Another stellar show!

The name says it all - dressage with the stars - a show that reaches for the skies. An event that provides a window onto the dressage horses of tomorrow, through the Bates Young Horse Championship, while at the same time, highlighting our established superstars in the Gelpad Pacific League World Cup Dressage Final. This year our special guest was Michael Klimke, who kindly agreed to step in at the last minute after the tragic death of his father, Reiner.
The standard of our young horses is leaping ahead with the influence of better Warmblood stallions (both frozen and live) but also with riders finding better riding types of Thoroughbreds well suited to the demands of dressage.
The first of the Bates Young Horse classes, is the 3 and 4 year old class, kindly sponsored by Flowervale Warmblood Stud and J. Lamers, and carries the prize of a breeding to the super Dutch dressage stallion, Ferro.
My favorite in this go round, was Cheryl Lawrence's Precision, a glorious chestnut son of Wenzel 1 (via frozen semen) out of a Valuta mare. He is such a stunning young horse and Cheryl showed him in grand style, The judges - Michael Klimke and Harry Boldt, awarded him a total of 799 to go into 3rd place with particularly good marks for his freedom of movement.
Second place went to Michael Baker's lovely Thoroughbred, Marine Park Kadett xx (by Space Cadett out of a Salmon Leap mare) showing how sweetly the 'full-blood' can move, and how trainable a good Thoroughbred mind can be. Score - 800.
First place went to the imported stallion Capone, by Caprilli out of a mare by Dallas ridden by Kate Overton. He is not my type of horse, a little out behind, and without a lot of freedom in the shoulder - but there is no denying his wonderful front and presence. Score 804 to go into the final in first place.


The 3 & 4 year old winner - AEA Farrington with Michael in the saddle

AEA Farrington is another product of frozen semen, this time the Dutch sire, Farrington, out of a mare by Edwardo Rex, and shown by another Dutch product, Cokie op ten Noort. He's a sweet, uncomplicated looking individual, and scores 793 to go in 4th. Fifth to Anne Smith on a lovely scopey gelding, Gracefield Silkay (by Ilkay out of a Valuta mare) on 777. Sixth - Donizetti (Don Ramiro/Salute) and Guy Wallace, 773. Aubaine Cameo (Contango 11/Arnham) and Emmie Schmul, 729 = 8th. Northern Montecello (Falkland Victory/Doublecross) and Charlotte Nordgren, 726 = 9th. Woodmount Flora xx (Woodmount Enterprise/Ludendorf) and Rachael Calkin, 717 = 10th.
The 5 year old class (sponsored by AEA Burong and VDL Holland and carrying a breeding to VDL Farrington) also produced some stunning horses, but the entire event was somewhat overwhelmed by Clyde Wunderwald's super duo of Green Oaks Dundee and Green Oaks Legend. Green Oaks Dundee is by Duntroon, a stallion bred by Australian Ed Richards, and currently competing at FEI level in Germany with Kristy Oatley. Duntroon is that magic cross, Donnerhall over a Pik Bube mare. Dundee's dam is by Dobrock (who like Donnerhall is by Donnerwetter, and out of a mare by Pik Koenig - sire of Pik Bube) out of a mare by Bogenschuetze, a son of that good dressage sire, Bolero.
The Hanoverian gelding, Legend is also interestingly bred. He is by Le Beau, a Celle stallion, by the half Thoroughbred stallion, Lemon Tree out of Ballerina by Bolero out of a Grande mare. On the bottom side, Legend is out ofWonni by another Thoroughbred, Wiesenbaum xx - in fact, Legend is 7/16ths Thoroughbred in the fourth line of his pedigree. Both horses were bought in Europe by Clyde Wunderwald - who also imported last year's 5 year old class winner, Donna Carrara.

Heath Ryan and a 'Legend' in the making...


Legend finished in first (826) and Dundee (810) in third, separated by one of last year's finalists in this class, another imported horse, AEA Just de Pomme (by the Olympic champion showjumper, Jus de Pomme out of a Nimmerdor mare) ridden by Daisy Berris, on a score of 812. Fourth to another import, Mary Hanna's Day Star (by Donnerhall out a Goldstern mare) ridden by Iveke van Gerven on 796. Fifth on 774, Wangarra Showman (Northern Aslan/Sovereign Slipper) ridden by Luciano D'Elia. Sixth - River Range Copenhagen (Northern Classic/Red Kilt) and Linda Shore on 769; seventh - Timbertop (Northern Hermes) and Charlotte Stibbard (765); eighth - Cool Cat xx (Aythorpe/Shining Finish) and Ann-Maree Lourey (756); ninth - Richmead Debonair (Don Ramiro/Silky Baby xx) and Lisa Martin (749); tenth - Adloo Eclipse (Stirling Liberty/Lander) and Sara McDonald (710).
Once again, imported horses came to the fore in the 6 year old class (sponsored by Blue Horse/CATAGO, and carrying a breeding to the sensational Swedish international grand prix representative, Blue Hors Cavan) with the highest score going to Mary Hanna's Rituel (by the Belgian sire, Weltmeyer 11 - a son of Weltmeyer - out of a Wendekreis 11 mare) shown by Iveke van Gerven on a score of 802. Second to Heath Ryan again, this time on last year's winner, Donna-Carrara (Donnerhall / Raphael) on a 799. Third on a score of 795 - H P Galactic (Grannus 11/Nightfall) and Hayley Beresford. Hayley is really one of the most exciting young talents in Australian dressage. She just sits and rides so well, and did so with the added challenge of dealing with a one eyed horse. After the class Michael Klimke was so impressed with Hayley's riding that it was decided that he should award a special prize of a magnum of Yellowglen to the rider who showed their horse, best. And that rider was Hayley.
Fourth, yet another imported horse, Simply the Best 11, a gelding by Sao Paulo, owned and shown by Anne Smith (773); fifth - the Anglo-Arab, Sienna Tailor Made (Hilton Park Tempest/Blazing Fury) and Lisa Seamer (749); sixth - Glendon Brae Shine xx (by the Irish Thoroughbred, Fayaad) and Katrina Warne (741); seventh - Tjandamurra (Daley K/Ashleigh Brigadier) and Rob Clay (732); eighth - Synergy (by Killibinbin Padriei) and Charlotte Nordgren (730); ninth - Paparazzi (Graf Landau/Fiery Ring) and Michelle Buckley (728); tenth - EGO Gauss (Grannus 11/Wenita) and Mark Kloonen (721).
It was hard not to agree with Michael Klimke's opinion that the younger horses were better than the older, not just as types but even in the way they went. I'm not sure if this means we are breeding better and better horses, or our riders are ruining the ones we have - or both - but it had still been a wonderful morning, with some exciting horses in action.


Michael congratulates Hayley Beresford on a fabulous ride

Time for the first round of the Gelpad World Cup Final, the Grand Prix... and a key selection event for riders and horses hoping to make the team for the Sydney Games. It's the usual suspects in the lineup (with the exception of Charisma, who is enjoying staying at home for a while, Kudu, who hurt her chin, and Stilton who injured himself in the stable) with the subtle change; Judy Dierks in now in Ikaros' saddle for new owner, Anne Marchant.
It is just so good to see Judy backcompeting in FEI ranks - she has always been one competitor to show with flair. At the moment Jude is just getting to know the horse and there are a few mistakes, but still the work is good enough to gain an Olympic qualification from visiting O level judge, Mariette Withages.
British based, born again Kiwi, Catherine Smallbone brought Alzac from Germany to New Zealand in an effort to gain selection to represent New Zealand at Sydney. While Kallista Field blazed the way with a 65.6 to earn New Zealand an individual spot at Sydney, Mrs Smallbone failed to break the 60 barrier in Auckland. This time she makes it, with a score of 59.51 - but a 60 from Mme Withages. Still she will need a much bigger effort if she is to push Kallista out of a place.
Rachel Downs' birthday falls each year in the middle of this show, and she is celebrating her 24th (for the third time as it turns out, but who's counting?) and she really does have something to cheer about - Aphrodite shows that she is on an up-curve with a sweetly athletic test. The big trot is so unhurried and huge, and the passage is great - even the kick ups in the piaffe are getting less and less often. There is an uncharacteristic hiccup in the one times, and she briefly grounds coming up the centre line, but it is a fine test for a 61.95.
Snowy River Blackwood is another on a real up-curve, and Di Jenkyn produces a test of breath-taking accuracy with the horse so genuinely up and into the bridle. There's one tiny mistake in the one times but the rest of the work is stunning. The score is 60.08 as a result of some truly terrible judging. One of the reasons I am opposed to letting the selectors - rather than a selection event - subjectively decide who will make the team, is that every time a new star has appeared on the horizon (Clavos, Livius, Kensington, Mosaic... ) the selector(s) sitting on the judging panel misses it, and the emergence is only noticed by the visiting international. This time, it is Mme Withages who sees the quality of Blackwood's work, awarding a 255 and equal 3rd place, while Mary Seefried gives him 243, 7th best on her score card.
Mary Hanna's Limbo is coming much more up in front and as usual it is a smooth, flowing display. There is a bit of resistance going into the piaffe, and the change out of medium is a bit late behind, but the mistakes are minor compared to the overall impression. 62.36

The new stars - Snowy River Blackwood & Di Jenkyn.


Rozzie Ryan has been making every competition a winner in the last few months, and this is no exception. Exellent is just getting better and better, the big trot is so smooth with no trace of snappiness (Michael Klimke remarks that he and Harry Boldt agree that this trot should have scored a 9, not the 7 it received). Lovely piaffe at D, the biggest walk we've seen all weekend, a huge canter and spot on change, with the canter pirouette locked exactly in place. Jocky looks as if he is right on the edge in the last few strides up the centre line, but Rozzie holds the act together for a wonderful victory.
Once again, the judging is not up to the standard of the horse work, and Michael Klimke remarks that Exellent would have easily scored a 67 or a 68 in Europe. Indeed, Mme Withages has them on a 270 - equivalent to a 65.65. Her score is dragged down by some ridiculous judging from the New Zealander, Katinka de Monchy, who is 21 points below Withages, with Rozzie only 4 points in front of Mrs Smallbone and her clockwork mouse impressions on Alzac. De Monchy actually had Snowy River Blackwood four points below Alzac! Words fail.
The rest of the day (and evening) was given over to a celebration of the equestrian art and music with the Chamber Orchestra of Geelong, singers, Deborah Humble and Emmanuel Baldacchino (sometimes disguised as Manny, the guy who is so good at trotting out Mary H anna's horses in hand!) with riders, Kate Scollay, Karen Davis, Kylie Janetzki, Mary Hanna, Emma Youngman and Jose Mendez. A fine time was had by all, even if there was a moment of panic with it was realised that there was a fireworks display in front of Werribee Mansion, but the horses in the stables seemed to handle it all okay.
For the final of the 3 & 4 year old class, the horses show in groups of three and four, for a final mark from a jury that now includes Mme Withages, with the top three to be ridden by Michael Klimke, with his mark for rideability added to the total.
He rides Capone first, and awards him an 8.7 remarking that when he kicked at the spur he just showed that he was a clever horse, and that the trot is better than the canter. Score - 8.7.
He just loves the way the Thoroughbred, Marine Park Kadett goes. "I wish a lot of my four year olds were going as well - 8.9."
Michael doesn't have such an easy ride on AEA Farrington: "From the ground I liked him very much, but you have to get used to a horse. He has the best potential rideability. 8.8."
When the tally comes in, it is AEA Farrington who takes first, with Marine Park Kadett, second; Capone, third; Precision, fourth and Gracefield Silkay, fifth.
In the 5 year old Final, Michael rides three horses: the Greenoaks imported German pair of Legend and Dundee, and the imported Dutch stallion, Just de Pomme.
Michael doesn't have the easiest of rides on Just de Pomme, and commented afterwards 'he had a lot of potential but I could never get near his mouth'. Score - 7.0
Of Dundee, he says, 'the horse has all the potential to be a superstar. He sometimes stops and looks around, but it is that nervousness that will help him do piaffe and passage.' Score - 8.5.
The Hanoverian gelding, Legend is just mind-boggling, so much movement, so much rideability, so much real European class. "He taught me to let him go forward. He has such big movement and he likes to go forward." Score - 9.5
Fourth to Day Star, and fifth to HP Cadiz.
In the 6 year old class, all three candidates are imported. The Belgian stallion, Rituel, and the two German horses, the mare, Donna Carrara and the gelding, Simply The Best 11.
Michael had told Heath after the first class that he didn't like the 'passagey' trot that the mare showed, and for the final, Heath has her much more honestly forward. With Michael in the saddle she looks lovely, and the visitor compliments the regular trainer - "Thank you Heath, it's a very nice feeling to ride your horses. Without knowing me, she did everything I wanted."
Simply The Best tries hard for the stranger on his back, but he is not working the outline Michael is looking for: "I have the feeling that he has good movement, but it is difficult to get his neck up so he carries himself independently from the hand. You must try to bring him up." Score - 8.
Michael has real fun riding Rituel, and even produces a few steps of piaffe, as well as a lovely flying change. This ride is a fabulous display of horsemanship, in Michael the spirit of his father lives on.
"As you can see, I really enjoyed riding him. At first he was a little tense because he was not sure of my aids, but he is a horse for the future." Score - 8.8
Fourth to Galactic, and fifth to Tjandamurra.
In the ride off for the Champion of Champions, we all thought Heath with Legend was unbeatable, but young Iveke van Gerven shows her socks off on Rituel, and actually out-shows the master blaster to take the title from Legend and Farrington. Michael comments later: "They were three very special horses but overall, Rituel was the best."


Grand Champion in the Bates Yong Horse - Ritel with rider Iveke van Gerven, being congratulated by owner Mary Hanna and judge Michael Klimke.

It really is standing room only by the time the Freestyle section of the Gelpad FEI World Cup Final rolls around, and once again, Snowy River Blackwood and Di Jenkyn set about proving that they are the big improvers on the scene. The music is light and elegant, like the work, and once again Di's transitions from one movement to the next are so crisp and correct. Blackwood is still only a baby at FEI level and he is starting to look a bit tired by the end of it all, but he is such an exciting young horse. This time the judges are starting to take notice, but even so, 63.38% is a bit mean.
Abby (alias Aphrodite) is an exciting movement machine, and Rachael Downs really goes to the max every time. The Kür is excitement all the way for a 65.72%
Today Limbo just looks a little flat, and somehow the Freestyle never takes off. The work is still correct enough to score a 66.47% but I don't think it will go down as one of Mary Hanna's all time fave tests.
A couple of weeks ago Rozzie Ryan decided to incorporate Australia's unofficial national anthem, Waltzing Matilda into Exellent's freestyle - and I hope the Dutch like it because Rozzie is waltzing firmly in the direction of s'Hertogenbosch and the World Cup Final. Right from the moment they hit the ones down the centre line to the C judge, the Kür is magical, such super shifts of music, this is really wonderful riding and at last Jocky is repaying Rozzie (and owner, Margaret Evans) for all their faith in this much too often wayward 'child' of theirs. A score of 68.30. Bravo.
There's time for another performance by José Mendez and his Andalusian (José's work is getting better every time I see him), and a super quadrille by the Gelpad placegetters, before Rozzie Ryan and Exellent triumphantly enter the arena.
It's a grand climax to a great show, and now it is time to party the night away...