Catherine Haddad's Winyamaro Retired to the Field

Dressage

U.S.A.

Catherine Haddad's Winyamaro has been retired to the field after a long international sport career followed by him being a schoolmaster for several American dressage riders.

Winyamaro is a 22-year old Hanoverian gelding by Walt Disney out of Taiga (by Trapper). He is bred by Hans-Jurgen Buehrig.

Catherine Haddad

Winyamaro was the successor for Haddad's career-starting international Grand Prix horses Maximus and Cadillac.

The colourful chestnut was initially trained and competed as a young horse by Ralf Kornprobst.

Then based in Vechta (GER), Catherine Haddad took over the ride and produced him to Grand Prix. Their national GP debut was in 2009, their CDI show debut in 2010.

Catherine Haddad and Winyamaro at the
2011 World Cup Final

The duo became the alternates for the U.S. team for the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Kentucky after finishing fourth at the 2010 U.S. Dressage Championships.

In 2011 they qualified to compete for the U.S.A at the World Cup Finals in Leipzig, Germany, where they ranked 12th. Their last CDI as a pair was the 2022 CDI-W Devon.

In 2012, Winyamaro was unable to contend for a U.S. Olympic team spot due to an injury, but he returned to the arena in the spring of 2013 but was only very lightly shown at national level.

Olivia Hallman

In the autumn of 2013, Winyamaro sold to the U.S. based Dutch rider Olivia Hallman but stayed in training with Haddad-Staller in Califon, NJ.

Hallman worked as a fashion model but retired from the model industry after a fire broke out in her New York apartment. She was a participant at the World Championships for Icelandic horses and became multiple Dutch Champion in several disciplines with those ponies before switching to dressage.

"They were an incredible pair but unfortunately, Winyamaro got injured in 2014 and then Olivia decided to move back into NYC and sell all her horses," Catherine told Eurodressage. "Because W was still rehabbing at that time, Olivia donated him to Dressage 4 Kids. I was able to lease him from D4K and keep him in my own stable during his recovery."

Dressage 4 Kids

In 2016 the chestnut made a come back to the show arena under Michelle Haefer (née Brady). A working student of Haddad's at the time, Mochelle got to learn all the movements on professor Winyamaro

"Michelle was a working student until 2019 when she became my assistant trainer and stable manager," Catherine explained. "She learned to sit the trot on the back of Maximus JSS in his later years, and eventually progressed enough to handle a still fresh and vigorous Winyamaro! I let her show him in a few small shows as a reward for her hard work and her devotion to my stable."

The pair competed up Prix St Georges level from 2016 until his competition retirement in 2018.

"Winyamaro is and will always be a consummate show horse. For every little thing he taught my students at home about half halts and corners and self-carriage, he LIVED to perform in front of an audience," said Catherine. "I will never forget Michelle’s first time on the centerline with him. Without a lot of show experience, she was not quite prepared for W’s showmanship. She steered; he performed! Winyamaro treated that little show in Loxahatchee, Florida like it was the Stuttgart German Masters!"

At home, Winyamaro continued to teach Haddad's students the Grand Prix movements.

"My working students have made an annual summer ritual out of bringing him in off the pasture, braiding his mane, tacking him up and going for a ride. You have never seen a horse happier to be saddled. Hope Beerling, my current Assistant Trainer, rode her first one tempis on him a few years ago! He even offered to show her a few piaffe/passage transitions," said Catherine.

Retirement to the Field

Haddad announced that Winyamaro has been retired to the field at U.S. show jumper Beezie Madden's yard on 7 August 2022.

"Today Winyamaro joined a lovely herd of very famous sport horses for his retirement at Madden Mountain in upstate NY. Sound, fit and still too sexy for his shirt, he was delighted to find himself in such good company! Long career, happy horse. I love him. 22 yrs old and still kickin it," she took to Facebook.

Catherine added to Eurodressage, ""he has been too old to travel to Florida for the winter season for many years now and his longtime pony friend who used to keep him company on our farm has passed. So I thought it would be kinder to him to spend the rest of his life together with a herd of successful sport horses rather than spending half the year alone on my farm."

Winyamaro at the 2011 CDI-W Devon
(Photo © Sharon Packer)

Catherine confessed that she was worried turning him out in a herd and she prepared him for the process gradually.

"He had not been turned out with a great number of horses so last winter I took him to a neighbor’s farm as in introduction to retirement. At the Clucas Farm in New Jersey, he was stabled at night and turned out during the day with one or two other horses. This summer he made the transition to the Madden’s retired sport horse herd without looking back," said Catherine. "I was worried about turning him out with that herd, it was hard to let go, but he SOARED! It was as if he knew he had earned the right to hang out with these horses. He will spend his days among equals on a field full of champions."