The Australian Horse Magazine reported that Mary Hanna has purchased the 9-year old Sancette from Gwen Blake as a 2012 Olympic Games' hopeful.
The dark bay Hanoverian gelding by Sandro Hit x Contender was last being trained by Steffen Peters. Hanna is currently working with Peters in California to get acquainted with her new mount. She told the Horse Magazine that she is "excited to campaign Sancette in Grand Prix this year" but she stressed "he’s still green for the level." Hanna will not be aiming him for the WEG in 2010. Instead the combination will be looking to represent Australia at the London Olympics in 2012.
Formerly owned by Gwen Blake, Steffen rode Sancette to win the Prix St George at the Festival of the Horse in California last year with over 70 percent. After only six weeks work with Steffen, at the same show, he placed 2nd in his first Inter 1. In 2007 Blake's business partner Dirk Glitz competed Sancette in the U.S. Young Horse Selection Trials.
Chris Hector interviewed Mary Hanne about her new partnership with Sancette
What attracted you about the new horse?
“Brett Parbery told me about him. He’d seen the horse on the internet. He was looking for a horse for himself and he really liked the look of the horse, but felt he was a bit small and fine for him.”
“So I got on the internet and had a look and the horse really appealed to me – he had very beautiful movement, a very athletic horse and more of a leggy, fine type. More like a lady’s horse and I knew he was being trained with Steffen Peters which was kind of appealing to me because I think Steffen is a great trainer.”
Will you leave him with Steffen and train him in the States or bring him back?
“I’m still undecided about that. I came for a week and I have already been here for four weeks and I am going to stay at least another four weeks. I’m just discovering more and more about the horse and I am realising that it is going to take me some time to really get to know him. He’s a little bit special in the way you do things with him.”
“He’s trained by Steffen and I have to find the way to do it in Steffen’s way. I don’t want to have to go home and change everything. I want to try and adjust a little to the horse myself, rather than the horse adjusts to me.”
It’s a very beautiful way of training isn’t it?
“It’s very soft. It’s not confusing having trained with Hubertus Schmidt. It is not unlike Hubertus’s way but it is a very soft way to train. He doesn’t do extreme deep and round at all. The horse is quite up and he likes to have them really through, and like all good trainers, how deep and round you put them depends entirely on the individual horse.”
“But with this horse, because he is a Sandro Hit, then we have to work to have him a little more uphill. I’m really enjoying the training, especially for me because I’ve got Shiraz (Black) and many of the issues of this horse are the same with Shiraz. The Sandro Hits tend to be fairly typical in the way they go. You’ve got to make them soft and you’ve got to make them loose though the poll and very supple to be able to get them through.”
Source: The Horse Magazine
Photo © Terri Miller
Related Link
Lord Albert and Sancette Win American Western Young Horse Selection Trial
