on a Star
IN T ERNATI ONAL TALEN T Kathleen Raine
Kathleen Raine earned her place on two U.S. teams with Avontuur (Ultra- zon x Watteau xx). Her mother Betsy bought the bay KWPN stallion in the Netherlands as a three-year-old. Avontuur and Kathleen were on the U.S. team that won a bronze medal at the 1994 World Championship in Le Hague, the Netherlands. They were also the alternate for the 1996 Olym- pic Games. At the 1996 Olympic trials in Glad-
stone, New Jersey, Kathleen said at the press conference, “Avontuur has a look about him that he enjoys the work. It’s fun to watch him, and it’s fun to ride him.” Eight years later her husband
David Wightman found another young Grand Prix candidate, the mare Breanna (Brentano II x Welt- meyer). David bought her as a four- year-old at the Verden (Germany) auction. “It was love at first sight,” David said in a 2006 interview regard- ing the purchase of Breanna at the auction in 2004. ”She was the only horse that I was interested in bring- ing home.” How did he knew she was the one? “It was the whole horse. She had the right temperament, combined with hotness, and her gaits and her look.” With Kathleen, Breanna excelled
in FEI Young Horse classes. The mare won her first Prix St. Georges in 2008, and by 2011 was earning blue ribbons in Grand Prix. Kathleen competed the mare internationally in 2013, earn- ing a team bronze medal at the FEI Nations Cup in Hickstead, England. Kathleen explains she looks first for temperament: “That’s a horse that
really wants to work with you. [I look for] reliability, consistency and, obvi- ously, gaits. I think it is really impor- tant that the horse enjoys what he does. And the rider—they both want to work as a team.” Developing the young horse takes
patience. “They all develop at differ- ent times,” she explains. “Some take a little bit longer. It doesn’t mean that it’s not going to come together.” “I’ve always gotten my horses
as young horses,” she continues, “so I know them really well and we have become a partnership. In order to know if they’re going to be an international Grand Prix horse, that means more time to develop to see if they have that quality.” At their Adventure Farms in
Murrieta, California, Kathleen and David also breed young dressage horses. When looking at prospects, Kathleen explains she wants to see the way they use their hind legs and freedom of their shoulders. Then she examines the conformation, the way the neck is set on, and if the horse is built uphill. She looks for ‘swing’ in their natural gaits, adding that this quality is easiest to develop in the trot. She also watches for elasticity in a prospect’s movement, noting that the trainer can increase suspension as the horse gains more strength. How does she judge a horse’s
temperament? “Some start out consistent. A four-year-old I have can handle all sorts of situations. He’s really good from the beginning. Others we’ve had have been a little bit hotter in the beginning, and then come together once they experience more things and trust the rider.”
All photos by Charlene Strickland (except photo of Qredit and Michael Bragdell on page 18).
TOP: Kathleen Raine and Avontuur (Ultra- zon x Watteau xx), competing at Pantano CDI, Chandler, Arizona in1998, her first international horse. BOTTOM: Kathleen Raine and Breanna (Brentano II x Welt- meyer)., winning the six-year-old champi- onship at the 2006 USEF Western Selection Trials, Flintridge Riding Club, La Cañada, California. Later in 2013 the pair earned a team bronze medal at the FEI Nations Cup in Hickstead, England.
Warmbloods Today 17
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