Story and photos by Rebecca Ashton
It was a story of ‘The Next Generation’ at the Nationals this year. From 18 year old Mary Warren beating the “older riders” in the Grand Prix Freestyle with her 24 year old coach Elliot Patterson, to 27 year old Alexis Hellyer winning the Inter A and B classes. The top three of the Inter 1 freestyle were all under 33…
Judy Dierks on Vicki Newham’s imported Diamond Star was on top in the Mulawa Performance Grand Prix CDI-W with a score of 68.82% but it was 18 year old Mary Warren on Mindarah Park Ramadan who came from behind to take out the Willinga Park Grand Prix CDI-W Freestyle on Saturday night. Happy coach Elliot talked to me about his star student, “I’ve been working with her for about three years. She’s an incredibly dedicated little rider. She’s done a great job with her horses and she’s really got her head screwed on with her training. Both her horses are home bred, her CDI-Y horse is the son of her Grand Prix horse. I take my hat of to her because the difficulty of that freestyle last night was insane and she pulled it off.”
Mary Warren and Mindarah Park Ramadan
The young “power couples” of Australian dressage were amongst the ribbons in the top levels. 24 year old Elliot not only trained Mary, but was doing a nice job riding Ela Weight’s mare Boronia HG, placing in the Prix St George, Inter 1 and Inter freestyle.
Robbie McKinnon, 27, was right up there in the Mullawa Performance Grand Prix CDI-W and Willinga Park Grand Prix CDI-W Freestyle, where she came third on Robali Razzamatazz. Husband Dave and his “girls” were hard to keep track of with top placings in the Prix St Georges, Inter 1 and Inter freestyle on Laura Summerhayes’ Her Highness, Advanced on Edwina Robert’s mare Divina and Medium on Anne Barber’s AB Donasoma.
Robbie McKinnon and Robali Razzamatazz
Elliot’s partner, Alexis Hellyer, was unbeatable on her new ride, JJ Fuchs’ Bluefields Floreno winning both the Tomkinson Group Inter A and B as well as the Medium Tour Freestyle, sponsored by good friends Dave and Robbie.
Elliot, Alexis, Robbie and Dave
“I’ve been riding him since the start of the year. Janina Klekte did a great job producing him as a small tour horse and had a lot of success. A few things changed and we’ve been lucky enough to take on both the Bluefields stallions. Elliot rides Berlin. Floreno is an amazing horse to ride everyday. He’s very sensitive. You have to be really calm with him but he’s a freak of a horse. He did two Medium tours to qualify for this, this is only his second competition at that level, so he’s still really green hence the mistakes. He’s very talented with the collected work but he just needs to develop a little bit more confidence at this level. I want to make sure I do everything right by him. Jenny Gehrke gave me her freestyle to use this weekend so I’m super thankful to her for doing that.”
Alexis Hellyer and Bluefields Floreno
How’s Queensland going?
“It’s really good and good for business but we do still spend a lot of time in NSW. My Mum is here and we also try to compete in NSW as much as we can.”
“We just had Tessa Frank out from Gestüt Nymphenburg recently for a clinic. She’s really focused on the connection and thoroughness. Such a correct rider! I don’t think we would have so much success at this competition if she hadn’t trained us just before. She’s all about keeping the horses confident. We would ride one one tempi, not a whole line or just a little bit of piaffe. She rode a five year old mare of ours and I was so jealous! I want to ride like that! I’ll be sending her a thank you message after this!”
Alexis is sponsored by Trailrace Saddleworld Wyong, Coprice feeds and Ceva Nature Vet.
Another young Queensland based rider Emma Flavell-Watts was Medium Champion on Madonna Hedberg’s Fidertanz stallion Fiderfurst, while Daniella Dierks from NSW won both Novice tests on Vicki Newham’s Sir Donnertanz as well as securing the Rod Barker Memorial Trophy sponsored by The Horse Magazine. She also placed in the top three in the Prix St Georges, Inter 1 and Inter freestyle on her own Solo Feliz.
Vicki Newham and Daniella Dierks with the Rod Barker Memorial Trophy
Although Katharine Farrell and Luxor 118 dominated the Under 25 tour and won the Dietmar Specht Memorial Trophy, 22 year old Fern Wright from Victoria was right on her tail with her little welsh pony Kamber Pryderi.
The Swedish judge had you 1st in the Grand Prix…
“Yes…there’ll be a Christmas card going his way!”
Tell me about Kamber Pryderi…
“He’s 150cm and 14 years old. We bought him as an 18 month old gelding for my Mum to ride. My brother and I broke him in when I was 12. He was so much more fun to ride than my crazy show pony so I started riding him a lot more. When EI came in I switched to dressage because the shows were all cancelled but the dressage competitions weren’t. We didn’t know what we were doing so it was a bit of the blind leading the blind but we got there in the end.”
Fern Wright and Kamber Pryderi
“Our first Grand Prix was back in 2013 and happened quite by accident actually at the Victorian Dressage Festival. I entered the Inter 1, Inter 2 and Inter 1 freestyle but the qualifier for the Inter 1 freestyle was Prix St Georges and I didn’t want to do Prix St Georges because he doesn’t like the 4 and 3 times changes so I thought I’d give the Grand Prix a try and we came 4th.”
“We nearly lost him a month later and he had to have 12 months off. He was on a diet and he broke out of his stable and into the feed room and ate a lot of grains so he got colic and intoxication laminitis and they didn’t think he had any chance of surviving but we weren’t going to put him down without a try. Nineteen months later he was back at the Dressage Festival at Grand Prix and we were runner up in the CDN via count back so we were very excited.”
“He’s very cheeky but he tries very hard. He never used to be so cheeky. He was the most docile, obedient creature you’ve ever met but now he’s a bit arrogant!”
Are horses your profession now?
“Yes… breaking in, training, coaching. I’m based in the Yarra Valley and train with Carol Ross but enjoy going to clinics all over the place with all sorts of people.”
“I started riding at school when I was five. They had it as an option, riding little shetlands. My family isn’t horsey, but my grandmother used to ride horses when she was young.”
“My brother started riding at school as well and he hasn’t done so much of it but he likes the technical side of things like making freestyles and event organising. He’s the sponsor of my freestyles with his company Musikür. I have a brand new one this weekend.”
Fern is sponsored by Musikür and The Saddlery Shop, Seville.
Western Australian rider Deon Stokes is just a ‘crazy person’… in the best possible way. I want to bottle his energy. With Adelaide 4* just around the corner, he had to race back home to the Southern Highlands mid comp to ride his eventers. And with five horses at the Nationals, he managed to win the Jilli Cobcroft Prix St George, Canberra Performance Horses Inter 1 and the Equestrian Australia Prix St Georges “Stars of the Future” on Don Dancier while taking out the Joint Performance Inter 2 on Royal Oak II who also came fourth in the Mulawa Performance Grand Prix CDI-W and the Willinga Park Grand Prix CDI-W Freestyle. Deon is one of those special breeds, a hard worker who just puts his head down and gets on with the job.
How do you organise it all?
“We all just work really hard and get it all done. I rode the horses here in the morning, went home to ride the eventers and came back to ride my freestyle in the evening.”
Where do you get your energy from?
“I eat and drink a lot! A lot of fluids and electrolytes.”
Please don’t burn yourself out!
“Well we’ve been doing it for quite a while now. We love it. We’ve always worked this hard. We just keep on keeping on. Sara has a real job as well (partner Sara Price, when not with the horses, is a lawyer).”
Who’s helping you with the dressage horses?
“Glennis (Barrey) and Lone (Joergensen). I used Lone’s eyes here last night.”
Medium Prize Winners
A bit about the horses?
“Donny has his stallion moment for about five minutes every time you get on and then once he’s over that he’s super rideable, pretty amazing. He will start breeding now for a while and we’ll consolidate the higher level work before bringing him out again. I have another small tour horse at home.”
“With Royal Oak at the moment it’s mainly about balancing the tension levels in the test so that I get the energy without the tension. Sometimes I get that balance a little bit wrong but that’s just experience on his part and my part really.”
Not to be outdone by the ‘youngsters’, dynamic duo Matthew Dowsley and Rodney Martin, also based in the Southern Highlands, were still giving them all a run for their money. Matthew won the Mona Farm, Braidwood Grand Prix CDN and Grand Prix Special CDN aboard Di Jenkyn’s Adloo Richard, while just getting pipped for second in the Inter 2. AEA Prestige, owned by Denise Ceddia was Advanced Champion and second in the Prix St Georges.
“Adloo Richard was lovely, he was a very good boy. I was thrilled to bits with him. He did everything I wanted in the Special, I just got a few more changes than I wanted. He gets more confident every time he comes out.
“I’ve had Elvis (Prestige) about eight months now but I’ve known him since he was about four years old. He’s 11 now. Denise rode him beautifully but he can be a little bit naughty so he came to me. She’s thrilled that I like him so much. Elvis will do small tour for a while.
“The little black one (Don Desandro) was very good in the Inter 1, but when he goes into the indoor he gets a bit scared, he’s just really timid. We’ll keep going and he’ll start some Grand Prix soon. He keeps me honest!
“I just love producing the horses. I’ve got a very nice young one of my own at home. I’ll wait to take him out. I’m not interested in doing Novice anymore, I’m too old! I wait until they’re a bit tamer! Hopefully I’ll do some six year old classes with him next year.”
Rodney had just finished his marathon day of six tests when we sat down to chat. He was Reserve Champion in the Tally Ho Horse Float sponsored Novice with Andrea Beatty’s SPH Renaissance and was in the top 10 in both tests with Breitley. PR Firenz, owned by Emily James was 2nd and 8th in the two Trailrace sponsored Medium classes.
“I don’t know how I remember them all. Past performance at remembering has not been good… I think I’m getting better though. I had three horses here for eight tests. I’m very happy.”
“I’ve had Firenz for two years but he had just been broken in when I got him; he was six or seven. The first year was a bit hard because he has such big paces for a little horse but now he finds it easy. I’m lucky I have Matthew there everyday with eyes on the ground. You get into bad habits so easily when you ride on your own.”
“Breitley was a Novice horse that Andrea Beatty imported earlier in the year. I’ve only had her for four months so today was a big ask, but she really has talent for high level movements. I was thrilled with her this weekend, she was really quiet and she coped really well with it all. I think that’s one of the advantages of coming from PSI. It’s like a show there everyday with all the activity.”
“SPH Renaissance, Matthew said it was a good test so it must have been because he doesn’t say that very often! I think it’s been a good show.”
Matthew and Rodney are sponsored by Toptac Australia.
THE JUDGE’S PERSPECTIVE
Dr Magnus Ringmark is a 4* judge who travelled from Sweden for the Nationals. His first time visiting Australia, the doctor of medicine, when not saving lives in A&E, combines judging with running a dressage stable.
“It has been a really nice show. I competed for many years but in the last few I’ve only been judging. I also attend the good clinics with trainers such as Kyra Kyrklund and Jonny Hilberath so I stay up with all the training.”
How was judging here?
“It’s the same everywhere, you have the top riders who are quite good then the middle and the bottom ones so I think it was basically what I expected.”
“I think what is sometimes the problem, often riders lost a lot of points for not being so precise. They could be more accurate and show more in the transitions. Some really good riders know exactly where to find the points though”.
You’ve judged a lot of young riders overseas and you did the same here. Any advice for them?
“I think they have to improve the basic training. Often that is not as good. Some have good horses but it is tough in the young rider world. I’m not sure how many trainers you have here but I thought there were quite a few young riders who did not know how to ride a Prix St Georges test. You could feel that it was difficult, so they have to get more basic training to get the horse to really work through the body and over the back. The basics for me are the key.”
“Also the surface could be improved. I heard there were some complaints. Also for the judging, to have the surface a little bit lighter so you can see better. Otherwise, keep on with the training. It was a very nice show.”
Brett Parbery riding blind during the evenings entertainment…
And yes, the surface issue raised its head once again. Brett Parbery, who scratched both his Grand Prix horses echoed the concerns, “I withdrew Zeppelin because his leg was just a little bit puffy and he has a big workload. He has the Carl Hester clinic and then Equitana. Aber Hallo we withdrew after the first day training here. Just the surface preparation wasn’t great. The people at SIEC do their best with what is a very ordinary material. The show organisers are not to blame at all. The people who run the venue need to talk to those above them to explain the importance of this surface being better for those riders who want to compete internationally. That’s all equestrian disciplines. These surfaces are pretty tired now. It’s like renting a house with bad floorboards. You can’t do it. I’ve competed other horses here, but those who are really sensitive, you can’t risk it. We hope we can get a nice bright, white, felt surface! Also, it would be great to repaint the arena walls. We could do it on a weekend! (working bee, anyone?). We want the venue to match its name.”
The event may not have been the biggest Nationals we’ve seen with some top names missing, but the quality of the horses was really there. It was also a great opportunity to see some younger faces shine. It’s getting tight at the top these days, one small error can see you down 10 places. The tough part is taking those talented young horse and riders right up to the top levels, but there’s quite a bit of passion out there in the stables, so watch out. Australian dressage is getting exciting.
BEHIND THE SCENES
Any rider who has competed at the big SIEC shows over the last 10 years will know the friendly face of stable manager Peter Rocca. Residing in the Southern Highlands, Peter, whose real job is grooming and fixing dressage arenas, is usually found zipping around on his buggy, keeping an eye on the horses, fixing any problems and “controlling young rider mothers.”
“I got here early Monday morning ready for the first arrivals from Interstate. I have a little caravan here and listen to the horses all night.”
How did you get the job?
“Never be the father of a young rider!”
What’s the biggest number of horses you’ve ever had on site to look after?
“We had 260 at the Nationals a few years back. That’s a lot of horses!”
What are your main duties?
“Just anything that needs doing. Trouble shooting, fixing broken grids in the middle of the round yards, blown fuses in the truck park, carting people and their gear around making sure the stables are left clean. But really, we have fun. It’s all good.”
Thumbs up to Peter and his team and all the wonderful organisers, Deb MacNicol, Cathie Drury-Klein, volunteers and sponsors that make big shows like this possible.