KRISTY OATLEY
Kristy confirmed that she is well and truly in the running for a place in the Australian dressage team to go to Rio, with a 75% in the freestyle at one of Holland’s prestige World Cups – s’Hertogenbosch. This time round, Kristy’s Games contender is the Hanoverian gelding, Du Soleil who is by the great De Niro, out of a mare by Caprimond, the two stallions that made German breeder, Burkhard Wahler famous.
“I’ve had Du Soleil coming on two years, he’s done four Grand Prix now. He’s an extremely talented horse, who seriously never wants to do wrong. He is extremely honest – basically he thrives every day on work. He loves coming out and being ridden, and having things done with him the whole time. He’s very much a people person.”
Kristy and Du Soleil at s’Hertogenbosch / Photo: Dirk Caremans
What had he done before you got him?
“He competed as a six-year-old at the World Championships with Saskia Lieben-Seutter, Holga Finken’s wife. She had him, then he was sold to Sven Rothenberger and he had him for one year, then he went back to Finkens, and that’s where I bought him.”
You’ve had a lot of wonderful horses, how do you rate this one?
“He’s probably the best horse I have ever ridden as a package, the whole package. I mean I love riding Ronan every day, he’s great, I loved riding Quando and Bolero, but this one, he just has absolutely everything. He is a beautiful horse to ride, you can control every step that you ride, and in the test, I’ve gone from Ronan who is a HUGE horse, to having a pocket rocket underneath me, where Ronan is hardly the pocket rocket, he’s… I don’t know how you’d like to describe him…”
He’s more like an unguided missile…
Luckily she laughs. “Thank you, that’s actually a good way to put it.”
“Du Soleil is just lovely, he goes back to being the type like Oskar who I started out with, who was like that.”
Does the fire still burn, you still want to get out and ride Grand Prix?
“Oh! Most definitely, otherwise I wouldn’t be doing it. When you have a nice bunch of horses underneath you, which I have at the moment, then it is fun. I’ve got the family behind me. My husband takes care of the kids so I can go to shows, then when I am at home, he’s off working, so it is a bit of give and take. It’s a big thing on the family for me to ride, and for him to work, it is a lot of organization, and we do it because we want to support each other. I certainly still want to keep on riding.”
You are still working with Sjef Janssen?
“Yes, still with Sjef.”
He’s the coach you get along the best with?
“I haven’t had that many coaches. I’ve had the quality and not the quantity. I’ve had in Australia, Heath and Rozzie, and now in Germany, I’ve had Mr Rehbein, Mrs Rehbein, and now Sjef.”
Sjef, Kristy and the unguided missile…
Sjef fits in with Mr Rehbein’s teachings?
“The fundamental basics are exactly the same, going from Mr Rehbein to Sjef, everything is always correct, everything is through, very straight forward. Working on the basics, and that the horses are through, there is no difference in how Mr Rehbein did it then, in the basics, to Sjef.”
Sjeff once said to me that most rider’s timing was wrong and that it took him at least twelve months to get their reactions to where he needed it in his system – did you find that?
“Sjef said to me when I first came to him, it will take two years to teach someone his system, and I think basically it did take that long. I’ve been with Sjef coming up six years now.”
You said it’s basically the same as Mr Rehbein’s system, but if it has taken two years to master Sjef’s system, what are the differences?
“There are different things, Sjef concentrates very much on the preparation for every movement, which I didn’t work on as much back then. Of course, Mr Rehbein died in 1997, I was 17 when he died. I had 13 years then with Mrs Rehbein, so of course, you lose things in between. I find every time I go to Sjef that I am not as concentrated at home as I am when I am with Sjef. You get put back on your ball, that’s why you have a trainer, otherwise you wouldn’t need one.”
Are you serious about going to the Games?
“I would like to, most definitely. I’ve done my two qualifiers with Du Soleil, I’ve got four scores under my belt now with him, according to the selection criteria. We have to stay in the top eight now to be able to go to the two qualifiers.”
You’d really like to go to another Olympics?
“I would love to go to another Olympics.”
Why?
“Why… why, because I would really like to do well this time! (Kristy is giggling at the memory of her somewhat spectacular ride with Ronan at the WEG.) There you go…”
And it is a perfect line to end with – good luck!
Each Rider of the Month receives a prize supplied by IAHP.
This month the Rider of the Month receives a 30g tybe of Sootha Paste valued at $20.00.
Contains B-group vitamins, magnesium and tryptophan for horses. These nutrients are necessary for general metabolism, normal appetite and growth, healthy skin and muscle, function of nervous system and formation of red blood cells.
As Kristy is based overseas, this prize has been donated to Riding for the Disabled Victoria.
So can you go straight from the 6 year old class to the GP ? (or is there a whole lot of competing not mentioned)
i would try reading the interview again. competed six year old champs, went to Rothenbergers for a year, Kristy bought him, has had him two years…