The New Zealand equestrian federation has announced the first high performance dressage squad under the new programme. Four Grand Prix riders have been submitted to the High Performance Dressage Squad.
The squad comprises Penny Castle (Ashhurst) on Magnus Spero (owned by the Magnus Spero Syndicate), Julie Brougham (Palmerston North) on Vom Feinsten (owned by David and Julie Brougham), Vanessa Way (New Plymouth) on KH Arawn (owned by Brooke Hughes and Way), and Australia-based Kiwi John Thompson on Antonello.
For dressage selector and high performance technical advisor Helen Hughes-Keen, it marks a coming of age for the sport in New Zealand. “It is fantastic,” said Hughes-Keen. “These are the best performers that we have ever had.”
It is only in recent months that a New Zealand dressage combination has cracked the all-elusive 70% for a Grand Prix test, with Castle and Magnus Spero’s efforts at the Farmlands Horse of the Year Show. Brougham and Vom Feinsten notched an Australasian record for the Grand Prix Kur (to music) with 76.025% and a New Zealand record with their 69.941% victory in the Grand Prix Special at the same show.
“I think just generally, our whole performance has improved,” says Hughes-Keen. “We have always had good horses, but now our riding and training has gone to a new level . . . we have upped our game. It definitely feels as if we are on the right track.”
She credited much of the improvement to former Equestrian Sports New Zealand high performance director Sarah Harris, who had pushed dressage to strive for new heights. Some of the newly-named high performance combinations are already on the road to meeting the required criteria that would make them eligible for selection for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
“The exciting thing is that I believe there is more to come from these top combinations. Each of these horses are capable of better marks, and those riders also have good young horses coming hot on their heels. It augurs well for the future.”
Brougham and her 12-year-old German bred chestnut Vom Feinsten agrees the standards of both horsepower and riders in New Zealand is on the rise, but key to that continuing was ongoing competition.
“Steiny (Vom Feinsten) needs that mileage,” she says of the horse who is ranked 121 in the world.
The combination will compete at Equidays in October before heading back across the Tasman for the Australian National Championships, and Brougham is planning to leave her feisty fellow there to compete regularly.
Castle is looking forward to working with some top international coaches with her 11-year-old Holsteiner, who is New Zealand’s highest-ranked dressage horse at 116th. “We have some very good coaches coming out this winter so it will help all of us sharpen our act and move forward,” she says. “We are very appreciative of the input from high performance in helping us reach towards where we want to go too.”
Thompson, who moves back to New Zealand in late July, is ready to push the boundaries with 13-year-old Bates Antonello now that they’ve cemented their new partnership. He bought Louisa Hill’s former Olympic horse in January, and have already notched some impressive results, including winning the Grand Prix Kur at Werribee earlier this month with 71.175% and placing second in the CDI3* Grand Prix Special in Sydney with 66.922%.
“That was one of the best Australian fields ever, with just under 30 Grand Prix horses starting,” said Thompson. “It was very exciting.” Being named on the high performance squad was the first big step towards riding for New Zealand at pinnacle events.
"It is all starting to get a bit real now,” he said. “Things are going better and better and we still haven’t hit our peak. Hopefully we will push 72%-75% when we put it all together in the ring. At the moment it is looking easy, but there is a lot more expression to be put into the test when I feel confident to give it more of a go. “I feel I have done the miles now and it is time to push those boundaries.”
Way is no stranger to international competition, but she has yet to ride at a World Champs or Olympics. For seven years she has bounced back and forwards between her Taranaki base and dressage supremo Carl Hester’s barn in the United Kingdom. Way ranks her new horse Arawn as possibly her best ever. “He has more international qualities and I would like to think has the benefit of me being more savvy,” she says.
Way, who competed at Prix St George and Intermediate I with Hester’s horse, says while 11-year-old Arawn is the “greenest” horse on the squad, he has immense potential. Since going to Grand Prix level in January, they have consistently been in the top four, with their best a 70.1% in the Grand Prix Kur, and a 67.18% in the Grand Prix at HOY.
“At the end of the day, it is all about results, and you’ve got to push yourself. I am in this for the long haul and totally focussed on being consistently in the 70s.” Way was excited about the potential in the team too. These are all good riders with good horses, with a depth we haven’t had before.”
Also named is an accelerator squad comprising Castle on BL About Time, Wendi Williamson (Kumeu) on Dejavu MH, Tracy Smith (Hamilton) on Don Diego and Catherine West (New Plymouth) on Anarocz.
By Diana Dobson - Photo © Astrid Appels
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