was something we would be interested in.” Nancy and Natascha hadn’t heard of the horse prior to his appearance in the auction catalog, but relied on their friend’s judgment and bought Can Do sight unseen, over the phone. What appealed most to Natascha about the young
gelding was that he was just really ‘off the ground.’ “He was under saddle at the sale. I believe there was a free-jump video, but he always jumped better under saddle,” she says, explaining that at the auction, horses are shown over a course of four or five jumps, with no combinations, at 1.20 meters. Fortunately for the pair, this plain bay gelding wasn’t one of the horses that auction bidders fought over. Natascha thinks that his “big” personality, as well as his looks, may have discouraged some buyers. “Standing in the stall, he is not super pretty,” she explains. “He has lots of character in his face, but he’s not a horse where you go in and say, ‘Wow, he’s so pretty.’” As a result, his sale price was relatively low. “I didn’t know that when we saw him online that he
was such a character,” she adds. “He’s an extremely playful horse. You’d ride him to a jump and he’d land and buck and play. Sometimes he was fairly difficult, because he was so lively. But he always wanted to jump. That was his favorite thing to do. He thought flatwork was a little boring.” Even in the stall, she says, he remained very playful and needed a large ball to keep him occupied. Can Do was in Colorado only a few months before
being sold. “We bought him in October and sold him around Christmas time to Toby and Melissa Cromwell, who had Harriet Bunker as a rider,” says Natascha. “I certainly wish we would have kept him!”
New Name and New Success Harriet showed the horse in Young Jumper Champion- ship classes in Ocala and at Thermal. Can Do stayed with the Cromwells until 2014, when Monarch Interna- tional, LLC bought him for Nicoletta Heidegger, who rode him in Junior/ Amateur classes, coached by trainer Will Simpson. Nicoletta is the one who changed
the horse’s name to The Dude because of his personality. It became his barn name as well. “What’s better than that?” says Will. “We just call him The Dude. Nicoletta was very successful with him, and rode him in a few shows in Spruce Meadows. We all realized how good he can be. With her blessing, I took the reins and here he goes. It’s a hell of a
Opposite & Right: Will Simpson and The Dude on course, March 6, 2015, in the $25,000 Smartpak Grand Prix at HITS Thermal.
Warmbloods Today 29
story. She’s very much a part of the naming of the horse and his care.” Will credits the entire Monarch International team for their support, saying, “It’s been a lot of people. The whole Heidegger family has been involved and behind him. It’s been a real project for the whole organization.” Will first competed the horse in 2014 at Thermal’s
Desert Circuit VI. The pair won their first class later in 2014 at HITS on the Hudson in Level 6, 1.30 meters. He describes starting in their first Grand Prix a few
months later which was a clear indication that The Dude was ready to move up. The show was in November 2014 at the National Sunshine Series at Thermal. “We snuck up [to the 1.50 height] last year—there was a class that was labeled 1.35, National Standard. To me that was a 1.35 class, but if they say National Standard Grand Prix, it has to be 1.50. We had him entered [in The Sunshine Classic Grand Prix] and we said, ‘Let’s give it a try.’ It was under the lights in a small ring, and he jumped clear. So we had an idea he could do it.” The plan for the 2015 Thermal
circuit—eight weeks with one off week in the middle—was to see how The Dude matured in Grand Prix. “I was going to go in a few classes in the middle of the circuit and see how we finished up,” says Will. He was not expect- ing what would come next. His first win was in a Level 7 (1.40) class. Then The Dude
Will Simpson
captured first place prize money in five Grands Prix, earn- ing over $30,000. In the first one, this eager youngster went double clear and won in a field of 28, with several ridden by Olympic riders. In February, he won two Grands Prix in the same week, both with double clear rounds. In the
Charlene Strickland
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