Horse & Hound – 08 August 2019

56 Horse& Hound8 August 2019

DRESSAGE

A Friesianmare

comessoundto

taketwowins.

NORTH

Manor Grange Stud, W Yorks | Holmside Hall EC, Co. Durham

KarenNobleandLiesVan’tOud

HofwonbothprelimsatManor

Grangeenroutetocontestingthe

AreaFestivalsemi-finals.

“WhenI firstgother,she

wouldonlycanterononeleg,

andeventuallyshewentlame.

Thevetsthoughtit mightbe

arthritissowehadherhocksand

fetlocksinjectedbutit madeno

difference,soshewasretiredfrom

competition.”

“Butshewantedtocomein

fromthefield,soI thoughtI’dgive

heronelasttryona softsurface.

ShefeltsoundtomesoI took

hertomytrainerPaulHayler.He

saidshewassoundsoI brought

herbackintowork,”saidKaren,

a former teacher who set up

aridingschoolandproduces

dressagehorses.

“She’sa bitofanunderdogas

herconformationisn’tbrilliant,

butshewantstoworkandI think

shelooksstunning.”

KateSandersonfound

HillgarthGoldenOpportunityasa

foalwhenshevisitedthestud,and

hasproducedhimupthegrades

herself.Thestrikingsix-year-old

palominoWelshcobmovedupto

elementarythismonthandhas

wonfourclassesina row.

“It’sa newlevelforme,too,”

saidKate,whocombinesworking

ina boardingkennelswith

producingWelshcobs.“Ihada

crisisofconfidencea fewmonths

agowhenI thoughtheshouldbe

showingasthat’swhathe’dbred

for,soI puthimupforsale.As

soon as I saw other people riding

ByHELENSCOTT

him,I realisedI’dmadea mistake

andtookhimoffthemarket.I

thinkhe’sgotthepotentialto

become a very smart dressage

ponyashewantstolearnandhas

lovelymovement.”

Thepairtrainwith Vicki

Wilson.H&H

Karen Noble and Lies Van’t Oud Hof take a brace of wins at prelim

SINCEmylastcolumn

(11July),therehasbeen

anothersemi-finaloftheyoung

horseclassesatPortRoyal

withdifferentjudges.

Thisledtoseveralofthe

samehorsesthatdidnot

qualifyatHartpurycompeting

again,withquitea turnaround

intheresults.Inonecase,a

combinationscored10%—or

anentiremarkhigher—than

atHartpury.Thishorsedid

nothaveissuesinitstestat

Hartpury,butwasjudgedtobe

ofcompletelydifferentqualitya

weeklater.Timewilltellwhich

judgeswerecorrect,butwould

it besensibletohavethesame

judgesatbothsemi-finalseach

yeartotrytomaintaina “line”?

Manygrandprixriders

gleefullyrecounttheirstars’

terriblemarksinyounghorse

classes.Althoughthereare

successstories—Valegro

beingthemostfamous—the

resultshaven’tbeena great

indicatorofwhichhorseswill

actually end up at grand prix,

especiallyconsideringthehigh

numberofentries.

Intheend,thekeytowhich

onesmakeit is alwaysthe

rider.Someridersconsistently

producehorseafterhorseto

thehighestlevelsandknow

howtokeepthemsound.The

bestmover“onthebit”canwin

atlowerlevels,buttocompete

athigherlevels,goodstable

managementandridingare

vital.Youngriderswoulddo

welltonoticehowtheseriders

managetheirstables,astoo

manytalentedyounghorsesare

lostalongtheway.

It’seasytocriticisea less-

ablehorse,butmymottois

“don’tknockit untilyou’ve

satonit”,asit mightnotbeso

easytoputone’sownbumin

thesaddleandimproveit.I

seesometalentedridersgoing

relativelyunnoticed,creating

minormiraclesathighlevels

fromordinaryhorses.If they

weregiventheopportunityof

betterhorsepower,theycould

excel.Theseriderscouldbe

introducedtoourpassionate

British breeders, who are

creatingworld-classhorses.We

needanequineTinder...

VITALINGREDIENTS

A FRIENDofmine,Fred

Hodges,a BHSIfrom

Hertfordshirewhohasqualified

a horsefortheyounghorse

championships,hasdonethe

maths.IntheFEIgrandprix

test,thewalkaccountsforless

than10%,thetrotaround22%

(includingtherein-back,which

is indiagonals),thepiaffe and

passage tour 35%, the canter

around30%andthecollectives

about4%.Sothetrotandthe

workindiagonalpairsare

worthover50%ofthemark.

Happily,trotis alsotheeasiest

gaittoimprove,thewalkbeing

thehardest.

Indiscussionwiththe

mathematicallymindedand

highlysuccessfulOppenheimer

family,wecameupwith

a revolutionaryconcept.

Currentlyintheyounghorse

class,eachgaitis weightedwith

20%ofthescore.Wouldit be

worthconsideringmakingthe

scorereflectmoreaccurately

thedemandsofthegrandprix?

Maybethiswouldgivea better

forecastofwhichhorseswill

makeit tothetop.

Failingthat,wecouldall

saveourselvesthedieseland

ownerscouldjustfill ina horse’s

“lifeplan”astowhichrider,

trainer,vetandfarrierthe

horseis goingtohave,because

thosevitalingredientsare

probablythemostaccurate

predictor of all!H&H

‘We need an equine Tinder’

Anna Ross on judging discrepancies and matchmaking talent

Olympicgold

medallist

Carl Hester

NEXT

WEEK

ONLY IN HORSE & HOUND

OPINION

AnnaRossisaninternational

grandprixdressageriderwho

hasrepresentedBritainon

numerous occasions.

HIGHLIGHTS

22-28 July