Hilltop Farm’s Head Trainer Chris Hickey’s View on
HANOVERIANS FOR DRESSAGE B y Natalie DiBerardinis
Massachusetts. Growing up, Chris spent much time riding with his entire family. He and his sister were both involved in 4-H and Pony Club. Although much of his early riding was with Morgans, as Chris became increasingly interested in dressage, he started riding more Warmbloods. Chris began riding dressage while in high school and was working part-time for a few different farms. Te common thread between the farms was Lendon Gray, who at the time was still located in Maine at Puckerbush Farm. Chris would travel to Maine for long weekends of intensive training with Lendon and rode school horses and Lendon’s personal horses on each visit. Te first Hanoverian that Chris remembers riding was Lendon's horse Medallion (by Matrose). Up until that time, Chris hadn't ridden a horse anything like Medallion. “Te power and elasticity was totally different than the horses I had been riding up until that point,” he says. Some of Chris’s early accomplishments include riding in the
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1988 and 1989 North American Young Rider Championships and qualifying for the 1994 Olympic Festival and for the selection trials for the 1995 Pan-American Games. He has developed multiple horses up to the Grand Prix level, including Dwight, Levin and the Hanoverian stallion Werbellin (Weltmeyer / Legat). In 2007, Chris won the U.S. National Intermediaire Championships and rode Regent to both the team and individual gold medals at the Pan-American Games and was chosen as the Chronicle of the Horse’s Dressage Horseman of the Year. Chris also began working for Jane MacElree’s Hilltop Farm in 2007 and since then has amassed a number of national championship titles and year-end honors, including a number with Hanoverian-bred horses. Chris describes some of the Hanoverians that he has
trained that personify the Hanoverian breed for him. Cabana Boy (Contucci-Britania / Bordeaux) won the U.S. National Championships as a five, six and seven-year-old. He also represented the U.S. at the 2007 FEI World Championships for Young Horses and placed third at the 2010 USEF National Intermediaire Championships. “Cabana Boy was the poster- child of U.S. breeding programs. I had an amazing bond with him. At age eight he was training all the elements of the Grand Prix and proved very competitive on the small tour in his first
60 March/April 2013
hris Hickey was born into a horse savvy family. His mom grew up on a farm and his father's uncle ran the breeding program for many years at the University of
season in Europe. It is such a pity that we lost him before he was able to compete at the top level. I truly believed he had all the talent to be a team horse for the U.S.” Donarweiss GGF (De Niro-SPS Highlight / Hohenstein)
was developed from age four under Chris’s guidance and he took over the ride late in Donarweiss’s six-year-old year. By the following spring Donarweiss was winning at Prix St. Georges and earned his lifetime breeding approval with the AHS. He was ranked first for USDF All-Breeds Awards at Prix St. Georges that year and within two years he was winning at Grand Prix. “Donarweiss was one of the smartest horses I’ve ever trained. He learned and understood new exercises so quickly. In just three days he was easily doing a line of fifteen one-tempis.” Bugatti Hilltop (Bergamon-SPS Raffinesse/Rubinstein) was
the 2008 USDF Region 1 Champion at Prix St. Georges and Reserve Champion for the Intermediaire Freestyle with Chris. “Bugatti’s exemplary temperament allowed him to compete successfully with multiple riders in the FEI, including serving as the perfect schoolmaster to bring a younger trainer into the FEI ring,” he explains. “His gaits naturally offer a lot of volume and expression.” Balissa HTF (Bugatti-EM Contesse / Contucci) is an Elite
Mare Candidate that Chris has been riding since she was just a few months under saddle. Balissa was the 2011 AHS Champion for Four-Year Olds and was reserve champion for USDF Horse of the Year Awards at First Level in 2012 and the AHS All- Breeds Award winner that same year. “Tis horse is one of Jane’s special favorites! She worked her way into our hearts very quickly. She’s got an amazing work ethic and loves to please and learn new things. I love being able to go out and show our Hilltop-bred horses that are by our stallions. At times I can close my eyes and almost feel Bugatti under me! Like her sire, Balissa’s temperament is outstanding and it plays an enormous factor in her success as a riding horse,” says Chris. “Tis is a horse that I think will prove that the ‘normal’ but correct young horse can be developed into an excellent FEI horse. If they start with three good gaits, correct conformation and super rideability, then a correct training program can easily develop them into the ‘fancy’ horse.” v
Photo: Cabana Boy (Contucci / Bordeaux), in the honor round for the 2009 USEF Developing Horse Championships. This was his third consecutive National Young Horse Championship title.
Erin McCardell/Hilltop Farm
American Hanoverian Society
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