ISSUE 69
AUG 2021
OUR
SILVER
STREAK

AUSSIE EVENTERS TAKE TOKYO
THE STORY BEHIND
A HORSE CALLED VIRGIL
HEATH RYAN
REFLECTS ON THE GAMES

PLUS: DARREN GOCHER REBOOTS EA, MADONNA: MAD ABOUT HORSES, RIDING FLYING CHANGES, ROYAL WINDSOR, DREAM HORSE, STONEWALL EQUESTRIAN, TRAILRACE TRAIL-BLAZERS, HEALTH & FEEDING

AUSTRALIA`S BEST EQUINE MAGAZINE
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ISSUE 69

CONTENTS

AUG 2021
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A Few Words

FROM THE CHAIRMAN

ROBERT MCKAY

Ryan's Rave

WHAT WENT RIGHT (& WHAT WENT WRONG) AT TOKYO

BY HEATH RYAN

Eventing

AUSSIE EVENTERS' SILVER STREAK

BY EQ LIFE

Eventing

AND ALONG CAME VIRGIL

BY ROGER FITZHARDINGE

Special feature

DARREN GOCHER HITS THE GROUND RUNNING

BY ADELE SEVERS

Special feature

WONDERFUL WINDSOR

BY ELLI BIRCH

Health

UNDERSTANDING TENDON SHEATH INFLAMMATION

BY DR MAXINE BRAIN

Lifestyle

MADONNA: MAD ON HORSES

BY BERNARD BALE

Property

STONEWALL EQUESTRIAN, WIZARDRY AT WORK

BY SUZY JARRATT

Health

THE IMPORTANCE OF VITAMIN K

BY ELLIE JOLLEY

Training

FLYING CHANGES: HOW TO EARN YOUR WINGS

BY EQ LIFE/ROGER FITZHARDINGE

Health

HEMP SEED OFFERS THE IDEAL PROTEIN

BY EQ LIFE

Lifestyle

IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO WIN A HORSE RACE

BY SUZY JARRATT

EQ Families

THE TRAILBLAZERS BEHIND TRAILRACE

BY ROGER FITZHARDINGE
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© FEI/Libby Law Photography.
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The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games will be one to remember for many reasons, not least the Australian eventing team’s brilliant silver medal. Andrew Hoy and Vassily de Lassos, Shane Rose and Virgil, and Kevin McNab and Scuderia 1918 Don Quidam produced an outstanding performance that left equestrian fans around the country cheering.

“[Andrew] also competed at the
Alternative Olympics in France…”

Tokyo 2020 has had a five-year build-up, and no one quite believed it would go ahead until it did. After four days of thrilling action in the eventing, the team gold medal was won by Great Britain for the first time in nearly 50 years, with 89.30 penalties. The Australian team — comprised of Andrew Hoy and Vassily de Lassos, Shane Rose and Virgil, and Kevin McNab and Scuderia 1918 Don Quidam — took home the silver on a score of 100.20, while the defending champions France claimed the bronze on 101.50.

It’s been five years since Australia claimed team bronze in Rio and 13 years since they claimed silver in Beijing. At the 2018 World Equestrian Games (WEG), we just missed a medal in sixth place. In Tokyo, it was a triumphant return to form and a hopeful sign of things to come ahead of the 2022 World Championships in Herning and the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

The individual standings — which were decided following a second showjumping round — saw Germany’s Julia Krajewski hold her nerve to become the first woman in history to claim individual eventing gold riding Amande de B’Neville. Australia’s Wendy Schaeffer would have been the first, if it wasn’t for a format change ahead of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics; Wendy — riding her Pony Club horse Sunburst and barely recovered from a broken leg — topped the leaderboard when the Australian team took home the gold medal. However, it was decided for Atlanta that the individual competition would be run entirely separate, rather than deriving the results from the team list, and this meant that Blyth Tait and Ready Teddy took individual gold. This format also ran at Sydney 2000, however, by Athens 2004 it was back to running the two events combined.

Great Britain’s young gun Tom McEwen on Toledo de Kerser took home the individual silver at Tokyo to add to his team gold, just 0.3 penalties ahead of Andrew and Vassily who claimed a historic individual bronze medal.

ANDREW HOY & VASSILY DE LASSOS

Every equestrian fan in Australia let out a sigh of relief and a yell of excitement when Andrew Hoy and Vassily de Lassos jumped clear to secure the silver medal for Australia.

It had been a few years between drinks for Andrew Hoy; the last time he took home an Olympic medal was at Sydney in 2000 when he claimed team gold on Darien Powers and individual silver on Swizzle In (the individual event was run separately). At the 2018 WEG with Vassily, he was part of the sixth-placed Aussie team and finished on his dressage score in fourth, just shy of an individual medal.

At Tokyo, 21 years on from glory in Sydney, 62-year-old Andrew anchored the Aussie team and helped bring home the silver medal, as well as individual bronze. Andrew’s Olympic record now stands at three gold (1992, 1996 and 2000), two silver (2000 and 2020) and a bronze medal (2020); swimming stars Ian Thorpe and Grant Hackett are the only Australian male Olympians to have won more. Andrew has also contested an Australian-record eight Games — however, a little-known fact is he also competed at the Alternative Olympics in France when Australia (and many of the other top eventing nations) boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics. On that occasion, they won team bronze.

You can read more about Andrew’s Olympic record and lead up to Tokyo here.

“It’s an absolute privilege for
me to ride Vassily.”

Across the competition at Tokyo 2020, Andrew and Vassily de Lassos — a Selle Français Anglo-Arab gelding, by Jaguar Mail out of Illusion Perdue (Jalienny) — were the only combination to finish on their dressage score from an original start list of 63 combinations. “I think with where I’ve come from with Vassily de Lassos and his dressage, I believe it’s the maximum that we could have had [in the dressage phase]. There were tiny little things that I can always improve,” said Andrew of his dressage test.

Heading into the cross country, Andrew felt the time would be a challenge to get, however, he also felt he was “sitting on one of the greatest cross-country horses in the world” and that it was achievable. He was correct; Vassily produced the equal-fastest cross country round of the competition (on par with Germany’s Michael Jung and Chipmunk FRH). Their cross country round was not without drama; after the fall of another combination on course, Andrew and Vassily were held for a considerable time early on in their round. It was certainly a moment not often faced by competitors, and it’s when experience and mental toughness come to the fore — as well as the incredible trust between horse and rider.

“When I was stopped, the cooling system, I have to say was absolutely excellent; until I got under the tent, I could feel the temperature rising all the time,” said Andrew, praising how officials handled the situation of having horses stopped on course in the Tokyo heat. “When you are galloping, you have wind on your face and wind on your body, and so you stay very cool. As soon as you stop, you don’t have that wind and so your temperature rises. Vassily’s temperature went up half a degree from when it was first taken in the cooling area, but [it was] still very low. And his heart rate, he was back to 100. He’s just phenomenally fit. A horse would normally be at 125-135 pulling up like that.”

Heading into the jumping phase as the final Australian rider to go, the team was less than a rail ahead of France; Andrew and Vassily simply had to jump clear to claim silver. Fortunately, Vassily is one of the sport’s most reliable in the jumping phase, and has only ever had one rail down in international competition since being partnered with Andrew. They jumped clear.

“We’ve got the most wonderful relationship, this horse and myself,” said Andrew following the team showjumping round. “[Vassily] was so fresh he was having a little buck in the warm-up, it’s as if I did a dressage schooling exercise with him the day before. It’s an absolute joy to work with him every day; every day he puts a smile on my face.”

Andrew described winning team silver as a very special moment. “We don’t come to these championships, especially Olympic Games, to finish in fourth, fifth or sixth. We only come to get a medal, and look, it’s been a complete team effort; if it wasn’t for Kevin, and also for Shane in the team, and this complete support team, we wouldn’t be here.”

However, Andrew’s Games didn’t end with a team silver medal. Returning to the arena for the second round of showjumping to decide the individual medals, it was another clear round and a bronze medal — just one rail off gold on 29.6.

“The joy that I get riding this horse is just unbelievable. I always use one word to describe what I’m trying to achieve: that word is harmony. And that’s what I’m working towards. Doesn’t matter whether it’s the dressage, the cross-country, or the showjumping. And when you see the great riders and there’s harmony, it’s then just poetry in motion,” said Andrew of his special relationship with Vassily. Interestingly, Andrew rides the horse in the same bridle and bit in all three phases.

“We’re all mates on this team…”

While much has been said about Andrew being the oldest rider in the eventing field (and he’s now Australia’s oldest Olympic medallist), he’s proof that age is merely a number. “I’m actually grateful people can still say how old I am because when I started in the sport I used to be really proud of being the youngest person in the team. It’s just an absolute joy that I’m still so healthy. When people meet me in the village they say, ‘Hey, so what do you do? Are you an official?’ And I say, ‘Well, I’m an athlete’.”

With age comes experience, and Andrew has certainly seen a lot change in his sport of choice over the years. “[The sport is] light years ahead of where we were, when I rode my first World Championships in 1978. It’s changed immensely, I believe for the good. With all the changes that have happened in my lifetime, I’ve looked at and totally disagreed with some and I thought, ‘Why is this change happening?’ And now I’m at the stage of, if there’s a change, ‘OK, what do I have to do to change for me to be there?’ Because it’s not about fighting change, it’s about working with change. And the people that are running the sport are only doing it in the best interest. Everyone’s got an opinion on whether it’s right or wrong. But forget about debating it. If a rule comes in, just make it happen.”

When it comes to safety in the sport, Andrew is philosophical and uses the analogy of how road safety has progressed. “The safety of cars has improved immensely, but there are still people who die driving cars. That is normally a driver error. And as tough as it is, when really bad accidents have happened, it’s normally rider error. And we all need to look at it. There’s not one rider here that hasn’t had a fall, and a proper fall at some stage. But you have to analyse, ‘Why has that fall happened? How can I do it better?’ Life can be dangerous or life can be very safe. A lot of people would describe my sport as high risk. It’s not high risk for me because I train it every day. If I got in a Formula One car, that would be dangerous because I don’t have the skills.”

Vassily de Lassos, who was groomed to perfection at Tokyo thanks to Clémentine Girardeau, is owned by Paula and David Evans — and as Andrew explained, his ride on the horse all came about following a rather interesting progression of events. “I met Paula Evans when she was part of a charity called the Wobbleberries. And I donated a day of coaching to the Wobbleberry fund. And it was the ones that had raised the most money that could come for the day. Paula raised money, she came, she was part of my first lesson. They’ve done a little bit of walk, trot and canter. Then I spoke with all of those in the group, and I said, ‘Now I want you to just go out and I want you to canter around and over the pole’. Paula took four canter strides, the horse bucked, she was thrown off on the floor, broke her collarbone. So not a good start to the relationship,” recalled Andrew.

“So I was so upset by this that my wife [Stefanie] and I sent flowers to Paula, and we kept on calling to see how she was. And it was following that, she then called us and said, ‘Well, we’ve never had enough event horses. We’d like to know what’s involved with having an event horse’. So we had one Saturday lunchtime free, we said, ‘Come for lunch, and we’ll talk you through the process’. And then here we are, the first horse that they own, Vassily de Lassos, one of the great horses of the world. And it’s an absolute privilege for me to ride Vassily. I’ve had some very, very special horses, and he’s right at the top.”

Paris in three years is well within reach for the combination, and in addition Andrew isn’t about to dismiss another Games on home soil. Speaking of Brisbane 2032, he said: “I’m ready, as of today. Time will tell!”

SHANE ROSE & VIRGIL

The only Australian-based combination in the team, Shane Rose and 16-year-old Virgil produced a performance that had everyone smiling in Tokyo. In helping the Aussie team to a silver medal, Shane added to his team silver from Beijing in 2008 with All Luck, and team bronze at Rio in 2016 with CP Qualified. Shane didn’t have the Olympics he had hoped for in Rio when he had some issues at the water jump, and he was no doubt out to make amends at Tokyo — and that he did.

He and Virgil were brilliant, from a solid dressage test, to going clear and under time on cross country. “The [cross country] round went pretty much to plan. Surprisingly, I was quite down [on time] at three minutes, a lot more than I anticipated I’d be. I probably just tried to catch up a little too quickly, and had a bit of an average distance coming up the hill at [fence] 12,” said Shane of the one sticky moment on course that had viewers at home gasping.

“He [Virgil] took off at it thinking it’s a big fence, and needed some power, and I was like, ‘no, no, no’. I needed to take just a fraction more time there to give him a chance to see the line I was intending to ride. When he did, he helped me out. He’s a very experienced horse, a super jumper, so we put that behind us pretty quickly and were up on minutes from there on.”

In the jumping phase, the pair had just one rail down in both the team and individual rounds. They finished the team section in 12th place on 35.7, and leapt to 10th in the individual rankings after the final round of jumping with a finishing score of 39.7. Ever the team player, Shane was also out on cross country lending Andrew a hand when he was held on course, in a moment that exemplified the meaning of team spirit. “We’re all mates on this team so you ride everyone’s highs and lows with them, but we obviously think team first in Australia and how you perform individually affects your team-mates so you always want to give your best foot forward,” said Shane following his final ride.

“So for me watching them do well is great, and if myself or them has a bad moment you feel that with them. In eventing we don’t get team opportunities very often; I’m based in Australia and these guys are based in Europe so we only get to see each other every few years and when we do come together it’s amazing how quickly we bond.”

Speaking of his beloved Virgil, Shane could only describe the horse as amazing. “It’s great to have a healthy horse at a championships. He’s in great form.” Virgil is owned by Shane, his wife Niki, and Michelle Hasibar, and was groomed at Tokyo by Rachel Watts.

You can read more about Michelle Hasibar and the wonderful Virgil thanks to this article from Roger Fitzhardinge.

KEVIN MCNAB & SCUDERIA 1918 DON QUIDAM

British-based Kevin McNab probably never expected to start in the team. Originally the second reserve, the Olympic debutant moved up to take the place of travelling reserve following the withdrawal of Chris Burton and Quality Purdey. With Tokyo utilising a different format than previous Games, with just three combinations in the team rather than four with a drop score, the reserve did play a different role. Not only there to step into the team should something go awry in the lead-up to the first phase, they could also be subbed in during the competition on veterinary grounds — albeit incurring a penalty for the team.

Late on the eve of the dressage phase, it was announced that Kevin and Don Quidam — a 13-year-old KWPN gelding owned by Scuderia 1918 and groomed by Lucy Hartley — would start in the team, with Stuart Tinney and Leporis instead taking on the reserve role “based on advice from the team veterinarians”. Well, Kevin certainly took the opportunity with both hands.

While he felt their dressage test was not their best test, it still produced a solid score of 32.1 that held the Aussie team in good stead. Just 2.8 time penalties were added following the cross country, and as the first to go for Australia in the jumping phase, they were clear.

“I felt really good when he started, and then when I came around and I jumped the water tray he didn’t travel as much as I would have liked,” said Kevin, recounting their brilliant clear under pressure. “So, I had to change my mind and decide to do seven [strides] there rather than the six to the treble. At the same time, I also decided that I would also add one to the double at 9 A B”. Kevin and Don Quidam finished the team jumping round in 11th place on 34.9. In the individual jumping round, they did have three rails down — but at the end of a long, hot campaign in Tokyo it could certainly be forgiven! The pair finished on 46.9 and in 14th place individually. Following his rise from second reserve to Olympic silver medallist, Kevin said he was “speechless” and describes the outcome as “absolutely amazing”.

“I was actually settled into the role I was in [as travelling reserve], so I was really, really surprised. At the same time, I felt for Stuart; they were big shoes to fill. There was a bit of pressure there to try and step up there to do his job.”

It was certainly a tough Games for Stuart Tinney, who in addition to Leporis being relegated to reserve, also had his top horse Celebration go lame on the cusp of team selection back home in Australia. The last-minute withdrawal of Leporis was certainly tough, and a gut-wrenching feeling that Shane Rose in particular could identify with. “I’ve been in Stuart’s situation where your horse has gone lame. In 1996, my horse went lame. I wasn’t selected, but I felt the world was coming down,” he recalls. Eventing fans will remember Shane’s young rider horse, Mr Joe Cool, who was in contention or Olympic selection before going lame in the lead-up to the Games.

“And then in 2012, I had to move out of the Olympic Village when my horse [Taurus] went lame, so it rips your heart out being in that position. But we’re a real team and, unfortunately, things happen; we all know that. Kevin’s done an amazing job… three weeks ago he wasn’t in the squad. And Stuart’s been amazing, supporting us; he’s been every bit a part of this team. Unfortunately, he’s not here with us up on stage, but he certainly is part of this team,” continued Shane.

Kevin, who took up eventing after reading about it in a horse magazine in his early teens, said his first Olympics was an amazing experience. “I didn’t expect it, but I’m very happy to be in the position. It’s been a fantastic team. Everyone’s great to be with and I’ve learned a lot and really appreciate it.”

Said Andrew of Kevin’s performance: “First Olympics to win a silver medal. That’s pretty impressive, I wish I’d done that in my first Olympics!”

You will be able to read all about Kevin and his journey to the Games with Scuderia 1918 Don Quidam in the September issue of Equestrian Life. EQ

Thank you to High Performance Media & Communications Manager Kirsty Pasto for her media assistance in producing this article. Be sure to follow the Australian Equestrian Team for updates on our high performance athletes.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE TO READ:

And Along Came Virgil – (Equestrian Life, August 2021)

Record 8th Olympics for Hoy the ‘Country Boy’ – (Equestrian Life, July 2021)

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