{"id":30147,"date":"2016-11-11T11:54:37","date_gmt":"2016-11-11T00:54:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/?p=30147"},"modified":"2016-11-11T11:54:37","modified_gmt":"2016-11-11T00:54:37","slug":"australian-dressage-championships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/2016\/11\/australian-dressage-championships\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian Dressage Championships"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"deonstokesroyaloakii\"Story and photos by Rebecca Ashton<\/em><\/p>\n

It was a story of \u2018The Next Generation\u2019 at the Nationals this year. From 18 year old Mary Warren beating the \u201colder riders\u201d in the Grand Prix Freestyle with her 24 year old coach Elliot Patterson, to 27 year old Alexis Hellyer winning the Inter A and B classes. The top three of the Inter 1 freestyle were all under 33…<\/strong><\/p>\n

Judy Dierks on Vicki Newham\u2019s imported Diamond Star was on top in the Mulawa Performance Grand Prix CDI-W with a score of 68.82% but it was 18 year old Mary Warren on Mindarah Park Ramadan who came from behind to take out the Willinga Park Grand Prix CDI-W Freestyle on Saturday night. Happy coach Elliot talked to me about his star student, \u201cI\u2019ve been working with her for about three years. She\u2019s an incredibly dedicated little rider. She\u2019s done a great job with her horses and she\u2019s really got her head screwed on with her training. Both her horses are home bred, her CDI-Y horse is the son of her Grand Prix horse. I take my hat of to her because the difficulty of that freestyle last night was insane and she pulled it off.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"marywarrenmindarahparkramadan2\"<\/p>\n

Mary Warren and Mindarah Park Ramadan<\/em><\/p>\n

The young \u201cpower couples\u201d of Australian dressage were amongst the ribbons in the top levels. 24 year old Elliot not only trained Mary, but was doing a nice job riding Ela Weight\u2019s mare Boronia HG, placing in the Prix St George, Inter 1 and Inter freestyle.<\/p>\n

Robbie McKinnon, 27, was right up there in the Mullawa Performance Grand Prix CDI-W and Willinga Park Grand Prix CDI-W Freestyle, where she came third on Robali Razzamatazz. Husband Dave and his \u201cgirls\u201d were hard to keep track of with top placings in the Prix St Georges, Inter 1 and Inter freestyle on Laura Summerhayes\u2019 Her Highness, Advanced on Edwina Robert\u2019s mare Divina and Medium on Anne Barber\u2019s AB Donasoma.<\/p>\n

\"robbiemckinnonrobalirazzamatazz\"<\/p>\n

Robbie McKinnon and Robali Razzamatazz<\/em><\/p>\n

Elliot\u2019s partner, Alexis Hellyer, was unbeatable on her new ride, JJ Fuchs\u2019 Bluefields Floreno winning both the Tomkinson Group Inter A and B as well as the Medium Tour Freestyle, sponsored by good friends Dave and Robbie.<\/p>\n

\"ltorelliotalexisrobbiedave\"<\/p>\n

Elliot, Alexis, Robbie and Dave<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been riding him since the start of the year. Janina Klekte did a great job producing him as a small tour horse and had a lot of success. A few things changed and we\u2019ve been lucky enough to take on both the Bluefields stallions. Elliot rides Berlin. Floreno is an amazing horse to ride everyday. He\u2019s very sensitive. You have to be really calm with him but he\u2019s a freak of a horse. He did two Medium tours to qualify for this, this is only his second competition at that level, so he\u2019s still really green hence the mistakes. He\u2019s very talented with the collected work but he just needs to develop a little bit more confidence at this level. I want to make sure I do everything right by him. Jenny Gehrke gave me her freestyle to use this weekend so I\u2019m super thankful to her for doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"alexishellyerbluefieldsfloreno1\"\"alexishellyerbluefieldsfloreno2\"<\/p>\n

Alexis Hellyer and Bluefields Floreno<\/em><\/p>\n

How\u2019s Queensland going?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really good and good for business but we do still spend a lot of time in NSW. My Mum is here and we also try to compete in NSW as much as we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just had Tessa Frank out from Gest\u00fct Nymphenburg recently for a clinic. She\u2019s really focused on the connection and thoroughness. Such a correct rider! I don\u2019t think we would have so much success at this competition if she hadn\u2019t trained us just before. She\u2019s all about keeping the horses confident. We would ride one one tempi, not a whole line or just a little bit of piaffe. She rode a five year old mare of ours and I was so jealous! I want to ride like that! I\u2019ll be sending her a thank you message after this!\u201d<\/p>\n

Alexis is sponsored by Trailrace Saddleworld Wyong, Coprice feeds and Ceva Nature Vet.<\/p>\n

Another young Queensland based rider Emma Flavell-Watts was Medium Champion on Madonna Hedberg\u2019s Fidertanz stallion Fiderfurst, while Daniella Dierks from NSW won both Novice tests on Vicki Newham\u2019s Sir Donnertanz as well as securing the Rod Barker Memorial Trophy sponsored by The Horse Magazine. She also placed in the top three in the Prix St Georges, Inter 1 and Inter freestyle on her own Solo Feliz.<\/p>\n

\"rodbarkermemorialtrophyvickinewhamdanielladierks\"<\/p>\n

Vicki Newham and Daniella Dierks with the Rod Barker Memorial Trophy<\/em><\/p>\n

Although Katharine Farrell and Luxor 118 dominated the Under 25 tour and won the Dietmar Specht Memorial Trophy, 22 year old Fern Wright from Victoria was right on her tail with her little welsh pony Kamber Pryderi.<\/p>\n

The Swedish judge had you 1st in the Grand Prix…<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYes\u2026there\u2019ll be a Christmas card going his way!\u201d<\/p>\n

Tell me about Kamber Pryderi…<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s 150cm and 14 years old. We bought him as an 18 month old gelding for my Mum to ride. My brother and I broke him in when I was 12. He was so much more fun to ride than my crazy show pony so I started riding him a lot more. When EI came in I switched to dressage because the shows were all cancelled but the dressage competitions weren\u2019t. We didn\u2019t know what we were doing so it was a bit of the blind leading the blind but we got there in the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"fernwrightkamberpryderi\"<\/p>\n

Fern Wright and Kamber Pryderi\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cOur first Grand Prix was back in 2013 and happened quite by accident actually at the Victorian Dressage Festival. I entered the Inter 1, Inter 2 and Inter 1 freestyle but the qualifier for the Inter 1 freestyle was Prix St Georges and I didn\u2019t want to do Prix St Georges because he doesn\u2019t like the 4 and 3 times changes so I thought I\u2019d give the Grand Prix a try and we came 4th.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe nearly lost him a month later and he had to have 12 months off. He was on a diet and he broke out of his stable and into the feed room and ate a lot of grains so he got colic and intoxication laminitis and they didn\u2019t think he had any chance of surviving but we weren\u2019t going to put him down without a try. Nineteen months later he was back at the Dressage Festival at Grand Prix and we were runner up in the CDN via count back so we were very excited.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s very cheeky but he tries very hard. He never used to be so cheeky. He was the most docile, obedient creature you\u2019ve ever met but now he\u2019s a bit arrogant!\u201d<\/p>\n

Are horses your profession now?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYes\u2026 breaking in, training, coaching. I\u2019m based in the Yarra Valley and train with Carol Ross but enjoy going to clinics all over the place with all sorts of people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI started riding at school when I was five. They had it as an option, riding little shetlands. My family isn\u2019t horsey, but my grandmother used to ride horses when she was young.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy brother started riding at school as well and he hasn\u2019t done so much of it but he likes the technical side of things like making freestyles and event organising. He\u2019s the sponsor of my freestyles with his company Musik\u00fcr. I have a brand new one this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fern is sponsored by Musik\u00fcr and The Saddlery Shop, Seville.<\/p>\n

\"page-45-bockmann\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Western Australian rider Deon Stokes is just a \u2018crazy person\u2019\u2026 in the best possible way. I want to bottle his energy. With Adelaide 4* just around the corner, he had to race back home to the Southern Highlands mid comp to ride his eventers. And with five horses at the Nationals, he managed to win the Jilli Cobcroft Prix St George, Canberra Performance Horses Inter 1 and the Equestrian Australia Prix St Georges \u201cStars of the Future\u201d on Don Dancier while taking out the Joint Performance Inter 2 on Royal Oak II who also came fourth in the Mulawa Performance Grand Prix CDI-W and the Willinga Park Grand Prix CDI-W Freestyle. Deon is one of those special breeds, a hard worker who just puts his head down and gets on with the job.<\/p>\n

How do you organise it all?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe all just work really hard and get it all done. I rode the horses here in the morning, went home to ride the eventers and came back to ride my freestyle in the evening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Where do you get your energy from?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI eat and drink a lot! A lot of fluids and electrolytes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Please don\u2019t burn yourself out!<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWell we\u2019ve been doing it for quite a while now. We love it. We\u2019ve always worked this hard. We just keep on keeping on. Sara has a real job as well (partner Sara Price, when not with the horses, is a lawyer).\u201d<\/p>\n

Who\u2019s helping you with the dressage horses?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cGlennis (Barrey) and Lone (Joergensen). I used Lone\u2019s eyes here last night.\u201d\"prizewinnersmedium42\"<\/p>\n

Medium Prize Winners<\/em><\/p>\n

A bit about the horses?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cDonny has his stallion moment for about five minutes every time you get on and then once he\u2019s over that he\u2019s super rideable, pretty amazing. He will start breeding now for a while and we\u2019ll consolidate the higher level work before bringing him out again. I have another small tour horse at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWith Royal Oak at the moment it\u2019s mainly about balancing the tension levels in the test so that I get the energy without the tension. Sometimes I get that balance a little bit wrong but that\u2019s just experience on his part and my part really.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not to be outdone by the \u2018youngsters\u2019, dynamic duo Matthew Dowsley and Rodney Martin, also based in the Southern Highlands, were still giving them all a run for their money. Matthew won the Mona Farm, Braidwood Grand Prix CDN and Grand Prix Special CDN aboard Di Jenkyn\u2019s Adloo Richard, while just getting pipped for second in the Inter 2. AEA Prestige, owned by Denise Ceddia was Advanced Champion and second in the Prix St Georges.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdloo Richard was lovely, he was a very good boy. I was thrilled to bits with him. He did everything I wanted in the Special, I just got a few more changes than I wanted. He gets more confident every time he comes out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had Elvis (Prestige) about eight months now but I\u2019ve known him since he was about four years old. He\u2019s 11 now. Denise rode him beautifully but he can be a little bit naughty so he came to me. She\u2019s thrilled that I like him so much. Elvis will do small tour for a while.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe little black one (Don Desandro) was very good in the Inter 1, but when he goes into the indoor he gets a bit scared, he\u2019s just really timid. We\u2019ll keep going and he\u2019ll start some Grand Prix soon. He keeps me honest!<\/p>\n

\u201cI just love producing the horses. I\u2019ve got a very nice young one of my own at home. I\u2019ll wait to take him out. I\u2019m not interested in doing Novice anymore, I\u2019m too old! I wait until they\u2019re a bit tamer! Hopefully I\u2019ll do some six year old classes with him next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"page-47-iahp-sootha\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Rodney had just finished his marathon day of six tests when we sat down to chat. He was Reserve Champion in the Tally Ho Horse Float sponsored Novice with Andrea Beatty\u2019s SPH Renaissance and was in the top 10 in both tests with Breitley. PR Firenz, owned by Emily James was 2nd and 8th in the two Trailrace sponsored Medium classes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know how I remember them all. Past performance at remembering has not been good\u2026 I think I\u2019m getting better though. I had three horses here for eight tests. I\u2019m very happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had Firenz for two years but he had just been broken in when I got him; he was six or seven. The first year was a bit hard because he has such big paces for a little horse but now he finds it easy. I\u2019m lucky I have Matthew there everyday with eyes on the ground. You get into bad habits so easily when you ride on your own.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBreitley was a Novice horse that Andrea Beatty imported earlier in the year. I\u2019ve only had her for four months so today was a big ask, but she really has talent for high level movements. I was thrilled with her this weekend, she was really quiet and she coped really well with it all. I think that\u2019s one of the advantages of coming from PSI. It\u2019s like a show there everyday with all the activity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSPH Renaissance, Matthew said it was a good test so it must have been because he doesn\u2019t say that very often! I think it\u2019s been a good show.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matthew and Rodney are sponsored by Toptac Australia.<\/p>\n

\n

THE JUDGE’S PERSPECTIVE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr Magnus Ringmark is a 4* judge who travelled from Sweden for the Nationals. His first time visiting Australia, the doctor of medicine, when not saving lives in A&E, combines judging with running a dressage stable.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been a really nice show. I competed for many years but in the last few I\u2019ve only been judging. I also attend the good clinics with trainers such as Kyra Kyrklund and Jonny Hilberath so I stay up with all the training.\u201d<\/p>\n

How was judging here?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the same everywhere, you have the top riders who are quite good then the middle and the bottom ones so I think it was basically what I expected.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think what is sometimes the problem, often riders lost a lot of points for not being so precise. They could be more accurate and show more in the transitions. Some really good riders know exactly where to find the points though\u201d.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve judged a lot of young riders overseas and you did the same here. Any advice for them?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI think they have to improve the basic training. Often that is not as good. Some have good horses but it is tough in the young rider world. I\u2019m not sure how many trainers you have here but I thought there were quite a few young riders who did not know how to ride a Prix St Georges test. You could feel that it was difficult, so they have to get more basic training to get the horse to really work through the body and over the back. The basics for me are the key.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAlso the surface could be improved. I heard there were some complaints. Also for the judging, to have the surface a little bit lighter so you can see better. Otherwise, keep on with the training. It was a very nice show.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"brettparberyridingblindentertainment\"<\/p>\n

Brett Parbery riding blind during the evenings entertainment…<\/em><\/p>\n

And yes, the surface issue raised its head once again. Brett Parbery, who scratched both his Grand Prix horses echoed the concerns, \u201cI withdrew Zeppelin because his leg was just a little bit puffy and he has a big workload. He has the Carl Hester clinic and then Equitana. Aber Hallo we withdrew after the first day training here. Just the surface preparation wasn\u2019t great. The people at SIEC do their best with what is a very ordinary material. The show organisers are not to blame at all. The people who run the venue need to talk to those above them to explain the importance of this surface being better for those riders who want to compete internationally. That\u2019s all equestrian disciplines. These surfaces are pretty tired now. It\u2019s like renting a house with bad floorboards. You can\u2019t do it. I\u2019ve competed other horses here, but those who are really sensitive, you can\u2019t risk it. We hope we can get a nice bright, white, felt surface! Also, it would be great to repaint the arena walls. We could do it on a weekend! (working bee, anyone?). We want the venue to match its name.\u201d<\/p>\n

The event may not have been the biggest Nationals we\u2019ve seen with some top names missing, but the quality of the horses was really there. It was also a great opportunity to see some younger faces shine. It\u2019s getting tight at the top these days, one small error can see you down 10 places. The tough part is taking those talented young horse and riders right up to the top levels, but there\u2019s quite a bit of passion out there in the stables, so watch out. Australian dressage is getting exciting.<\/p>\n

\"page-51-horse-and-country-tv\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

BEHIND THE SCENES<\/strong><\/p>\n

Any rider who has competed at the big SIEC shows over the last 10 years will know the friendly face of stable manager Peter Rocca. Residing in the Southern Highlands, Peter, whose real job is grooming and fixing dressage arenas, is usually found zipping around on his buggy, keeping an eye on the horses, fixing any problems and \u201ccontrolling young rider mothers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI got here early Monday morning ready for the first arrivals from Interstate. I have a little caravan here and listen to the horses all night.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"peterrocca\"<\/p>\n

How did you get the job?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cNever be the father of a young rider!\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the biggest number of horses you\u2019ve ever had on site to look after?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe had 260 at the Nationals a few years back. That\u2019s a lot of horses!\u201d<\/p>\n

What are your main duties?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cJust anything that needs doing. Trouble shooting, fixing broken grids in the middle of the round yards, blown fuses in the truck park, carting people and their gear around making sure the stables are left clean. But really, we have fun. It\u2019s all good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thumbs up to Peter and his team and all the wonderful organisers, Deb MacNicol, Cathie Drury-Klein, volunteers and sponsors that make big shows like this possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was a story of \u2018The Next Generation\u2019 at the Nationals this year. From 18 year old Mary Warren beating the \u201colder riders\u201d in the Grand Prix Freestyle with her 24 year old coach Elliot Patterson, to 27 year old Alexis Hellyer winning the Inter A and B classes. The top three of the Inter 1 freestyle were all under 33…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30151,"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":[81,4],"tags":[1351,1243,1612],"class_list":["post-30147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","category-dressage","tag-australian-dressage-championships","tag-dressage","tag-nsw"],"acf":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30147","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=30147"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30147\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30320,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30147\/revisions\/30320"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}