POINT OF VIEW
A Word about Specialization At a time of systematic specialization in breeding, it is important to realize that the “complete horse” concept should remain a foundation to the philosophy of breed- ing. Several jumpers at this year’s WEG looked and ap- peared to ride like good dressage hors- es: uphill balance, eminently modifiable canter, square frames, a well-placed neck that stayed in place when the rider adjusted the distance. To name a few, Chardonnay (Austria), Clooney (Swit- zerland) and Zeremonie (our own Laura Kraut’s horse) come to mind. Dressage riding is also appearing more and more in the techniques of jumper riders. The new world cham- pion Simone Blum gave everybody a riding lesson by showing how well trained her mare DSP Alice (by Askari) really was. The adjustments were impeccable, the will- ingness of the mare to jump the fences and leave them standing by every effort possible was obvi- ous and her head and neck posi- tions were always correct (though Alice has a long neck that could be more complicated to manage). Maybe it was a partnership made in heaven, or maybe we just wit- nessed the emergence of the rare rider who is both talented and clas- sically trained, a female Ludger Beerbaum in the making. In the last two rounds, she didn’t touch a pole with the 11-year-old mare. I recently read a Nelson (“Nec-
Years later, Necco sold a famous jumping mare called
“Remember, good horses can do everything.
Stella to a good friend of mine in California, Judy Len- non. The mare had three colts that I worked when I lived there: Quick Star, Olisco and a third who died premature- ly. Quick Star ended up as a super jumper who sired Big Star, with whom Nick Skelton earned Olympic gold in 2016. Specialization is not much better for
Breeding strictly specialist horses ends up in eventual dead-ends.”
riders than it is for horses. I think it is essential for young people to jump in the ring and cross-country, as well as gallop a few race horses, before spe- cializing in dressage. Conversely, jump- ers need to learn enough dressage to
prepare their horses correctly. This trend was evident at WEG and in some horses, like Don VHP Z N.O.P, the lead- ing horse in the world at the moment, was beautifully presented by Harrie Smolders. This large liver chestnut stallion could become a top dres- sage horse any day.
co”) Pessoa column in which he said the biggest hole in his early riding technique was the lack of dressage training. As a child, I watched him in Paris win with Gran Geste, the most famous horse of the period. He inspired my career by the fluid- ity of his riding and the partnership he had with his horses. By the time I met him and rode at his stable in L’Isle Adam, France, he was at the peak of his career and his uncanny horseman- ship qualified him as “The Sorcerer.” He had absorbed German riding principles and kept his extraordinary feel- ing for horses, succeeding with difficult animals like Nag- ir and Miss Möet, a very difficult mare who jumped inter- nationally with Necco for 12 years, winning the last of 72 puissance competitions when she was 20.
60 November/December 2018
Gold medalists Simone Blum and her mare DSP Alice. JP praises their relationship and believes the world has witnessed “the emer- gence of the rare rider who is both talented and classically trained…”
World Class Dressage – With a Breeder’s Eye The dressage classes were also very interesting from a breeder’s point of view. Ever since Totilas appeared on the world scene as the greatest dressage horse anybody had ever seen (and still holds that title in my mind and heart), breeders have been try- ing to emulate his type and abil- ity. First and foremost, the black stallion had an amazing relation- ship with his rider Edward Gal. In addition, Totilas showed model piaffe, passage, transitions and pirouettes. More importantly, his cadence was perfect at all times and his symmetry of movement was close to ideal. The one-tempi changes were sometimes Edward Gal’s bugaboos, but the relax-
ation was also notable because the horse hardly ever moved his tail in reaction to the aids and always walked off calmly after impeccable halts. Yet the stallion was controversial. Acerbic critics not-
ed Totilas’ extensions did not cover enough ground, though they were very expressive (judged at the time by the peanut gallery as “artificial,” as if there is anything natural in a dressage test, starting with round circles
Shelley Higgins/MacMillan Photography
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