THE HORSE MAGAZINE

APRIL03 - TRANS TASMAN TEAM SELECTED!!

I can’t believe it. Five girls and me! I seem doomed to be on a team of girls – it doesn’t matter if it is dressage last year at Jerez, or eventing this year at Taupo.
It is an interesting selection. Megan Jones on her youngster, Kirby Park Irish Jester, who showed such promise in the Adelaide**** at the end of last year. This is a horse that just gets better and better, and watching him in Taupo will be fascinating.
Wendy Schaeffer, our Atlanta Gold medallist, at long last makes a return to an Australian team, on her exciting young horse, Koyuna Sun Glo, with whom she won Adelaide**** last year.
Those two South Australian riders bring enormous experience to the squad even though their horses are a bit less experienced, having their first overseas trip.
Claudia Graham at long last makes the Aussie team on Diamond B Vogue. Claudia so nearly came in from the left field to make the WEG squad. She did go through a horror period after that but seems to have emerged unscathed. Claudia is one of those riders with a wonderful focus – she not only survives the highs but keeps coming through the lows. Claudia’s horse made the trip to New Zealand last year, so that is one horse with travelling experience. She is perhaps not yet a high profile rider but she does have a focus that is very exciting, and her performance at Taupo will be very interesting in terms of Athens next year.
Tarsha Hammond and Fuzzy Logic have had their hands up for team selection for the past two years, but just haven’t managed to force their way into a lineup. It is great that Tarsha gets her chance. She is going to have to make a very clear statement that Fuzzy is up to the pace of the younger horses coming through, and this is a squad of younger horses piloted by some experienced riders. For Athens, this is a critical performance for Tarsha.
Niki Chapman and Striking Heights are probably the first Queensland combination for about 15 years to break through into this level. Hopefully she is the first of many. There is so much talent in Queensland, and I know I go on and on about this, but that talent just never seems to reach team selection stage. It’s great to see Niki break through on a horse that won the three star at Adelaide last year. This is an up-and-coming combination that has enormous potential if they can maintain their momentum.
Finally there’s Flame, my little Thoroughbred, who is really really exciting. He improves on the flat every day, and has developed some amazing paces. He is very quick across country and a wonderful little jumper. He could be the best three-day eventing horse I’ve ever had. Of course, it is ironic that the Olympics are now a one-day event. For we Australians that is very sad. I hope that Flame with the wonderful expression he has developed on the flat, will also be a strong, one day eventer but the Australian Thoroughbred aspect of him, makes his forte three day eventing, and I am looking at taking him to some of the traditional three day events, like Badminton and Lexington before they disappear. That is my real fear, that three day eventing will disappear.
It is a bit scary the people who got left out of the team. The selector rationale is maybe understandable, but I am not sure if I was a selector that I would have done what they have done – and in saying that I know that I would have been the first one left out of the team if you put someone else in. So I am really glad and pleased the selectors have done what they have done, but I’ve got to say I am tired of being first to be dropped, sitting in the death seat in otherwise all girl teams. This seems to be my fate in life.
David Middleton must be feeling pretty unlucky. His performance in Adelaide on RUNVS was marked by some stupid blunders, and I think the selectors were pretty unforgiving of that. David is a manager’s nightmare but when we are picking these squads, the most important task is to pick a winning team – and I would have picked David. He is a wild talent, out of control, but he is a winner. He was dropped from the Sydney Olympic Squad, and I think there is a feeling amongst the selectors, that after he was dropped, when he felt he should have been on the squad, he actually performed magnificently. I don’t know if this is one of the selectors considerations, that maybe by dropping David right now, it will bring him back in form and focus and make him a formidable force for the Athens Olympics.
Shane Rose and Beauford Miss Dior is another combination that has been overlooked. This does mystify me a little. The mare is very seasoned and travelled, and Shane is very experienced. As a combination they are relatively new, but showed signs of amazing promise at Adelaide, with three rails down in the showjumping to just miss a win. I feel it would have been very positive to give them a chance to cement their partnership at Taupo, and get an accurate feel of how they would go in a team situation. Shane has to feel very unlucky to miss out, and if I had been a selector, I would have plugged for them. Thank god I am not a selector because I would probably have not made the team if it had been up to me. Not that I don’t think Flame is a wonderful horse, I just feel we have so much talent out there, in my mind I can’t justify placing myself above some of those others.
Jess Irvine-Brown is a surprising omission. I am a bit sad she is not on that squad. She does have the most incredible performances. Won at Adelaide three star 2001, third at Sydney in the lead-up to Jerez– then at Blenheim in England she was in the lead after the dressage and the cross country, and then had four rails down. I think the selectors are going to be scared stiff of horses having showjumping rails, especially now we are going to be in a one-day format. The showjumping is going to become harder and harder and they are going to want horses that can go clear – having said that, a horse that has done a one day event is going to be much more likely to go clear showjumping than a horse that has done a three day event. Even the selection trials in the not too distant future are going to have to go to one day events because that is the only type of competition that can give a realistic indication of whether a horse can jump clear on the final day. Jumping clear after a three day is a nightmare, and the only person who has got an amazing handle on that is Olivia Bunn – she is in a world of her own in terms of producing clear rounds after a three day event.
That brings us to Olivia and Top of the Line. Carlo would be number one selection in Australia if you were picking a winning team, and I can only assume that the selectors feel he is number one for Athens and they don’t need him to prove anything and can be left at home.
Sammi McLeod and Frederick Hunter – I guess the selectors feel much the same here, she has done so many miles and while she is almost a certain selection if you were going for a winning squad, the view is that they don’t need the Taupo run.
All that augurs well for Athens. We have got an amazing depth of talent – and I haven’t even touched on the riders based in the northern hemisphere because it would be just crazy to bring horses from over there to New Zealand for a Trans Tasman, so they are not even considered.
I am sure this Taupo squad has been selected with a view to blooding up-and-coming combinations and that is a good move.
Taupo happens the week after the Sydney CDI and that is a bit of a complication for me, because that will be the second dressage selection event for the team to go to Hickstead for the European Championships later this year. Hickstead is our last chance to qualify a dressage team for Athens next year.
Right at this moment I have very divided focus. My dressage horse, Stilton, is at full stretch in training for the upcoming events. He is going better than he has ever gone before and at long last has decided he can handle Grand Prix easily. He is showing a maturity and confidence that has taken forever to come. Certainly his trip to Jerez was a huge contribution to that, and it is very exciting for me now.
The first dressage trial will be at the Saddleworld Winergy Dressage Festival in Melbourne on April 10-13 and going into those two trials I have been looking carefully through the judges’ marks and comments, trying to get a handle on what is good and what is not. It is incredible how subjective the judging is. I think Christopher our intrepid editor showed that in his de-brief on the scores at Jerez, where he demonstrated how different the scores from the international judges were on our team performances. This subjectivity is an enormous problem for the sport of dressage and one that actually threatens the future of dressage as the Olympic Committee looks down on sports with such a subjective judging system.
My problem is with Mary Seefried, our Olympic level judge. She just doesn’t like the way I ride my horses. That’s not to say she is wrong, it is just that Stilton is always marked poorly with her, and she is not a judge who is lacking in experience. Even with my other horses – like Greenoaks Legend, Mary has me well down again. As a rider, I don’t know what I can do. Basically on Mary’s scores, I would not have gone to Jerez, and as it turned out Jerez was a fairy tale story for me and very good for Australia - or so I would like to think.
I do think that dressage judging is something that has to be addressed the world over. I do think that Australia moving forward will depend on our dressage judges making a contribution to Australian dressage. I do feel that they need to think about the good of the sport. An amazing score can only come about on the basis of amazing expectations, that is beyond doubt. And that is the judges’ mandate in a national situation, to make as much of a contribution as they can, to create an expectation that when the Australian riders arrive at Hickstead, they are likely to produce something special.
One of the more amazing time bombs to explode recently has been Scone ODE cancelled at the eleventh hour. It was cancelled on the Thursday night before the weekend it was to be held. Competitors were already on the road, the yards had been trucked up from Sydney, the catering was all in place. The event was cancelled by the landholders because of insurance worries. When the committee became aware there was a problem they made enormous efforts to try and relocated the dressage and the showjumping into Scone where the council was very supportive. It was a huge community effort to get the event happening but the final blow was when they weren’t allowed to use the cross-country course. The landowners were worried about being held liable for the damages done to any horse, and didn’t want to be the test case in court. Still it was very disappointing, especially as some of the landholders are participants in the sport and their children have galloped around courses owned by private individuals. It is sad. One of the families is the White family, and no one could say that the White family hasn’t contributed hugely to the sport, so this situation is serious and a worry.
Now it looks as if the club might be up for all the costs of the cancelled event and that is also extremely disappointing.
The Guy Wallace story continues in a little white bedroom in the Westmead Rehabilitation Centre. I don’t know how people survive these tragedies. The pain level just keeps mounting. At the moment the family, who are all in Western Australia, feel they could take better care of Guy if he moved back there. It certainly would give his family over there a much greater chance to interact with him, because WA is just so far away, and it costs so much for the family to keep going backwards and forwards. I don’t know how Guy’s parents, Gill and Steve, manage it. The hospital has indicated that it is time for Guy to relocate, but for Mel and all Guy’s friends, they are struggling to come to grips with the idea of him going to the West. I can’t believe so much pain can exist. I think Guy wants to stay where he is, but the cost of finding him another facility is likely to be horrendous.. I think the answers to this dilemma will scare the hell out of me, it looks like an unsurpassable mountain. It is so easy for someone like me to skim along on the outside but I can see there is such a difficult situation developing. Where the money comes from, God knows. For me, losing touch with Guy would be tragic but I understand and endorse the position of his family. It is something that makes me cringe to even think about it. It is what happens when we have a disaster. It makes anything I’ve got to complain about just disappear… This was totally predictable but none of us wanted to face it. I don’t know what to say, but instead of any of us crying and getting over-emotional, all I can say is that Guy has dealt with every situation so far, and he will deal with this one. His family and his friends will stick with him. On that final note I’ll finish this column…

Ryans Rave Index

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	AUSTRALIA'S NUMBER ONE EQUESTRIAN MAGAZINE
		APRIL03 - TRANS TASMAN TEAM SELECTED!! I can’t believe it. Five girls and me! I seem doomed to be on a team of girls – it doesn’t matter if it is dressage last year at Jerez, or eventing this year at Taupo. It is an interesting selection. Megan Jones on her youngster, Kirby Park Irish Jester, who showed such promise in the Adelaide** at the end of last year. This is a horse that just gets better and better, and watching him in Taupo will be fascinating. Wendy Schaeffer, our Atlanta Gold medallist, at long last makes a return to an Australian team, on her exciting young horse, Koyuna Sun Glo, with whom she won Adelaide** last year. Those two South Australian riders bring enormous experience to the squad even though their horses are a bit less experienced, having their first overseas trip. Claudia Graham at long last makes the Aussie team on Diamond B Vogue. Claudia so nearly came in from the left field to make the WEG squad. She did go through a horror period after that but seems to have emerged unscathed. Claudia is one of those riders with a wonderful focus – she not only survives the highs but keeps coming through the lows. Claudia’s horse made the trip to New Zealand last year, so that is one horse with travelling experience. She is perhaps not yet a high profile rider but she does have a focus that is very exciting, and her performance at Taupo will be very interesting in terms of Athens next year. Tarsha Hammond and Fuzzy Logic have had their hands up for team selection for the past two years, but just haven’t managed to force their way into a lineup. It is great that Tarsha gets her chance. She is going to have to make a very clear statement that Fuzzy is up to the pace of the younger horses coming through, and this is a squad of younger horses piloted by some experienced riders. For Athens, this is a critical performance for Tarsha. Niki Chapman and Striking Heights are probably the first Queensland combination for about 15 years to break through into this level. Hopefully she is the first of many. There is so much talent in Queensland, and I know I go on and on about this, but that talent just never seems to reach team selection stage. It’s great to see Niki break through on a horse that won the three star at Adelaide last year. This is an up-and-coming combination that has enormous potential if they can maintain their momentum. Finally there’s Flame, my little Thoroughbred, who is really really exciting. He improves on the flat every day, and has developed some amazing paces. He is very quick across country and a wonderful little jumper. He could be the best three-day eventing horse I’ve ever had. Of course, it is ironic that the Olympics are now a one-day event. For we Australians that is very sad. I hope that Flame with the wonderful expression he has developed on the flat, will also be a strong, one day eventer but the Australian Thoroughbred aspect of him, makes his forte three day eventing, and I am looking at taking him to some of the traditional three day events, like Badminton and Lexington before they disappear. That is my real fear, that three day eventing will disappear. It is a bit scary the people who got left out of the team. The selector rationale is maybe understandable, but I am not sure if I was a selector that I would have done what they have done – and in saying that I know that I would have been the first one left out of the team if you put someone else in. So I am really glad and pleased the selectors have done what they have done, but I’ve got to say I am tired of being first to be dropped, sitting in the death seat in otherwise all girl teams. This seems to be my fate in life. David Middleton must be feeling pretty unlucky. His performance in Adelaide on RUNVS was marked by some stupid blunders, and I think the selectors were pretty unforgiving of that. David is a manager’s nightmare but when we are picking these squads, the most important task is to pick a winning team – and I would have picked David. He is a wild talent, out of control, but he is a winner. He was dropped from the Sydney Olympic Squad, and I think there is a feeling amongst the selectors, that after he was dropped, when he felt he should have been on the squad, he actually performed magnificently. I don’t know if this is one of the selectors considerations, that maybe by dropping David right now, it will bring him back in form and focus and make him a formidable force for the Athens Olympics. Shane Rose and Beauford Miss Dior is another combination that has been overlooked. This does mystify me a little. The mare is very seasoned and travelled, and Shane is very experienced. As a combination they are relatively new, but showed signs of amazing promise at Adelaide, with three rails down in the showjumping to just miss a win. I feel it would have been very positive to give them a chance to cement their partnership at Taupo, and get an accurate feel of how they would go in a team situation. Shane has to feel very unlucky to miss out, and if I had been a selector, I would have plugged for them. Thank god I am not a selector because I would probably have not made the team if it had been up to me. Not that I don’t think Flame is a wonderful horse, I just feel we have so much talent out there, in my mind I can’t justify placing myself above some of those others. Jess Irvine-Brown is a surprising omission. I am a bit sad she is not on that squad. She does have the most incredible performances. Won at Adelaide three star 2001, third at Sydney in the lead-up to Jerez– then at Blenheim in England she was in the lead after the dressage and the cross country, and then had four rails down. I think the selectors are going to be scared stiff of horses having showjumping rails, especially now we are going to be in a one-day format. The showjumping is going to become harder and harder and they are going to want horses that can go clear – having said that, a horse that has done a one day event is going to be much more likely to go clear showjumping than a horse that has done a three day event. Even the selection trials in the not too distant future are going to have to go to one day events because that is the only type of competition that can give a realistic indication of whether a horse can jump clear on the final day. Jumping clear after a three day is a nightmare, and the only person who has got an amazing handle on that is Olivia Bunn – she is in a world of her own in terms of producing clear rounds after a three day event. That brings us to Olivia and Top of the Line. Carlo would be number one selection in Australia if you were picking a winning team, and I can only assume that the selectors feel he is number one for Athens and they don’t need him to prove anything and can be left at home. Sammi McLeod and Frederick Hunter – I guess the selectors feel much the same here, she has done so many miles and while she is almost a certain selection if you were going for a winning squad, the view is that they don’t need the Taupo run. All that augurs well for Athens. We have got an amazing depth of talent – and I haven’t even touched on the riders based in the northern hemisphere because it would be just crazy to bring horses from over there to New Zealand for a Trans Tasman, so they are not even considered. I am sure this Taupo squad has been selected with a view to blooding up-and-coming combinations and that is a good move. Taupo happens the week after the Sydney CDI and that is a bit of a complication for me, because that will be the second dressage selection event for the team to go to Hickstead for the European Championships later this year. Hickstead is our last chance to qualify a dressage team for Athens next year. Right at this moment I have very divided focus. My dressage horse, Stilton, is at full stretch in training for the upcoming events. He is going better than he has ever gone before and at long last has decided he can handle Grand Prix easily. He is showing a maturity and confidence that has taken forever to come. Certainly his trip to Jerez was a huge contribution to that, and it is very exciting for me now. The first dressage trial will be at the Saddleworld Winergy Dressage Festival in Melbourne on April 10-13 and going into those two trials I have been looking carefully through the judges’ marks and comments, trying to get a handle on what is good and what is not. It is incredible how subjective the judging is. I think Christopher our intrepid editor showed that in his de-brief on the scores at Jerez, where he demonstrated how different the scores from the international judges were on our team performances. This subjectivity is an enormous problem for the sport of dressage and one that actually threatens the future of dressage as the Olympic Committee looks down on sports with such a subjective judging system. My problem is with Mary Seefried, our Olympic level judge. She just doesn’t like the way I ride my horses. That’s not to say she is wrong, it is just that Stilton is always marked poorly with her, and she is not a judge who is lacking in experience. Even with my other horses – like Greenoaks Legend, Mary has me well down again. As a rider, I don’t know what I can do. Basically on Mary’s scores, I would not have gone to Jerez, and as it turned out Jerez was a fairy tale story for me and very good for Australia - or so I would like to think. I do think that dressage judging is something that has to be addressed the world over. I do think that Australia moving forward will depend on our dressage judges making a contribution to Australian dressage. I do feel that they need to think about the good of the sport. An amazing score can only come about on the basis of amazing expectations, that is beyond doubt. And that is the judges’ mandate in a national situation, to make as much of a contribution as they can, to create an expectation that when the Australian riders arrive at Hickstead, they are likely to produce something special. One of the more amazing time bombs to explode recently has been Scone ODE cancelled at the eleventh hour. It was cancelled on the Thursday night before the weekend it was to be held. Competitors were already on the road, the yards had been trucked up from Sydney, the catering was all in place. The event was cancelled by the landholders because of insurance worries. When the committee became aware there was a problem they made enormous efforts to try and relocated the dressage and the showjumping into Scone where the council was very supportive. It was a huge community effort to get the event happening but the final blow was when they weren’t allowed to use the cross-country course. The landowners were worried about being held liable for the damages done to any horse, and didn’t want to be the test case in court. Still it was very disappointing, especially as some of the landholders are participants in the sport and their children have galloped around courses owned by private individuals. It is sad. One of the families is the White family, and no one could say that the White family hasn’t contributed hugely to the sport, so this situation is serious and a worry. Now it looks as if the club might be up for all the costs of the cancelled event and that is also extremely disappointing. The Guy Wallace story continues in a little white bedroom in the Westmead Rehabilitation Centre. I don’t know how people survive these tragedies. The pain level just keeps mounting. At the moment the family, who are all in Western Australia, feel they could take better care of Guy if he moved back there. It certainly would give his family over there a much greater chance to interact with him, because WA is just so far away, and it costs so much for the family to keep going backwards and forwards. I don’t know how Guy’s parents, Gill and Steve, manage it. The hospital has indicated that it is time for Guy to relocate, but for Mel and all Guy’s friends, they are struggling to come to grips with the idea of him going to the West. I can’t believe so much pain can exist. I think Guy wants to stay where he is, but the cost of finding him another facility is likely to be horrendous.. I think the answers to this dilemma will scare the hell out of me, it looks like an unsurpassable mountain. It is so easy for someone like me to skim along on the outside but I can see there is such a difficult situation developing. Where the money comes from, God knows. For me, losing touch with Guy would be tragic but I understand and endorse the position of his family. It is something that makes me cringe to even think about it. It is what happens when we have a disaster. It makes anything I’ve got to complain about just disappear… This was totally predictable but none of us wanted to face it. I don’t know what to say, but instead of any of us crying and getting over-emotional, all I can say is that Guy has dealt with every situation so far, and he will deal with this one. His family and his friends will stick with him. On that final note I’ll finish this column… Ryans Rave Index