Story - Chris Hector Photos - Roz Neave

I suppose I have a personal interest in all the stories I write. The ongoing challenges of training, and the levels of excellence possible, fascinate me, but this story was more than usually personal. It really started when Samantha Bartlett rang me one afternoon, and said: "I have just had the best ride ever on Champ, you must come round and see him go…"

Let's back track. Sam, when she was still Samantha Hodges rode a young horse for us, called Gumboot, with great success, taking out an Australian Novice Championship with him. Later we bought his dam, Frauenberg and bred her to Weltmeyer, using frozen semen. She foaled a chestnut colt right in the middle of the 1998 WEG so we called him Champ.

Sam bought him at about a month old, and now our little chestnut colt was an imposing big three-year-old, and an exact double for his famous dad. We thought it might be nice to follow Champ's early lessons under saddle.

And so here we were, in Sam's barn, with a big sleepy headed expansive looking colt tied to the rail. Roz and I are just so happy to see how he has grown. Happier to see how sensibly Sam handles him.

It is really one of our obsessions that you can't let the horse be all over the place while you handle him, and then expect him to be submissive under saddle. As Andrew McLean keeps explaining over and over again, it is all part of a continuum, what you do on the ground will be mirrored under saddle. Champ is obviously used to standing quietly, and when Sam hits the arena with our boy, she does a little tune-up on the ground before she gets on his back. Wow! We are impressed.

And no less impressed when he starts moving. He has that lovely W-line engagement behind, and so much power and balance for a baby on what is about his 30th ride in his whole life. Sam is not trying to over control him, but at the same time, he is doing exactly what she wants him to do - not what he'd like to be doing. He has a huge walk, a stunning trot and a lovely rolling canter. We can see why Sam was so excited, and as proud parents, we are excited too.

The work as you will see from these photos was exactly right for a baby, and fifteen minutes was quite enough for him today - then it was time to put the colt away, and get Sam to fill us in, on the journey thus far.

There are lots of horses out there, why did you pick this one?
"What attracted me initially about Champ was his half-brother Gumboot (pic below), who I’d ridden before. I thought if he was half the horse that horse was, he was going to be a pretty nice horse. Hopefully he was going to be an even better horse because he was by Weltmeyer."

You didn’t make a big fuss of him when you got him, he went out to grow up?
"He went out in a paddock with an old pony, until he started bossing the pony about and we had to take the poor old pony away. He then went out in the paddock with another colt, until he was three and a half, and from then on he has basically lived by himself. He has been handled, had ground work and lunging, and all that sort of thing, since he was two."
You bought him as part of your syndicate, how does that work?
"The syndicate was organized by a very good friend of mine, who basically wanted to be involved at a top level but knew that she wasn’t going to be riding at the top level herself, so her interest was to be able to put some finance into it. The two of us together couldn’t afford to do what we wanted to do, so now we have thirteen people involved in the syndicate. Originally our plan was to buy one horse, but after we did that, we still had some funds left over so we bought Champ."
How does the syndicate work?
"It is a one-off cost. The syndicate members don’t have any ongoing costs. I am allotted a certain number of shares for keeping and training the horses, and basically all the members of the syndicate are there for the long haul, to see the horses go FEI, and if it all comes about. They only get a return once the horses stand at stud and their expenses are paid for. The syndicate has been going for four years now. We have four open days a year which have developed into a real fun days. The horses take part in competitions but the owners are welcome to give me a call and come up and see the horses whenever they like."
I noticed when you brought Champ into the arena to ride, you did a little routine on the ground, move here, back here, move over here - have you caught a touch of the Parellis?
"No I haven’t, just basically it is more of a discipline sort of thing, making sure the horse is listening to what I am about before I ever put a foot in the stirrup and get on."
Was he difficult to break in?
"No. I did it all myself. To this day, this horse has never humped, bucked or done anything, not even when I put the roller on for the first time. Never with the rider on, he has just been the easiest horse to work with so far." Did you start off teaching him to lunge?
"Leading, and floating, and lunging. Gradually introducing the side reins. I long reined him, I drove him, and backed him from then on. The first time I got on him was in a stable at home, just getting up and down beside him in the stable and then eventually getting right on. He was fine. Patted him all over and the gradually walking him around the stable. Next time we got on was out in the arena…"
Have you got a round yard?
"No."
So how did you teach him to lunge?
"I taught him to lunge out on the arena, go forward, stay out away from me, keep his space not my space. He was good, really easy to teach."
At the time of our first photo session, he’d been ridden about 30 times?
"He was broken in, in June of 2001. He was sat on about six times and then put back in the paddock until January. He came home then, and we did a bit of lunging and driving, and eventually I got back on. He is being ridden twice, three times a week at this time."
He looks good, what does he feel like?
"Unreal. So balanced, so strong. Easy to communicate with. Sure when you start you have to spell things out a little clearer until they get the gist of it but he is not very ‘dumb’ at all, he learns quite quickly."
How did you end up being a full-time rider and instructor?
"I did the usual things, Pony Club, and a lot of eventing before I went to the New South Wales Equestrian Centre. I had done a little bit of teaching at Pony Club. When I finished school, I wanted to further my career in riding and teaching and that is why I ended up at the NSW Centre for six months, doing my Level 1. Then I came home and worked under Malcolm Barns for four years, achieving my Level 2, before going out on my own." So what did you learn from Heath Ryan at the NSW Centre? "Determination. Don’t give up. And learn to ride - not just sit there and look pretty."
And from Malcolm Barns?
"Malcolm has been great. I guess the biggest thing I learnt from him was to be patient, especially with the young horses. Malcolm really opened my eyes to the mechanics of it all - position, and improving my riding more, to become more in sync with the horse. To be as one with the horse rather than just having a machine under you that does the job."
Is it hard working by yourself now?
"I think everybody needs the chance to go and nut it out for themselves. Unlike overseas, we don’t have someone standing on the ground every time we ride a horse. I think to really get through and understand what you are doing, and why you are doing it, you need time by yourself to do it. I’ve been training with Beanna Epstein for the past two and a half years, and still with Clemens Dierks, but you need to be able to nut it out by yourself as well."
So what is your program with Champ?
"Champ is only three and a half, so he’ll keep ticking along for a little longer. Then he’ll probably get another holiday for two or three months, then he’ll come back and tick along from there. He may or may not get a start at the Young Horse this year; we’ll see how it goes. I’m mainly interested in having him as a Grand Prix horse, I’m not in a hurry to get out there and win young horse events - I want him for later on."
Along with Malcolm and Heath, was Jim (Party On) a major teacher - he was your first Grand Prix horse?
"Jim’s a real character. He certainly has a mind of his own, and you really have to understand him to get him to work to the best of his ability for you. He has been a really good learning horse. He had a pretty rough start to his dressage career. He was a failed racehorse, a failed eventer…"
He made the decision to retire himself from eventing….
"He did retire all by himself at the start flags! He was probably one of the safest horses I ever jumped, he was a great horse to jump he just didn’t like going fast between fences. As a dressage horse he is probably not the most correct horse to begin with, but overall he has taught me a lot. And I hope after working with him, the others will be a little bit easier, and a little more systematic."
I remember Rozzie Ryan once saying that some of her early horses weren’t producing very good Grand Prix, but at least it was Grand Prix and she was getting comfortable with the test, is it like that with you?
"If I can get the kilometres on Jim, then hopefully any horse after him will be much easier. At first with him it was a bit scary - it’s not scary now. He gives me a real opportunity to get used to riding the Grand Prix test - to make it a bit more automatic than manual."
Riding Champ like you were around the arena, what are the main things you are trying to achieve?
"The first thing is that I have to have brakes, I have to have the go button, and turn left, turn right, anything else is a bonus. If I get on and feel he is going really super, then you might introduce a little half transition but really it is making sure that he goes when I say go, and stops when I say stop." "Right now he is just really doing walk trot and canter and introducing little new things is what we are trying to do. He has done all his work here on our arena, I’d like to take him to a few new places and make sure I still have the same nice pony I have at home. Even walking down the road… I did that last week. He enjoyed himself, he was really brave."