{"id":67895,"date":"2024-05-02T13:51:14","date_gmt":"2024-05-02T03:51:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/?p=67895"},"modified":"2024-05-25T08:17:12","modified_gmt":"2024-05-24T22:17:12","slug":"wada-out-of-control","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/2024\/05\/wada-out-of-control\/","title":{"rendered":"WADA out-of-control!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Christopher Hector has a new rant\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

The World Anti Doping Authority has become an out-of-control and vicious bureaucracy, happy to persecute individual athletes – ask runner, Peter Bol, or swimmer, Shayna Jack, they both were banned and had their lives turned upside down, before WADA conceded they were innocent. But it\u2019s a different story when faced with the might of the Chinese Sports Federation, Oh! so twenty three of your swimmers proved positive to a banned substance, we\u2019ll just hide that result and let them go and compete at the Games, after all, our sponsors love records being broken.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The latest to fall victim of WADA is dressage rider Morgan Barban\u00e7on Mestre, banned for three months by the French affiliate of WADA, AFLD. But let\u2019s get one thing clear, Morgan is not accused on ingesting anything untoward, her crime is that she did not let the anti-doping authorities know where she was. She told eurodressage that she never tried to avoid reporting her whereabouts:<\/p>\n

\u201c”Since 2012 I\u2019m on\u00a0ADAMS (WADA) program<\/a>\u00a0so that means since 12 years I have to tell them where I am everyday every moment of the day so that they can come and test me,” Morgan told Eurodressage. “In 12 years I have never complained and filled in everything, in 2022 I had had issues changing my localisation while I was in Leipzig and they came at home to test me while I was in Leipzig, second was on the 30th of September the system hadn\u2019t registered my localisation and they realized it on the 3rd of October so they count it as a no show since the 1st and 2nd of October was not filled in. 3rd was when I was in Omaha having bad internet connection and no network while getting there only WhatsApp when I tried to change my localisation I couldn\u2019t receive the SMS of connection and they showed up at home and I was in Omaha so counted it as a no show even though I was tested in Omaha the next day.”<\/p>\n

The suspension will seriously interfere with Morgan\u2019s preparations for the Paris Games, and may result in her being declared ineligible for the French Team. Pause a while to think, while I understand full well why it is necessary to protect horses by testing them for harmful, performance enhancing medications, what on earth could a rider take to enhance his or her performance? All riders are subject to the drug laws of their own country, that\u2019s more than enough, they don\u2019t need a bloated bureaucracy breathing down their neck\u2026 CH<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an interview I conducted with Morgan\u2026 photos digishots, Roslyn Neave and Stefano Secchi<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

If you thought Morgan Barban\u00e7on was some sort of little rich girl, getting plonked on made ponies, think again. Morgan is a serious player, okay she obviously has financial backing, but she is no dolly rider, she has paid her dues with some of the world\u2019s best trainers and along the way created her own training philosophy. Oh yeah, if you thought her current frontline, Sir Donnerhall II was a push button get on and ride, think again, Morgan made the horse, starting as a six year old, and then she and her family brought the stallion back from what the vets had decided was a career, even life, ending injury.<\/p>\n

Share her story\u2026<\/p>\n

Morgan has been on a high ever since Doha , where in a split decision she finished second in the freestyle, but she left Qatar with new found confidence in her stallion, Sir Donnerhall II.<\/p>\n

I caught up with her in G\u00f6teborg, at the World Cup final, but had already been impressed with her show in Qatar.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Doha was one of the best feelings I\u2019ve had with my horse since I\u2019ve had him. He is improving, it\u2019s not yet perfect, it is far from being perfect \u2013 dressage is only about improving, trying to reach perfection, but I must say the horse has improved so, so much, especially in the piaffe, which was never his strong point. He is never going to piaffe for a ten, or a nine, but he can easily piaffe for a seven, seven and a half, but the rest is so nice with him. He is really starting to give his all now. He\u2019s feeling great here in G\u00f6teborg, so touch wood, we\u2019ll see how the Grand Prix goes tomorrow, but I have a really, really nice feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n

I was watching you warm up and compete in Doha, and I was thinking, it is difficult because the horse has so much scope, so much to give\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is all about keeping him together, that\u2019s the key, and keeping him fresh. Happy, fresh and together. If I have him under himself, really collected and connected, I can ride the changes as big as I want them and he just won\u2019t lose them anymore, but if I lose him in the corner, and I have him a little bit long at the start of the diagonal, then I\u2019m screwed. Then I don\u2019t reach the end with those big changes, I have no chance. With him, it\u2019s all about the preparation in every single corner. Once he is in the corner, and I have him connected, under himself, then okay, I\u2019m going, and I can ride those big huge one tempi, even twos, and he\u2019ll just go through. It\u2019s the same in the extended, if he\u2019s there, then he goes and it is mega.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very difficult to ride him, in the sense that he is always on a fine line, it can quickly drop to terrible, but just as quickly to mega in one second as well. It\u2019s all about the preparation, it\u2019s nice, he is really expressive which can go with you, or against you.<\/p>\n

I have been riding him since he was six. I took him over after he won the bronze medal at the six year old World Championships. So he is self-made, he is my first self-made Grand Prix horse, so I know him inside out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Gus competing at Doha<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI know the mistake is going to happen before it happens. In Doha, I started the one tempis, and I felt him taking over and getting longer and I had no chance of getting him back together. That\u2019s why I try to focus as much as I can, on preparing the exercise, because once I\u2019m in it, it is very difficult to fix it. It\u2019s a good thing, because when he has a good exercise, it is good from the beginning to the end. It\u2019s not like it starts good and it ends bad, or starts bad and ends good, it is not a half and half with him, it\u2019s all bad, or all good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Without being rude to Painted Black, your previous ride,, Sir Donnerhall is a rather different style of horse\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cHe is so different and that\u2019s what I love about my horses, every single one of them is not the same, at all. I have from lazy to super hot, to very naughty to very sweet, from willing to work to not willing to work. All of my horses are different people. They all have their own habits, and their own ways, their own warm-ups \u2013 I cannot warm them up the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Painted Black \u2013 horse of a lifetime – retires at the Europeans
\n(Photo Kenneth Braddick – Dressage News)<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cOkay, Painted was the horse of a life time, he brought me to where I never thought I could go, and he\u2019s taught me everything. He taught me how to ride the horses I have now. With PB there was something between him and me. I love this horse to bits, he is always going to have a special place in my heart. But Gus, the stallion I have here\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Gus!?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cSir Donnerhall II is too long so we call him Gus, you know the fat little funny mouse in Cinderella? He reminds me of him\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

But he\u2019s not fat, he\u2019s really leggy and elegant\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why, it is the total opposite, but he reminds me of the mouse because he is extremely clumsy, EXTREMELY clumsy. My horses are not horses for us, they are human beings. We spend a lot of time with them, that\u2019s why I can tell you he makes me think of Gus, because even if he is a beautiful stallion, imposing and handsome, but I know him so well that I know he is not what he looks, he\u2019s clumsy, he\u2019s friendly, he loves to play and he is a big wuss. Not with riding, when you are on him, he is not scared of anything, but when he is in hand, a little mouse will scare him \u2013\u00a0oh my god, mummy take me in your arms, I\u2019m really scared.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

He\u2019s a bit big to take into your arms\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI know, but if I could, I would, I love him so much, and he\u2019s got that special place in my heart, because he had a really big accident in Falsterbo in 2013, where we thought that night, we will have to put him down. He got stuck in his box actually. So he went to the clinic, he was operated on, and they told us, he will never be a sports horse again. He would be good for the field. But I am extremely stubborn, and when you tell me no, I say yes, I\u2019ll try. So I tried to ride him again, and tried trot him out, and he was a mess at the start, and I thought to myself, maybe they are right, but with the equitrainer, and the spa, and the physios and the riding, and all the support the family gave him, we slowly started getting him back in shape and trotting and cantering. Then it was the changes, oh my god, his left hind leg was so weak that he couldn\u2019t jump through.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen I started trying to ride him more and more and I managed. Then I said, okay, I am going to start him in small tour. I couldn\u2019t ride a pirouette, pirouette was always a hassle. Okay, I\u2019ll go home and I will work on it, and slowly it got better. He got Limes Disease twice! So he was out for a long time but we never gave up on him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe actually really picked up the work in January 2016, that\u2019s when he really started working properly and he went to his first Grand Prix in July, 2016. He\u2019s a fighter.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a mess the first Grand Prixs, then I got really badly injured, stuck in the stirrup and got dragged, so I was a little bit out for a while. I still kept on riding but I didn\u2019t want to show. Then we gave him a little break, then we started working again, getting everything back together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe qualified for the 2018 World Cup finals, which was a huge achievement for us, especially with a horse that was supposed to be put down in 2013. He has a big story behind him, that nobody really talks about, which I find really sad because he deserves it. They don\u2019t know what this horse went through\u2026 they said, he can\u2019t piaffe, he can\u2019t this and that – but \u00a0just remember what happened to him, and you will realise how amazing it is that this horse is here right now, doing what he is doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAlso for us, the family, for not giving up on him, because it would have been easier when he comes back from the clinic, okay never a sports horse again, fine, go in the field, make babies. Voila. But no, we didn\u2019t give up on him. We knew he would do it. Many times I was told, he\u2019ll never be a Grand Prix horse\u2026 But I believed in him, he will be a Grand Prix horse, it might take a bit of time, but he will be. So he has a big place in my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

What drove you to be a dressage rider?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI love the sport. I love riding and I love my horses more than anything. My mother was a rider, and my father was a rider, they both stopped, but maybe it is in the genes, this passion because from a very little girl, I don\u2019t remember my life without horses. I never played with Barbies, I never played with dolls, I only had horses \u2013 I had a collection of 200 little horses and played always with the horses. Even in school, they got worried about me, because I would put stuff in my mouth, and reins, and have the other kids trot me round. Seriously. Like I would take wheelbarrows and a harness, and put my little sister in the wheelbarrow and carry her around. I destroyed my parents garden because I pulled out all the chairs to the garden, and with all the brooms and every stick I could find, I would make myself a jumping course, so I would do jumping \u2013 and then I was into three day eventing \u2013 so I would ride a dressage test, and I would go in the woods and jump some tree trunks, run through the water\u2026 crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI got my first pony when I was six years old.\u00a0 A little Welsh pony, he was blind in one eye, a blue eye and a black eye, half blind. He was a pony at the Pony Club, he was so beautiful that I fell in love with him, but he was extremely naughty. I would fall from him three or four times a day because he would stop, turn around, because he was scared of everything, he couldn\u2019t see. The club estimated that the pony was too dangerous to have because he would throw all the kids off, he\u2019s too dangerous, so they wanted to sell the pony. I wouldn\u2019t have it because I loved the pony, and my mother fell in love with the pony, so we bought the pony. And that was the story of my first pony.\u201d<\/p>\n

Where were you living at the time?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cGeneva, I grew up in Geneva. I was five years in Germany and that\u2019s when I started riding horses with Jean (Bemelmans), I was thirteen when I went there. Then when I was eighteen, I was done with my IB (International Baccalaureate)<\/em>. I went to the International School in Geneva, so I was flying or driving up and down every weekend, every weekend from when I was ten years old until I was eighteen because I still had to go to school during the week, because I had the normal life of a student until I was eighteen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen I moved to Holland where I stopped my studies for a year and a half to prepare for the London Games. I was nineteen when I went to the Games. It was amazing, it was the experience of a lifetime. I will always remember it, so young to have the chance to do it, with a horse that carried me around \u2013 it was fantastic. Now I\u2019ve moved back to Geneva where I am building up my own business there, around horses of course.\u201d<\/p>\n

But you train with Dorothee Schneider in Germany\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s four hours away. Every two weeks I go for a few days, train with a few horses, then I come home, and she flies over as well, so that we can train with all the horses. And I see her at the shows\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

She is such a cool professional\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI love her, she is really cool, and I get along super well with her. We really have the same philosophy of riding, the way of riding and how we see our horses.\u201d<\/p>\n

It must have been a bit of a change for you, coming out of (stage whisper) Holland\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYou know I\u2019m the type, I learn everywhere I go. Everybody has their own ways, everybody has their own methods, if you look at every single rider riding here, there not two riding the same way. I\u2019ve learned from many mega trainers, from Jean Bemelmans to Anky to Andreas Helgstrand\u2026 and even though I change course some times, it was important for me to find my own way. I think I\u2019ve found a mix-match between all the trainers I have had and took all the positive out of each of them and I built my own riding now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know exactly what I am looking for in a horse but I had the chance with Andreas to learn a lot, riding many types of horses, which I think is a strong point in a rider, to be able to ride all types of horses and not specially one type. I think at one point it was, now it’s time to fly with my own wings and build my own place.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a little stable in Geneva, next to the Lake, where it is beautiful, a beautiful view of the mountains which I really really missed during those years in Holland which is really flat, nothing. And I love skiing and it allows me to go skiing, and I am close to my sister. It\u2019s my little place where I have a beautiful outdoor, indoor, twelve boxes, walker, tons and tons of paddocks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have my little routine. I have started teaching, I have some students that I am going to start following on the shows as well, try and combine that they come with me to certain shows. I want to develop a little bit the dressage in this area of Switzerland, and try to make dressage well-known as much as I can. I\u2019m a little girl with big dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n

International Horse Breeders offer a great range of top European stallions to Australian breeders, including a full brother to Sir Donnerhall II…<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Go to www.ihb.com.au<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

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

Dressage rider, Morgan Barban\u00e7on has been banned for three months, WHY? Has the anti-doping authority got way out of control? You decide…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":67896,"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":[1243,2466],"class_list":["post-67895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dressage","tag-dressage","tag-morgan-banned"],"acf":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67895","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=67895"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67895\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67908,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67895\/revisions\/67908"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}