Sönke Rothenberger talks to Christopher Hector
Sönke and Fendi at Frankfurt (photo Anke Gardemann)
The standout star at the 2022 Frankfurt Horse Show was Sönke Rothenberger’s new Grand Prix ride, Fendi, by Franklin. It wasn’t just that they won the prestigious Louisdor Preis for young Grand Prix horses, but the way they did it. The gelding looked very much like Sönke’s other star, Cosmo, the striking quality of both the bay geldings is that they don’t seem to have a weakness, every movement of the test comes up with ease. I asked Sönke when he first met up with Fendi…
“I first saw him as a beginning five-year-old, he wasn’t so spectacular in the beginning, but you felt something directly, the first moment I sat on him I could feel he had different gears. In the trot I think he has like twenty four gears that I can play with.”
“I was privileged to have a horse like Cosmo, and I knew what I wanted to have at the end…”
Cosmo and Sönke competing at Aachen
At times it was like watching your other bay gelding…
“I know. When I started he didn’t passage, I felt I could ride him small for a little bit, and he kept this rhythm and this self-carriage. As a family, we were immediately convinced because of this ability to close in, to open, playing with his body. It was fun and easy.”
What was it like when you first sat on that amazing passage? The judge at Frankfurt who gave it a ten was the only one who got it right…
“You could feel him raise your body, and he was so fast off the ground. Of course at first it was playful, like trying to put it together. I know it felt easy, but my knowledge of biomechanics told me it is challenging to do it in the manner he does it, so we took time with that, to develop it easily.”
Did you ask for piaffe first or passage?
“We did piaffe first, I worked a lot with Andreas Hausberger, and training-piaffe is not exactly like piaffe, it was just working from the ground. We actually started quite early when he was a five-year-old, just to give him the knowledge – when you touch the left hind leg, he moves the left hind leg, same the right, it wasn’t a piaffe, then one day, okay we can give it a try, and snap the horse did it. The work done in advance by Andreas was so crucial in my opinion. You see it often, someone has a horse that is eight or nine, and they say, oh now he is old enough, I try the piaffe, and it doesn’t work. This work starting from the beginning was crucial for him to feel happy and have the strength and power to push off.”
Did you show him at all as part of this process?
Sönke took Fendi to Hagen to qualify for the Frankfurt Louisdor Final
(photo Anke Gardemann)
“Roughly once or twice a year.”
But that has always been your family’s way…
“Yes, you look at other people like Carl Hester and Charlotte Dujardin, how well they did it with Valegro. My main goal of course is to do Grand Prix and be competitive with the top, I don’t really care if he does a youngster class and wins it or loses it, because at the end if he is last in the young horse class and does a great Grand Prix, that’s okay – at the end of the day Grand Prix is fun, and if you have a horse like this. When he comes around a corner and knows the passage is coming, it’s like a really good jumping horse who sees a big oxer and draws towards it. When you come around the corner you can really feel he wants to go, then it’s just okay relax, it’s the fun thing and I’m just trying to suck in the nice feeling I have and go with it.”
Eyes on the ground at Hagen – Sönke’s dad Sven… (photo Anke Gardemann)
And the canter?
“The canter was always like this, easy to ride, just sitting there. Also with the changes it’s fun if you have a horse like this that you don’t have to look down to see if he changes or not – because he really has the lift and the push. That’s fun.”
Were ones difficult?
“I must say, not at all, the first time he did some ones was on the canter track when he was a bit fresh, and a deer or something ran across the track and I had to hold on to him a bit so he wouldn’t take off, and he did two ones, and I thought, okay let’s give a try, do a few more, and give him a pat. We tried to take this into the indoor and it was good. I don’t want to be arrogant, but with this horse is was easy, it was just born or given this ability to close and carry. I’m not a magician or something to make this, it is just the horse and the way he is, a freak of nature I think.”
(photo Anke Gardemann)
Aside from Andreas, who has been helping you with the horse?
“My parents of course helped, Andreas came once or twice a month, sometimes more sometimes less, depending on how busy he is. Later we traveled a lot to Jonny Hilberath’s place. At the end of the day, the riding style of Jonny Hilberath’s students is what dressage should be about and where it is going towards. I must say I am really happy with his support.”
Jonny Hilberath performing a piaffe pirouette in his competition days
What is the style of riding you are aiming for?
“This relaxation, and when you sit the horses give you full throttle but still being relaxed. Even if he was feeling a little bit fresh in the warm up, the relaxation of the mind is always there. It’s a very sustainable way of executing these most difficult movements.”
It’s unfair to compare at this stage but do you get the feeing Fendi can be as great as Cosmo?
“Cosmo is Cosmo and I don’t want to compare, but they are completely different. Every time we went in a new arena I felt Cosmo was ready to rumble, he was never scared of anything, but always like, okay let’s give it a try, let’s see where I can have a look here, have a look there. This one he goes in and he relaxes and that’s a good feeling but completely different. Cosmo when he really had to perform, he was always there whereas Fendi is young, he is just eight years old and he still has to prove himself to the world. He proved himself enough to me at home but at the end of the day, we want to be competitive, and that’s the goal.”
Is that the secret that you never make it hard for the horse, so it never gets tense doing a Grand Prix test?
“That’s my goal, I don’t know if I can always achieve that, but that’s my big goal giving the horse the feeling that he is capable of doing what I ask him to do, and being happy to do it. That’s the only way, if something is developed out of stress or out of tension, in my opinion that’s not sustainable. If they are happy and capable, and have the strength to do it, they will always do it. But if you start with tension, then they start to try and cut corners.”
Actually the best report on Fendi’s stunning performance at Frankfurt, comes from the man himself, Sönke on his facebook page:
Would you like to breed to Fendi’s sire, Franklin, in Australia this season?
Contact www.ihb.com.au for more information
