Hope Cooper Concludes Inspiring Euro Training Tour with New Grand Prix Horse Flynn PCH

Dressage

U.S.A.

Reaching the end of a whirlwind four month training tour in Europe, American Under 25 Grand Prix rider Hope Cooper has worked with Isabell Werth and Christoph Koschel to fine-tune her riding skills and soak up European dressage life.

The icing on the cake came at the end of her journey, as her family decided to acquire Grand Prix schoolmaster Flynn PCH to strengthen Hope's chain of horses as she will move into the senior Grand Prix division in 2022.

Climbing Up Through the System

The 25-year old Hope Cooper is a familiar face on the American youth riders' scene.

Aboard the 16-year old Oldenburg Don Diamond (by Don Gregory x Rohdiamant), she competed in her first North American Junior Riders Championships in 2013, finishing 8th in the freestyle, and a year later moved up to Young Riders level earning individual bronze at the 2014 North American Young Riders Championships.

In 2016 she added a second competition horse to her string, Mary Mansfeild's 16-year old Hanoverian Hot Chocolate W (by Hochadel x Pik Senior), which she rode alongside Don Diamond in the medium tour in 2017.

As of 2019 Cooper has been actively competing both horses in the international Under 25 tour at the Global Dressage Festival in Wellington, collecting numerous blue ribbons along the way as well as a bronze medal at the 2019 U.S. Under 25 Championship. As of 2020, she added a third horse, her mother Jane Karol's horse Sunshine Tour (by Sir Donnerhall x Alabaster), to her armada, although in 2021 it was Don Diamond and Hot Chocolate W who were the key players in her show career

Making Lemonade: Euro Training Tour

In December 2020 Hope got her Bachelors' Degree from Connecticut college with a triple major in Behavioral Neuroscience, Africana Studies and Dance. She combined her riding with her academic studies and did an Honors thesis on EEG and implicit bias, which combined Neuroscience and Africana studies.

In 2021 she got squad listed in the U25 team which opened opportunities for her to travel to Europe and compete in the Under 25 tour at the 2021 CHIO Aachen. Unfortunately Covid-19 changed those plans.

"Originally I was going to come to Europe because for the second year in a row Chocolate had made the CHIO Aachen U25 team, but again it was canceled like last year so I planned my trip a bit differently," Cooper told Eurodressage.

What was first planned as a competition focused summer in Europe, turned out into an amazing four-month training tour in Germany, working with Isabell Werth and Christoph Koschel. Making the most of this moment, Hope had no less than four horses to ride in Europe: Hot Chocolate W, Don Diamond and the 7-year olds Destar (by Descolari x Quaterback) and Tripple X (by Totilas x Sandro Hit). She didn't come alone on this journey but was joined by "super" groom Kariel.

"So many people from my community at home supported me both emotionally and a bit financially as well, helping me apply for grants, or else I wouldn’t have been able to make this happen," said Hope. "My parents are the most supportive people I’ve ever met. They have given me this chance away from helping run things at home to come learn and to me that’s just crazy that they are so selfless."

Isabell Werth

"I started in Rheinberg with Isabell Werth for a month of training," said Hope. "I got to train with all four horses with Isabell and two of her riders while I was there. It was unbelievable experience. I learned so much!"

Amazing experience training with Werth in Rheinberg

When asked which was the biggest lesson she carried away from Isabell, Hope replied that it were the little tips that took her to the next level.

"On the older horses I was able to get what feels like to the next level in a lot of the Grand Prix movements," Hope explained. "As any one in the dressage world knows Isabell is the queen for a reason she is the master at many things but for me it was things like making the piaffe sit a little bit extra or getting the ones to jump a bit more off the ground- the details. One thing she said that was extremely helpful was to think of the Piaffe passage as one movement going in and out seamlessly. I know these are simple words but they really make you ride differently. Thinking about how things flow in the GP was really helpful and then once things were flowing tapping into a little extra power- like going for a 10 rather than being happy settling for a 7 or an 8."

Not only the lessons, but also the daily exposure to Werth's riding was beneficial.

"One of the best parts of being at Isabell’s was getting to watch her ride every morning," she said. "Her horses are always extremely relaxed and swinging through their bodies. Some how she also goes for the 10 or 11 always but never disrupts the flow or positive energy. The horses always look happy to do what she is asking from the beginning to the end, there is not a lot of pressure but they give it to her because she has so much thoroughness."

Christoph Koschel

After a month in Rheinberg, Hope took her horses on the road and moved to Hof Kasselmann to work with Christoph Koschel, with whom she had trained before in Wellington.

"This has been so incredible as well- really nothing beats working with him. He is amazing," Hope gushed. "he is an absolute mentor to me. We have been working together for just under a year now and I really feel like we click and like he clicks with all of my horses as well. I honestly have not ridden with many people that I feel understand the emotional world of the horses as well as he does. He seems to know exactly when to make a correction and exactly when to give a reward and can somehow communicate this in his teaching."

She continued, "Christoph has helped me build a lot of confidence as a rider and has certainly helped my horses feel confident both in and out of the ring. We focus a lot on the basics and the warm up, letting each horse take their time to really stretch through their bodies and into the bridle and building up the power and expression until the last 10-15 minutes of the ride when you get the most unbelievable feeling."

Hope had worked with Christoph at the Global Dressage Festival in Wellington.

"I constantly find myself on every horse saying “wow, I never thought that was possible!” in so many lessons even after taking four a day for the past few months and in Wellington as well," she added. "I am not entirely sure how to describe the feeling but somehow every lesson he builds it up to a point where I feel like my horses feel proud of themselves afterwards- even if all we were doing was the basics that day."

Mother - Daughter Duo

Based at Bear Spot Farm in Concord, MA, Hope has trained her entire life with mom Jane Karol, a Grand Prix rider in her own right. On Sunshine Tour, Karol won the 2016 the Developing Grand Prix Horse National Championship after claiming bronze at the 2015 U.S. Small Tour Championship and silver at the 2013 U.S. Young Dressage Horse Championships.

Mother and daughter have a thriving partnership as professional dressage riders and on her Euro tour Hope realized how well her mom had taught her.

"One thing I thought was really cool as I have been here – is that I have realized how incredibly gifted at riding and training my mom is," she confessed. "I always knew she was amazing but after working with a few of the top people in the world her ideas of the basics (and the movements) and knowledge about horses have rung true the entire time I have been here. I am really proud to say that she has taught me almost everything I know and I am very proud and lucky to be her daughter and student."

Flynn PCH

The Cooper family acquired a third experienced Grand Prix horse for Hope to ride, Flynn PCH, a 15-year old Hanoverian by Falsterbo out of Walt Lady (by Walt Disney).

A former licensed Hanoverian stallion, the liver chestnut gelding was first trained at Hubertus Schmidt's yard. Under Marcus Hermes he finished 6th and 8th at the 2011 and 2012 Bundeschampionate and represented Germany at the 2012 World Young Horse Championships in Verden, where he was 8th. In 2013 he was shown in the Developing Prix St Georges horse classes, and in 2014 Hubertus Schmidt and Emma Kanerva rode him in the Louisdor Cup qualifiers. In 2016 Fabienne Lutkemeier qualified Flynn for the 2016 Louisdor Cup Finals. The stallion made his come back to the show ring in 2018.

Owned by American Nancy Gooding of Plum Creek Hollow in Colorado, Flynn moved to Hof Kasselmann in 2020, where German Under 25 rider Evelyn Eger took on the ride. She showed him at the CDI's in Hagen and Mannheim. Flynn returned to Hubertus Schmidt three months ago.

Hope will return to the USA on 9 November and will head to Wellington at the end of January 2022. She plans to compete three horses at senior Grand Prix level, her routiniers and new addition, Flynn PCH.

"It’s a daunting jump from the U25 actually, but my horses are handling it so well I’m really impressed. They are both coming 17 so I try to keep the pressure off and Christoph is so in tune with my horses it’s been amazing to learn all these new things but still have my horses feeling amazing in their bodies and minds," she said.