Heather Blitz
Based in Wellington, Florida, Heather has chosen young horses she’s brought to international success. She trained horses for Oak Hill Ranch, where she rode their stallion Rambo and later purchased his daughter, Arabella (x Lando). “Knowing the bloodlines is really important,” says Heather. “Bloodlines can be the most predictable thing, even more than what you see in front of you.” From her years riding Rambo, Heather bought Arabella as a
weanling and started training her as a three-year-old. “Arabella has that same work ethic as Rambo,” she said in 2004 at a press conference after showing the mare Prix St. Georges. “She has an absolutely wonderful temperament.” “I put a lot of weight on the breeding. Working at Oak Hill
Ranch, I had the experience of seeing how genetics play out. We could see 10 babies from one stallion, or 10 from 10 differ- ent stallions,” she remarks recently. “It’s really intensity. As you go in the sport and get different bloodlines under you, you get a list of what you click with. It’s wise to stick with known genes, known lines that you know you can click with.” She discusses another successful breeding venture, result- ing in the Danish Warmblood Paragon (Don Schufro x Loran): “I rode his mother [Pari Lord]. I started her at three and liked her rideability, and we wanted one of her babies. I was also riding young horses by Don Schufro, and I wanted a little of both. I put them together genetically.” On Paragon, Heather won the individual silver medal and
the team gold at the 2011 Pan-American Games. “At three months old, he had a lot of balance,” she recalls. “He had air time, he had presence—the things I could see as an upper level horse.” Then Paragon went through growing stages, and Heather questioned her prediction. “Until he was five years old, I didn’t know he could be a good Grand Prix horse, let alone an FEI
LEFT: Heather Blitz and Arabella (Rambo x Lando) at Prix St. Georges in San Juan Capistrano, Califor- nia in 2004 and also in 2007 at the Grand Prix at the VR Classics CDI in Neumünster, Germany.
horse. Then he turned five, and I realized he had some real potential.” She notes a trainer
might approach a talented young horse differently than a less attractive, more average horse. That training of a “future Olympian” is going to be biased, she says. “All horses should go through the same level of intensity in training, with the same systematic
program, and then you see as you go,” she advises. “Look for soundness, temperament, as well as a horse that
can connect to people,” she says about selecting young pros- pects. “You need balance, strength, ability, suppleness. Then it’s still going to depend on how they are trained up. Even if a horse has special talent, they need to go through all the
Two Young Horse Winners Make it to Grand Prix
Sanceo (San Remo x Ramiro’s Son II) is one of nine horses on the short list for the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games. Trainer Sabine Schut-Kery found him in Germany, saying he had only been ridden ten times before she tried him. As a young horse, he won FEI Five-Year-Old and Six-Year-Old classes. At a 2011 Trainers’ and Judges’ Forum, in the Five-Year-
Old test, he scored an 8.6 by former Olympic judge Dr. Dieter Schule. Sabine has brought the Hanoverian stallion up through the levels, earning the U.S. National Championship for Developing Horse, Prix St. Georges, and a team gold medal at the 2015 Pan- American Games. Qredit Hilltop (Quaterback x Dream of Glory) is a U.S.-bred Oldenburg. He was USDF Horse of the Year as a four-year-old in 2012. He won the 2017 Intermediate II Championship at the U.S. Dressage Finals in Lexington, Kentucky. In 2018 he started compet- ing in Grand Prix. Qredit was bred by Judy Yancey of Yancey Farms, Fredericksburg, Texas and is ridden by Michael Bragdell.
Left: Qredit Hilltop (Quaterback x Dream of Glory) shown by Chris Hickey as a four-year-old at Lamplight Equestrian Center, in Wayne, Illinois, 2012. Right: Michael Bragdell took over the reins when Qredit was five years old, and his career continued up the levels with much success. This photo was taken at the US Dressage Finals last year where the pair were Inter- mediare II champions.
18 July/August 2018
SusanJStickle.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
