Simone Pearce – making it, with a smile!

Simone with two of her ‘boys’ Millennium and Marc
(Photo LD-Fotographie)

Christopher Hector interviews one of the brightest lights on the dressage scene…

photo Kenneth Braddick – dressage news

Simone Pearce is not lucky, she makes her own good fortune. There have been many, many, riders who have come to Europe with far greater financial resources, who have never made it. Simone has, taking one step after another, up the rung of international dressage success… Most recently Simone has joined the team at Gestüt Sprehe, riding some of the most exciting dressage stallions in the world.

You seem to have fallen on your feet again…

“Yeah! I’m back in Germany. It felt like the right time to make a move, and I am really happy that I did it. It’s like I couldn’t ask for any more – and here at Sprehe they are really good to me. I’m grateful.”

How did you manage the move?

Simone and Feodoro, World Champs 2017 (Photo Roslyn Neave)

“Sprehe had been asking me for a while to come back, actually since Ermelo last year. (In case you forgot, at the World Championships for Young Dressage horses at Ermelo in 2018, Simone, riding for Andreas Helgstrand, starred for the second year in a row, fourth in the five year old qualifier, and first in the six year olds.) They started to say, we need a rider for the stallions, would you be interested? Yeah, I would, but with Andreas in Denmark, I am having such a really good time, so I was a little bit reluctant to leave, but in the end, I felt like I was ready to go back to somewhere where the horses are not for sale, and at Sprehe that was the agreement, if I came, the horses would be to keep, so in the end it was like, okay let’s do it.”

It’s back to Oldenburg for Simone
(Photo LD-Fotographie)

“It was time to bite the bullet – and I am so happy I did.”

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Who have you got to ride at Sprehe?

“I’ve got eleven stallions, (that wicked giggle is getting louder) the days are long. I’ve got Millennium, he is doing really well, he’s been winning all the small tour classes he’s been in. He’s getting close to Grand Prix, I’m not saying he’s ready for Grand Prix, I would say in the next twelve months, we’ll get there. He is amazing, I love him.”

Millennium – I love him… (Photo LD-Fotographie)

“Then Bernay is close to being ready for Grand Prix, he’s eight years old, and he’s young but also fantastic. Then I’ve got a lot of younger ones, a lot… a lot!”

Bernay – getting ready for Grand Prix (photo – Petra Kerschbaum)

Have you got anyone training you?

“Not really. Sabine Rueben, who runs the training and sales at Sprehe, helps a bit from the ground, but because all the horses had been without a rider for quite a while when I got there, so it has been some time getting them back into a system, but now all of them are competing and doing really good, so moving into this season, for sure we are looking for someone.”

Millennium has been a controversial horse, people tend to either love him or hate him…

“He has quite the reputation! He’s breeding amazing, there’s no question, I don’t think there are many stallions in the world who have so many approved sons, or so many progeny who have sold for so much money. So I think from a breeding perspective you can’t argue with the fact that he is fantastic.”

Training at home with Millenium
(Photo LD-Fotographie)

“From a riding perspective, I think that previously he just hadn’t found the right rider that clicked with him, because he and I get on like a house on fire, and he’s every day better. Of course before I started to ride him I was not sure how it would go, would we fit together? But he is amazing, he is going to be a star in the sport as well as breeding.”

What are his babies like, you must have ridden a few of them?

“I’ve got one here… I love them, for me they are real sport horses. They are the new generation of horses, they are electric but sensible. If I was going to breed, I’d breed with Millennium.”

Marc Cain – the Millennium Simone took to the 2019 World Champs
photo Kenneth Braddick – dressage news

And Bernay?

“Bernay is also exceptional in a very different way, they are totally different horses. Bernay has exceptional piaffe / passage, he’s a like a big boy so it’s taken a little while to put everything together, but now I think I’ll compete small tour next month and then we’ll go straight into Inter 2. He’s sport-wise in a really good direction.”

Have you ridden any of his progeny?

“I’ve only ridden one Bernay and it was just like him, like Baby Bernay. I rode Bernay as a three-year-old, so I’ve known him for many years. I was his first show rider, it’s quite funny how the wheel has turned and I am back with him.”

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Eleven horses a day – tell me how that works, when do you start?

“We start at eight and we finish at six, we don’t take a break, I can’t take a break until I am finished. Actually it flows pretty well, I think because it is not a sales stable, the horses are all in a very consistent routine. When you are in a sales stables, you have to fit in with the clients, and ever day is a little bit different.”

“At Sprehe, it’s every day the same, we have our own routine. The three-year-olds go twice a week, the four-year-olds go three times a week, older ones five times a week. Everything is very consistent.”

How do you keep the focus going over such a long day?

“When I ride all the horses every day I have a real routine with them, a plan for every one of them, so each horse is a completely different idea, a completely different plan. Of course the style is the same, but when I get on a horse I thinking about what I did yesterday, what I am doing in a week, what’s the next show, it’s building a program with them, then each horse is individual so you don’t clash them together and actually the day doesn’t feel long at all.”

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How long did you spend with Andreas Helgstrand?

“Three years.”

What are the main things you took home after three years at Helgstrand Dressage?

“Helgstrand was an absolute once-in-a-lifetime experience of learning everything from showing – because I think before I went to Helgstrand I wasn’t a great show rider – so I think I really took away how to present a horse at a show. That was one big thing, and of course, riding with the best in the world every day, you take away so many things in regards to training. Also with the Grand Prix, Thomas Sigtenbjerrggaard really taught me how to ride a Grand Prix, and I feel it now with the Grand Prix horses I have a Sprehe, I find they’ve given me a great understanding of how to ride a Grand Prix, which is what I didn’t have before.”

It’s a riding style that not everyone likes, including this journalist who has made that clear in the past. It’s a little bit too ‘spectacular’, every trot is an extended trot…

“To be honest, I don’t think there is a Helgstrand house style. I know that sounds weird to say because all the horses look a little bit like they are in the same forward way of going, but there are so many different styles within the style that there is room to be yourself there. It’s not like I had to ride like Andreas or Severo, everybody has their own unique style. The picture they want in the end is, of course, the same, but the way to get there, there  is actually a lot of space to present it in the way you want to, or to fix it in the way you want to fix it. I don’t feel I changed my style, I just learnt that polished, forward look of riding, if that makes sense.”

A hug for Millennium ((Photo LD-Fotographie)

Looking at all the riders who are going round at the top in the world right now, who would you most like to ride like?

“That’s a very hard question, I actually don’t know. I like Jessica (von Bredow- Werndl) is riding beautifully, Charlotte, of course, is another beautiful rider, but there’s also a lot of ‘things’ about riders, if you know what I mean. I think Patrik (Kittel) makes beautiful piaffe / passage, Severo has a wow factor to his tests. I would like to take a little bit from a lot of them and then make a nice polished test like Jessica – that would be perfect.”

What’s it like being back in civilization after three years in the back of beyond, you were the party girl in the middle of the forest…

“No parties in Denmark. I love being back in Oldenburg, it’s where I first came when I was seventeen/eighteen, so I know a lot of people there. It feels like home.”

And the area has such a rich tradition, so many great stallions, great studs…

“It’s amazing, you go to a show, and every time, the competition is on fire, and I love that. It’s so nice, every time you go out there’s breeding stallions and great riders, it’s really inspirational.”

Simone and Scolari – the pair recently won the Achleiten CDI**** Grand Prix
(Photo Timo Martis)

I don’t think people who live outside of Germany realise what an advantage it is, every time you come out you are seeing great riding…

“There’s nothing more valuable than that in terms of riding. If you are forced to see every time, top riding, you are bound to start riding better. And to be the best of the best, that’s what we do it for. I am so grateful to be at Sprehe and have these horses, and to be riding against the best in the world, it’s career changing.”

Tell me about the two horses you brought to the World Young Dressage Horse championships…

“I had Marc Cain in the six-year-olds. He’s a son of Millennium, Millennium is the king, Marc’s the prince of Sprehe. I got him in April, so just four months before the championships, and he’s really come a long way. In April he was not doing anything in the six-year-olds but he’s really clever, he’s done a very good job to get where he is. I never know how it is going to be with the young ones, but I think he is a really good horse for the future. He’s got a lot of swing, he’s a big boy but he’s nice and relaxed.”

Simone and Scolari – Photo Timo Martis