{"id":23128,"date":"2015-06-01T09:36:53","date_gmt":"2015-05-31T23:36:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/?p=23128"},"modified":"2017-01-31T16:46:13","modified_gmt":"2017-01-31T05:46:13","slug":"a-dressage-kaleidoscope-at-the-sydney-cdi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/2015\/06\/a-dressage-kaleidoscope-at-the-sydney-cdi\/","title":{"rendered":"A Dressage Kaleidoscope at the Sydney CDI"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Weltmieser4_2\"<\/a>The winners, Brett Parbery and DP Weltmieser<\/em><\/p>\n

Words by Christopher Hector & Rebecca Ashton and Photos by Roz Neave & Rebecca Ashton<\/h3>\n

\"OLYMPUSChristopher (Grumpy Old Man) Hector hits the outrage button at the Grand Prix:<\/strong><\/p>\n

It really should have been a day of triumph for Australian dressage, twenty-five entries in the Grand Prix, held in a perfect autumnal sunshine at SIEC. Well the horses and the riders did their bit, but unfortunately the five judges turned it from class to farce.<\/p>\n

In the end the right horse won, but I suspect it was a case of divine intervention since the judges tried very hard to stuff it up. Dressage is about certain immoveable principles \u2013 principles of rhythm, of looseness, of true and correct paces, of an honest and pleasant contact, and of a frame that reflects the quality of the training. This must be the first priority of the judge, to guard these principles in the interests of dressage, and more importantly, the interest and welfare of the horse. The winning combination is the one that most clearly demonstrates these principles \u2013 and questions of accuracy are very much secondary. Accurate trash is still trash\u2026<\/p>\n

Brett Parbery\u2019s Weltmieser fulfilled all those requirements. He looked happy and comfortable with the demands of the test. Okay the piaffe is a bit modest but it\u2019s supposed to be a dressage test not a collection of circus tricks.<\/p>\n

\"DiamondStarPiaffe\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Judy Dierks and Diamond Star<\/em><\/p>\n

Judy Dierks\u2019 Diamond Star also looked sweetly forward, and very rideable. They had a few problems in the changes, but to my mind, the over-all quality of the work demanded a second place. (I would point out that I wrote that sentence on the Friday afternoon, more than 24 hours before the judges crowned Judy in the Freestyle\u2026)<\/em><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know quite what happened with Mary Hanna and Umbro, they were warming up as sweet as, then something happened and by the time they hit the arena, the harmony had gone. There was still much to like, and I\u2019d have had them third. In the end, Brett won with a 69, with Mary second on 68.94, and Judy, third on 68.7 but dear me, getting there was a very winding and tortuous road\u2026<\/p>\n

Although Brett won the test, he was first with only one judge, Maria Schwennesen, who had him equal with a tension-filled test from Maree Tomkinson and Diamantina, with the mare swinging her legs wildly from side to side instead of moving forward. Eventually Diamantina finished in tenth place, 13th with Canada\u2019s Cara Whitham (64.3), 10th with New Zealand\u2019s Sue Hobson (66.9), 11th with American Lilo Fore (66.1), 4th with Suzy Hoevenaars (69.3) and =1st with the aforementioned Maria on 69.8.<\/p>\n

Okay it is harder to judge in Australia, where there are horses entered in the Grand Prix that have never done all the movements of the test satisfactorily \u2013 even at home \u2013 and the judges really do have to judge, deciding which category of fault is worse than the other. My theory is that the judges get it pretty easy at the big European competitions, all the horses can do all the movements, and the form-book is known well in advance, and they just have to fill in the numbers. Now this can be a problem when the unexpected occurs, like at the WEG in Caen, when Ms Fore scored Steffen Peters her 6th place and Laura Graves her 12th when clearly Laura had the better test, no matter what the little black form book said. Here in Sydney, Ms Fore had a familiar face, Heath Ryan winning on Regardez Moi with a 70.6, while Cara Whitham had the pair 9th on 66.4, Sue Hobson, 13th (66.6), Maria Schwennesen, 3rd (69.4) and Suzy Hoevenaars, 13th (66.3).<\/p>\n

Ms Whitham also liked a little trash with her flash, and like Ms Fore wasn\u2019t fussy about the horse being on the bit, and scored Dirk Dijkstra and AEA Metallic, her 1st (68.5), while Sue Hobson had them 14th on 65.5, Lilo Fore, 4th (68.3), Maria Schwennesen, 13th (66.1) and Suzy Hoevenaars, 4th\u00a0(69.3).<\/p>\n

\"_K3A5064\"Vom Feinstein and Julie Brougham<\/em><\/p>\n

Both Cara and Lilo had the Kiwi, Julie Brougham and Vom Feinstein 2nd on 68.4 and 69.6 respectively, for a test that once again was spectacular in the nastiest possible way, front legs flicking wildly, hind legs mincing along behind, with the rider imitating Adelinde Cornelissen at her worst, leaning back and water skiing. And did they miss the random sequence of changes? The other judges had it 7th (twice) and 10th.<\/p>\n

\"Umbro\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Mary Hanna and Umbro<\/em><\/p>\n

Then what is Mary Hanna to make of her test with Umbro? Seventeenth with Whitham on 63.7, or 1st with Hobson (70.5) and Hoevenaars (73.3) or 7th with Fore (67.8) or was it third as Schwennesen had them (69.4)?<\/p>\n

Enough. Even normally conservative judge defenders were appalled. The riders deserve an apology, the two visitors should refund their air fares and be shipped back in freight containers marked \u2018Do not invite again\u2019. Truly they have made dressage, and in particular dressage judging, a joke in very poor taste.<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/a>Words from the winner…<\/strong><\/p>\n

After the test, Brett talked about Weltmieser, and his test:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were third on. The warm up didn\u2019t go that well, I actually warmed up in the wrong arena, I warmed up over the back. I didn\u2019t realize that we were allowed to use the one next to the arena. I have a system with him, where I let him be really stretching and relaxed around the arena, I always go rising trot, just trying to take all the nervous energy out of him, then I pick it up, and the moment I come in at the gate, we are on show. Usually he picks up quite nicely.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI learnt that watching Isabell (Werth) with Warum\u00a0Nicht.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy test was good, the first piaffe was not the best, he caught me a little bit by surprise. The second piaffe was better\u2026 the canter work was all good. I was very happy overall. He is a nice swinging horse, he will get the points with correctness because he is built nicely and he has trained up to this level quite nicely. The correctness is where we\u2019ll get our points.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brett is something of a visionary, always thinking about dressage and coming up with plans for the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo do this job in Australia, we have to see it as something of a southern hemisphere, northern hemisphere thing. We have to get the Kiwis involved. I believe in the actual marketing of equestrian as a whole sport \u2013 forget dressage, jumping or eventing. We have to market this thing as one sport together and to do that we need to pull apart the events calendar for all disciplines, including New Zealand. This is a big job, and this is the perfect world we are talking about. Start strategically programing the events to enable riders to travel back and forth, and with all disciplines on the showgrounds at the same time. The paying public get to see the best of the best, the riders down at the stables get to rub shoulders with riders of other disciplines.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is hard to compare equestrian sport in Australia with countries with a long equestrian tradition \u2013 Australians like team sport, and we like it quick and fast. My view is run a four-day show, a Three Star 3DE, Grand Prix dressage, and a World Cup Showjumping. You have riders from all three disciplines making up a team, this one sponsored by Rolex, this one by HKBC, so it is a team sport with a leaderboard. The paying public get to see the best of each discipline in a short program. I think it is the only way we can get out-of-industry sponsorship into the sport, is to give them value for money, team branding, VIP table with team riders, and hopefully you would get the media to pick it up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a format that hasn\u2019t been done anywhere in the world, but I think it could be done. Right now the equestrian machine in Australia is quite sick, there are cogs in the wheels that aren\u2019t working right, and one of them is the presentation of the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a great idea, imagine on the final day, you run the Eventing Showjumping, quickly followed by the Dressage Freestyle, and finish with a World Cup showjumping class\u2026<\/p>\n

\n

\"Waca3\"<\/a>\u00a0Alexis made her own…<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s no wonder I have a soft spot for Alexis Hellyer and Waca W, I just happened to be the first person in the world (along with super vet Kirsty Waddell) to see the little chestnut colt come bouncing into the world. Lex has had Waca since he was a youngster, broken and started by Boyd and Silva Martin, with Alexis getting her grounding from Silva. It\u2019s a good start, but still it is an impressive feat for a 26-year-old to make her own Grand Prix horse from scratch\u2026<\/p>\n

I was watching you ride Waca in the Grand Prix and thinking it\u2019s kind of heroic that you made that horse \u2013 none of those little German princesses would even think of trying it without constant instruction from an experienced Grand Prix trainer\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI guess for me, I formed a bond with the horse when we bought him. It was never an option to give up on him, he just had to become a Grand Prix horse one way or another. I have had quite a few instructors, more or less changing instructors to cope with the horse at that particular time in its training. I never changed an instructor because of a lack of skill, it was always to have the horse with the best possible person at that time in his training.\u201d<\/p>\n

But you\u2019ve never had the instructor two or three times a week\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cNo, no, once a month, maybe twice a month. At the moment Elliott (Patterson, another talented young dressage rider, and Alexis\u2019 partner) <\/em>and I are getting really good at helping each other every day. We ride our own good horses and the other person sits and watches. We\u2019ve been trying to fit in lessons once a month, even twice a month, down in the Southern Highlands. We\u2019ve got Sue Hearn and Mathew Dowsley. You might not think it if you watch them ride, but they are really similar, and in different ways they are great. Two awesome riders who have produced Grand Prix horse after Grand Prix\u00a0horse.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"_MG_9188-2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I was watching you warm up before the Grand Prix, perfect piaffe out there, and then when you came into the arena, you had left it in the warm up\u2026 do you think that\u2019s because you were using a whip in the warm up?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI went through a phase of riding with no whip at all, but the horse was learning to drop his back, and then he would get to the point where I couldn\u2019t get it up again, and he\u2019d go \u2013 this hurts \u2013 and that\u2019s when his neck comes up. So I\u2019d started integrating the whip, no so much for piaffe, but to help get his back up and get him using himself in a better way. Waca has no problem doing piaffe, he just gets in there, and it will be me as well because I\u2019ve only had two other horses that have been School Masters, not top quality Grand Prix horses. Waca\u2019s the first horse I\u2019ve had at this level, trying to do the World Cup stuff, not so much because I think he is a World Cup horse at this stage, but because of exposure to international judges, and they judge better\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

How do you make the piaffe happen in the arena?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI think I panic, I panic when I know that he struggles, and that\u2019s my demon in the test. I can relax after that, on the centre line the horse is actually better, he piaffes \u2013 maybe because he comes on a short side, that facing the wall is the problem, perhaps I need to keep traveling more, not trying so much to keep it on the spot. I am at the point when I need to ride how I ride in the warmup and not care what people think. I do get in there and I sit pretty, just sit there and not do much.\u201d<\/p>\n

What makes the two of you keep going?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a challenge and I guess that\u2019s why I would say I\u2019d never have stayed at Small Tour with Waca. It is the constant challenge, both Elliott and I just want to produce Grand Prix horses, Grand Prix horse after Grand Prix horse, and hopefully continue to improve. Waca has improved so much from last year, and he will improve, there is no option, I will make sure he continues to improve.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"Rebecca\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Rebecca (the Pilates Princess) Ashton finds happiness at the Freestyle<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Grand Prix freestyle was one of the more enjoyable K\u00fcrs I\u2019ve seen in Australia to date. Mary Hanna did a technically difficult, accurate and polished test on Umbro. They are such professionals and it was so close between them and eventual winners Judy Dierks and Diamond Star. The flash little chestnut is just nine-years-old and did his first Grand Prix in February. It was the first time the combination had ridden a Grand Prix freestyle together, with Judy just picking up her music on Friday from Lyndal Oatley who kindly put it together.<\/p>\n

\"DiamondStarTU\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Daughter Daniella warmed her up and her final instructions to ride the horse more forward<\/em> definitely paid off. It was a bouncy, energetic, test that you just wanted to\u00a0watch.<\/p>\n

I spoke to excited owner Vicki Newham, herself a B level judge afterwards. \u201cWe are all just so thrilled! It\u2019s quite amazing with the horse having done just five Grand Prix tests. We just wanted to keep the freestyle to the required movements; nothing too hard. It really paid off because they didn\u2019t make any mistakes. Diamond Star had great rhythm, connection and he was so willing. He was really with her. Judy had only ridden the test through once on Saturday morning which goes to show how talented she is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Judy and Mary are the ultimate professionals and it really shows in their riding. They never give a mark away and the two tests really stood apart from the rest.<\/p>\n

Katharine Farrell was no doubt thrilled with her third place. The youngest rider in the test was perfectly focused even though she had spent the day in the city attending\u00a0a\u00a0wedding!<\/p>\n

The only controversy of the night was at the end of John Thompson\u2019s test aboard Bates Antonello. John doesn\u2019t lack any confidence and he almost pushed it too far as he encouraged the crowd to clap and cheer during his final piaffe and passage work. Could that be considered \u2018outside assistance\u2019? There was a pow wow amongst the judges and John was given the benefit of the doubt. Instead of elimination he was docked the requisite points.<\/p>\n

\n

\"AnnaSophie\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Anna Sophie (Equestrian Elegance) Fiebelkorn finds something special\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI think the best horse I rode there was the four-year-old mare. She had a really neat character, it was fun to work with her. When she understood what I asked, she was so willing to do it. When they are young they must be a bit more willing to go forward, they should be fresh, and they should have their own ideas. For me, they must be special to be really good horses later. It is often the more difficult horses at a young age that end up the better horses, because they have to have a big character and their own opinion to be successful later \u2013 otherwise you can never ride a big test where they have to show themselves. The mare had that, from round to round I had a better feeling, she got bigger and came more on her own. That was really amazing, she was more fresh and had more energy as the show went on. All the horses had the same conditions, they all went earlier in the week, and had long days there, but by the final day, she was still fresh and willing to work, that was amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe other winners were good too but they were more tired than the younger one, for me she was special.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"YHRenaissance\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

After the classes were over, Rebecca spoke to the winners:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Four-year-old winner Rodney Martin on SPH Renaissance (by Royal Hit out of Oktavia)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m thrilled to bits. We broke Bella (SPH Renaissance) in and she\u2019s been a pleasure from day one. She hasn\u2019t been mareish at all. We have a tendency to not like mares because they\u2019re hormonal but she\u2019s like a gelding. She\u2019s hot in a good way, so you don\u2019t have to kick her, but she\u2019ll come back and go on and really likes the work. If she looks at something you give her a little kick and she responds with, \u2018Ok, I think I can do this\u2019. She really tries.<\/p>\n

Bella is related to Sonata Hit, they have the same mother and Sonata is hot but a little more in a naughty way. Bella is by Royal Hit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is only her second big show. The mare has only been broken in since late last year. Perhaps she\u2019s a bit small, but she\u2019s very capable and growing quite a lot. I think Dante was the same height at her age and he ended up 16.3hh. Give her another six months.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnna-Sophie was just thrilled. She got off and said she would love to have this horse. I couldn\u2019t have cared if I had come last, I was just thrilled with her, so it\u2019s just a bonus to\u00a0win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her most redeeming feature? <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cEverything! She\u2019s good in the stable, she eats, she\u2019s good to lead, she\u2019s good with everything. I find that because she feels more like a five-year-old, I have to be careful not to do too much because she\u2019ll just do it and I don\u2019t want to spoil that natural way she has, by pushing her. So this year I\u2019ll probably just do young horse classes and give her a chance to grow up. I work her four days a week and that\u2019s it. When they\u2019re growing it\u2019s like a teenage kid, I\u2019m sure they get aches and pains and soft bones so you look after them at the beginning, then hopefully they last longer at the other end!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"MareePort\"<\/a>Five-Year-Old winner, Maree Tomkinson\u2019s Donna Elena (Don Schufro \/ Bolero)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s a good girl. Donna came back from Germany with us after WEG. She came from Johannes Westendarp where we got Diamantina from. I went up there just to say hello to them because they\u2019re friends of mine and they happened to have a really nice horse! I wasn\u2019t really horse hunting for myself. I had a couple of people ask me to look for horses for them while I was there and I did, then they didn\u2019t want to buy them, and I thought well someone has to buy this horse, and I talked a group of my owners into buying her which was great. She\u2019s a very special horse. She\u2019s a really nice looking horse and she has really good paces but she has amazing rideability. When you sit on her, you really understand how special she is. She has this incredible positive energy. You just touch her and bang there is power. She sits on her hindleg and she just stays with you with this incredible energy. Donna hasn\u2019t done too much to date, really just Boneo, Dressage With The Stars and here, but she did win all three of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DonnaElena\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Anna-Sophie tries Donna Elena<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cShe is totally different to Diamantina, who is tricky and holds a lot of tension in her body. Donna uses the\u00a0tension.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s good to be back home. Home is great. It\u2019s a bit sad with Diamantina though; they love you one day and not the next. She\u2019s always been the same. She has a little tension but she usually keeps a lid on it, but it seems very suddenly that that\u2019s not acceptable! I can\u2019t change it and you hope that the expression and elevation and all those other things that are important as well as the harmony can make up a little bit for the sometimes lack of harmony.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, if that\u2019s the way the judging is going and there is not going to be any concession for the little bit of relaxation that Diamantina lacks, then that\u2019s it, and she\u2019ll be finished and there\u2019s no point. I think she\u2019s a lot better than she used to be. She halts at the beginning, she halts at the end, she walks, she has no mistakes, she consistently piaffes for sevens instead of fours, so that\u2019s nice! I guess the scope of the judging is changing so that even with the perceived idea of tension, you get written off completely. So I guess I\u2019ll work at trying to fix that!\u201d<\/p>\n

You feel that there\u2019s a change in the Grand Prix judging. Do you think it\u2019s the same with the young horse classes as well?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWell that\u2019s sort of why I\u2019m here (we were at the judges\u2019 clinic on Sunday)<\/em> to see what they have to say. It does appear that they want a much longer frame and a much more relaxed horse. Donna Elena certainly has more relaxation and is much looser and she is easier, there\u2019s no question about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"DaniellaPort\"<\/a>Six-year-old winner Daniella Dierks\u2019 Solo Feliz (San Amour\/Donnerhall)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a lovely feeling to back up the Champion of Champions win at Dressage with the Stars with the CDI win. I think we can say he\u2019s the undisputed champion now! It\u2019s nice to have it as a confirmation all round with Solo Feliz. He felt good all weekend. A little bit the same with the five year old horse that I\u2019ve got, the first day I find is their best day, they have that pizzaz and energy and you can see it in the scores as well. Solo came second in the second round because he settled into his environment and got a little bit lazy. Today he felt good and the atmosphere helped as well. Being young horses, three days is a big adventure for them. Some go one way and some go really quiet. Both of my stallions were more tired today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SoloFeliz\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Six-Year-Old winner with Anna-Sophie, Daniella Dierk’s Solo Feliz<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cMy five year old horse who came second, Bloomers Simply The Best was awesome as well. For a five-year-old stallion that has live served from the age of three, he does not care. You cannot fault his temperament. I think he should have got marked up for his trainability. I think that got overlooked by the judges today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u201cSolo was imported in July\/August last year. He did an excellent job at the Nationals, which was a very quick competition because he had only arrived in time to do one qualification at Clarendon, and he went on to get the national novice champion. Unfortunately a week afterwards he came up with colic and had a huge operation. It was a big drama; an emergency. He\u2019s actually had very little work. He had three months off over Christmas and only had one month under saddle before Dressage With The Stars.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s still very weak. If he hadn\u2019t had the set back, he would be a different horse again. So, he\u2019s been standing in a box for three monthsand has now been under saddle for two months. There are a lot of muscles that have gone to sleep! He remembered everything so it was just a matter of getting him fit and strong and doing all the transition work, lots of stomach crunches for him!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\"KatharinePort\"Youngest rider in the Grand Prix tour, Katharine Farrell<\/strong><\/p>\n

So you\u2019re the youngest rider in the class?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m turning 20 on Monday. This is my last competition as a 19-year-old.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all going really well actually. We did the CDI-Y tests and we intended on doing the Under 25 Grand Prix but to do one, we had to qualify in the open Grand Prix and get over 60% so we just decided we would compete open Grand Prix and it would be a bit more of a challenge. My first Grand Prix was I think the beginning of last year.\u201d<\/p>\n

It seems to work well with you and Brett (Parbery, Katharine\u2019s trainer)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been training with Brett, I don\u2019t know three, even maybe four years. I lose track of time!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI get on really well with him. I think it works so well because I started riding as a hobby, even though that hobby now has gotten a little out of control! However, part of it being a hobby is that it had to remain my passion and I have to really enjoy it. It\u2019s not a job for me. I think Brett understood that and his approach to teaching really works in that sense because he\u2019s a really positive person and is very much into positive reinforcements. Sometimes people can be too focused on the fact things aren\u2019t good enough, but Brett will see what you\u2019re doing, find the positive, and work from there. It makes everything a lot more enjoyable.\u201d<\/p>\n

What is the main focus of his training style?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cHe changed the way I ride and sit, I guess. Everyone has different methods, but with Brett it was more about you give a horse an aid, and then you leave it alone. It has one cue to piaffe or passage, and once you\u2019ve given that one cue, the horse has to keep doing it, and it\u2019s only when the horse stops you give another cue. A lot of other trainers want cue, cue, cue. It\u2019s about making the horse more responsible about what it\u2019s doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

And you\u2019re currently at Uni?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m actually just switching what I\u2019m doing. I was doing a double degree in design and media but now I\u2019m just switching to media commerce. So now design is ANOTHER hobby and commerce would be a really good degree to come out with.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Luxor2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Katharine Farrell and Luxor 118<\/em><\/p>\n

Would you ever consider horses as business rather than just a hobby?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know. I guess work and play can come together, but I really want it to always remain a passion. The day I stop enjoying it is the day I walk away from it. I also love the breeding side so even if I wasn\u2019t involved with the riding, I\u2019d be involved in another way. I got that from my parents. I enjoy watching horses grow up; seeing what they start as, and what they can become. I find that journey really nice. I can\u2019t really imagine my life completely without horses.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the future for Luxor? Rio dreams?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not going to be the be-all-and-end-all. We spoke about it at home, but really it\u2019s only going to happen if we\u2019re ready. Obviously it would be an amazing opportunity and I\u2019d love to do it, but if it\u2019s not going to happen, it\u2019s not going to happen. There are plenty of other Olympics in the future. He\u2019s only 13 and we seem to be getting better. Hopefully he\u2019ll be ready and we\u2019ll do a little stint overseas next year but if we\u2019re not, there\u2019s always next time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Would you go overseas anyway, Rio or not?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are thinking that. I\u2019d like to do an exchange with Uni so I can keep studying. I\u2019d look at exchanging for six months or a year and ride as well. It would be a really nice way of doing it, and being a bit in the lifestyle over there, and not just riding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who would you train with?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cOh there are so many over there! I\u2019ve been training a little with Gareth Hughes, who has been coming out here and I really like his training methods. He\u2019s very similar to Brett actually. The training method doesn\u2019t really change so it would be a nice fit, but there are so many people over there that you really never know until you\u2019ve had a lesson with them. It\u2019s all still in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do you ride any of the other horses in your stable?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cOccasionally. I\u2018ve sat on Aber Hallo a few times. He\u2019s really fun. I find just riding one horse for so long, you take some things for granted and you can get a bit lazy in your aids, so riding a different horse with a different feeling, you realise if you\u2019ve been slacking off and you need to up your game!\u201d<\/p>\n

Should Brett be worried about losing his ride!?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI think when you have a combination like Brett and Arber Hallo, you don\u2019t want to break that up. I know if someone took Luxor away from me, I would be so devastated. So in that way, being a rider, I could never do that to someone else. It would have to be Brett giving me the ride because he had another horse.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

The last word goes to Grumpy…<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not so much Grumpy as sad. It seems to me that dressage is in a crisis if some of the most experienced international judges have such trouble getting to the heart of dressage. It\u2019s easy to judge Charlotte and Valegro, but our riders at our biggest competition deserve a clear lead from the visitors, and that\u2019s not what they got this time around.<\/p>\n

\"JudgesTU\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Started in controversy, ended in controversy – judges confer as to whether John Thompson\u2019s crowd applause in the K\u00fcr was unauthorized assistance!!???<\/em><\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The winners, Brett Parbery and DP Weltmieser Words by Christopher Hector & Rebecca Ashton and Photos by Roz Neave & Rebecca Ashton Christopher (Grumpy Old Man) Hector hits the outrage button at the Grand Prix: It really should have been a day of triumph for Australian dressage, twenty-five entries in the Grand Prix, held in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23146,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1243,360,1113],"class_list":["post-23128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dressage","tag-dressage","tag-dressage-judging","tag-sydney-cdi"],"acf":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23128"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23128\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31731,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23128\/revisions\/31731"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}