Simone makes it three out of three!

Australian dressage rider, Simone Pearce has qualified not one, but three horses, for the Tokyo Olympic Games…

Tell me about your three horses…

Simone and Destano (photo Henry Viner)

“I started to ride Destano in the beginning of last year after the Grand Prix horse I had, Scolari, was sold. At the beginning Destano and I were not the best of friends, but his development has been really good. The last show was the absolute best feeling I’ve had on him, so that was awesome.”

When you say you were not the best of friends, what do you mean?

“I guess it was because he was working in a different riding system from mine. At the beginning he was quite heavy  – I just worked on getting him lighter and girlier – shall we say.”

If you get the impression that laughter is not far away from bubbling to the surface when Simone talks, you are getting it right…

“I was so happy with him at Budapest because he was like a princess’ horse, I could just sit so pretty, he was great.”

At Budapest, Simone set a new Australian Freestyle record in the World Cup qualifier, when Destano scored 81.385 – she now holds all three Australian records, 76.261 in Grand Prix, and 77.894 in the Special. Destano is a fourteen-year-old stallion, by Gestüt Sprehe’s star sire, Desperados, who sadly died way-too-soon in February last year, out of a Brentano II mare. Simone is the stable rider at Sprehe…

What are his strengths?

“The cool thing about Destano is that he has three good paces. He’s very ‘judge friendly’ if you know what I mean – he’s maybe not the fanciest in the whole world, but the judges love to give him points for all his paces – walk, trot and canter.”

And the other two you have qualified for Tokyo?

Simone and Amandori (photo Henry Viner)

“I’m very very very proud of Amandori since I have been riding him since he was a six-year-old, I’ve trained him all the way through. He has been amazing in his first year of Grand Prix, and every show, he just gets better and better and better.”

His strengths?

“He’s a little bit the same as Destano. You know when you train a horse yourself all the way through, you get a really harmonious picture. With Amandori, I can almost guarantee a really soft, elegant, harmonious test every time we go out. That’s a really nice feeling…”

Amandori is by the Dutch sire Ampère, out of a mare by Ra by Rohdiamant, out of an Alabaster mare. At Achleiten CDI4*, Simone and Amandori scored 76.450 in the Freestyle, it was their fourth win out of six starts.

And the third horse, Double Joy?

“He is very similarly bred to Destano.”

Once again we are reminded what a loss Desperados was to dressage breeding – Double Joy is also by Desperados and out of a Brentano II mare.

“He is owned by my boss, Sabine Rüben. We made a bit of a trade, she took one horse from me, and I took one horse from her, and she loves the horse she took from me, and I love the horse I took from her, it’s the perfect switch! He has a really amazing piaffe / passage, he is also getting more and more consistent, more harmonious throughout the test. I think with a few more shows, we’ll be on a really good level.”

In Budapest, Double Joy won the CDI4* Special with a score of 70.553.

Normally – unless you are Isabell Werth – riders have their one top Grand Prix horse that they concentrate on… is it hard when you are riding three at that level to switch from one to the other, to stay in tune with all of them?

“I’ve done this for so many years now as a sales rider at Helgstrand. I’m not that old (29 to be exact) but doing it at a high pressure level, even if it is not in a competition, it’s still pressure and I’ve been doing that for a long time. Jumping off one horse and on to the next and on to the next, on to the next, so for me, it’s kind of second nature.”

I can remember you once told me that you were terrified at the idea of public speaking until one year you were elected school captain and had to do the end of the year address, and did it, is competing at the Olympic Games a bit like that?

“I am very ready.” And the laughter really does bubble over now.

Well in that case, I am still not convinced that Tokyo will go ahead, but if it does, good luck…

“Me too, I’m not sure what is going to happen. I’m not getting my hopes up or too excited until we are there, and I am riding down the centre line.”

Which horse would you like to take?

“Destano.”

And that’s the one she is taking…