

In this sale process a broad set of criteria are used to assess the horse. As well as breeding and conformation, potential purchasers will assess type, suitability, size, temperament, current level of training and then evaluate the horse’s potential to achieve the desired performance level.

In addition to these physical and

16 18 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | NOVEMBER 2019

mental assessments, if a reasonable amount of money is due to change hands it is likely that a vet check will be undertaken - and if a significant amount of money is involved as is often the case in Warmblood or Quarter Horse circles, the vet check will involve a rigorous physical examination and include a full set of x-rays.

At this point the financial return on the time and money invested in producing this horse comes down to a favourable vet report and a clean set of x-rays.

Many breeders who are reading this will know how devastating a poor set of x-rays can be on the sale price or the actual sale of a young horse. If the x-rays expose

NUTRITION

PERCENTAGE CHANGE IN RADIOGRAPHIC BONE DENSITY 6 MONTHS TRIAL IN 26 2-YEAR OLDS. 10 9 8 7 6 %5 4 3 2 1 0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLbEvJH-NHQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLbEvJH-NHQ

Bonafide® Control

CLICK HERE TO WATCH AN INFORMATIVE VIDEO ABOUT VITAMITE BONAFIDE IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE NUTRITION OF YOUR SPORTHORSE, CONTACT ROBYN MAUGER South Island Manager Sep-08

Oct-08

Dec-08

Jan-09 Feb-09 Mar-09 Days Treatment

any issues, at best your horse has plummeted in value or at worst your buyers walk away, leaving you with a horse with an uncertain future.

Savvy breeders are very aware of the role nutrition plays in growing and producing horses that are more likely to have clean x-rays.

There is truth to the old adage that the best horses are grown on green pasture. The Irish and New Zealand breeding industries have expounded this theory for years, trading on the success and durability of their bloodstock.

The role of Vitamin K 1 and Vitamin K 2 in increasing bone density and decreasing the risk of OCDs and bone lesions in horses is well documented. These 2 vitamins, (not to be confused with Vitamin K 3 which has a role in blood clotting) act as an activator for osteocalcin, the major protein in determining bone density.

When young horses get adequate exercise and graze fresh green pastures it is likely that they will have adequate Vitamin K levels and good bone density, however naturally occurring Vitamin K is volatile and easily degraded.

Pastures that are frosted or dry and forage that is wilted will be low in Vitamin K so if horses are grazing in these conditions it is possible that their VK levels will be low. To maintain adequate levels, Vitamin K is required daily.

Apr-09

May-09

Horses that are removed from fresh green pastures and placed into a boxed regime have shown a reduction in bone density in only 10 days.

In 2008 Mitavite’s Consultant Vet and Nutritionist Dr Ray Biffin and his business partner Dr Hubertus Regtop introduced the world first stabilised and bioavailable form of natural Vit K supplement, Quinaquanone®. Protected by patent, this product is marketed in Australia and New Zealand under the trade name Bonafide®.

With early trial work showing that Bonafide® can have a positive impact on OCD lesions in yearlings and also in shin-soreness in 2 year

M: 0276 464 118 E: rmauger@hygain.com.au

old thoroughbreds, the supplement has rapidly gained popularity with commercial breeders and thoroughbred trainers.

Although it hasn’t been around for long enough, Ray & Hub expect that Bonafide will reduce osteoporosis and extend athletic lifetime in ageing animals, just as natural vitamin K does in humans.

Over the past few years the Bonafide® supplement range has been expanded with Bonafide® now included in premium range of Mitavite feeds, including Breeda, Promita, Gumnuts, Formula 3, XLR8, Athlete+ and more recent additions Munga, Energiza and Impacta.

NOVEMBER 2019 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | 17 19

NATIONAL NEWS

Franzi van Bruggen-Smit and Fortunato Photo Kayla Anderson

RESULTS PRELIMINARY NON-GRADED CHAMPION Hannnah Forsythe & Aurora SK RESERVE Hannnah Forsythe & My Amigo NOVICE NON-GRADED CHAMPION Karen McMurtry & Craighaven Augustus RESERVE Louise Large & Minnesota Mia

MARLBOROUGH PREMIER LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS

PRELIMINARY AMATEUR CHAMPION Louise Hipkins & Y- Puna Rue RESERVE Elora Hallett & Nachttanzer WR

SMALL TOUR CHAMPION Vanessa Baxter & Hollywood Superstar RESERVE Anna Gale & Walk The Line

PRELIMINARY OPEN CHAMPION Meila Picard & My Mojo Man RESERVE Sue Rudler & O Asterix

MEDIUM TOUR CHAMPION Joy White & Gammon KS

NOVICE OPEN CHAMPION Anna Gale & Bloomfield Furst Love Song RESERVE Sandy Houston & Southwell Razzmataz ELEMENTARY OPEN CHAMPION Charlotte Thomas & Te Puke RESERVE Amanda Scott-Bates & I Walk the Line MEDIUM OPEN CHAMPION Charlotte Thomas & Time After Time RESERVE Anna Gale & BF Royal Allure ADV MEDIUM OPEN CHAMPION Tessa Van Bruggen & Fiorenza RESERVE Amy Nicholls & Sanderson ADVANCED OPEN CHAMPION Julie Fraser & Arnage Rhumba RESERVE Janna Greene & Grandiose

20 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | NOVEMBER 2019

GRAND PRIX CHAMPION Franzi Van Bruggen-Smit & Fortunato RESERVE Anna Terrell & Caithness Masquerade TAIKO TROPHY AMATEUR CHAMPION Louise Hipkins & Y- Puna Rue HERKT FAMILY TROPHY ADV & ABOVE Julie Fraser & Arnage Rhumba YOUNG DRESSAGE HORSE Tessa Van Bruggen & Willowbank Eve GAYENDO YOUNG RIDER TROPHY Meila Picard & My Mojo Man BITTESCHON MEMORIAL TROPHY HIGHEST % MUSICAL Sandy Houston & Southwell Razzmataz MOST POINTS MARLBOROUGH RIDER FAIRCLOTH TROPHY Tessa Van Bruggen & Fiorenza BEST PRESENTED AWARD Sandy Houston & Southwell Razzmataz

NATIONAL NEWS

RESULTS

BAY OF PLENTY PREMIER LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS

PRELIMINARY OPEN CHAMPION Kieryn Walton & Rocriale RE RESERVE Tayla McDonald & Wonda Why NOVICE OPEN CHAMPION Molly Lumb & Griffindor MH RESERVE Rachel Sutton & Joi de Vivre ELEMENTARY OPEN CHAMPION Ottilie Upshall & Mistadobalina RESERVE Mandy Littlejohn & Archie

HANOVERIAN SASH LEVEL 1-4 Mandy Littlejohn & Archie HANOVERIAN SASH LEVEL 5-9 Vanessa Way & NRM Timbermill Prequel MASTERS CHAMPION Sharlene Mitchell & Serengetti RESERVE Ellen Mitchell & Donnerstar CDS PRELIMINARY RESTRICTED CHAMPION Bridget Quinn & Corso De Flora RESERVE Andrea Hammond & Twigalicious

MEDIUM CHAMPION Amanda Berridge & GS O Jay RESERVE Debbie Barke & RM Suzie Q ADVANCED MEDIUM CHAMPION Vanessa Way & NRM Timbermill Prequel RESERVE Wendi Williamson & Don Vito MH ADVANCED CHAMPION Wendi Williamson & Bon Jovi MH RESERVE Nicole Sweney & Flute Noir

NOVICE RESTRICTED CHAMPION Lenore McIvor & Anaruby II RESERVE Grace Purdie & Sir Pepper ELEMENTARY RESTRICTED CHAMPION Belinda Greenfield & L’homme du Jour RESERVE Samantha Belsham & Alpine Park Watercolour PARA GRADE I Jodie Thorne & Ira Hayes PARA GRADE II Chontelle Honour & Tama Park Bradman

SMALL TOUR CHAMPION Gaylene Lennard & Jax Johnson RESERVE Christine Weal & Schindlers Liszt MEDIUM TOUR CHAMPION Vanessa Way & NSC Pronto RESERVE Cooper Oborn & Revelwood Showtime GRAND PRIX CHAMPION Melissa Galloway & Windermere J'Obéi W RESERVE Melissa Galloway & Windermere Johanson W

PARA GRADE III Aimee Prout & Laghmor PARA GRADE IV Matilda Carnegie (AUS) & Devils Chocolate RESERVE Louise Duncan & Wolkenstein BC YOUNG RIDER CHAMPION Tayla McDonald & Wonda Why RESERVE Bella Small & Kingslea Busy Bee JUNIOR RIDER CHAMPION Grace Purdie & Sir Pepper RESERVE Piper Crake & Rebel Ricochet

presents We are exclusive stockists of Cavallo, quality German riding apparel.

For personalised, friendly service anywhere in NZ, please contact us today. www.classicequestrian.co.nz e: info@classicequestrian.co.nz | p: +64 21 627 082

NOVEMBER 2019 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | 21

NATIONAL NEWS

BAY OF PLENTY PREMIER LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS

2.

1.

3.

1. Grace Purdie & Sir Pepper 2. Sharlene Mitchell & Serengetti 3. Karla Tarr & Parkridge Bolero 4. Josephine Telfer & Darcy DF 5. Otillie Upshall & Meissen 6. Samantha Jones & Revelwood Smash It 7. Grace Farrell & Luigi 8. Robbie Miller & Flash O 9. Andrea Hammond & Twigalicious 10. Sean Bignell & MEL Lewis Out of respect to the copyright of our photographers any 'Screenshot' photos posted on Social Media that are taken from the Dressage NZ Bulletin will be directed to the photographer for invoicing.

Photos: © Han. Photography

22 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | NOVEMBER 2019

4.

NATIONAL NEWS

7.

5.

8.

9.

6.

10.

NOVEMBER 2019 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | 23

CARL HESTER MASTERCLASS

AN EVENING WITH CARL HESTER MBE Article by Jess Roberts Photos by Š Caitlin Benzie

The announcement that this dressage superstar was heading to New Zealand had many of us pinching ourselves to see if it was true. On the night of the Masterclass, it was rather surreal to be sitting in Mystery Creek, Hamilton and see Carl Hester walk into the arena and start chatting on the microphone! The stands were packed with spectators and anticipation, ready for the luxury of watching our six brave demonstration riders make the most of this opportunity.

24 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | NOVEMBER 2019

CARL HESTER MASTERCLASS

I

n 1985, more than three decades ago, Carl Hester won the Young Rider Championship for GBR on the skewbald mare Jolly Dolly owned by the Fortune Centre of Riding Therapy where he was employed at the time. He competed at the first Blenheim Horse Trials winning the Spillers Dressage with Jumping Championship. In 1990 he competed at the World Championships in Stockholm, in 1991 at the Europeans in Germany and in 1992 at the Barcelona Olympics aboard Georgioni, he became the youngest British rider ever to compete in an Olympic Games. But he truly burst into mainstream consciousness when he partnered the stallion Uthopia to team gold, Britain’s first ever Olympic dressage medal,at the London Games in 2012. His horse Valegro, ridden by protege Charlotte Dujardin, went on to claim individual gold, breaking the stranglehold that Europe previously held on the podium. Carl and Charlotte shot to instant worldwide fame, and their wonderful story has been well documented. From Carl’s humble beginnings on the quiet Channel Island of Sark, to dizzying success at World Championships, World Equestrian Games and Olympic level and, of course, meeting Her Majesty The Queen his autobiography is a brilliant read!

Carl is highly sought-after as an incredibly skilled and effective trainer, as well as being widely admired for the thoughtful and kind way that he produces and manages his horses - a true modern horseman, so it was an

Visit us at EQUITANA

Carl working with Brina Carpenter - a young rider on the way to the FEI levels

absolute privilege to sit in on this Masterclass, held on the eve of Equidays, and absorb four hours of training tips from the world’s best. Carl’s recipe is about doing the simple things properly, paying attention to the small details and ensuring you have a happy, comfortable horse at every stage; all delivered in a clever, insightful, funny, and uncomplicated manner.

It was an absolute treat. Over the next three issue we will bring you in depth coverage of each session as a reminder of the importance of the daily basics of dressage success.

A huge thank you Equidays, Carl, and of course our demo riders and horses for making it all possible Nikita Osborne (SF Austin), Mandy Littlejohn (Dolce Vita RB), Brina Carpenter (Plutonium Lady), Gaylene Lennard (Jax Johnson) Vanessa Way (NSC Pronto) & Melissa Galloway (Windermere J’Obéi W)

THIS MONTH WE PROVIDE INDEPTH COVERAGE FROM Nikita Osborne on SF Austin and Mandy Littlejohn on Dolce Vita RB WATCH OUT FOR FOR MORE IN THE NEXT ISSUES OF THE DRESSAGE NZ BULLETIN December /January - Brina & Gaylene February - Vanessa & Melissa

Dressage NZ Chair Scott McKenna and Carl Hester

359 360

TRADESITE

extremely Moore’s Riding proud MooresWear Ridingis Wear Ltd to support The best place to shop a jacket & styleteam.

Melissa Galloway andforher talented to suit your dressage needs.

Show specials available during the South Island Festival of Dressage.

view the entire range at www.mooresridingwear.co.nz | info@mooresridingwear.co.nz | 03 313 6116 • Dressage tails, Cutaways & Traditional double vented jackets.

• Huge range of sizes from 32” to 46” in stock.

• Here on site for the duration of the show, NOVEMBER call in & see us.

P: 03 313 6116

2019 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | 25

CARL HESTER MASTERCLASS

Kerikeri-based veterinary Nikita is the first rider for the evening. She rides her elegant home bred 4-year-old SF Austin (Anamour / Jaybee Aloha).

THE YOUNG OR NOVICE HORSE: NIKITA OSBORNE AND SF AUSTIN Article by Jess Roberts Photos by © Caitlin Benzie

I

t’s a pretty big ask that the youngest is the first horse in, but Austin has a beautiful temperament and copes well, although he’s initially on his toes in the big atmosphere. One of the first things Carl does is ask the tech team to turn the big background screen off - Austin seeing himself working at ten times his own size makes it hard to concentrate! “The first thing that I want, that the riders are safe, before we go into training regimes,” reassures Carl. “Safe means of course being able to control the horse, and to be able to stop and start - that’s very important!”

He kicks off the Masterclass by talking about what he looks for in a young horse, and how they should

be ridden. “The older the horses are, the more we will be able to work on the changing of the frame and the changing of the gears. But with a young horse - and I presume you all know what the scales of training are - the first thing on the scale of training is the word rhythm. When we’re looking at young horses or if you’re interested in buying a young horse, then it’s good to talk about paces, and that’s what we’re using this young horse for,” he outlines.

“We have the three paces: we have a walk, a trot, and a canter. It’s about trying to find the good in the three paces. What you really need to be aware of is, the trot we’re looking at at the moment is probably the least important of the three paces.

26 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | NOVEMBER 2019

The horses walk is very important and the horses canter is very important. Of course it depends what your ambition is for the horse,” Carl acknowledges. “My ambition as a rider is to get a horse to Grand Prix. So if that is your ambition, if you’ve ever looked at a Grand Prix test sheet, you will be very aware that there are a huge amount of marks in canter. In the canter we have to do pirouettes, we have to do zig-zags, we have to do changes.

“And anything that is difficult tends to have a coefficient of two on it. Let’s say we could take a horse with a very big expressive canter, and we can teach it to do a straight flying change. Then we take a horse with a very small canter, a flat

CARL HESTER MASTERCLASS

canter, and we can teach that to do a flying change - you have to realise where the points are when you’re thinking about the future,” he reminds everyone. “Will that horse with a very small canter make a very small flying change? It might get a seven. If you get a horse with a very good canter, and you can teach it a very good change, then you’re more likely to get the 8s, 9s and 10s. So canter: important!”

His attention turns to Austin, and Carl asks Nikita to bring him onto a circle in the middle of the arena and pick up canter. “What do we look for in the canter, when we’re in the canter? First of all I go back to the word rhythm - we have to make sure the horse has a three-beat canter.

The first thing I’m drawn to with the canter of this horse, is his hind leg.

I’m looking at a nice articulation of his hind leg; he has a good bend through his hock - without a bend through his hock it is very difficult to get good collection. Also I look at his front end, and this is where some improvement could come, he could be more uphill,” observes Carl. “But at this age, what you have to remember is that he’s going to grow! He’s a 4-coming-up-5-yearold, so we’re probably not looking at the finished picture for another couple of years yet. There’s plenty of time for that to develop.”

“But there’s something that I do like, and that is the word balance. I don’t get the feeling, looking at this horse cantering, that I’m looking at

the wall of death! If you ride your own horse, as you will know if you break horses in, if your horse is unbalanced, your canter can feel like the wall of death! Very fast, leaning over, very unbalanced.

This horse is balanced. How can we tell?” Carl questions. “Because if i look at Nikita’s reins, I can see that she’s not holding the horse on the bit. The horse should not look like it's on the bit, on the hand. The horse should look like it’s on the bit with the rein light.”

Carl moves on to some advice on checking and assisting with balance. “There’s something in dressage that is everybody’s lesson to do, and that is give and retake the reins. Do a give and retake of the reins, Nikita,” he instructs. “So she just puts her hands forward, and offers the horse a chance to carry itself. If the horse isn’t carrying itself, then of course what you see is he’ll fall to trot, he’ll stick his head up, he’ll speed off or he might go completely over the bridle. All of these tell you that the horse is not in self carriage. So it's an important word and we’ll be looking at that all night with all of the horses - but this horse finds his canter really easy.”

He asks Nikita to come back to trot and then pick up the canter on the other rein. “Do not forget, when you’re going to look at a horse to buy, that you look at it on both reins. Depending on your budget, if your horse is already ridden, and he's showing good quality and

temperament, then you’re going to be thinking of higher prices. We try and buy our horses when they’re two-and-a-half, so they're not ridden. At this age you can see the shape, you can see the movement, and you can kind of get a feel for the temperament. What you can’t tell is what they’re going to be like when you get on, so that’s something you will be taking a risk with,” says Carl.

He points out that Austin is very even on both sides and very soft in the hand. “The ideal outline is with the horse more uphill, but at the moment I feel that now the horse is starting to relax you can start to ask that a little bit more, Nikita. Looking at your horse's topline, at his neck just in front of the saddle, you can see there is a really good indication for a rider: does your horse have wrinkles? When your horse is very short in the frame, they get wrinkles just in front of the saddle and that tells you the horse isn’t coming up and out from the wither. It’s very important that Nikita keeps encouraging the horse longer in his neck, more forward with her hand, like he is there - you can see when she does that, the horse comes in front of the vertical. That’s the ideal place to end up when we’re training,” he affirms, before giving the pair a walk break.

Carl Hester - it was in everyone's lesson to give and retake the reins

NOVEMBER 2019 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | 27

CARL HESTER MASTERCLASS

A very correct and huge overtrack in the walk - a promising sign for the future.

“We’ll have a look at the horses walk - on the buckle if that's possible please,” he asks Nikita. “If you think how difficult it is to get a horse to Grand Prix, we’re probably looking at about five orsix years’ work, from the stage that this horse is at now to becoming a Grand Prix horse.

Wouldn’t it be lovely to know that by the time you got to Grand Prix your walk was good enough for a good free mark? Because everything else is so difficult in Grand Prix!

Again, when the horse walks across the diagonal on a long rein, that has a coefficient of two on it. If you think, you’ve got seven judges - at championship level - all of them could give you at least a seven, hopefully an eight. Then you’re going to get good marks. Why didn’t I say nine and ten?” Carl queries the audience. “Because you don’t really see horses at Grand Prix level getting those marks. Why is that?

Because the huge walk, any bigger than Austin’s, which might win you a Champion of Young Horses class or the World Breeding Championships - some of those horses can achieve a nine or ten walk but sometimes find it difficult to get what I call the bouncy walk, where they’re thinking about piaffe.”

Carl returns to his observation of Austin’s walk, and how to make a

walk better. “I like his walk. Such a big overtrack and very correct in his rhythm. You are now beginning to think about moving towards the 7.5 to eight marks here. And you make the walk better by getting the horse to use its head and neck. If any of you have seen a horse loose, it doesn’t go in a dressagey way, his neck goes out and forward,” he points out. “This horse is very correct in the way that he’s using his neck, he’s nodding it forward and out. So the longer she makes his topline, the more chance this horse has got of getting a better overtrack. So you wouldn’t say to Nikita, you need to use more leg.

What would happen if we said that, would be the horse starts to go up and down, and we’re trying to get him longer and flatter.”

It’s time to move into the trot work, and Carl describes Austin as having a typical, young horse trot.

“There’s a nice little balance there, are the strides very big? No - but it’s a nice, economical, easy-moving horse that in two or three years time - with the right training - you would not recognise this trot! It would be completely unrecognisable, and the one word we have to put in to achieve this is: suspension.” he says, before asking Nikita to do some trot to canter transitions. He really likes how obedient and on the aids this

28 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | NOVEMBER 2019

young horse is. “These are really important transitions. When she goes trot to canter he is learning to push, and when he goes from canter to trot he should not slow down - he should stay out onto the bit, so he learns to swing.

“The other thing I would say with him, because he is not a strong horse yet, is I would use more rising trot, Nikita.You don’t need to sit on him yet, and also the transition from trot to canter at the moment needs to be with a lighter seat.

Where you take your upper body in these transitions is very important.

If you could exaggerate for me a forward trot, and then get over your knee so you’re almost off the horses back and now canter without any hand,” Carl directs. “So you could just see there that helps the horse in an easier way, why? Because he’s not carrying the rider. The rider has to get off the horses back and allow the transition to canter. When you do that, the horse doesn’t have to throw the head and neck up because he’s not strong enough to keep his back up. The minute you're in canter, you can sit and ride forward again.”“You will know in dressage, you will have heard this: you must ride from the back to the front. What does that mean? How do you ride from the back to the front? Well, if you take

CARL HESTER MASTERCLASS

"We’re going to talk about transitions all the way along, because that's my obsession and what I believe makes really good horses: excellent transitions." hold of the front and pull it towards you, you’ll shorten the horses neck.

So you are then riding from the front to the back,” says Carl. “You know how dressagey people get very dressagey! In other words, if the horse puts their head up they get terrified - ‘oh it came off the bit, its ruined my day!’ It’s not that bad. Horses need to know what they can do with their necks, that they can lift them up. Keep a still hand and now forward, take your upper body forward,” Carl reminds Nikita. “That’s it. We’re going to talk about transitions all the way along, because that's my obsession and what I believe makes really good horses: excellent transitions.

The session ends in a way that all tonight’s sessions will end: with the stretch. “ Give the horse a long rein - see where the horse puts his head and neck on the long rein. That,” he says contentedly, “is correct. He’s a very good demo horse for this. I’m really happy to say, if your horse does this with its head and neck, you are doing the right thing. It’s telling you that the horse has worked correctly, because it needs to stretch its neck forward. Does it put the horse on the forehand? Of course, he’s young and he’s going down. But look how he’s not tucked in behind the vertical, he’s lengthened his neck and his back. That is a really good sign,” he reassures.

Carl goes on to point out that with young horses you can’t always stretch them at the start, and that’s ok. “You saw when she came in at the beginning, when the horse was looking at the screen. If she’d given it a long rein it would have turned around and gone the other way, fairly obviously! That's what I mean about being safe. You’ve got to work the horse safely, on a contact and at the end of the session when the horse wants to do this, then you’ve

Nikita & SF Austin - a young horse with good articulation of the hind leg in the canter.

Carl says

got to make the most of it. Tell him: this is the right place to be, this is correct. Why? Because physically we can see how stretched out he is, and soft. And mentally, it's also really good for him because he has started to accept the surroundings.”

Nikita finishes with a transition down to walk, made by using her upper body and not her hand.

Carl reminds the audience of the importance of letting the horse move freely in the long walk. “I always call it rowing - push the horse out using your arms and upper body. Look at the way he is using himself now, with three hoof lengths of overtrack. She’s got full use of his back, full use of his head and neck, and her arms just push the head away from the body. That is how you improve your walk.

Now he definitely should have at least an eight for his walk. He’s got energy and its positive. So we’ll give her - because you must get used to it Nikita! - a round of applause, please.” Austin is startled at the eruption of clapping but stays supersensible. “This horse has a lovely temperament. Sometimes they just don’t accept these sorts of things, it's quite normal. Sometimes it takes longer, sometimes they just are very hot horses. But yours isn’t - so you can go!”

“You know if you go to the racetrack, and you look at thoroughbreds walking around the paddock before they run, they have generally very good walks with overtracks of four hoof lengths, because they have that long hind leg that really stretches over. That's what I alwaysthink about, when I think of what a good walk should look like. This horse has a beautiful walk. Nikita has done a brilliant job with him - he has three lovely paces with no inconsistencies and no problems.”

Nikita says:

“I was so proud of Austin because he’s never been in such a big environment. I loved that Carl didn’t expect him to be in a very uphill frame but said in a few years you wouldn’t recognise him, once he was stronger and more able to carry himself - I think it helps to remind us all that the training of dressage is a very long process. I liked how Carl told me to ‘row’ his head forwards with my arms in the free walk and the other good pointer (there were lots!) was to sit slightly forward off his back into canter. There were lots and lots of transitions but the simplicity and expectations for a baby horse I felt were really good not overdoing it, hacking them out and letting them grow.”

NOVEMBER 2019 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | 29

CARL HESTER MASTERCLASS

THE ELEMENTARY HORSE:

MANDY LITTLEJOHN & DOLCE VITA RB Article by Jess Roberts Photos by © Caitlin Benzie

Riding her beautiful Doringcourt mare, Dolce Vita RB (bred by Sue Cowley from Rocky Bay Stud in New Plymouth), Mandy enjoys producing her own horses

D

olce Vita is nicely warmed up, so Carl wastes no time. “We’ve just seen the novice horse, and this is the next level - so now we go into the transitions. I was going to say earlier, when I was talking about transitions and doing a lot of them: what is a lot? And what does that mean?” he asks the audience.

“Well, if you watch a trained rider schooling a horse, it’s not just about going trot-walk-trot, or trot-cantertrot. It’s about sometimes changing the pace in canter, or making a longer stride, and a shorter stride.

That is a transition as well.”

Carl begins work on the canter, asking Mandy to show some canterwalk, walk-canter transitions. “The

reason I want to do this is really just for progression through the evening.

When we get to elementary level, the judges get thinking more about the transitions and expecting more than just simply doing them. When Mandy shows the transition, he notes, “So that was not bad, what would we give it? A seven? Why would we give it a seven? Well the horse was obedient, she was calm.

What didn’t she show to make it a nine or a ten? Not enough sitting.

Even though we’re going canter to walk - in other words coming back in a transition - you still must ride forward. But you cannot ride forward if your horse is pulling down.”

He asks then asks Mandy to show the crowd a really bad canter-walk

30 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | NOVEMBER 2019

transition. “In other words, don’t collect the horse, just take the reins and stop her with your hand. the first attemept wasn’t bad enough so Mandy rides another version of a bad transition. “So, bad-ish,” Carl quips. “What happens is, because the horse is on her hand, not going forward, it basically looks like a journey to the earth’s core! Into the floor. How should a horse go from canter to walk? The forehand should come up, and she should land with his front feet literally just patting the floor.

“First of all, Mandy, get the shortest canter you can make.

Shorten her stride so she gets lighter, lighter. Mandy tries again and it doesn’t quite happen. “Ok, you

CARL HESTER MASTERCLASS missed your stride. In other words, if you were jumping and you did that, you’d have fallen straight over the fence, or you’d have buried it, as they say! When the horse canters, the head and neck go up and down: you can only ask the horse to walk when the horse is coming up. If you ask when the neck is going down, he will keep pulling you down.

The stride before you walk, the horse has to be off your hand: she’s brought her neck up, she’s lifted her shoulders, shorter, shorter, shorter and boom, you walk forward.”

“There’s one thing you’re always told, which is to ride from your inside leg to your outside rein. It gets repeated all round the world.

But also, what needs repeating round the world is why not use your outside leg and inside rein? If you push her once or twice into the left bend with your right leg Mandy, so there’s slightly a feeling of left travers, and bend her with your left rein, relax your right rein, and push her with your right leg to the left.

Yes,” he praises. “And now like this, so she loosens in your hand, you straighten her up again. Your canter has to get to the point where I’m almost walking beside you.”

Carl asks if someone can bring a whip in for Mandy. “Why? Because the more she’s pushing with her leg, the more the horse is going forward.

This is where you would have a good reason to have a whip, quite simply because we can make her a little bit quicker. What the whip is going to say to the horse is pick up, not push forward. When you get to the point of a short canter that you can give and retake the reins, the horse becomes loose in your hand, and you ask her to walk. And then you walk forward.

It sounds Irish to say go forward when you’re coming back, but if your horse can come down stepping forward, you see an immediate correct rhythm in the walk.”

“This is really my favourite transition,” admits Carl. Why? “Because you cannot ride a really good canter pirouette unless you can canter on the spot. You cannot teach the horse the flying change unless she can go canter-walkcanter. And you cannot come down the centre line and make a lovely landing from canter to halt unless

you can canter with the horse on the hindlegs. It’s such an important transition. Touch her again with the whip, don’t ride forward just let it lift, lift, lift and whoa. “It’s not an eight in England - I don’t know what it would be here, but I’d give it a 7.5 if we were in England! I don’t judge by the way; I just enjoy judging when I’m doing these sorts of things,” he says, laughing. “But I’ve probably seen enough to see what marks you’d get and what makes the high marks. To go to the next level, about how to do a flying change, if you can’t canter the horse short, you have no compression.

And a flying change comes out of compression, so it’s important that she gets her sitting.” Mandy does a beautiful short canter with a light, soft transition to walk. “Good,” says Carl. “Give her a long rein” While the pair take a wellearned break, Carl talks about how you have to ride horses with different energy levels accordingly.

“This horse is obedient; she’s got a temperament where she would like Mandy to be put on an oxygen mask

at the end of the session while she has no sweat on her at all! She’d like to make Mandy do all the work,” he notes. “When you ride your own horse, you get so used to doing the work, if your horse happens to be a little bit behind the leg. You start squeezing and carrying. What do you need to do with a lazier horse?

You need to ride with your legs off. What do you need to do with a hotter horse? Put your legs on it. But of course the horses make us do the opposite. If the horse is nervous or hot you tend to take your legs away because you’re worried you’re going to make it even more forward, and if your horse is a bit stuck on the leg like this one, she tends to then squeeze it to keep it going because that’s your automatic human reaction.”

Carl now wants to look at the collected walk. “Look at her hind feet now. In a collected walk, the hind feet will land in the prints of the front. She hasn’t shortened the stride, she’s just bought the frame up, and there she has the ideal collected walk: she’s stepping

Preparing for Canter to walk transition - Carl's favourite...

NOVEMBER 2019 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | 31

CARL HESTER MASTERCLASS into her prints, she’s very regular, really nice strides and Mandy can concentrate on keeping the poll as the highest point.” Carl describes several ways of remembering how to keep the poll at the highest point. “One is of course to keep the hindlegs engaged, to keep the horse down behind. Second is, imagine a glass of water between your horse’s ears - would it tip straight down the front of its face as you were riding along? If the answer is yes, it’s going to be overbent. Sometimes that helps you visualize it, or you just have to think about the top plait, just behind their ears, that it stays up and that becomes the bit of the neck you can focus on.”

After talking about the horse, her paces and way of going, it’s time to talk about the rider. “How do we sit on a horse? In dressage of course it’s supposed to look elegant, upright and it really doesn’t matter if you’re 5ft or 6ft, if you are a size 34 waist or a size 26 waist. We are the shape we are. But we have to learn to sit upright on the horse,” Carl insists.

“If you look at me standing on the floor, how I stand is how I should sit on a horse. I always think of being dropped onto the horse. Basically what I’m saying to Mandy is, if I pull the horse out from underneath her, would she land on her feet?

“It doesn’t look like you’ve eaten a thing for weeks!” he jokes. “In fact, when you’re like this, it’s even more obvious when you’re out of sync because we can all see it! It’s

your ear, shoulder, hip, heel line. I know that’s a very riding school way of saying it, but it’s right - that is a balanced rider. You sit in this way Mandy and I do like your position on the horse.”

The technicalities of the leg yield are next on the agenda. When you start to train your horse, the first thing to help you to get the horse around your leg is leg yield. It is, of course, asking the horse to bring the hind leg under. What is a correct leg yield? First of all the left shoulder has to lead, not the left hind leg,” Carl states. “And a young horse should trail his hindlegs a little bit and the reason I say that is - especially with a horse that needs energy - I don’t want her to slow down. The more sideways she makes her, the rhythm of the trot will change, and we don’t want that: she must be like a metronome to the beat.”

The smallest details are important, and Carl picks up on them instantly. “Let’s talk about good bending. If I look at the horse from the front, her nostrils go left, while the top of her neck goes right, so you get the neck turn over at the top and the nose twists up to the left. That’s a horse that needs to be more supple,” he advises. “Try and do a give and retake of the reins in your leg yield, just to eliminate that last little bit of twisting in his neck - without hand. Don’t rely on the bend to ride the horse sideways, in other words. You can only ride the horse sideways from your right

32 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | NOVEMBER 2019

leg, not from bending it right. I say that because if we bend the horse too much, it will just run sideways through the outside shoulder.

Incorrect. So the horse should be fairly upright here, and straight.

“Relax both hands,” he reminds Mandy. “A horse is going to twist if you give it something to twist on.”

The combination change rein so they can repeat the leg yield, this time from left to right. “Now this is going to be interesting for you, because you’ve got to let go of the left-hand side! That’s quarters leading,” he warns. “Less, less. I would treat it like a shoulder-in but on a diagonal, to the wall. Now, this is Dolce’s stiffer side. The thing to remember is of course, they are like us. You will all be stiff on one side.

If you let the shoulders go first, the horse will have to stretch the righthand side. You must know: is she stiff on the left or the right? Because if the horse can’t bend to the left, it’s because the right-hand side of her body doesn’t want to stretch. And if you let her trail and give and retake the reins - good, without hand - now the horse has to stretch the righthand side of her body. I think the horse hangs on the left rein because she can’t stretch the right side, rather than contracting on the left.”

CARL HESTER MASTERCLASS

"...imagine a glass of water between your horse’s ears - would it tip straight down the front of its face as you were riding along? If the answer is yes, it’s going to be overbent."

To help get the rein contact more even, Carl asks Mandy to ride a circle, taking the horse’s nose to the right, and giving her the left rein.

“Push the left hand forward,” he tells her. “This is more for you, to make you feel the right-hand side of her mouth, Mandy. Good. Now straighten her up, with the horse’s head in front of her chest, straight.

When the horse is truly straight we can see the hindlegs following into the front feet, the head is in front of the chest, and she gets loose in your hand on both sides. A horse shouldn’t go around with it’s head held one way!”

Carl has some valuable advice on contact. “I remember one day I was doing a clinic together with Stephen Clarke - he’s one of our top judges - and somebody was saying ‘but my horse just won’t take the contact.’ That’s because we’re all different, and the horses are all different, so if you break your horses in you’ll know that sometimes a horse is born with a mouth like velvet, and sometimes

it’s born with a mouth like a brick, and sometimes it’s born with a mouth you can’t feel at all and it doesn’t want to go to the bit. And probably, from my point of view, the most difficult thing to correct is a horse that won’t take the bit.

Because then you have to have a really good hand as a rider. When you have a horse that’s heavy, it is a lot easier to teach it to lighten up through the word: half halt. But we’ll get to that later.”

After playing with some onand-back, the session is coming to an end and it’s time for rising trot and to let Dolce stretch. “Where does she go with the stretch? When Mandy lengthens her rein out, is the stretch correct? Does the horse come in front of the vertical? Does she bring her neck out? Do the muscles in her neck move? Does she hold everything all stiff or does she literally start to get floppy?”

Carl asks both Mandy and the audience to check. “That’s a really nice way for the horse to finish there,” he praises.

When the horse is truly straight we can see the hindlegs following into the front feet, the head is in front of the chest, and becomes loose in your hand on both sides.

Carl says

“I really like Mandy’s position on the horse, it’s elegant, and it comes from a good core strength.

If you don’t have core strength, you’re not going to be able to be an independent rider because you’ll use your legs to hold yourself on, or you’ll use your reins. Or you’ll just flop about from side to side! Any one of those things can impede the way that the horse can carry you. If you haven’t got core strength… well, it’s like saying can you take an untalented horse and teach it?

Yes. Can you take an untalented rider and teach them? Of course you can. I always say the easiest thing is to take a rider and teach them on a Grand Prix horse. You can take most riders and put them on a Valegro or a Uthopia, and I could teach them how to do piaffe and passage in two minutes because I’d tell the horse to do it, he’d do it, and they’d feel it. Training your own horse is quite difficult if you’ve not done it before, because you’re not quite sure what the feelings are in it. But to develop a better core strength, there is nothing more simple than having to ride without your stirrups, or using a yoga ball to improve it. Charlotte goes to the gym four times a week to work on this!”

Mandy says: “We worked on transitions, on the importance of making good ones and how to create them. The stand-out tip for me was that in the canter-walk transition, timing is critical. The perfect time to ask is when the horses head nods upwards, then you will get an uphill forward transition. We also worked on some different techniques for straightness which included counter flexions to create even rein contact. Transitions within the pace were another handy tip to create impulsion and expression, we worked on a few steps of medium trot back to a few steps of collected trot, and this really improved her connection and energy.”

NOVEMBER 2019 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | 33

CARL HESTER MASTERCLASS

TEN MINUTES WITH CARL Article by Jess Roberts Photo by © Caitlin Benzie

Up in the clinician’s lounge, journalists from all the horsey publications are waiting for their moment with Carl Hester. We’ve been allocated ten minutes each it’s my turn and the clock is ticking. Luckily, most of the questions I had were answered by watching the Masterclass, so I had just one left - or two, if asking him about his chickens counts!

JESS: What do you say to the majority of us, the everyday riders who love dressage, and have our one ‘normal’ horse that we work hard to keep and train? The quality of horses is so high now - which is brilliant for NZ dressage - that it’s easy to feel slightly discouraged at competitions, especially in the lower levels. Do you have any words of encouragement or advice? (Disclaimer - if you’re looking for some sort of tut-tutting ‘yes isn’t it difficult’ response or pacifying pat on the back here, that isn’t going to happen - but in the best way!).

CARL: As a trainer and rider myself, it’s really about loving training. I mean, the one thing I’ve learned as I’ve gotten older is that winning isn’t what the end result is.

Because we have different horses.

And because like you said, a lot of people have normal horses, and I teach a lot of people with normal horses. Obviously I’ve also got a lovely high end of team people, but my basic training at home is for a lot of people that are amateur, I am used to that and I started off doing that myself. So, it’s not something that I find ridiculous to talk about.

But I think getting to the point, or the main point being, like I’ve just said, is when you realise winning isn’t what the answer is. It’s just training the best that you’ve got. I’m sure, as I’ve talked about with Nip Tuck - probably my best example - ok, he still went on to do great things, so he was hardly normal, but he was normal in his movement. He wasn’t normal in his temperament, because his temperament was that of an Olympic horse, but his movement was normal.

So on that point, I’ve improved on a lot of things. Because a lot of movements in dressage, we know what the building blocks are, you know the scales of training that we should all try and work to, and if your horse is normal it will still fit into those training scales. If you follow them, and you have a system - or you have your own system, or a system that you follow with your trainer - then a normal horse will fit into those and you will still get improvement! It might be very small, or you might feel it as being very small, but you will get improvement and you’ll work through all the ups and downs that even top riders get with fabulous horses. I’ve realised, with the amount of horses we train, that there isn’t really… you might say ‘oh they’re normal horses’ or ‘they’re amateur horses’ but a normal horse could still have a lovely piaffe, possibly. You just wouldn’t know until you tried it! A normal horse could still learn to do a flying change. You will still have fun with a ‘normal’ horse without a doubt,

34 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | NOVEMBER 2019

and that normal horse, when you get better, might not be so normal.

That’s the way I’d look at it, from a training point of view.”

After reading up about his yard, it’s lovely to find out that as well as horses, there are plenty of dogs - including some from rescue centre Battersea Dogs’ Home - and a number of chickens.

Apparently if Carl goes missing at a county show, it’s a safe bet that he will be found in the chicken tent, acquiring poultry in the manner of the pick’n’mix aisle at the supermarket! They don’t have individual names but are collectively known as ‘The Supermodels’. “I now have 18 chickens, 9 peacocks and 25 guinea fowl, whom I love - they’re my guard dogs,” he smiles. “Ducks I have had, but I definitely prefer chickens. Ducks are messy and they flew away all the time. I obviously didn’t have a connection with them because they didn’t want to stay!”

NATIONAL NEWS

NOVEMBER 2019 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | 35

NATIONAL NEWS

L to R. Jackie Thomas & Satorial Hit SW, Andrea Raves, Hannah Johnston, Hubertus Hufendiek, Cate Edgler & Designer Hit SW

HUBERTUS HUFENDIEK VISIT TO NEW ZEALAND Article and photo by Barbara Chalmers

R

ecently New Zealand riders were very fortunate to be able to participate in training clinics with young German professional Hubertus Hufendiek.

Hubertus made a number of visits to NZL some years ago under the auspices of Dressage NZ and was made available to both squad riders and private lessons. Hubertus is a fully qualified German trainer, excellent on correct basics and problem solving, from young horses to his specialist area – Grand Prix.

Thanks to Andrea Raves for liaising with Hubertus, and to course organisers Christine Weal (Waikato), Barbara Chalmers (Otago), Sue Wells (Christchurch) and Julie Flintoff

(Northland) for organizing clinics in their areas and giving everyone this opportunity to train with or watch a respected trainer from the one of the most successful dressage countries in the world.

Otago was just one of the areas that had a wait list for lessons. He taught a wide range from Grand Prix to green horses, professional and amateur riders alike, and was fully concentrated on bringing out the best in each individual and, very importantly, leaving them with a plan to go on with. Anything not in the correct manner in line with the Scale of Training was immediately identified and was soon put to right.

Basics, basics, basics – with quality.

36 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | NOVEMBER 2019

A recurring theme was for much more bend and suppleness, insisting on keeping the flexion to the inside, more “through” (the horse’s body), riding forward to encourage and develop bigger stride without speed while keeping the frame correct and the gullet open.

Stretching the horse long and low, keeping an even rhythm before and after your schooling session and being able to do it through a schooling session if needed or to use it to “test” the throughness.

Position was never neglected – Hubertus asked for hands together and steady in front of wither, riding with independent seat and hands and having the horse more on your

NATIONAL NEWS

"The work on the basics will improve the results for both amateurs and top sport riders."

seat aids and not relying on the reins. Supple hips was a good cue for riders who weren’t relaxed, not just for older bodies. Every exercise led in a logical manner to the next one, and preparation and correct position was key. Brains were expected to be switched on, open to learning and used. Hubertus told us what we needed to hear, not always what we wanted to hear, a refreshing honesty; no party tricks if the basics are not correct. He was aware of the physical development of each horse, complimenting those whose horses showed muscle development in the correct place which showed training was on the correct lines. Lessons proceeded with the long term goal and welfare of each individual horse in mind.

Andrea Raves came to the Otago clinic to spend a day with Hubertus and watch most of his lessons in order to further help her own regular riders. It is inspiring when two trainers work together, no ego, just getting an oversight from another expert to make sure the training is on track and pick up any things that could be improved on or done in a different manner.

If everyone worked in this collegial manner, how far could we go?

I TOOK THE OPPORTUNITY TO ASK HUBERTUS SOME QUESTIONS. What do you look for when buying a young horse to develop into a future Grand Prix dressage horse?

When buying a young horse, we put big importance on the following points: • Correctness of conformation • Walk and canter have to be very good and the horse has to show elasticity in the way he is using his body in all three gaits • They have to be clear in their mind and sensitive

What do you look for and what sort of “feel” do you want when trying (riding) an older horse, with a view to training it through to Grand Prix or on-selling it?

Most important of course is the feel that we have while riding the horse. We want a horse to be positive hot or electric. Being elastic is absolutely necessary for a Grand Prix horse like a positive attitude towards work. Without the willingness of the horse to learn and to fight for the rider it’s hard to train a horse up to GP even if it has all the other qualities.

How do you keep yourself motivated and fit (apart from riding)?

I really love to work with these amazing animals and that gives me enough motivation every day.

How can we improve our standard of dressage in NZ, given our isolation; has there been a change since your initial visit approximately 13 years ago?

I can see quite a big change over the last few years. Especially the quality of the horses has improved a lot which is probably due to the availability of frozen semen. I can also see more and more riders putting more importance on quality instead of just teaching the tricks.

That is in my opinion what you have to do to raise the standard.

What are the key messages you can leave us with, till your next visit?

The work on the basics will improve the results for both amateurs and top sport riders.

To all the riders, judges and coaches who took the opportunity to participate in and watch these lessons – good on you. “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always be where you’ve always been.” —T.D. Jakes. The only way forward is to take every opportunity to watch and learn.

NOVEMBER 2019 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | 37

www.

NATIONAL NEWS

SOUTH ISLAND DRESSAGE JUDGES SCHOLARSHIP

The annual South Island Judges Scholarship Fund which is in its third & final year is once again open for applications.

T

hanks to the generosity of an anonymous supporter, South Island judges have been offered a valuable opportunity to upskill, supported by a $2,000 scholarship fund.

The aim of the fund is to assist South Island dressage judges in their personal development and to enhance their skills in their journey for the betterment of our sport.

The recipient of the final $2,000 distribution of the threeyear fund will announced at the South Island Dressage Championships in Gore in February 2020 The recipient will have up to two years to utilise the scholarship and will be required to return a written report outlining the utilisation and benefits gained from the scholarship, which can potentially be used for any form of judge education, and is not restricted to sit-in’s, writing or shadow judging, and may be used in NZ or overseas.

Scholarship recipients traditionally would also receive preferential treatment for sitting in, writing, and shadow judging assignments at major shows in NZ. Invitations will be coordinated through the fund managers and AJOs, so that judges are not breaching the ethics of judging by soliciting invitations.

Application forms will be sent to all South Island AJOs in November with a closing date of 2nd December. Winners will be announced in January 2020.

A group of three South Island dressage enthusiasts, Linda Warren-Davey (Canterbury) Stuart Bishell, (Timaru) and Tedi Busch (Nelson) manage and administer the fund.

For more information, contact Linda Warren Davey - ponytail007@gmail.com, Stuart Bishell - sm-bishell@xtra.co.nz , or Tedi Busch - pocobusch@outlook.com or your Area Judges Officer.

38 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | NOVEMBER 2019

NEWSFLASH!!

Linda Warren-Davey is this year's recipient of the Chris Hodson Scholarship for aspiring FEI Officials.

It is a huge, long-term commitment and investment especially when Linda undertakes constant development and education based in Europe. Thank you so much to Equestrian Sports NZ and the Chris Hodson Scholarship Trustees.

c w e

NATIONAL NEWS

CHANGES TO FEI DRESSAGE TESTS Effective 1 January 2020

T

he FEI has published the updated versions of several FEI Dressage Test.

These can be found at

www.inside.fei.org/fei/your-role/organisers/dressage/tests

FEI PRIX ST GEORGES: No change FEI INTERMEDIATE I: No change to test pattern but clarification in Movement 9 that the quality of collected canter before and after the flying change at B is an important part of the movement INTERMEDIATE A: Modifications to Movements 4 -8 INTERMEDIATE B: New test FEI INTERMEDIATE II: Movement 15. The flying change at X in medium canter on the diagonal. This movement has been introduced into the Intermediate II. GRAND PRIX: The only change is the scheduled ride time increased from 5.45 min to 6.30 min.

GRAND PRIX SPECIAL: No change UNDER 25 GRAND PRIX No changes JUNIORS & YOUNG RIDERS No changes PONY RIDERS No changes CHILDREN The Children’s tests have been lightly modified FREESTYLES No changes YOUNG HORSES No changes

I feel very privileged and honoured to be this year's recipient of the Chris Hodgson Scholarship for aspiring FEI Officials. It is a huge, long-term commitment and investment especially when so much of your development and education is based in Europe. Thank you

Official ESNZ

DRESSAGE TESTS 2019

©

If you have a question about any of the new tests, please contact dressage@nzequestrian.org.nz . If your question is published you will win a stylish Dressage NZ branded stainless steel coffee mug.

NOVEMBER 2019 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | 39

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

FEI WORLD CUP WESTERN EUROPEAN LEAGUE Dufour Dominates in Denmark

D Catherine Dufour (DEN) riding Bohemian, winners of the FEI Dressage World Cup™ 2019 Herning, Denmark Photo: FEI/Kristine Ulsø Olsen

enmark’s Cathrine Dufour stole all the limelight when dominating both the Grand Prix and Freestyle at the first leg of the FEI Dressage World Cup™ 2019/2020 Western European League on home ground in Herning (DEN). Riding her exciting young Westphalian gelding Bohemian, she

40 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | NOVEMBER 2019

posted a whopping 83.022 to win the Grand Prix, then she posted the winning Freestyle score of 88.191 which left her well clear of her nearest rivals, Germany’s Benjamin Werndl with Daily Mirror 9 and Helen Langehanenberg.

“It’s quite incredible!” said a delighted Dufour, so happy the

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Frederic Wandres (GER). Duke of Britain. Photo: FEI / Eric Knoll

performances of her super-talented and ultra-promising nine-year-old horse. “Yesterday was the highlight because he was super-brave in front of a full-on crowd and everything came together! And today he brought out his “A” game again imagine what he can do when I start to push him a bit more - he’s going to be unbelievable!”

As Dufour returned to the arena for the prize-giving there was a sense that a new champion has been born. The Danish rider’s career highlights have mostly been recorded in her partnership with the fabulous 16-year-old gelding Atterupgaard’s Cassidy who has carried her from Young Rider European gold to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and on to team and Freestyle bronze at the 2017 Senior Europeans and bronze in the Special again at this summer’s European Championships.

Bohemian looks like his perfect successor, and Dufour acknowledged that today.

She is much lauded for her hugely sympathetic riding style which allows her horses to develop at their own pace. “They are my team-mates, and I respect them in the ring. If they say they can’t do something then I say, ‘maybe next time’. I never push them and that gives them great confidence. I love my ponies, I’m really just a pony girl inside!!”

But in spite of these outstanding performances, Cathrine is not going to try to qualify Bohemian for the Las Vegas 2020 Final, because she says it will be too much for him in a short space of time, especially when she has the 2020 Olympic Games in

her sights. “I want to have both of them (Cassidy and Bohemian) ready for Tokyo. I’ve taken it quite easy on Bohemian to improve his frame and his strength, I’m just still trying to balance him. But the day I can start really riding him forward - I can only imagine what he can do!”

DUEL OF THE DRESSAGE QUEENS IN LYON Three-in-a-row at Lyon for Werth - the defending series champion Germany’s Isabell Werth showed exactly why she is known as the Queen of international dressage at the second leg in Lyon, France, she produced yet another of her right-royal victories.

Partnering the 13-year-old gelding Emilio she was pinned into second place in the Grand Prix by Great Britain’s Charlotte Dujardin and the 10-year-old mare Mount St John Freestyle. But the German legend did what she does best and fought back to win the Lyon leg for the third consecutive year when putting a massive 87.090 on the board.

There was great anticipation of the duel between Werth and Dujardin who was twice crowned champion with the great Valegro.

It was at the 2014 Final in Lyon that the British rider first lifted the coveted FEI Dressage World Cup™ trophy, and fans are superexcited to see her back fighting for the supremacy she held in the sport during the heady years before Valegro’s retirement. he’s aiming for a spot at the 2020 Final in Las Vegas. As defending champion Werth doesn’t need to collect points, instead she is only obliged to compete twice with her horse of choice in order to qualify.

“Welcome back Charlotte! It’s good to have the best in the field, and that is also what the public like to see! It’s great to have Charlotte away from her island - now the World Cup season will be really exciting!” said Isabell, herself a long time legend., Dujardin is already looking down the road to the series Final, and the experience her mare can pick up along the way. “I will go to Olympia (London, GBR) and this will again be a big show with a big crowd and a great atmosphere.

Then I plan to go to Amsterdam and hopefully Las Vegas!”

Third-placed Wandres, who posted a mark of 80.015, was delighted with his result. “When I saw the rider-list here I thought it could be difficult to do well, but now being third behind the two Dressage Queens is fantastic! With Duke it is special as we learned together. It is now our second Grand Prix season and we keep progressing”, he said.

NOVEMBER 2019 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | 41

OUR PEOPLE

Kaye Emeny (L) with Sue Hobson at the Central Districts Championshipstaking a little break from scoring duties

VOLUNTEER OF THE MONTH KAYE EMENY Sponsored by AllinFlex

K

aye’s history of involvement in equestrian sport spans many decades. At eight years old, she began riding as a foundation member of Oroua Downs Pony club, competing in gymkhanas, sports days and the occasional hunt. Many years later, when nine-year-old daughter Marcia also got the pony bug, Kaye became chief instructor and treasurer for the Ohau Pony Club.

Soon it was a two-year stint as treasurer for Horowhenua Pony Club alongside squeezing in a bit of hunting and looking out for the youngsters at Pony Club Hunts. For a time, she was key support team for Marcia and her jumping ponies but then in 1988, Kaye reached for the stirrup once more, taking up Dressage for a twenty year stretch, competing to elementary level before retiring in 2008.

Her newfound involvement in Dressage led to the role as Dressage Horowhenua treasurer for twenty years, helping organise tournaments and show secretary.

When she retired from dressage competitions eleven years ago Kaye always thought she would become a writer, but instead was talked into scoring by Sara Bright.

Since then she has scored for the multiple events in the lower half of the North Island, including, Wellington, Horowhenua, Wairarapa, Central Districts, Taihape, Southern Hawkes Bay, twice for the North Island Champs, the Bates Dressage Nationals at every Manfeild event plus one at the National Equestrian Centre in Taupo. Kaye somehow manages to sail under the radar and keep a very low profile like a lot of our volunteers, but she is always one

42 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | NOVEMBER 2019

of the first to arrive and last to leave an event and for all those Horowhenua graded shows she has only twice been unavailable to put up arenas!

Twice a week for the past six years, Kaye has volunteered for the Levin Group of Riding for the Disabled, assisting riders aged from five 5 to mid-60’s and acting as the duty coach one of those days each week.

Kaye said it gives her great pleasure to watch the riders progress (especially the young riders) making it all worthwhile.

Her volunteering is driven by her love of horses and her passion for supporting worthy organisations.

Kaye and her late husband retired from farming seven years ago. Originally a dairy property in Ohau, they converted to beef in 1987. She now spends her spare time gardening on her much smaller 1¼ acre property has an of lawn and flower gardens.

Thanks Kaye Emeny. You are one

of our legends and still working your magic with the numbers.

Kaye is the recipient of this month’s AllinFlex Volunteer prize.

Check out their range of products at www.allinflex.co.nz

OUR PEOPLE

Sue Thorp receiving her QSM in 2013.

Committed not only to dressage and equestrian but to her community

OFFICIAL OF THE MONTH SUE THORP QSM Sponsored by AR Dressage

T

aranaki’s Sue Thorpe is another notable identity in the equestrian community have receiving a QSM in 2013.

Sue has very recently resigned as a dressage judge after many years’ service to the sport and her presence in a car at the end of an arena will be greatly missed by riders. As a list 4 judge Sue shared years of experience and knowledge in her assessment of riders and their horses. As many riders will know, she is a ‘specialist’ in observing and assessing the correct use of the arena providing positive comments on accuracy and how riders could gain extra marks. Sue always took her judging commitments very seriously, working to gain a thorough knowledge of the correct way of going for each level.

While always keen to reward a combination that demonstrated correct training, correct use of

aids and harmony between rider and horse, Sue would also observe and mark appropriately the varied examples of disharmony that a dressage judge is confronted with from time to time.

As Head Instructor of the Waitara Branch of the North Taranaki Pony Club, she enjoyed taking the younger riders for a jaunt round the cross-country course. This could turn into a picnic where she would magically produce afternoon tea from her backpack. Inspection time at a rally is firmly etched in the minds of many riders and her standards for correct turnout taught riders to be thorough. Sue is a trained teacher and B Certificate examiner. This background in education showing through in the hours she dedicated to instruction for pony club certificates. As District Commissioner Sue particularly enjoyed the aspect

of maintaining the spirit of pony club, ensuring fair play for riders.

She is well known beyond Taranaki as manager of the Taranaki Pony Club Horse Trials Team during the 1990’s. Along with coach Tompkins as coach, the Taranaki team won many team and individual titles at pony club champs.

Sue and husband David are farmers by day, but have made huge contributions to many other organisations, particularly the Taranaki Hunt and New Plymouth Operatic Society. Sue has a vast store of knowledge in her chosen pursuit of hunting, is much respected as a rider and has been a Deputy Master, Field Secretary and President of the Taranaki Hunt.

Sue and David have provided the backbone for the maintenance of the hunt kennels property for several decades and have ensured the calendar includes children’s hunts. These hunts are increasing in popularity and the concept of allowing one of the young riders to be the master and others to help whip has proven very popular and successful.

Sue is the recipient of this month’s AR Dressage Official’s prize. For further information on AR Dressage contact Andrea at tetch@xtra.co.nz

NOVEMBER 2019 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | 43

NATIONAL COMPETITION CIRCUIT

NORTH ISLAND SUPER 5 LEAGUE From the Central Districts & Bay of Plenty Premier League events

S

tar studded fields and exciting performances have been seen early season across the levels at the Kiwi Arena Rakes Premier League events in both North & South Islands. It’s shaping up to be a super Super 5 season. Riders earn points on the Leaderboards in their island of origin regardless of the event location BACK ON TRACK - ADVANCED MEDIUM NRM Timbermill Prequel

Vanessa Way

14

Astek Geronimo

Kellie Hamlett

14

Royal Dream

Haydee Wells-Parmenter

7

VETPRO EQUINE SUPPLEMENTS - PRELIMINARY

Don Vito MH

Wendi Williamson

7

Dance Hit SW

Susan Tomlin

10

Nico FE

Sharon Field

7

Dillinger LS

Jacqui Thompson

10

Donnerbella II

Tania Smith

7

Rocriale RE

Kieryn Walton

10

Pineridge Pirate

Abbie Deken

7

Renee Etherington

7

LSH Concorde

Rachel Forrester

10

BL All By Chance

The Keeper

Brigid Gray

10

HOBSON HORSECOACHES - ADVANCED

MATTHEWS HANOVERIANS - NOVICE Griffindor MH

Molly Lumb

Bon Jovi MH

Wendi Williamson

10

17

Airthrey Roll X

Nicola Drabble

7

Lilly Jefferies

5

Lindisfarne Danseur

Rosanne Rix

7

Lindisfarne Laureate

Donneroyale

Lucy Russell

7

Flute Noir

Nicole Sweney

5

Jaidev

Catherine West

7

Laila Dawn

Nicki Sunley

5

Rock Man

Donna Wellington

7

Lumino

Rhiannon King

5

Liana Mikaera

5

Meissen

Ottilie Upshall

7

Cyprus Al Thaqib

Royal Flirt RE

Nicola Kitcheman

7

Vollrath Luigi

Grace Farrell

5

RM Astek Glamorous

Georgia Watson

7

Oakridge

Vicki Reid

5

Joie De Vivre SS

Rachael Sutton

7

CUSTOM LOGISTIC - SMALL TOUR

HERITAGE EQUINE - ELEMENTARY

Sisters II Etta J

Chelsea Callaghan

10

Derreen Park Jiselle

Rachael Sutton

14

Jax Johnson

Gaylene Lennard

10

Mistadobalina

Ottilie Upshall

10

BL About Time

Penny Castle

7

Archie

Mandy Littlejohn

7

Schindlers Liszt

Christine Weal

7

Ganache MH

Kathryn Corry

7

Hapsburg PSH

Liz Hutson

7

HSP Soe

Henrike Puketapu

7

ANDREA RAVES FETTERMAN - MEDIUM TOUR

Pistachio

Ellie Grieves

7

NSC Pronto

Vanessa Way

14

Revelwood Showtime

Cooper Oborn

14

DUNSTAN HORSEFEEDS - MEDIUM River Jim

Vaughn Cooper

14

Decadance MH

Wendi Williamson

7

GS O Jay

Amanda Berridge

7

RM All About Me

Amy Sage

5

Susan Tomlin

5

RM Suzie Q

Debbie Barke

7

Dancealong

Dolce Vita RB

Mandy Littlejohn

7

SUPERIOR RUBBER SURFACES - GRAND PRIX

True Donnar

Becky Corlett

7

Aphrodite

Cooper Oborn

10

Popstar MH

Stephanie Baker

7

Vom Feinsten

Julie Brougham

7

Paula Stuart

5

Charlton Baliro

Nicoli Fife

7

Aztec Lad

HPH Prospero

Lucy Russell

7

Letty Lei EDH

Victoria Wall

5

Tuahu Gemma

Anna Williams

7

Zinstar

Julie Pearson

5

44 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | NOVEMBER 2019

NATIONAL COMPETITION CIRCUIT VETPRO EQUINE SUPPLEMENTS - PRELIMINARY My Mojo Man

Melia Picard

17

Willowbank Eve

Tessa Van Bruggen

14

Oh Asterix

Sue Rudler

14

WE Rockadeus

Tonia Stewart

14

Fling VP

Sharon Brown

7

Nachttanzer WR

Elora Hallett

7

Cobigan Mia Bella

Christine Walker

7

MATTHEWS HANOVERIANS - NOVICE Southwell Razzmataz

Sandy Houston

21

Bloomfield Furst Love Song

Anna Gale

17

Evander Junos Razmataz

Donna Herring

10

Il Divo

Sandra de Koning

7

Aorangi Alida

Annie Baird

7

Flynnie McGoogan

Belinda Anderson

7

Cortina

Kim Maude

7

HERITAGE EQUINE - ELEMENTARY I Walk The Line

Amanda Scott-Bates

10

D Malia

Jane Fibbes

7

Sands of Time

Ann Macdonald

7

Te Puke

Charlotte Thomas

5

Blytheburn Santana

Sharon Inwood

5

SE Gym Bellomi

Georgia Ryan

5

Reddy Freddy Krueger

Cheryl Payne

5

Southern Son

Nikaela Hall

5

Almost Legal

Macy Morgan

5

Southern Z

Jennifer Kendall

5

Nightfire

Deirdre Anderson

5

SOUTH ISLAND SUPER 5 LEAGUE From the Central Districts, SCNO, Ashburton, Nelson, Marlborough & Bay of Plenty Premier League events CUSTOM LOGISTIC - SMALL TOUR Hollywood Superstar

Vanessa Baxter

10

Walk The Line

Anna Gale

8

New World Finesse

Fiona Sharp

5

Alliarna

Sonya McLachan

5

Glenview Caballero

Roya Yavari

5

ANDREA RAVES FETTERMAN - MEDIUM TOUR Kintore Romany

Kirsty Schist

5

Gammon Ks

Joy White

3

SUPERIOR RUBBER SURFACES - GRAND PRIX Windermere JObèi W

Melissa Galloway

14

Windermere Johanson W

Melissa Galloway

14

Fortunato

Franzi Van Bruggen-Smit

12

Caithness Masquerade

Anna Terrell

5

Rossellini

Barbara Chalmers

5

DUNSTAN HORSEFEEDS - MEDIUM Twist It NZPH

Kathryn Brough

10

Sisters II Whitney H

Wendy Butler

7

Time After Time

Charlotte Thomas

7

BF Royal Allure

Anna Gale

5

Stellars Eagle

Sarah Cornwall

5

Corundum

Vivienne Young

5

Three Aces

Tiffany Ottley

5

Golden Strike

Rebecca Kerr

5

Donnerchino

Cherie Pearson

5

BACK ON TRACK ADVANCED MEDIUM Fiorenza

Tessa Van Bruggen

17

HV Wolfetone

Paula Hippolite

10

Touch the Clouds

Emma Mackenzie

10

Sanderson

Amy Nicholls

7

Donna Lilly

Deborah Rutherford

7

HOBSON HORSECOACHES - ADVANCED Arnage Rhumba

Julie Fraser

14

Woodfieldpark Ludwig

Rebecca Lawrence

10

Fernlea Diamond Day

Lorraine Ward-Smith

7

Fernando MH

Nicki Ford

7

Solo

Rebecca McKee

7

NOVEMBER 2019 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | 45

NATIONAL COMPETITION CIRCUIT

NORTH ISLAND ZILCO MUSICAL FREESTYLE SERIES NOVICE Joie De Vivre SS

Rachael Sutton

14

Jaidev

Catherine West

14

Lindisfarne Danseur

Rosanne Rix

10

Rock Man

Donna Wellington

7

Lucy Duke

Haydee Wells-Parmenter

7

ADVANCED

Anaruby II.

Lenore McIver

7

Bon Jovi MH

Wendi Williamson

10

Sisters II Andee R

Wendy Skelton

7

Flute Noir

Nicole Sweney

7

Griffindor MH

Molly Lumb

7

Airthrey Roll X

Nicola Drabble

7

Laila Dawn

Nicki Sunley

5

ELEMENTARY

Includes Central Districts & Bay of Plenty

Derreen Park Jiselle

Rachael Sutton

10

Sonic Spirit

Sharlene Royal

5

Mistadobalina

Ottilie Upshall

10

Luminate SH

Kim Coghlan

5

Archie

Mandy Littlejohn

10

Lindisfarne Laureate

Lilly Jefferies

5

Santana MH

Cindy Wiffin

7

Cyprus Al Thaqib

Liana Mikaera

5

SWE Diamant Stern

Philippa Gibbons

7

Oakridge

Vicki Reid

5

HSP Soe

Henrike Puketapu

7

Pagan DTS

Judy Jeffery

3

Ganache MH

Kathryn Corry

7

SMALL TOUR

First Lady DHU

Nicole Bours

7

Jax Johnson

Gaylene Lennard

7

Pistachio

Ellie Grieves

7

Sisters II Etta J

Chelsea Callaghan

7

Little Brown Bear

Vanessa Stroud

7

Schindlers Liszt

Christine Weal

7

Parkridge Donnamour

Peter Barke

7

MEDIUM Jalyn Special Effects

Hannah Gibson

14

Aviance

Laura Brown

7

GS O Jay

Amanda Berridge

10

BL About Time

Penny Castle

7

Tuahu Gemma

Anna Williams

7

Campion KSNZ

Tessa King

5

Liz Hutson

5

Angela Hooper

5

Saatchi PSH

David Ringwood

7

Hapsburg PSH

RM Suzie Q

Debbie Barke

7

Surreal BC

True Donnar

Becky Corlett

7

MEDIUM TOUR

Popstar MH

Stephanie Baker

7

NSC Pronto

Vanessa Way

17

HPH Prospero

Lucy Russell

7

Revelwood Showtime

Cooper Oborn

14

Decadance MH

Wendi Williamson

7

ADVANCED MEDIUM NRM Timbermill Prequel

Vanessa Way

20

Raukura Regal Diamond

William Millar

7

BL All By Chance

Renee Etherington

14

RM All About Me

Amy Sage

7

Jaybee Jazzman

Cooper Oborn

10

GRAND PRIX

Pineridge Pirate

Abbie Deken

7

Aphrodite

Cooper Oborn

14

Kinnordy Golda

Madison Schollum

7

Ali Baba

Jody Hartstone

7

Donnerbella II

Tania Smith

7

Aztec Lad

Paula Stuart

7

Astek Geronimo

Kellie Hamlett

7

Amici II

Catherine West

5

Shadowhunter

Wendy Hamerton

7

Zinstar

Julie Pearson

5

46 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | NOVEMBER 2019

NATIONAL COMPETITION CIRCUIT

SOUTH ISLAND ZILCO MUSICAL FREESTYLE SERIES Includes Central Districts, SCNO, Ashburton, Nelson, Marlborough & Bay of Plenty NOVICE Southwell Razzmataz

Sandy Houston

24

Bloomfield Furst Love Song

Anna Gale

20

Dunrobin Ricochet

Caroline Houghton

10

Il Divo

Sandra de Koning

10

Peridot

Sharon Rowlands

8

ELEMENTARY

T

he Zilco Freestyle to Music Leaderboards are well underway in both islands with high quality choreography and musical interpretations resulting in a number of riders recording maximum 10 pointers for 70% plus scores. The South Island Final will be at Gore at the SI Championships from 6-8 February and the North Island at Horse of the Year Show 11-16 March For complete results go to www.nzequestrian.org.nz/disciplines/dressage/competition/results/

I Walk The Line

Amanda Scott-Bates

14

Reddy Freddy Krueger

Cheryl Payne

10

ADVANCED Julie Fraser

14

Almost Legal

Macy Morgan

10

Arnage Rhumba

FIS Get Smart

Rebecca McKee

7

Fernlea Diamond Day

Lorraine Ward-Smith

7

L Etoile

Nicki Ford

7

Solo

Rebecca McKee

7

Te Puke

Charlotte Thomas

7

Woodfieldpark Ludwig

Rebecca Lawrence

7

Gusto Dracaena

Sonja Swale

7

Grandiosie

Janna Greene

7

Hollywood Superstar

Vanessa Baxter

12

Walk The Line

Anna Gale

10

Lodestar

Seija Parkkali-Glew

8

Alliarna

Sonya McLachan

5

New World Finesse

Fiona Sharp

5

Glenview Caballero

Roya Yavari

5

Kirsty Schist

5

MEDIUM

SMALL TOUR

Twist It NZPH

Kathryn Brough

12

BF Royal Allure

Anna Gale

10

Sisters II Whitney H

Wendy Butler

10

Time After Time

Charlotte Thomas

7

Corundum

Vivienne Young

7

Three Aces

Tiffany Ottley

7

Fiorenza

Tessa Van Bruggen

14

HV Wolfetone

Paula Hippolite

10

Windermere J'Obèi W

Melissa Galloway

20

Donna Lilly

Deborah Rutherford

7

Windermere Johanson W

Melissa Galloway

14

Sanderson

Amy Nicholls

7

Fortunato

Franzi Van Bruggen-Smit

14

Touch the Clouds

Emma Mackenzie

5

Caithness Masquerade

Anna Terrell

10

First Choice

Robert Kofoed

5

Rossellini

Barbara Chalmers

7

ADVANCED MEDIUM

MEDIUM TOUR Kintore Romany

GRAND PRIX

NOVEMBER 2019 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | 47

NATIONAL COMPETITION CALENDER

WHICH EVENTS AND SERIES ARE FOR YOU THIS SEASON? EQUESTRIAN ENTRIES NZ U25 NATIONAL DRESSAGE CHAMPIONSHIPS January 25 - 27 2020 - TAUPO National Equestrian Centre (NCH /RE)

NEW: This event is now designated as a Horse of the Year Qualifier for Horses & Ponies required to qualify at a Premier League Event. Musical Freestyles count at this event where Zilco Musical Qualifiers are required ESNZ National Titles (NCH) Hyland Pony Championship (Pony FEI tests – Medium level) the Waldebago Trophy for Young Rider Championship (Young Rider FEI tests – Prix St Georges level), and the KH Arvan Trophy for the U25 Grand Prix. All other grades and/or age group competitions will be designated Premier League (RE) status and will include event championship titles. The York Corporation Inter-Island Team Challenge will also be held. No prior qualification required. There are plans to host a Pony & Young Rider educational forum on Monday 27th January (Details TBC) Entries only on www.equestrianentries.co.nz

FEI DRESSAGE WORLD CHALLENGE 2020 The date and venue for the 2020 FEI Dressage World Challenge will be confirmed during 2020 and will not be held prior to 1st August 2020.

SERIES For more information about series go to: https://www.nzequestrian.org.nz/disciplines/dressage/competition/dressage-series-classes/

For information about Rider Categories refer to ART DR Art 462.5 https://www.nzequestrian.org.nz/esnz/rules-regulations/dressage-rules/

ZILCO MUSICAL FREESTYLE SERIES The crowd pleasing Zilco Musical Freestyle Series will be a feature again this season from Novice through to Grand Prix. Refer to the 2019 Test Book for the new Freestyle Tests from Novice (L2) through to Advanced(L6). Small tour (L7) uses the FEI Int I Freestyle. Go to the FEI web site for guidelines for these tests. https://inside.fei.org/system/files/FEI%20Freestyle%20Directives%20for%20Judges_final-19.04.2017.pdf

The competition comprises two Island Series contested at Premier League Events (Top 5 scores to count). The North Island Series completes at the Horse of the Year Show and the South Island Series completes at the South Island Festival of Dressage. Points table managed directly by Dressage NZ

SUPER 5 DRESSAGE LEAGUE The 2019-20 Super 5 League comprises a points series in each island from Preliminary Grand Prix 9 (top 5 points only to count) plus an island final at both the South Island Festival of Dressage and the Bates National Championships. National Super 5 rankings will be determined from % in each level at both these events.

Tests used for Super 5 League at Premier League Events: Preliminary to Advanced B Tests; Small Tour – FEI Int I; Medium Tour FEI Intermediate B; Big Tour Grand Prix or Grand Prix Special.

Points tables managed directly by Dressage NZ

48 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | NOVEMBER 2019

NATIONAL COMPETITION CALENDER BATES NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS & TRAINING FORUM 26 -29 March 2020, Taupo National Equestrian Centre

The Bates National Championships are being held after the Horse of the Year Show in 2020 in order not to clash with the FEI Dressage Forum and Willinga Park CDI 4*(near Sydney) in midFebruary.

The event will include a CDI3*, CDIY, CDI P, Young Horses, Bates National Open Championships from levels Preliminary to Grand Prix, National Amateur Championships from Preliminary to Advanced Medium. New for 2020, Open Pony Classes will be offered at Elementary & Medium in addition to the CDIP. Foreign International Judges confirmed are Henning Lehrmann (5*GER) Maria Schwennesen (5*AUS) Sandy Hotz (4* USA) and Ricky McMillan (4*AUS). A Training Forum for Riders, Judges & Fans will be held on Sunday 29th with Sandy Hotz.

NATIONAL AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIPS AT THE BATES NATIONALS

Amateur Championships from Preliminary to Advanced Medium will be held as separate classes.

Eligibility is based onrider categories and horse grades. Qualification for the AMCH. The term Amateur is defined by rider category status. Amateur Riders are C5 and below (ie - not more than 15pts in level 6 or above) DR Art 462.5 Eligibility NCH 2020: (Graded competitions only) From 1 Jan 2019 – Date of close of Entries If excessive entries are received, wait lists and balloting will be implemented Open & Amateur

MES

Preliminary & Novice

63%

Elementary - ADV

60%

Elementary & Medium Ponies

60%

CDIP (Medium Level)

60%

CDIY & Small Tour (PSG /Int I)

57%

Medium Tour (INT A/B) & GP

57%

Event Classification

Premier League, ICH, U25CH, NCH or HOY

Young Dressage Horse Classes No prior qualification. Proof of age of horse must be supplied with entry.

HORSE OF THE YEAR SHOW 2020 (DRESSAGE SECTION) Title Classes Eligibility HOY 2020: (Graded competitions only) From 1 Sept 2019 – 16 Feb 2020 LEVEL

MES

EVENT CLASSIFICATION

Preliminary Horse

64%

Premier League Preliminary or Zilco Novice

Novice Horse

64%

Premier League Zilco Novice

Elementary Horse

64%

Premier League Zilco Elementary

Medium Horse

64%

Premier League Zilco Medium

Advanced Medium Horse

60%

Premier League Zilco Advanced Medium

Advanced Horse

60%

Premier League Advanced

FEI Small Tour Horse

60%

Premier League Int 1

FEI Intermediate Horse

58%

Premier League Int A, Int B or Int II

FEI Grand Prix (FEI 3* / Nat)

58%

Premier League GP or GPS

CDI Y (FEI Young Rider)

60%

Premier League: PSG or Int I

Title & Non-Title Pony Classes Eligibility Preliminary Pony

60%

Any Preliminary graded competition

Novice Pony

60%

Any Novice graded competition

Elementary Pony

60%

Any Elementary graded competition

Pony of the Year FEI Pony Tests

60%

Any Medium graded competition

Non-title classes Horses Eligibility HOY 2020 Preliminary Horse

64%

Premier League

Novice Horse

64%

Premier League Novice or Zilco Novice

Elementary Horse

64%

Premier League Elementary or Zilco Elementary

Young Dressage Horse Classes No prior qualification. Proof of age of horse must be supplied with entry.

NOVEMBER 2019 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | 49

NATIONAL COMPETITION CALENDER PRESTIGE EQUESTRIAN DRESSAGE FUTURES PRIZE

The Prestige Equestrian Futures Prize will be awarded to the best performed combination competing at KiwiArena Rakes Premier League Events from 1 September 2019 - 16 February 2020 and meeting the following eligibility conditions.

Horses 148cm and over, 4 -10-year-old and competing at Levels 1 - 7 with riders who have no grading points in Level 8 or above on any horse. The prize is a fabulous Prestige Saddle.

(Riders may only win the saddle prize once) Enter online at Equestrian Entries by 1/12/19

Enter online at Equestrian Entries by 1/12/19

EXCITING NEW AMS SADDLERY PONY PERFORMANCE LEAGUE & AMS SADDLERY YOUNG RIDER PERFORMANCE LEAGUE

There will be separate AMS Saddlery Leagues for Pony Riders and Young Riders this season with more opportunities to earn League points. Points will be earned from graded classes at KiwiArena Rakes Premier League events.

The Pony League is for riders 16yrs or under at 1 August, but if a rider turns 17 on or after 1 August, they may continue to compete in the Pony League. The Young Rider League is for riders 20yrs or under at 1 August but if a rider turns 21 on or after 1 August, they may continue to compete in the League.

The AMS Saddlery Pony & Young Rider Performance Leagues aim to increase participation at a Pony & Young Rider level and to establish a culture where these riders compete against their peers of a similar age and experience.

TOP TEN LEAGUES All Top Ten Leagues accrue points from 1/8/19 - 30/4/20

Riders love the Top Ten Leagues for a number of reasons but the biggest draw card is that they can simply enter online with no fee attached and then can see how their performances are stacking up against other riders in the same league and category from throughout New Zealand. And then of course there is the chance to win stylish sponsor rosettes at area level and fabulous sashes and rugs at national level.

So get across to Equestrian Entries and choose the series that are just RIGHT for you and horse or pony.

Chances are there is more than one. Conditions for each of the leagues are on both Equestrian Entries and the ESNZ website www.nzequestrian.org.nz/disciplines/dressage/competition/dressage-series-classes/ Entries for all Top Ten Leagues close on 1/12/19

THE STERLING WARMBLOODS SMALL STARS TOP TEN LEAGUE

For horses over 148cm and not exceeding 163cm (verified by RAS height certificate by 1/12/19) Riders must turn at least 12yrs in the calendar year of the beginning of the competition.

Points accrue from 1 August 2019 until 30 April 2020, in three divisions. Bronze (Levels 1 & 2) Silver (Levels 3 & 4) Gold (Level 5 & above)

QUIN BUILDINGS DIRECT MASTERS TOP TEN LEAGUE Riders at least 50yrs as at 1/1/19 Pewter (Area and National) For CN – C2 Riders on horses (or ponies) competing at Preliminary and above Bronze (Area and National) For C3 & C4 Riders on horses (or ponies) on competing Novice and above Silver Area and National) For C3 & C4 Riders on horses (or ponies) competing at Elementary and above Gold (Area and National) For C5 - C9 Riders on horses (or ponies) competing at Preliminary, Novice and Elementary Platinum (Area and National) For C5 - C9 Riders on horses (or ponies) competing at Medium and above EQUISSAGE AMATEUR TOP TEN LEAGUE

The competition is open to riders 21yrs and over at 1/8/19 and over and is run in four National divisions plus special awards, with twenty area winners.

Bronze Area & National Level 1 Riders CN - C3 at 1/8/2019 Silver Area & National

Level 2 Riders CN - C4 at 1/8/2019 Gold Area & National

Level 3 Riders CN - C5 at 1/8/2019 Platinum Area & National Level 4 Riders CN - C5 at 1/8/2019 Newcomer (First year member) Rider no grading points in Dressage prior to 1/4/2019 Island Hi-Points Award Highest Score in each Island Amateur Owner Horse with zero grading points at date of purchase by current owner and may not have earned any grading points with any other rider at any time.

EQUIZEE PONY & YOUNG RIDER AMATEUR TOP TEN LEAGUE

Ponies: Riders 16yrs and under at 1/8/19 Pony Bronze: Level 1 ponies Riders CN – C3 at 1/8/2019 Pony Silver: Level 2 ponies Riders CN – C4 at 1/8/2019 Pony Gold: Level 3 & 4 ponies Riders CN – C5 at 1/8/2019 Horses: Riders must turn at least 12yrs during 2019, and be 20yrs or under at 1/8/19 Horse Bronze: Level 1 horses Riders CN – C3 at 1/8/2019 Horse Silver: Level 2 horses Riders CN – C4 at 1/8/2019 Horse Gold: Level 3 & 4 horses Riders CN – C5 at 1/8/2019 Top Score Rider North Island 12yrs & under at 1/8/19 Top Score Rider South Island 12yrs & under at 1/8/19 Newcomer ESNZ graded Dressage rider. Must have never earned any dressage grading points on any horse or pony prior to 1/4/18

50 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | NOVEMBER 2019

NATIONAL COMPETITION CALENDER

PREMIER LEAGUE CALENDAR 19/20 NOVEMBER 2019 2/3

Nelson Championships

Rough Island

9/10

Wellington Championships

Solway SG (Masterton)

9/10

Otago Championships

Taieri SG (Mosgiel)

15/17

Auckland-Manukau Championships

Clevedon SG

16/17

Ashburton Championships

Ashburton SG

16/17

Gisborne Championships

Gisborne SG

23/24

Northern Hawkes Bay Championships

Hastings SG

30/1

Canterbury Championships

McLeans Is NEC (Christchurch)

30/1

Southern Hawkes Bay Championships

Dannevirke SG

DECEMBER 2019 6/8

Southland Championships

Gore SG

7/8

Waitemata Championships

Woodhill Sands

13/15

Northland Championships

Barge Park (Whangaerei)

14/15

Taihape Championships

Taihape SG

JANUARY 2019 10/12

Taranaki and NI Festival Future Stars

Egmont SG (Hawera)

18/19

Wairarapa Championships

Solway SG (Masterton)

25/27

Equestrian Entries Youth Festival

Taupo NEC

FEBRUARY 2020 7/9

South Island Championships

Gore SG

14/16

Waikato Championships

Taupo NEC

MARCH 2020 29/1

SI Festival Future Stars

Mcleans Island NEC

10/15

Horse of the Year Show (CDI 3*/Y)

Hastings SG

26/29

Bates NZ Dressage Championships (NCH – CDI 3*/Y) Taupo NEC

NOVEMBER 2019 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | 51

NATIONAL COMPETITION CALENDER

WHAT’S ON NOVEMBER 2019 | SOUTH ISLAND 9/10

Otago Dressage Group

Taieri Show Grounds

Premier League

16/17

Ashburton Dressage Group

Ashburton Show Grounds

Premier League

17

North Loburn EC

Rangiora Show Grounds

Local

24

Northern Equestrian Group

Harrs Road

Training

30/1

Canterbury Dressage Group

McLeans Island

Premier League

DECEMBER 2019 | SOUTH ISLAND 6/8

Southland Dressage Group

Gore Show Grounds

Premier League

15

North Loburn EC

Rangiora Show Grounds

Training

22

Northern Equestrian Group

Harrs Road

Training

JANUARY 2020 | SOUTH ISLAND 5

Dressage Canterbury

CANCELLED

Local

11/12

Southland DG

Gore Show Grounds

Local

18/19

Nelson DG Championships

Rough Island

Local

19

North Loburn EC

Rangiora Show Grounds

Local

26

Northern Equestrian Group

Harrs Road

Training

FEBRUARY 2020 | SOUTH ISLAND 2

Dressage Canterbury

CANCELLED

Local

1/2

Otago DG Summer Tournament

Taieri Show Grounds

Local

7/9

South Island Dressage Championships

Gore Show Grounds

RE

16

North Loburn EC Day

Rangiora Show Grounds

Local

23

Northern Equestrian Group

Harrs Road

Local

29/1

South Island Festival of Future Stars

McLeans Island

RE

52 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | NOVEMBER 2019

NATIONAL COMPETITION CALENDER

NOVEMBER 2019 | NORTH ISLAND

WHAT’S ON

9/10

Wellington Dressage Group

Solway Show Grounds

Premier League

10

Tauranga Dressage Group

Tauranga Racecourse

Local

14

Waipukurau Dressage Group

Waipukurau

Local

15/17

Auckland-Manukau Dressage Group

Clevedon Show Grounds

Premier League

16/17

Gisborne Dressage Group

Gisborne Show Grounds

Premier League

17

Bay of Islands Dressage Group

Kaikohe

Local

17

Warkworth Dressage Group

Warkworth Show Grounds

Local

21/24

EQUITANA NZ

Auckland Showgrounds

RE

23/24

Northern Hawkes Bay Dressage Group

Hastings Show Grounds

Premier League

30/1

Southern Hawkes Bay Dressage Group

Dannevirke Show Grounds

Premier League

DECEMBER 2019 | NORTH ISLAND 1

Bay of Islands Dressage Group

Kaikohe

Local

1

Morrinsville/Te Aroha Dressage Group

Waihou Show Grounds

Local

1

Taupo Dressage Group

National Equestrian Centre (Taupo)

Local

1

Warkworth Dressage Group

Warkworth Showgrounds

Local

7

Taranaki Dressage Group

CANCELLED

Local

7/8

Waitemata Dressage Group

Woodhill Sands

Premier League

13/15

Northland Dressage Group

Barge Park Show Grounds

Premier League

14/15

Taihape Dressage Group

Taihape

Premier League

15

Auckland-Manukau Dressage Group

Clevedon Show Grounds

Training

JANUARY 2020 | NORTH ISLAND 10/12

NI Festival Future Stars

Egmont Show Grounds

RE

11/12

Taranaki DG Championships

Egmont Show Grounds

Premier League

12

Warkworth DG Local Day

Warkworth Show Grounds

Local

17/19

AMDG Pony, Young Rider, Amateur,Para Championships - Clevedon Show Grounds

Local

18/19

Wairarapa Championships

Solway Show Grounds

Premier League

19

Waitemata DG Summer #1

Woodhill Sands

Local

25/27

EE Youth Dressage Festival & Forum

National Equestrian Centre (Taupo)

NCH/RE

27

Rotorua DG Anniversary Day Show

Rotorua Show Grounds

Local

FEBRUARY 2020 | NORTH ISLAND 2

Horowhenua DG Autumn Tournament

Levin Show Grounds

Local

9

Northland Dressage Group

Barge Park Show Grounds

Local

9

Tauranga Dressage Group

Tauranga Racecourse

Local

9

Waitemata Dressage Group

Woodhill Sands

Local

9

Wellington Dressage Group

Trentham Memorial Park

Local

14/16

Waikato DG Premier League Festival

National Equestrian Centre (Taupo)

Premier League

22

Gisborne Dressage Group

Gisborne Show Grounds

Local

23

Auckland-Manukau DG

Clevedon Show Grounds

Local

23

Eastern Bay of Plenty DG

Te Teko Racecourse

Local

23

Taupo Dressage Group

National Equestrian Centre (Taupo)

Local

23

Warkworth Dressage Group

Warkworth Show Grounds

Local

NOVEMBER 2019 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | 53

NATIONAL COMPETITION CALENDER

DRESSAGE DIRECTORY Dressage Area Group Websites and other useful links.

Equestrian Sports NZ/Dressage www.nzequestrian.org.nz/dressage www.facebook.com/DressageNZ www.facebook.com/EquestrianSportsNZ www.facebook.com/DressageNZU25Championships www.facebook.com/StableoftheStallions Dressage Bay of Islands www.sporty.co.nz/bayofislandsdressagegroup Dressage Northland www.sporty.co.nz/dressagenorthland Dressage Waitemata www.dressagewaitemata.co.nz Dressage Warkworth www.warkworthdressage.webs.com Dressage Auckland - Manukau www.amdg.org.nz Dressage Waikato new website coming soon!

Dressage Morrinsville -Te Aroha www.mtdg.co.nz Dressage Gisborne www.gisbornedressage.org.nz Dressage Bay of Plenty www.dressagebayofplenty.co.nz Dressage Eastern Bay of Plenty www.sportsground.co.nz/ebd Dressage Rotorua www.sporty.co.nz/dressagerotorua Dressage Tauranga www.dressagetauranga.co.nz Dressage Taupo www.sporty.co.nz/taupodressagegroup Dressage Northern Hawkes Bay www.sporty.co.nz/dressagenhb

54 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | NOVEMBER 2019

Dressage Central Hawkes Bay www.sportsground.co.nz/chbdressage Dressage Southern Hawkes Bay www.sportsground.co.nz/shbdressage Dressage Central Districts www.sportsground.co.nz/dressagecentraldistricts Dressage Taranaki www.dressagetaranaki.co.nz Dressage Wellington www.dressagewellington.org.nz Dressage Horowhenua www.horowhenuadressage.com Dressage Wairarapa www.dressagewairarapa.com Dressage Nelson www.nelsondressage.webs.com Dressage Marlborough www.sporty.co.nz/marlboroughdressage Dressage Canterbury www.canterburydressage.co.nz Dressage Otago www.dressageotago.webs.com Dressage Southland www.dressage-southland.com National Equestrian Centres www.nzequestrian.org.nz Tielcey Park Equestrian Centre www.tielceypark.co.nz (Manawatu) Northern Equestrian Group www.freewebs.com/northerneq (North Canterbury) North Loburn Equestrian Centre www.nlec.co.nz (North Canterbury)