THE HORSE MAGAZINE

JULY 03 - BACK FROM THE DEAD

THIS COLUMN WAS PRINTED BEFORE THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE AUSTRALIAN TEAM FOR HICKSTEAD.

Sydney CDI was held last month at Horsley Park, and Stilton and I had a great show, thank God!
Some four weeks earlier at the Saddleworld-Winergy Festival, Stilton and I went really disappointingly, and it seemed that our chances of making the Australian team to compete at the European Championships in August this year were dead and buried.
About four weeks before Melbourne, I’d made a big decision and decided that my approach to Stilton’s piaffe have ‘maxed out’ in terms of future development. Stilton has awesome power and talent in the air. He was born to defy gravity. The problem is, piaffe has the smallest moment of suspension of all the trot work. It is the extreme end of collection; it is an essential part of the repertoire of a really good Grand Prix dressage horse.
There are, in actual fact, very few horses in the world that are strong at the end of every spectrum, in all three paces. Stilton, as I’ve said, is amazing in the elasticity, airborne extension and expression ends of all the paces. Collection is something that he does actually have serious physical talent for, but mentally does not naturally embrace. So Stilton and I have our own interpretation of piaffe, which is a little more like passage on the spot, this allowing Stilton to maintain his beloved inclination to come off the ground. One of the problems with this technique is that it is very hard – almost impossible whilst maintaining a big moment of suspension – for the horse to lower its haunches to the degree necessary for the classical presentation of piaffe. I have been able to fudge my way through with this less than conventional piaffe presentation in the past, however it has left me susceptible to (a) critical debate, and (b) to a presentation which I felt had reached its maximum potential and at the end of the day was just not good enough. Luckily however somewhere along the line, Stilton had started to develop possibilities of a more classical piaffe, so, some four weeks before Melbourne, I changed!!!
Come Melbourne and Stilton was still very unsure of this new piaffe presentation, and the window of opportunity which I had to slip through to get it was minuscule. Even when I could get it, it was moderate and conservative, however the haunches did now lower, and the moment of suspension was much less, and much more in keeping with the classical presentation. Intuitively I felt that it would develop and that Stile and I needed this if we were to position ourselves so as to challenge the best in the world. There was, in actual fact, no choice. And so to Melbourne we went, arm with our state-of-the-art technology. It was a bloody disaster. I rode the tests cautiously, knowing I had this tiny window to slip through to get the piaffe.
Stilton is a full-blooded Prima Donna, interested only in expression and operating in a zone where he and I exist, only where there is no other consideration in life or in the world. As soon as I rode him cautiously, he just didn’t go into that zone. He was disappointed and suddenly aware of the flowers in front of the judge’s car, the Smith’s Crisps being eaten by a child in the audience and most significantly, by my blundering miscalculations. God it’s painful to look back!
On the other hand, all of the girls were in amazing form at Melbourne, and they slaughtered Stilton and I. Nevertheless, I was sure I was doing the right thing. I explained to Peter and Olivia Bunn, Stilton’s owners, that Stilton was really going fantastically and that this was just a transition phase! Peter was less than impressed and indicated that he was a great supporter whilst ever we progressed, however if we had just passed our use-by-date or were starting to produce results that were less than exciting, then it was time for a very serious re-think of just what the future held. I mean, what could I say? I have been very generously sponsored for the past six years on Stilton and nobody could say that I hadn’t been given time and opportunity.
I knew the Melbourne results were potentially terminal for Stilton and I, and the temptation to go back to our traditional piaffe presentation was indeed great. Well bugger it, I thought. I seriously believe that Stilton and I can go after the best, but I do need that more conventional piaffe presentation, so I stuck with it, so Stilton and I went into a frenzied training program in the weeks leading up to the Sydney CDI.
Well it’s history now and although the piaffe is still moderate, Stilton and I came back from the dead. He was more confident, knew what I was after, and stuck to me like a legend. Right from the first test, he blazed away with work of a standard higher than either of us have ever produced. It’s still just the tip of the iceberg but the scores came thundering back. I nearly cried with relief.
Talking to Peter afterwards, I said that it was still early days with this approach, and had there been one week’s less time between Sydney and Melbourne, we could have had a replay of the Melbourne performance, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up at the thought of the conversation he and I would have been having. Peter laughed and said that it was the same in all walks of life, and that this was a wonderful illustration of the fine line between success and failure.
I know that if I had seemingly failed at Sydney, it would have blown my confidence to a million pieces. Certainly if Stilton had gone home to Olivia to be an eventer it would have brought to an immediate halt my quest to take on the world. Goodness knows how long it would have take for me to recover, if ever. Momentarily I do shudder and then wonder how many other Australian performers and their quests have slipped the wrong side of that fine line and been shattered and blown away into nothingness. Well Stilton and I are still on track, we’re on the attack, so stand aside!
Saturday August 16th 2003 is the next big date for Australian dressage. It’s the European Championships at Hickstead, England, and the Australians have to go there and win the right to field a team at the Athens Olympics next year.
Stilton and I are keeping our fingers crossed that we will be part of that team. Emma Armstrong is to be Stilton’s groom and she’s really really keeping her fingers crossed. There are only 10 nations allowed to field a team at Athens 2004. Seven of these nations have already won their right. These teams are Germany, USA, Holland, Spain, Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland. Two spots will be given to the next two highest performing countries at Hickstead. The following countries are expected to be at the European championships pursuing one of those spots. Seven countries – two spots! Australia, Russia, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Britain and Austria. Can we do it?
Hypothetically we should be able to beat NZ and Japan. That leaves four major obstacles. The Russians occasionally score a 68% but are more likely to score in the early 60’s. Let’s just say with a bit of luck the Australian team will nail them. The Canadians did score in the high 60s at the WEG in Spain and looked like slippery customers. Interesting to note that for the last two years whenever we have a Canadian judge at our CDI Competitions, they mark we Australians very badly. The same judges when judging in Canada, score their Canadian riders into the 70+ mark. Unlike Australia, the Canadians have got their act together and their judges are working hard to promote Canadian riders. However, unlike Jerez there is no Canadian judge on the panel this time.
Britain will have the home town advantage, just as we did at Sydney, and this will be an influencing fact. However historically we can beat them (I hope).
The Austrians are scoring in the high 60s and low 70s and they look like being nearly impossible to beat from an Australian team point of view. So although it is not impossible for us to beat five or six of those unqualified countries, it’s going to be a nail biting day. What if we don’t? Well there is a final spot given to the next best place team from groups C, D, F 7 G (sounds a bit confusing, hey?!) Countries in this grouping include Australia, Russia, Canada, NZ and Japan. Let’s just say that Canada beats us and gets into one of those 8 or 9 spots available at the Europeans. That would mean that we would only have to beat the Russians, NZ and the Japanese. Very achievable!
So it is all very complicated but Australia, given a good day on August 16th has a very good chance of qualifying for the Athens Olympics.
In my opinion there is no doubt that Australia could perform at the Athens Olympics better than anyone dares hope for, however it really truly does need planning and action.
At the Sydney CDI at the riders forum there was quite a lot of discussion from our riders regarding this. One of the big problems is always, funding, or lack of funding. However vision and policy should not be determined by a budget. It may in reality have to be trimmed or reorganized to fit a budget but initially no such restriction should determine the formulation of vision and policy.
Katie Boyes for instance, pointed out that she had been on the talent squad for one year and received not one clinic, not one directive, not one nothing. So what was the point of being on the Australian talent squad? Now that she has moved from Prix St Georges/Inter 1 level into the Grand Prix level, she has been totally dropped from all squads!! As she pointed out this is the time she most desperately needs help.
At the Sydney CDI, one of the most important judges judging was Bernard Maurel. He is French, and significantly is also judging at the European Championships in August. Traditionally the eventers will video the test of the elite rider and then receive a very beneficial de-brief from the chief international judge on their dressage test and how that particular judge feels we could improve our presentation. This process is an Australian innovation and I thought had just filtered through to the Australian dressage discipline. Well maybe not. Bernard Maurel was asked to do the de-brief with our Australian Grand Prix riders the day after the CDI finished.
He duly presented the next morning at the given time, however whoever was organizing the exercise forgot to tell any of the riders. Nobody turned up. Also the organizer had forgotten to have video footage or to organize facilities to show the footage. What a disaster. Talk about telegraphing to the world what disinterested idiots the Australian dressage riders are. What sort of reception can we expect from Bernard Maurel on August 16th??
Gareth McKeen is our high performance manager, but it is just not working. We haven’t even had a de-brief in any of the disciplines after the World Equestrian Games of last year.
The eventing riders were given a questionnaire with the only result being any rider that didn’t appropriately high-score an official, actually found themselves being approached by that official requesting an explanation. Serious bullshit and time for new and inspired job descriptions and appointments.
Whilst we’re on eventing, what about Taupo? We lost the Trans Tasman once again! Certainly all our guys went well, tried hard, and I mean no disrespect, but the selectors are going to have to get over their reluctance to put their necks on the line, and get on with the job of picking a winning team. We have to pick teams with a view to winning. B teams actually downgrade the whole competition, and also do very little towards honing the cutting edge.
We have to practice in those very fine zones frequented only by winners. It’s really really difficult and we really really need to practise it, otherwise our world dominance of eventing at the Olympics will be something in the past. For instance, why wasn’t Olivia Bunn and Top of the Line invited to be part of the team? They are Australia’s number one combination and although at first glance you would think why run her at an event like that when she already has so much international experience. Second glance shows that she’s not actually qualified for Athens and with Taupo offering such fabulous going, why not?
Well Olivia was actually invited when the team started to fall into disarray but the invitation was just a few weeks before Taupo, and Olivia declined because her horse was not fit enough. How’s that? Australia’s number 1 eventing combination nothing more than an after-thought! If the whole truth were to be told, I suspect that nobody realised that Olivia wasn’t qualified for the Athens Olympics.
As I understand it, the new qualification rules were posted on January 1, 2003. How apathetic is that? The three times gold medal winning nation does not immediately notify its riders of qualification changes and is sluggish in incorporating a changing world. There are lots more eventing discrepancies creeping into the Australian eventing vision. I honestly don’t know whether adjustments can be made internally or whether decay and collapse is just a foregone evolutionary conclusion or whether perhaps breakaway groups – which do cause serious grief – similar to what happened in the 80s and early 90s have to re-appear.
Certainly some good old conventional debriefing from the world championships and consequent brainstorming taking this information on board, would be a start. Even our square bureaucrats would recognize this and be comfortable with this process. You know where there is no pain there is no gain, and bureaucrats are all about comfort zones.
Finally I’m going to break this self-imposed tradition of not mentioning my sponsors in this column. I have a terrible feeling that if Australia is going to burst into new worlds of achievement, it’s going to be a grief-stricken and painful next few years. Somehow I have a horrible feeling that tangled up in that pain will be me, for better or for worse.
I’ve had a wonderful couple of years and my sponsors have been major players in making them so memorable.
Firstly Bates Saddles Australia, picked me up in the early 80s when I was nobody and have resolutely stuck by me through thick and thin. Horseland came on board in the mid-90s and have been wonderfully generous with their products and also given support as a friend. Ariat came on board in the last 90s and supplies me with really beautiful top boots and chaps as well as conventional footwear.
Finally Nature Vet came on board in 2002. Nature Vet makes a wonderful range of products including Cosequin and Pentosan Equine both being absolutely imperative in keeping my top horses, who are everything to me, firing in programs which are mapped out to change the world.
Well that’s it for this month. Guy Wallace has made the big move to WA, with Mel checking on him in the first couple of weeks, so we will have news from there, next month.
Cheers,
Heath

Ryans Rave Index

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	AUSTRALIA'S NUMBER ONE EQUESTRIAN MAGAZINE
		JULY 03 - BACK FROM THE DEAD THIS COLUMN WAS PRINTED BEFORE THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE AUSTRALIAN TEAM FOR HICKSTEAD. Sydney CDI was held last month at Horsley Park, and Stilton and I had a great show, thank God! Some four weeks earlier at the Saddleworld-Winergy Festival, Stilton and I went really disappointingly, and it seemed that our chances of making the Australian team to compete at the European Championships in August this year were dead and buried. About four weeks before Melbourne, I’d made a big decision and decided that my approach to Stilton’s piaffe have ‘maxed out’ in terms of future development. Stilton has awesome power and talent in the air. He was born to defy gravity. The problem is, piaffe has the smallest moment of suspension of all the trot work. It is the extreme end of collection; it is an essential part of the repertoire of a really good Grand Prix dressage horse. There are, in actual fact, very few horses in the world that are strong at the end of every spectrum, in all three paces. Stilton, as I’ve said, is amazing in the elasticity, airborne extension and expression ends of all the paces. Collection is something that he does actually have serious physical talent for, but mentally does not naturally embrace. So Stilton and I have our own interpretation of piaffe, which is a little more like passage on the spot, this allowing Stilton to maintain his beloved inclination to come off the ground. One of the problems with this technique is that it is very hard – almost impossible whilst maintaining a big moment of suspension – for the horse to lower its haunches to the degree necessary for the classical presentation of piaffe. I have been able to fudge my way through with this less than conventional piaffe presentation in the past, however it has left me susceptible to (a) critical debate, and (b) to a presentation which I felt had reached its maximum potential and at the end of the day was just not good enough. Luckily however somewhere along the line, Stilton had started to develop possibilities of a more classical piaffe, so, some four weeks before Melbourne, I changed!!! Come Melbourne and Stilton was still very unsure of this new piaffe presentation, and the window of opportunity which I had to slip through to get it was minuscule. Even when I could get it, it was moderate and conservative, however the haunches did now lower, and the moment of suspension was much less, and much more in keeping with the classical presentation. Intuitively I felt that it would develop and that Stile and I needed this if we were to position ourselves so as to challenge the best in the world. There was, in actual fact, no choice. And so to Melbourne we went, arm with our state-of-the-art technology. It was a bloody disaster. I rode the tests cautiously, knowing I had this tiny window to slip through to get the piaffe. Stilton is a full-blooded Prima Donna, interested only in expression and operating in a zone where he and I exist, only where there is no other consideration in life or in the world. As soon as I rode him cautiously, he just didn’t go into that zone. He was disappointed and suddenly aware of the flowers in front of the judge’s car, the Smith’s Crisps being eaten by a child in the audience and most significantly, by my blundering miscalculations. God it’s painful to look back! On the other hand, all of the girls were in amazing form at Melbourne, and they slaughtered Stilton and I. Nevertheless, I was sure I was doing the right thing. I explained to Peter and Olivia Bunn, Stilton’s owners, that Stilton was really going fantastically and that this was just a transition phase! Peter was less than impressed and indicated that he was a great supporter whilst ever we progressed, however if we had just passed our use-by-date or were starting to produce results that were less than exciting, then it was time for a very serious re-think of just what the future held. I mean, what could I say? I have been very generously sponsored for the past six years on Stilton and nobody could say that I hadn’t been given time and opportunity. I knew the Melbourne results were potentially terminal for Stilton and I, and the temptation to go back to our traditional piaffe presentation was indeed great. Well bugger it, I thought. I seriously believe that Stilton and I can go after the best, but I do need that more conventional piaffe presentation, so I stuck with it, so Stilton and I went into a frenzied training program in the weeks leading up to the Sydney CDI. Well it’s history now and although the piaffe is still moderate, Stilton and I came back from the dead. He was more confident, knew what I was after, and stuck to me like a legend. Right from the first test, he blazed away with work of a standard higher than either of us have ever produced. It’s still just the tip of the iceberg but the scores came thundering back. I nearly cried with relief. Talking to Peter afterwards, I said that it was still early days with this approach, and had there been one week’s less time between Sydney and Melbourne, we could have had a replay of the Melbourne performance, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up at the thought of the conversation he and I would have been having. Peter laughed and said that it was the same in all walks of life, and that this was a wonderful illustration of the fine line between success and failure. I know that if I had seemingly failed at Sydney, it would have blown my confidence to a million pieces. Certainly if Stilton had gone home to Olivia to be an eventer it would have brought to an immediate halt my quest to take on the world. Goodness knows how long it would have take for me to recover, if ever. Momentarily I do shudder and then wonder how many other Australian performers and their quests have slipped the wrong side of that fine line and been shattered and blown away into nothingness. Well Stilton and I are still on track, we’re on the attack, so stand aside! Saturday August 16th 2003 is the next big date for Australian dressage. It’s the European Championships at Hickstead, England, and the Australians have to go there and win the right to field a team at the Athens Olympics next year. Stilton and I are keeping our fingers crossed that we will be part of that team. Emma Armstrong is to be Stilton’s groom and she’s really really keeping her fingers crossed. There are only 10 nations allowed to field a team at Athens 2004. Seven of these nations have already won their right. These teams are Germany, USA, Holland, Spain, Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland. Two spots will be given to the next two highest performing countries at Hickstead. The following countries are expected to be at the European championships pursuing one of those spots. Seven countries – two spots! Australia, Russia, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Britain and Austria. Can we do it? Hypothetically we should be able to beat NZ and Japan. That leaves four major obstacles. The Russians occasionally score a 68% but are more likely to score in the early 60’s. Let’s just say with a bit of luck the Australian team will nail them. The Canadians did score in the high 60s at the WEG in Spain and looked like slippery customers. Interesting to note that for the last two years whenever we have a Canadian judge at our CDI Competitions, they mark we Australians very badly. The same judges when judging in Canada, score their Canadian riders into the 70+ mark. Unlike Australia, the Canadians have got their act together and their judges are working hard to promote Canadian riders. However, unlike Jerez there is no Canadian judge on the panel this time. Britain will have the home town advantage, just as we did at Sydney, and this will be an influencing fact. However historically we can beat them (I hope). The Austrians are scoring in the high 60s and low 70s and they look like being nearly impossible to beat from an Australian team point of view. So although it is not impossible for us to beat five or six of those unqualified countries, it’s going to be a nail biting day. What if we don’t? Well there is a final spot given to the next best place team from groups C, D, F 7 G (sounds a bit confusing, hey?!) Countries in this grouping include Australia, Russia, Canada, NZ and Japan. Let’s just say that Canada beats us and gets into one of those 8 or 9 spots available at the Europeans. That would mean that we would only have to beat the Russians, NZ and the Japanese. Very achievable! So it is all very complicated but Australia, given a good day on August 16th has a very good chance of qualifying for the Athens Olympics. In my opinion there is no doubt that Australia could perform at the Athens Olympics better than anyone dares hope for, however it really truly does need planning and action. At the Sydney CDI at the riders forum there was quite a lot of discussion from our riders regarding this. One of the big problems is always, funding, or lack of funding. However vision and policy should not be determined by a budget. It may in reality have to be trimmed or reorganized to fit a budget but initially no such restriction should determine the formulation of vision and policy. Katie Boyes for instance, pointed out that she had been on the talent squad for one year and received not one clinic, not one directive, not one nothing. So what was the point of being on the Australian talent squad? Now that she has moved from Prix St Georges/Inter 1 level into the Grand Prix level, she has been totally dropped from all squads!! As she pointed out this is the time she most desperately needs help. At the Sydney CDI, one of the most important judges judging was Bernard Maurel. He is French, and significantly is also judging at the European Championships in August. Traditionally the eventers will video the test of the elite rider and then receive a very beneficial de-brief from the chief international judge on their dressage test and how that particular judge feels we could improve our presentation. This process is an Australian innovation and I thought had just filtered through to the Australian dressage discipline. Well maybe not. Bernard Maurel was asked to do the de-brief with our Australian Grand Prix riders the day after the CDI finished. He duly presented the next morning at the given time, however whoever was organizing the exercise forgot to tell any of the riders. Nobody turned up. Also the organizer had forgotten to have video footage or to organize facilities to show the footage. What a disaster. Talk about telegraphing to the world what disinterested idiots the Australian dressage riders are. What sort of reception can we expect from Bernard Maurel on August 16th?? Gareth McKeen is our high performance manager, but it is just not working. We haven’t even had a de-brief in any of the disciplines after the World Equestrian Games of last year. The eventing riders were given a questionnaire with the only result being any rider that didn’t appropriately high-score an official, actually found themselves being approached by that official requesting an explanation. Serious bullshit and time for new and inspired job descriptions and appointments. Whilst we’re on eventing, what about Taupo? We lost the Trans Tasman once again! Certainly all our guys went well, tried hard, and I mean no disrespect, but the selectors are going to have to get over their reluctance to put their necks on the line, and get on with the job of picking a winning team. We have to pick teams with a view to winning. B teams actually downgrade the whole competition, and also do very little towards honing the cutting edge. We have to practice in those very fine zones frequented only by winners. It’s really really difficult and we really really need to practise it, otherwise our world dominance of eventing at the Olympics will be something in the past. For instance, why wasn’t Olivia Bunn and Top of the Line invited to be part of the team? They are Australia’s number one combination and although at first glance you would think why run her at an event like that when she already has so much international experience. Second glance shows that she’s not actually qualified for Athens and with Taupo offering such fabulous going, why not? Well Olivia was actually invited when the team started to fall into disarray but the invitation was just a few weeks before Taupo, and Olivia declined because her horse was not fit enough. How’s that? Australia’s number 1 eventing combination nothing more than an after-thought! If the whole truth were to be told, I suspect that nobody realised that Olivia wasn’t qualified for the Athens Olympics. As I understand it, the new qualification rules were posted on January 1, 2003. How apathetic is that? The three times gold medal winning nation does not immediately notify its riders of qualification changes and is sluggish in incorporating a changing world. There are lots more eventing discrepancies creeping into the Australian eventing vision. I honestly don’t know whether adjustments can be made internally or whether decay and collapse is just a foregone evolutionary conclusion or whether perhaps breakaway groups – which do cause serious grief – similar to what happened in the 80s and early 90s have to re-appear. Certainly some good old conventional debriefing from the world championships and consequent brainstorming taking this information on board, would be a start. Even our square bureaucrats would recognize this and be comfortable with this process. You know where there is no pain there is no gain, and bureaucrats are all about comfort zones. Finally I’m going to break this self-imposed tradition of not mentioning my sponsors in this column. I have a terrible feeling that if Australia is going to burst into new worlds of achievement, it’s going to be a grief-stricken and painful next few years. Somehow I have a horrible feeling that tangled up in that pain will be me, for better or for worse. I’ve had a wonderful couple of years and my sponsors have been major players in making them so memorable. Firstly Bates Saddles Australia, picked me up in the early 80s when I was nobody and have resolutely stuck by me through thick and thin. Horseland came on board in the mid-90s and have been wonderfully generous with their products and also given support as a friend. Ariat came on board in the last 90s and supplies me with really beautiful top boots and chaps as well as conventional footwear. Finally Nature Vet came on board in 2002. Nature Vet makes a wonderful range of products including Cosequin and Pentosan Equine both being absolutely imperative in keeping my top horses, who are everything to me, firing in programs which are mapped out to change the world. Well that’s it for this month. Guy Wallace has made the big move to WA, with Mel checking on him in the first couple of weeks, so we will have news from there, next month. Cheers, Heath Ryans Rave Index