{"id":27669,"date":"2016-06-29T16:44:11","date_gmt":"2016-06-29T06:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/?p=27669"},"modified":"2017-02-10T10:02:25","modified_gmt":"2017-02-09T23:02:25","slug":"countdown-to-rotterdam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/2016\/06\/countdown-to-rotterdam\/","title":{"rendered":"Countdown to Rotterdam"},"content":{"rendered":"

All the Australian dressage contenders are over in Europe now, fine tuning their horses for the final selection trial.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n


\n\"lyndal1\"LYNDAL OATLEY<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lyndal Oatley didn\u2019t have the greatest start to her selection campaign, when her horse, Sandro Boy, was not fit to travel to Odense for the first of the qualifiers\u2026<\/b><\/p>\n

How is your road to Rotterdam, you are the only one who started off with a bit of a worry\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cLife is never boring, you take what you are given, but it was very bad timing! He is actually going very very well, and I haven\u2019t missed much work at all – it is just a matter of managing it better, and so we are now in top form and I couldn\u2019t be happier with the way he is going at this very moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m ready to get on and get on with it – bring on Rotterdam!\u201d<\/p>\n

You haven\u2019t taken him to any competitions – just training at home with Patrik?<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cJust training. Sandro Boy knows his job, we\u2019ve been competing together for four years now. He\u2019s very good in the arena, he has always been very reliable and very focused. The most important thing is to have him in top form so I can do the best job I can, and that means staying here, and then taking him to Rotterdam. I\u2019ll take him to a show just to ride around, and prepare that way, but otherwise no, it is all focused on Rotterdam\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

With Sandro Boy, what is it that you work on to get your best score?<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cMy half passes are always a good thing, that\u2019s something I can always rely on, but at the moment I am working on keeping the contact, the balance and keeping a lot of the power in the areas where I need it, but keeping the whole test very flowing – that\u2019s where I\u2019m aiming at the moment – so that means a lot of transitions, corners, halts. Coming out of the corners into the two tempis – things like that, making sure my centre line is very good for the preparation for the pirouette.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI did an analysis once with David Strickland which showed I lost nearly two and a half percent alone on transitions, and that is 2.5% which I\u2019m not prepared to give away willingly, so we work a lot on that. Keeping the frame is essential for me, making sure he is balanced nicely and into a good contact so that I can really play with him through the test and keep him forward and positive and in the right frame of mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

This time at Rotterdam you are all competing in the same class – somewhere out in the middle of the forest?<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are all together, but that will be fine, I feel I missed out a lot not being at Odense but I look forward to seeing them – so wherever we are, whatever we do, I am looking forward to getting on with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

From a long way away, it feels like a rather nice friendly selection round?<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cAll the people have been great, everyone is in a really good frame of mind and where they need to be, to make it work best for them. I think we can feel that with everybody, we are all very supportive of one another and making sure that whatever we do, it is the best possible team outcome we can get. And that means supporting one another, being there to do our job, but also being there to help the others. For me, that has been very obvious so far, and that\u2019s a great thing for the Australian Team, it is a great experience to be part of it this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"DPBRETT PARBERY<\/strong><\/p>\n

Unlike Lyndal, Brett Parbery made it to Odense with Weltmieser, but the result was not pretty. Since then Brett had jetted home, and when we talked had only recently arrived back in Germany.<\/b><\/p>\n

How is it going?<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cSo far so good. I\u2019ve only been back five days, and I am still trying to get the shoeing issue right on my horse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Everyone seems to have shoeing issues – Sue Hearn\u2019s farrier flew over to do Remmington for her\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cThat was something else, he flew over just to do that, he and I were on the same flight, and both of our bags got lost on the way in.\u201d<\/p>\n

And for those foul trolls who were bleating on the cyberhorse forum about Sue Hearn spending money from the Fund, Rob and Mary Hanna established (to which I am sure none of them contributed a cent!), to bring her farrier to Europe, read this and find a rock to crawl under, curl up and die\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cSue\u2019s farrier paid his own way, and he is not even charging her for the shoeing. Not only did Perry donate the whole thing – the travel cost and the shoeing – but the German farrier who brought him down, because Perry\u2019s gear got stuck with my bags in Abu Dhabi, he donated not only his gear, but his whole day as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still Brett is battling on:<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m using some Dutch farriers and hopefully I\u2019ve got it right now so I can start training a bit better.\u201d<\/p>\n

What went wrong at Odense?<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cI just put it down to the fact that I hadn\u2019t done any shows. I didn\u2019t do Dressage with the Stars, and I didn\u2019t do Sydney, I hadn\u2019t been able to train at full capacity because the horse just wasn\u2019t feeling completely right. Whilst he was sound, he just wasn\u2019t feeling himself. I\u2019m not sure if he didn\u2019t travel that well, or what the reason is. Which is why I am still trying to work out the shoeing on him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s no real excuse, because we warmed up quite well. That was really good, and he felt really good in the Freestyle, but I think it was just lack of match practice for the Grand Prix. Two very costly mistakes and it was too hard to get back to the score I needed. To be honest with the selection policy the way it is, it would have been better if I didn\u2019t compete.\u201d<\/p>\n

You would have been on the same score as Lyndal- because she didn\u2019t go she received 66.066 per cent, the average of the three lowest Grand Prix scores from the first event in Odense\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cBoth of us would have been slightly higher because it was my score that dragged us both down!!! It\u2019s really ridiculous, I shouldn\u2019t have competed and I would have been in much better contention going into Rotterdam. I find that absolutely ridiculous that a policy can be like that\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Maybe you should not compete at all, and then get selected on an average if someone else\u2019s horse goes sideways\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cExactly.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is going to be pretty funny having our final selection event in a little arena out the back – not even the main arena – it\u2019s going to be a bit like Werribee on a very cold winter\u2019s day\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cSo it is not in the main arena? I\u2019ve been in the CDN there before, and that was held in the main arena, this time it\u2019s not? That\u2019s really strange, but I guess they have showjumping in the main arena. It\u2019s very funny. We have a head-to-head in Denmark, which doesn\u2019t end up being a head-to-head, and then we go to a show in Rotterdam and compete in the back arena.\u201d<\/p>\n

Has Ton (de Ridder) been helping you while you\u2019ve been based with him?<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cNot a lot, Ton has been quite busy with the Spanish girls. He\u2019s been quite respectful of not interfering too much, but I am hoping now I\u2019ll be able to get more help. I went back to Australia for ten days and I\u2019ve only just now got back and I am still trying to get the horse\u2019s feet right so I can train well enough to get to Rotterdam in good shape. I must say, with the way the selection is, with both selection events having equal weight, I do feel I am on the back marker and I am going to find it pretty hard to claw my way back to any sort of competitive position. It\u2019s hard you come all this way, and you muck up one show and you are gone – that\u2019s the sport I guess\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"Mary,MARY HANNA<\/strong><\/p>\n

For Mary Hanna, it\u2019s back into the swing of another Games campaign:<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cWith the first qualifier at Odense done and dusted, it\u2019s time for a bit of reflection and some analysis of how it\u2019s going and how I can improve my performance for the next qualifier at Rotterdam.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAt Odense, Umbro\u2019s performance was not his best, as often happens when you come to about six weeks out from arrival in Europe. He had had a very hard program with two really big shows in quick succession. My plan for him was to give him a bit of easy time and then gradually build him up again for his next outing. He knows his work, but I felt in the last few weeks I had pushed him a bit hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBoogie Woogie – except for still some problems in the changes – had made some good progress in training. He is such a bright character, and seems to love to work. I was also happy with the way he handled the arena conditions in Odense and especially in the Special he pleased me with his concentration in difficult circumstances. The steps of progress are sometimes small, but I feel we are definitely heading in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy newcomer Calanta has made huge progress since we arrived and I am loving my lessons on her. I think she is a really exciting Grand Prix prospect, and my trainer Patrik Kittel seems to agree.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThree very different horses, with very different strengths and weaknesses are keeping me fit and on my toes. Every day provides new challenges, and that\u2019s what makes the wonderful sport of dressage so interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"Diamantina\"MAREE TOMKINSON<\/strong><\/p>\n

Maree Tomkinson is her usual upbeat self as she looks forward to the final selection test in Rotterdam:<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cIt looks pretty good for us. We had a couple of problems at Odense. The warmup was really difficult with all the ponies and what-have-you, and I know that has to happen at competitions, but it was really difficult. There would have been twenty horses in the warmup, plus ponies, trains and whatever. It\u2019s not so easy for my horse, but she has to get used to it. And she did. And she went in there and she did her job, but the real problem for me was that the bridle broke in the warmup and I had to make some very fast alterations, and then we had a little bit of a mouth problem – that all the judges noticed. Her mouth was just a bit busier than usual and that cost us a few percent. Now hopefully the bridle is repaired and it doesn\u2019t break again.\u201d<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve been to Rotterdam, it is not the quietest show in the world\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not, but as far as I am aware the three-star is in the small arena out the back. I would prefer it was in the big arena, that\u2019s definitely better for my horse. Not so much the big arena, but having the space around her, she likes a much more open space. The three-star is in the forest out the back\u2026 I haven\u2019t competed in that arena, but I have watched horses competing there and it is a fairly small quiet arena.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis time all the Australian horses are in the three-star, all seven riders in the small arena out the back.\u201d<\/p>\n

That is going to be a really good test of how the horses react in a pressure situation – three spectators and a Belgian Barge dog watching\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cYep.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is she going well at home with you?<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cShe is really good, she\u2019s definitely starting to stay more balanced on her hind legs and I am finding she is a lot more underneath me, not shooting out the front door all the time. She\u2019ll be really really good by the time she is sixteen or seventeen\u2026!\u201d<\/p>\n

Will Christoph Koschel be there to help you?<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cI think so, I think he\u2019ll be there for the Grand Prix. Their training is very classical, and sometimes I feel the horse needs a bit more energy or whatever, but the training is very correct and I can feel Diamantina coming more and more connected, and that is what is important. Sometimes my support people say she needs more energy, and maybe she does, but what is important is that it is correct.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"Kristy\"KRISTY OATLEY<\/strong><\/p>\n

I picked the right time to ask Kristy Oatley about her run up to Rotterdam with Du Soleil:<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sitting on him walking him as we speak. After Odense, he had a week off, just pottered around a bit at home, and now he is back in work and going to Holland in one week to start training with Sjef (Janssen) before Rotterdam. That\u2019s our plan at the moment, I\u2019ll be staying at Sjef\u2019s for two-and-a-half weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll be at Rotterdam to help you?<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cI hope so.\u201d<\/p>\n

What are you trying to show to the judges with Du Soleil?<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cMy perfect test at the moment would be fault free – normally Du Soleil is a horse that always wants to please and do his best. The last two shows were not my best competitions with him. I had quite a few mistakes in Mannheim and Odense. That\u2019s not typical for him. So basically we have gone back a little more to the basics, and what I want at the moment is an accurate, fault free test, probably with a little bit of the hand brake on at the moment just to get his confidence back again. Once we\u2019ve got that, we can ask for more power, which is very easily shown with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Was Odense a difficult environment?<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if it was the environment. We haven\u2019t had many starts outside, we\u2019ve had two shows outdoors – I don\u2019t know if it was that, because indoors he is very relaxed. I don\u2019t know. I haven\u2019t competed on him that much, we are still learning together, still trying to find the right buttons outside. He is a fantastic, unbelievable horse and we just have to sync a little more outside.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never been to Rotterdam, it\u2019s new territory for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"SueHearn\"SUE HEARN<\/strong><\/p>\n

For Sue Hearn, it has been an amazing response from friends and supporters who saw her, and Remmington, put up the best score in the three star Grand Prix at Odense, and the second best score of the Aussie contingent. So what is she doing now with Rotterdam just down the road:<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cJust normal training, trying to improve things obviously. My farrier came all the way from Australia, to shoe him yesterday – unbelievable – Perry Lethorne.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a fantastic response to your fund raiser\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cIt has surprised me, it was just amazing. We put the feelers out when we were thinking about coming, because he did nicely at Sydney and I thought, maybe we should think about this, but it really wasn\u2019t on the agenda much before that. We thought, well we\u2019ll just see if we can get some funds together, and if we can we\u2019ll give it a shot, but if we can\u2019t then, we won\u2019t do it because we can\u2019t afford it, huge expense. The feeling we got from everybody was, you just have to do it, and we\u2019ll back you. And I thought, oh wow, and when we started fund raising, it was incredible. Lots of support from home, so many messages – I think the guys at home just want Australian horses to go over there and give it a shot. Not just stay at home, saying, we can\u2019t do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The other extraordinary thing is the fund that Mary and Rob Hanna set up, I\u2019ve been watching equestrian for thirty years, and there have been lots of attempts at fund raising but nothing like this\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s fantastic. I think the Aussie dressage riders want to think that they can do it, not think, we are stuck in Australia and if we don\u2019t have the funds we can\u2019t go overseas to compete. It really is opening the door for the rest of the guys that are training at home, it\u2019s giving everyone a bit of inspiration that they can do it, and people will be behind them. I would definitely help someone come over here. It\u2019s just one of those things, we are so remote, and it takes a big effort to get here, but it shows that it can be done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Odense must have been a real shot in the arm for you\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cYes, yes, he did a nice job, a couple of mistakes. You always think when you finish that things can be better, but I was pretty happy with him, to get a score that was not too bad, and I think I can do better, hopefully at the next one. Who knows?\u201d<\/p>\n

You are based with Ton de Ridder right now?<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really good, he\u2019s very good. He\u2019s trying to help things, he\u2019s not trying to change a lot. I think that really works, and it is working for Brett as well. He\u2019s not coming and trying to change your whole system of training, he\u2019s just trying to get things a little better, that works really well for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Have you talked to his wife, Alexandra? She was a real superstar herself at an Olympic level\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cYes, she helped me a little bit yesterday. Ton is away in Spain, and she was in the arena, and she gave me a hand. Very very good, a tiny bit different to Ton but I think that\u2019s a good thing. She really knows what she is talking about.\u201d<\/p>\n

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All the Australian dressage contenders are over in Europe now, fine tuning their horses for the final selection trial. LYNDAL OATLEY Lyndal Oatley didn\u2019t have the greatest start to her selection campaign, when her horse, Sandro Boy, was not fit to travel to Odense for the first of the qualifiers\u2026 How is your road to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27673,"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":[444,1243,512,474,628,427,1413,1539,1265],"class_list":["post-27669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dressage","tag-brett-parbery","tag-dressage","tag-kristy-oatley","tag-lyndal-oatley","tag-maree-tomkinson","tag-mary-hanna","tag-rio-2016","tag-rotterdam","tag-sue-hearn"],"acf":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27669","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=27669"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27669\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32335,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27669\/revisions\/32335"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}