many ways, it was simply a practical decision. I always wanted to learn more, to progress and to excel at each level. That’s just my nature,” she explains. “But as I moved up the levels in eventing, I found I simply didn’t want to jump that high or gallop that fast. You could say I truly embraced the collected canter! And so I turned to dressage.” To that end, the Holekamps purchased an Avignon daughter named Actress,


who was successfully competing at Prix St. Georges, to serve as a schoolmaster for Cheryl. When bitting issues forced her retirement, they tried again, this time purchasing Apache, a stallion by Merkur that had competed at Grand Prix. Unfortunately, soundness issues limited his work and would soon end their partnership. With Apache lame and a clinic she had signed up for with noted trainer Gunnar Ostergaard in St. Louis fast approaching, Cheryl found herself with no horse to ride. Her husband Tim suggested she take Hera, who had always excelled in work on the flat. At this point, the little bay mare was approaching nine years old and had not been in regular work for a year or two. “It’s true—she did have good flatwork. But she wasn’t doing flying changes,


piaffe or passage. She was quite a different ride than I was planning to take to this clinic,” Cheryl explains. Gunnar Ostergaard, Cheryl says, looked at the 15.3 hand “plain bay” mare and pronounced her the best horse he’d seen Cheryl ride. Cheryl says that, at that point, Hera was trained to approximately Second Level. “It was a mix of avoiding wasted clinic fees and serendipity that I took her to


the clinic at all,” Cheryl says now with a laugh. “I needed a horse to ride and she was ready, willing and able!”


CH-CH-CH-CHANGES Based on Gunner’s advice, Cheryl decided to make Hera her next competition horse, adding a new twist to the mare’s varied career. “We attended clinics regularly from our home base here in Missouri and started going to Florida in the winter,” she explains. “Every year, our Florida stay got a little longer!” In fact, after three years of making the southerly trips to stay and train at


Gunnar’s farm, the Holekamps purchased a small farm of their own nearby, creating a permanent winter base for themselves in Ocala. It was a relief, according to Tim, because Cheryl had literally been camping out in a spare stall during her Florida stays for those three years. “The first year, we stayed for two or three weeks and had lessons with Gunner


every day,” she explains. The challenge, she adds, was to take what she learned in their clinics and lessons and apply it successfully when working on their own. “Fortunately, like Hera, I had correct basics from my eventing days,” she recounts. “And Hera has always had a great mind as well as being a very sound and athletic horse.” “So we took our lessons and did our homework and tried to improve a little every


day,” she continues. “Hera was a wonderful partner to learn with and we never had any major problems to overcome. Probably the biggest issue we faced was her size. At 15.3 hands, she is simply not impressive. Although it’s starting to change now, even a few years ago everyone in the show ring really paid attention to a horse’s size. Everyone thought a horse needed to be big to win!” “Hera has always been a ‘can do’ kind of horse,” Cheryl explains. “Once she understands the task or the question asked, she always gives one hundred percent plus. She only got upset when she did not understand what was being asked of her. Once, at a Gunnar clinic, we were working on the single tempi changes but just one or two or sometimes three in a row. Toward the end of the session, Gunnar instructed me to go on the diagonal and do 15 one tempis. I didn’t see


Warmbloods Today 23


“It was a mix of avoiding wasted clinic fees and serendipity that I took her to the clinic at all...”


Cheryl and Hera schooling the Grand Prix in 2006 at their farm in


Ocala, Florida. Photo courtesy Timothy Holekamp, M.D


Cheryl and Hera competing at


Grand Prix in 2007. Photo by Rachel Clarke


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