This month’s rider of the month, Sue Hearn is on a roll, with a victory at the Brisbane CDI she has staked her claim to a place in the team for Rio – and best of all, she did it on a horse she trained all the way from the beginning…
Lloyd (Remington) is 13 this year and I’ve had him since he was a yearling. I own him; I’ve always owned my horses. We’ve had horses given to us and previous to Lloyd the most I had spent on a horse was $3500. Lloyd was $14,000 or something. I’m quite used to bringing along horses who aren’t so talented and I find that’s a lot of fun. Not that I want to do that, it’s just how it’s had to be.
He’s Manhattan’s half brother, out of the same mare. That is one of the big reasons I have him, for sentimental reasons. We always thought he was going to be better than Manhattan having the Warmblood sire (Riverdance). Manhattan was 100% Thoroughbred and was supposed to race. I also had his brother but we sold him overseas when he was training Grand Prix. I love that dam. Mark Dowling had the mare and Mark’s a very close friend. He’s got a lot of horses with her blood in them and I love riding them because they’re sensitive. The mare’s name was Miss Tense. It’s a terrible name! Mark bred Lloyd and the horse was named after his father who died I think the week that Lloyd was born so I didn’t want to change that. It’s all very sentimental and sooky! I didn’t go off to Germany to buy a horse for the Olympics, we just bought him because he was related and we all knew each other and it was all huggy and fuzzy and everybody still gets excited by all the things he does. It’s lovely.
The marks at Grand Prix are getting consistently higher now but there’s definitely more. Not a mile more but each test I ride gets better and better. He’s only just now starting to piaffe like he does at home. He comes in and he’s like a little nervous nelly. We have to compete indoors almost all the time in Australia these days and he’s not keen on that but he’s getting better.
I haven’t had goals in mind. I’ve never said, “Oh, I want to go to the Olympics” or anything. For me it’s just the daily enjoyment of training. Maybe that makes me different. I don’t know, I mean I’ve taken some fairly ordinary horses through. All of them can do it it’s just a matter of how well they can do it when they’re in the ring.
Each horse has had its strengths and weaknesses but I think this guy is not really weak in anything. I think he’s what the judges are looking for; he looks easy to ride, the movements are easy for him, he doesn’t look like he’s struggling or heavy and he’s beautiful in the contact. I think I’m lucky I’m in a time where the judges are enjoying watching that.
I don’t have that real competition rider thing. I will often go in and think, “Well, that’s the best we can do today. I won’t push it. I’m happy with that.” I think that produces the confidence in the horses. Lloyd was nine when he did his first Grand Prix and he could have done a lot better but I was quite happy to just sit on him and let him do what he could do and not try to force him. If he was looking at something, I let him look at it. I think that’s been the best thing for him because I think if you had a rider who was very, very ambitious, they could have made him peak too early and burnt him out, but as it is, he goes into the ring and still enjoys himself because he hasn’t been pushed too hard.
I think you need to give them time. Lloyd didn’t come as a really talented horse. When they’re a bit like that but they’re keen, they need to have strength to do what they do and stay sound.
I don’t have an owner telling what to do either. I think having an owner can create a lot of pressure. I don’t have anyone saying, “Why aren’t you out competing my horse?” I can make my own decisions about things. You don’t feel like you owe anything to anyone.
I do listen to people who are really competitive and I think, “Oh I think there’s something wrong with me!” haha. That hasn’t been my goal but now that we are long listed I’ve started to think, ok maybe there is a possibility.
I guess I’m a little bit different. People say I’m different, but I don’t know. I think I’ve been doing it for a really long time and I’ve been through the Olympic Games thing in 2000 with my other horse and the disappointments are tremendous and so I’m trying not to set myself up for that. I’m going to stay relaxed about it.
I love training horses. It’s a progression. You don’t wake up and say, “Right, we’re going to piaffe today.” My horses will start doing some short steps as three and four year olds so it’s no big deal. There’s no pressure on them and when they do have to do piaffe and passage, it’s just a little bit more of the same. It’s just a little bit higher and shorter. There’s no one standing behind them beating them with a stick.
I think you need to be smart with the exercises and with how you put them together and what’s needed when. There’s no point trying to do something if the horse hasn’t managed to do the step before that. It should flow so one thing leads to another.
I guess I’ve taken on a lot of trainers but I’d have to say Miguel Tavora has been my biggest influence. I always fall back on that way of training which is, don’t hit it head on, take another approach, go sideways a little bit. He may not think like that but that’s my take on his way of doing things. So it’s not like I say to my horses, “You’re not doing that so I’m going to get up you and hit you harder. We’ll go around it a little sideways. We’ll do shoulder in, travers into that if you’re struggling, and keep it creative.”
I quite like Ton de Ridder who is the squad coach as well. I’ve only trained with him last year at the Nationals. It’s just that little bit of a different spin for me. I’m just a bit too casual in some ways and he just sharpened me up. He was good with that and I think I probably need a little bit of that.
Heading towards Rio, nothing will change. I’ll do the best I can do and the rest is up to the gods.
Each Rider of the Month receives a prize supplied by IAHP.
This month, the Rider of the Month receives a 56g syringe of Worma Paste valued @ $20.40.
Worma Paste combines Oxfendazole and Piperazine, the two active ingredients typically used by veterinarians for stomach drenching horses. The ingredients are selected due to effectiveness, the sterilising action against worm eggs (within 24 hours) and because there is no known worm resistance to the ingredient combination. Worma Paste controls all common worms including roundworm, pinworm, strongyles, small strongyles, adult stomach hair worm and stomach worm.