{"id":26721,"date":"2016-04-27T18:14:31","date_gmt":"2016-04-27T08:14:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/?p=26721"},"modified":"2016-12-06T14:10:55","modified_gmt":"2016-12-06T03:10:55","slug":"iahp-may-rider-of-the-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/2016\/04\/iahp-may-rider-of-the-month\/","title":{"rendered":"IAHP May Rider of the Month"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"admas\"Chugg<\/p>\n

Photo: Dirk Caremans\/HippoFoto<\/em><\/p>\n

There is no doubt about this month\u2019s IAHP Rider of the Month – Chris Chugg had a sensational ride at the World Cup Final in Gothenburg. Riding the youngest and most inexperienced horse in the field, Gabi Kuna\u2019s eight-year old mare, Cristalline, the pair finished the three rounds in tenth place, in front of a Who\u2019s Who of international showjumping combinations\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Was riding Cristalline rather than Cera Cassiago, plan A or plan B? <\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cPlan B, they both landed really good, but unfortunately the stallion got the jet lag quicker than the mare. They both got it a week before the final, but I was lucky enough to catch it, and I had a very good Swedish vet, and we gave the horses vitamins and fluids, and picked them up before the Final – the mare just picked up a bit quicker so she was the obvious choice\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

The obvious choice on one level, but freakish on the other, it was the fifth time she has jumped a 1.50 or more, course\u2026 <\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cVery true. I was very lucky Gabi was adamant, backing her mare and myself, she said, look we know what she can do, we know she likes a challenge, we know she never gets scared, and we know she always puts her best foot forward. I said, okay, we\u2019ll play it by ear. The first day, the speed track was 1.50 \/ 1.60, it was a nice track and when I came out, I said to Gabi, as far as I am concerned, I\u2019m happy to finish the final now, and we can drop down and do the second Grand Prix. Gabi said no, I have trust in the mare and you, let\u2019s keep going and we\u2019ll see how it goes after tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell it was a really big track, but the Spanish course designer did an absolutely top job, he never hid any fences in corners – he allowed the horses to get to the fences, before he asked a question, being careful or being scopey, he\u2019d give you an exercise prior to it, that actually improved the exercise. But the mare, every day she got better.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Equestrian<\/p>\n

Photo: FEI\/Arnd Bronkhorst<\/em><\/p>\n

You\u2019ve ridden some fairly fancy horses in World Cup Finals, surely this mare is shaping as the best of them all\u2026 <\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d have to say that, from Mr Currency to Vivant, so much quality and heart, and this mare is that little bit extra – she\u2019s the type of horse that if you wanted to take her to a World Championships or an Olympic Games, by the Sunday you are going to have a better horse than when you started, because she is more relaxed.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the next question – is Rio an option? <\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately the mare is only eight years old so she is not eligible to compete at Rio, that\u2019s the problem I am having. It\u2019s a new rule, but it means she can\u2019t go to the Olympics. I asked the FEI people about a wild card with her, and they said, it wouldn\u2019t out of the question, but it would be a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

You haven\u2019t sold her yet? <\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cNo, there is a lot of interest. Gabi has to make a hard decision, we are being pressured, but we are not in a hurry. The mare has had a week off, and Gabi is going to take her out next. We\u2019re at Zangerseide now, on the Z Tour with the rest of the Australians, and Gabi will ride her in the Three Star, and then we are going to Hagen and Gabi will ride her wherever she can. We are also breeding with her, using the ICSI method of IVF, so we hope we will have more foals from her.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"IAH-Banner\"<\/p>\n

Each Rider of the Month receives a prize supplied by IAHP.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This month, the Rider of the Month receives a 30g tube of Sootha Paste valued at $20.00<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\"sootha<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This month’s IAHP Rider of the Month is Chris Chugg who had a sensational ride at the World Cup Final in Gothenburg…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26722,"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":[1],"tags":[492,1186,1205,1332,1477],"class_list":["post-26721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-chris-chugg","tag-iahp","tag-international-animal-health","tag-rider-of-the-month","tag-showjumping-world-cup"],"acf":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26721","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=26721"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26721\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30633,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26721\/revisions\/30633"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}