Dressage leaders in the Pryde’s EasiFeed 3*, and members of the winning team for New Zealand, Samantha Felton and Ricker Ridge Pico Boo
Christopher Hector reports on the Three Day Event at Werribee
Roslyn Neave and Julie Wilson took the photos…
Why do people feel obliged to fiddle around with Three Day eventing? The real attraction of equestrian sport, is to a large degree, that it is so old fashioned. In a day and age of instant-everything, working with horses takes us back to the rhythms of the seasons, to knowledge that has been passed on from generation to generation, to a realisation, that important things can’t be rushed. And when you get a day like we had for Sunday’s cross country for the Trans Tasman battle, what we have is just fine – kindly leave it alone.
Werribee Park was full of enthusiastic fans, enjoying the action and the sunshine, and encouraging for the future, a fair proportion of the riders, especially in the lower grades, came with their own little cheer squad of young supporters, running around the course with their heroes and cheering them as they came off the track.
And if you noticed the use of Trans Tasman instead of the Oceania Intergalitic Superkaladosius Whatever, that somebody with no feeling for the sport, or its history dreamt up, it is deliberate. As long as it happens to be a contest between New Zealand and Australia, then Trans Tasman is a perfectly good and accurate description, and one that recognizes that the event has history and tradition – two of the things that make Equestrian unique…
I did suggest in my report of the Equestriad at Camden, that the selectors had left some of the most likely combinations out of the Australian team to contest the Pryde’s EasiFeed CCI 3*, and so I decided to nominate one of my own, well before the first dressage test and in front of reliable witnesses. The official EA team was Stuart Tinney and War Hawk, Robert Palm and Koko Story, Andrew Cooper and Evergem Perfection and Hazel Shannon and Clifford. Now I’m all for giving new faces a chance to shine, but they need to be knocking down the door to get there first, so my team ran: Megan Jones and Kirby Park Impress, Rohan Luxmore and Bells n Whistles, Tim Boland and Billy Elliot and Sonja Johnson and Misty Isle Valentino.
THM team member, Megan Jones and Kirby Park Impress
THM team member, Tim Boland and GV Billy Elliott
Rohan Luxmoore and Bells n Whistles, part of Team THM
Fourth Team THM member, Sonja Johnson and Misty Isle Valentino
read on below
There was – especially after the big kids were trounced – a lot of talk about the winning Young Riders being the future of eventing for Australia. I’d like to think that, but history tells us, investing in Young Riders produces a very poor return. This time it might be different, Gemma Tinney is purpose bred and I hope her team-mates buck the statistics, still I would prefer to support riders who have made it to open competition. I understand that Prue Barrett (until recently Oz Team Manager) has suggested that first and second at Adelaide 4 star, be financed to spend a year or two in Europe, but then return to Australia.
Certainly coming into Werribee I was thinking about how Clarke Johnstone and Jock Paget had returned to New Zealand at the top of their game, and what a wonderful influence that must be. The Australian riders who made it OS have all moved there permanently, while the ones who didn’t make it, returned to Oz to grow African Violets, or become EA eventing selectors.
Dressage day was perhaps not all that exciting, and the judges seemed to think so too, the best score came from a newcomer to the Kiwi team, Samantha Felton riding Ricker Ridge Pico Boo but she was only 5.6 in front of the 10th placed, Napoleon with Tim Boland.
Leaders at the end of day one, Samantha Felton and Ricker Ridge Pico Boo
I was having a quiet little rant about judges not separating the scores, when Barry Roycroft, fresh after judging about a hundred horses in the one-star class, made the point that sometimes the design of the test doesn’t allow separation. He pointed to the first movement of the one-star test – a trot on a straight line, which most can do, and that even with the bend at C, the scores range from 6.5 to 8, even if you are looking to hand out big scores. Same with the next movement, the leg yield – which produced a bit of variety – but that is merged with a 10 metre half circle, which again reduces the chance of going high or low. The flattening effect is not only on simple movements, some were done so badly, that they too narrowed the range. Ninety horses for two square halts and two or three competent rein backs, means the judges are working on a 6 and below, again no separation.
Barry – who has judged at all the greatest 3DEs in the world – felt that the higher level tests were also suffering from the same tendency, the three-star test was a culprit, the new four-star test, worse. Barry was an interested observer at Badminton earlier this year, and pointed that there were 30 horses under 40 – again the test ‘doesn’t make for good separation.’
“Most of the field were under 50 and while people think the judges award lower marks in Europe, it’s not true, I saw crappy tests getting good marks at Badminton,” Barry observed.
Jock Paget and Angus Blue, into second
The interesting thing was just how well the Kiwi team rode. Okay we expect Jock Paget to turn on a class act, and he did with the NZ Thoroughbred, Angus Blue for a 46.9 to go 2nd, but Virginia Thompson was another cool, precise performer on Star Nouveau for a 47.1 into 4th, just behind Tim Boland and Billy Elliot on 47.0.
And yes dear reader, after the dressage Team THM was leading Team EA with a total of 149.1, to the EA total of 156.2, with their best score coming from Hazel and Clifford on 49.7.
Hazel Shannon and Clifford, best score for Team EA
read on
Poor Hazel Shannon was eliminated early on the cross country course when she fell, and Team EA was down to three – still they were going well enough to grab the lead from Team THM. Stuart Tinney had moved from 14th to 5th, clear cross country, clear time, while Robert Palm did the same on Koko Story, up from 21st to 7th, while Andrew Cooper climbed from 22nd to 9th on Evergem Perfection with another clear clear.
Stuart and War Hawk, up to 5th after the cross country for Team EA
Robert Palm and Koko Story, going well across country
Megan was the best of my lot, with Impress another double clear to move from 20th to 8th. Sonja added 2.8 on Misty Isle Valentino to jump from 18th to 11th, while Rohan picked up 8.4 time on Bells n Whistles to drop from 6th to 12th. Tim and Billy Elliot collected 14.8 time to drop to 14th.
Double clear for Team THM, Megan Jones and Kirby Park Impress
Sonja Johnson and Misty Isle Valentino, another good performance for Team THM
Rohan Luxmoore and Bells n Whistles, members of Team THM
Team THM members, Tim Boland and Billy Elliott
read on below
Team EA was down to three, but 5.6 in front of Team THM going into the showjumping and I was still quietly confident of scoring bragging rights. Then disaster for the EA team, Andrew Cooper’s horse managed to get through the final trot up, but was not fit to showjump. Team THM had won the contest, but being the sort of fair minded sporting chap I am, I suggested to EA chair of selectors, Georgia Widdup that I’d add the average of her two remaining riders to make up a score and keep the contest alive. It was a gentlemanly but dumb move… a lot less than 1000 penalties that the FEI adds to team scores in a similar situation.
Again Barry was his usual perceptive self and he had been thinking about penalties in the recently announced new Olympic format. Just what are they going to do in Tokyo now that the FEI has introduced the disastrous three-a-team rule? Disastrous for two reasons, one it puts incredible pressure on every team member to complete, even if it would be better for the horse to pull up, and two, because its specific aim is to get more teams from countries that really aren’t up to the standard, into the competition, with no doubt ugly results. Sadly only 11 countries had the guts and gumption to vote against the proposal at the FEI Assembly, although they did include four that know a bit about equestrian sport (France, Germany, New Zealand and The Netherlands). Sadly Australia joined the other 96, (which includes a good number that don’t currently stage even one official equestrian competition in their countries), in rolling over to the idiot demands of the non-equestrian bureaucrats who call the tune in Lausanne. Just what will they do when a good proportion of the teams are down to two come showjumping day in Tokyo – let the eliminated ones jump? Barry says he has been unable to find the answer to that question.
next showjumping
Back to the showjumping at Werribee, and Stuart added just one time on War Hawk, Rob, 8 jumping faults on Koko Story, and the theoretical 3rd team member was on 57.75 for a total of 173.75 but when Sonja – who I was counting on for a clear, decks three on Misty Isle Valentino – Team THM racks up a 176.9 total to leave the official EA team in front by 3.65.
Really our little Aussie sideshow was just that, a sideshow as the Kiwis march ahead to victory. Jock Paget finished on his dressage score of 46.9 to take the title with Angus Blue.
Jock Paget and Angus Blue, clear/clear cross country
Second to Samantha Felton and Ricker Ridge Pico Boo, who collected four time on the cross, and went on to showjump clear.
Samantha’s horse is by the Belgian bred Pico Bello, who was imported to New Zealand as a five-year-old, and later campaigned to World Cup level by David Dobson. The stallion is interestingly bred for an eventing sire, by Calvados, the very good Selle Français sire that stood for the Nijhof family, and out of a mare by Joost out of a mare by the Thoroughbred, Abgar, the cross that made Stal Roelofs famous. Pico Bello is 58.2% Thoroughbred, and Samantha’s gelding is out of a Thoroughbred mare by the Spectacular Bid son, Spectacular Love. That is 78.7% ‘blood’.
Virginia Thompson was clear/clear on the cross country but decked a rail to finish in fourth spot behind Andrew Cooper riding his non-Team horse, Tasman Park Ovation.
Virginia Thompson and Star Nouveau, clear/clear cross country
Then the Aussies, Stuart finished 5th on War Hawk, with Megan, 6th and Rohan, 7th.
It was a stunning victory and one that should cause any amount of anguish to Australian eventing fans. In Christopher Burton and Sam Griffiths, we have half of a Gold Medal team for the WEG next year, we just need to find two more, quickly.
Gemma Tinney and Annapurna lead the Aussie Young riders to a win!
Team Advisor, Will Enzinger multi-skills, leading our young team in singing Advance Australia Fair – left to right – Gemma Tinney, Tayah Andrew, Olivia Barton and Shanae Lowings…
Happy – first time in a team, great win?
“Annapurna has been so so good since we got here on Monday. We’ve been here almost nine days and she’s been fantastic. Dressage was pretty solid, cross country was awesome, now we are running second place.”
The two star was won by Andrew Barnett – who also coaches the One Star winner, Grace Kay. Andrew was riding the solidly dressage bred Bradgate Park Fonzie (by Falsterbo). They finished on their dressage score of 41.9. Gemma was the best of the Young Riders in the class within a class, also finishing on her dressage score, 45.7, to lead the Australian team Gemma, Shenae Lowings, Olivia Barton and Tayah Andrew to a decisive victory by 65 points over the Kiwis.
Dressage bred, but the winner in the Two Star,
Andrew Barnett and Bradgate Park Fonzie
Gemma, was there any moment on the cross country course when you started to go, oh, oh…
“Not really, I had it all together, I knew my distances, my lines, very well. I walked the course with Stuart (her dad) and Will (Enzinger who was helping the Australian teams). They helped me heaps, I was very confident with the course, it was a good course that rode really well. So yep, we came back clear and under time.”
The dressage was fine – do you have areas you can work on to get it even lower…
“Yes, there were sections where I did lose marks that I can improve on, which is perfect because I love to work on things, and get the best I can out of the mare. I’ve to practice my half passes and she needs to be a bit more up in the poll – she loves going long and low. It’s a work in progress.”
The cross country is just falling into place?
“It feels better almost every single time I go out there. She feels better and I’m getting much more used to her, because I haven’t been riding her all that long. Only a year and a half, which I don’t think is very long. I’m getting much more confident with her.”
And the showjumping?
“I showjump a lot of other horses but Anna goes out as well. I’ll do 1.30s on her, she’s a good showjumper, I just have to have that trust really.”
What happens next?
“Oh what is next?! Not Adelaide because I’m not qualified to do the four star. I’ll do the 3 star at Wallaby Hill at the end of the year, and that’s pretty much my plan.”
Is it too early to think about a WEG team?
“I’m always going for the best I can do. I’d have to qualify for the WEG which means I’d have to do very well at Wallaby Hill and very well here at Melbourne again… I’m young, I don’t know if they’ll want a young one on the team, they like the oldies, the more experienced ones! I’ll try, I will try.”
Is a trip to Europe with the mare on the horizon?
“Not as of yet. I’m still fairly new to the three star. We’ll see after Wallaby Hill…”
Our winning Oceania Championship Junior team members, Gemma Tinney and Annapurna
Olivia Barton and APH Bertie Bad
Tayah Andrew and Silver Force
Shanae Lowings and Venture Sky High
Going to breed a top eventer this season? The PSI stallions are available in Australia through International Horse Breeders, stallions like Diarado – go to www.ihb.com.au
And to find out more about Diarado:
http://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2014/10/diarado/
super report was a great day
The sentence referring to returning home to grow african violets – and “have all moved their permanently” should be there. 🙂 Good report besides.
love the comments Chris re DEI and teams of three.