Fendi Finds His Spot
Young Fendi was fast and furious. He would speed to a takeoff spot in front of a fence and launch himself over it. At the HITS Thermal Desert Circuit horse show in 2006 he jumped right out of the show ring. “Then he proceeded to run back to the barn—taking the trainer with him. Obviously it wasn’t going to work out at Thermal that season, so he came home,” says his current owner, veterinarian Dr. Christina Haney.
By Charlene Strickland
describes his technique. “You’d get on him, and he’d spin you off quickly because he’s very athletic. He did this to his [previous] owner, his owner’s daughter and trainers.” They felt Fendi was an average jumper and an average mover—so it was time to get rid of him. Christina had just returned to California from the
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University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine in 2006, and she was looking for a horse for the amateur-owner hunter division. “I didn’t have a lot of money. I saw that Fendi was scopey and had a huge stride, and I said, ‘That’ll do. I’ll take him.’” But her friends and acquaintances expressed much
concern about her choice. “You’re out of your mind! Have you seen him jump? He hangs his legs, and he’s flat out dangerous.” Fortunately, the young vet dismissed the comments
and committed herself to years of retraining Fendi. Patient, repetitive schooling sessions changed Fendi’s attitude on the flat and over fences. To transform Fendi from rogue to champion hunter required that both horse and his riders meet halfway and compromise—Fendi’s trainers reduced pressure and presented him with win-win scenarios, while Fendi taught his humans the routines he preferred.
FINDING FENDI The 16.2-hand bay was imported from the Netherlands in 2005 as a five-year-old. A son of Indoctro, he’s bred to jump. “He has an 18-foot-long [canter] stride,” says Christina. “He’s very aggressive and very smart. He will jump any size jump you put in front of him. He will never stop.” This attribute was
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t home at Rainbow Canyon Ranch in Azusa, California, the striking bay Dutch Warmblood was known for successfully spinning off riders left and right. Christina
appealing to Christina. “In Europe he was jumping really big fences, running and getting over them as fast as possible.” An experienced competitor, Christina has ridden at
Rainbow Canyon for 25 years. She fell for Fendi despite his history of misbehavior and the advice she received from fellow amateurs. “On the day I decided to buy him, everybody left the ranch and I had one of the grooms longe him. I got on and hacked him. It went great,” she remembers. “Then I took a few lessons on him and I set the jumps up huge. I had to set the lines appropriately because his stride was so big and he couldn’t contain it. I said, ‘I’ll take him. Done!’ One friend tried to convince me not to buy him. ‘You’re out of your mind. I think this is a bad idea.’ I remember another woman in the lessons simply remarked, ‘That’s quite a horse you have.’” Today, beaming, Christina describes Fendi as awesome.
“When I first got him, he was a handful. And, yes, he has been quite a horse!” His exuberance, which would unnerve most amateurs, is what made him affordable. “Remember, I had just come back from vet school in 2006 and I didn’t have a lot of money,” she continues. “I purchased him on payments. The owner let me have him very cheap, because she just wanted him away from her. And the first day I actually paid for him, he bucked me off.”
FROM BAD BOY TO SHOW STAR Teaching her new ‘rebel’ manners required going back to the basics. Fendi (fondly called Fritz by Christina) now had a team to guide him, without forcing him to perform. “We stopped showing him and just did nothing but flatting,” says Christina. “We worked with him for a year at home.” Trainers Kim Tasker and Patrick Spanton spent months on
his rideability. They taught the horse to bend both directions calmly, without resorting to the spinning. “They would walk
All photos are by Charlene Strickland
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