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The December International Animal Health Rider of the Month is Adelaide winner, Hazel Shannon.<\/strong><\/p>\n Hazel showjumped with style – clear clear to\u00a0take out Adelaide Four-Star at the age of 24\u00a0on the eleven-year-old Clifford. Clifford was\u00a0one of those Thoroughbreds that trial but never\u00a0make it to a race – one of the bonuses from\u00a0the Thoroughbred Industry, that rich source of\u00a0horses that has been the mainstay of Australian\u00a0eventing. Hazel is certainly a rising star at a\u00a0time we desperately need a few, right now her\u00a0dressage is not competitive, but if she can work on\u00a0that – particularly the canter work – she may well\u00a0fill one of the spots in the team for the WEG in\u00a0North Carolina…<\/p>\n \u201cClifford is an off-the-track Thoroughbred. He was\u00a0too slow, he trialed. He\u2019s owned by Wendy Ward,\u00a0and he was bred to race, in Tasmania, by her sister,\u00a0Sue Devereaux. He was too slow, but they really\u00a0liked his personality and they wanted to give him a\u00a0new career. Wendy owns an equestrian centre up in\u00a0Newcastle and so he was sent to her. Wendy is our\u00a0neighbour, I work for Heath and Rozzie Ryan and\u00a0live with them. We ride some horses for Wendy and\u00a0I was just in the right place at the right time and I\u00a0got the ride on Clifford when he was a baby.\u00a0He was five or six when I started riding him. He\u2019d\u00a0sat in a paddock for a little while because there\u00a0were other babies that had priority.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe was eventually brought in and we fiddled\u00a0around with him a bit, I got the ride on him – and\u00a0it was one of the best things that ever happened\u00a0to me!\u201d<\/p>\n When did you realise you were sitting on something\u00a0a bit special?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe all thought he was lovely, just the best natured\u00a0horse, but no-one thought, this is going to be a\u00a0good four-star horse. It has only been the last year\u00a0or two, basically since he has been three-star, that\u00a0we\u2019ve all started to realise that he might be a really\u00a0serious horse. He was an unassuming baby, who\u00a0always did what you wanted him to do, and always\u00a0tried his heart out, but he didn\u2019t show anything\u00a0amazing, that made you say, I have to have that.\u00a0It\u2019s been a nice surprise.\u201d<\/p>\n The four-star track here at Adelaide, how did that\u00a0come up for you?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIt was tough like we\u2019d all expected after having\u00a0walked it. The arrow-heads were really skinny,\u00a0and there were some longer distances to them in\u00a0some places that were just tempting run-outs. I\u00a0made some plans of what I was going to do in all\u00a0the combinations, and it all worked how I hoped\u00a0it would, that was really nice. It was a good track,\u00a0everything really well built, as always.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe pulled up great, being a Thoroughbred he\u00a0ran really well and the next day he was feeling and\u00a0looking great.\u201d<\/p>\n How did you become a full time eventing rider?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to do something with horses,\u00a0but I didn\u2019t really know what. I hadn\u2019t evented\u00a0because I come from far north Queensland, there\u2019s\u00a0no eventing up there basically. I just liked the sound of it, and I had an auntie who had evented\u00a0in the past and she put me onto Heath and Rozzie\u00a0Ryan. I finished school and a few weeks later went\u00a0down to work for Heath and Rozzie and I\u2019ve been\u00a0there for the last six years.\u201d<\/p>\n Have you got any other horses coming on?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve got a two-star horse, I\u2019m not sure how good\u00a0he is going to turn out, but I am having a lot of\u00a0fun on him at the moment. He\u2019s the opposite to\u00a0Clifford, he is big and impressive and scopey. He is\u00a0a Warmblood \/ Thoroughbred cross, we\u2019ll just have\u00a0to wait and see…\u201d<\/p>\n The ambitions with Clifford now?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m going to be looking to the next WEG, I hope to\u00a0ride for Australia there. The next few years will be\u00a0focused on trying to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n MecWorma and Bot has been shown to be highly\u00a0effective (up to 100% activity) in control and\u00a0treatment of large and small strongyles (Strongylus\u00a0and Cyathostomum spp.) including arterial larval\u00a0stages and benzimidazole resistant strains, bots\u00a0(Gasterophilus spp.), cutaneous onchocerciasis and\u00a0nematodes including Habronema and Draschia spp.<\/p>\n
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Each Rider of the Month receives a prize from IAHP.<\/strong>
\n<\/strong>This month, Hazel receives a 30g tube of MecWorma and Bot.<\/strong><\/p>\n
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