When Simone Pearce first took over the ride on Gestüt Sprehe’s stallion Destano in late 2019, the Tokyo Olympics were a distant dream. However, following a postponed Games and three Australian record scores, the 29-year-old will make her Olympic debut.

Victorian-born Simone Pearce has just been named as part of the Australian dressage team for the Tokyo Olympic Games with 14-year-old stallion Destano (Desperados FRH x Brentano II). It will be her first Olympic Games, a much-deserved accolade that comes on the back of more than a decade spent working her way to the top in Europe.

It’s no overnight success story; the young Aussie has earned her stripes working for some of the best in the business, and has now been based at Gestüt Sprehe, a performance horse stud owned by the father and uncle of German Olympian Kristina Bröring-Sprehe, since late 2018. Here, her talents have been rewarded and she’s been entrusted with numerous quality horses. There have been many milestones — both small and large — along the way that have led to this moment, but gaining an Olympic berth certainly tops them all.

“I’m so excited to make my first Olympics; I’ve been dreaming about this since I was a little three-year-old girl at Pony Club. To be here now, it really is a dream come true. I feel like if I can do it, anyone can do it,” says Simone, who not only made the team with Destano, but actually had two other horses qualified for selection.

Humble as always, Simone is quick to thank everyone who has supported her along the way, from her parents, to her long-time groom and fellow Australian Emily Reudavey, the team at Gestüt Sprehe, and her trainer Oliver Oelreich.

“Also, an unbelievably huge thank you must go to Sabine Rueben, says Simone. “She is a massive part of how I’m in this position today. For the last 10 years she has guided my career and opened doors for me and believed in me right from the very beginning when no one else did; I’m externally grateful and so proud to ride for you!

“Last but certainly not least, I want to thank my amazing horses for making my dreams come true! To have three horses qualified for the Olympics is a fairy tale. Amandori, Double Joy and my big love Destano, thank you… it’s all because of you!”

THIRD AUSTRALIAN RECORD

Simone’s selection follows her record-breaking performance with Destano in the Grand Prix Freestyle at Pilisjászfalu CDI-W in Hungary, where she scored 81.385% to claim a third Australian record. The pair now hold the Australian record in the Grand Prix with 76.261%, the Special with 77.894%, and now the Freestyle. The latter was previously held by Olympian Mary Hanna and her mare Calanta, with the pair scoring 80.145%, at Willinga Park Dressage by the Sea last year.

When Simone completed her final halt with Destano, she felt it was the best Freestyle test they had done — and when an Australian record score flashed across the board, that feeling was confirmed. “I was very, very happy of course when I saw that the score was over 80%. You never know how it translates, but my feeling in the test was really nice and he felt like he was 100% with me,” says Simone.

“It was actually the first time I’d ridden that test together with the music. It’s always a little bit nerve-wracking when you haven’t ridden it at a show before, but even more so when you haven’t practised it at home before!” reveals Simone. “I’d ridden it through with (Grand Prix stallion) Amandori and I knew how to ride it, but I was anxious to see how it would work with Destano.”

Simone says that the canter tour is a highlight of the new Freestyle. “I really love the canter tour. I think Destano has such an impressive and amazing canter, and you can really go from movement to movement in this test. I think I have seven or eight movements in a row, directly from movement to movement, and that’s really fun to ride and I think it looks really impressive.”

“He was so soft and so happy.”

Simone explains that Australian Olympian Lyndal Oatley, who is also based in Germany, helped her with the choreography. “We played around a little bit; she said what she thought would look good, and then I tried it and I said what felt good, and we sort of came in the middle with this choreography.

“I love the music; it’s definitely the part of the Freestyle that gives me so much emotion and makes it really special to ride. It is full credit to Dressage & Music, the producers of the Freestyle. I think the music is really nice to ride to and I had a great feeling with Destano.”

Simone reveals that her new Freestyle music is actually very close to heart. “The music is special to me because it was the music that I was always riding at stallion shows to with Bernay, my very special horse that passed away last year. I think that anybody who’s seen a stallion show in Germany will think of this music as Bernay’s music. It’s really touching for me to ride to this song, and it brings me so much emotion. I absolutely love it.”

A year ago, when Simone and Destano had just achieved their record scores in the Grand Prix and Special, and the Tokyo Olympics had just become a real possibility, she had only been riding the stallion for a little over six months and her hopes for the year ahead were to continue to develop his throughness and his expression in the test. Looking back now, Simone feels he is a lot more through, soft and uphill in his way of going — but of course, those are aspects of his work that she’s still developing. “It’s always something we hope to improve further; you’re never at the end of the line when it comes to dressage. There are always things to improve and a direction to go in… that’s what’s really cool about the sport.

“At Budapest (Pilisjászfalu CDI-W) I had absolutely the best feeling I have ever had on him in a competition. He was so soft and so happy, and the whole thing was really harmonious. That’s something I really strive for in my riding with all of my horses; I’m very happy when I have that feeling that they are really with me and we’re really working as a happy team.”

NOT THE ONLY STAR IN THE STABLES

Of course, Destano is not the only star in Simone’s stables at Gestüt Sprehe — she also qualified for the Olympics with 10-year-old bay stallion Amandori (Ampere x Ra), owned by Gestüt Sprehe, and 14-year-old Chestnut stallion Double Joy 4 (Desperados FRH x Prince Orac xx), owned by Sabine Rüben.

A year ago, Amandori had only just made his international debut, and he has certainly progressed a lot since then. “Amandori has done a really fantastic job in the past year. This time last year he was just starting Inter II, and now he’s debuted at Grand Prix and he’s doing an absolutely fantastic job. I’ve been riding and training him since he was six, and to see him progress like this is so nice and it’s so much fun to ride him. We know each other inside out and I feel like we have a really harmonious, good team vibe going on between us. I’m so proud of him; I feel like every show he’s getting stronger and performing better. He’s really cool, and I’m really proud of him.”

Double Joy 4 is Simone’s newest Grand Prix ride and already he’s made the winner’s circle, taking out the CDI4* Grand Prix and Special at Pilisjászfalu with scores of 71.826% and 70.553%. “I haven’t been riding Double Joy for very long and have only done four shows on him, but he’s a horse that I really, really like. He has the same father as Destano, the late Desperados (the stallion with whom Kristina Bröring-Sprehe secured an individual bronze and team gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games). They are not very similar to ride, but they have something about them… they are really powerful.

“I really enjoy riding Double Joy; it’s a very new combination and we’re still finding each other a little bit in the ring, but I think we’re getting a better understanding and producing better tests, so I’m really enthusiastic to see how we can develop over the next few shows, and see that he gets to his full potential.”

Besides the Grand Prix horses, Simone has a very long list of Gestüt Sprehe horses in training, including a few that are beginning to train Big Tour. “I have a few horses that are now training Inter II, and they will hopefully be coming up through the ranks quite soon. And then I have some really amazing young horses. Seven-year-old stallion Quando Unico (Quantensprung 3 x Fidertanz 2) will hopefully be going to the FEI WBFSH Dressage World Breeding Championship for Young Horses this year (24-29 August in Verden, Germany), and also six-year-old stallions Dancier Gold (Dancier x Weltmeyer) and Diamond First (Diamond Hit x Fürst Heinrich). They have just been doing fantastic in the shows and they have unbelievable qualities, so I’m really excited to see what those three can produce at the Young Horse Championships when I return from the Olympics. And then I have some really nice three-year-olds, four-year-olds and five-year-olds… you name it, I have it!”

THE LONGEST COUNTDOWN

With Tokyo delayed a year, it’s been an incredibly long countdown for riders hoping to be selected and, as Simone explains, it has been challenging managing Grand Prix horses through such a long campaign — one that has been constantly interrupted by Covid-19 and also the EHV-1 outbreak.

“The Olympic countdown has been on for a over a year now so it feels very prolonged. Especially with Destano… to keep him in top form for this long has for sure posed some challenges, but I feel like right now he’s in the best form he’s ever been in. I’m lucky that we’ve been able to maintain our form and now feel like we’re in top form ready for the Games.”

And while the wait has been challenging in terms of horse management, Simone says she’s managed to remain calm and not let the build-up get to her too much. “I’m a pretty cool character; I don’t get too stressed about things usually. Firstly, waiting for the team to be announced, and now waiting to see that we actually get to Tokyo… it really is just one day at a time and I’m taking everything as it comes. I’m just very humbled, excited and enthusiastic to be able to ride at my first Olympics. I hope Destano and I will be able to make you all proud in Tokyo; I just can’t wait to represent my country together with Mary Hanna and Kelly Layne… let’s do this girls!”

Equestrian Life wishes Simone Pearce, Kelly Layne and Mary Hanna the best of luck as they prepare to represent Australia at the Tokyo Olympic Games! EQ

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