Christan Trainor of Glenhill Sporthorses never set out with the goal of having one of Australia’s top young dressage ponies in her stable this year, and she never planned on campaigning a four-year-old stallion. However, it seems German Riding Ponies are here to stay at Glenhill.

When Christan moved to Australia 13 years ago and established Glenhill Sporthorses in the Southern Highlands of NSW, she initially bred jumpers before becoming enamoured by the discipline of dressage. Naturally, her breeding program gravitated towards producing purpose-bred Warmbloods. Ponies were never part of the initial plan, but perhaps it was always Christan’s destiny to breed them.

When living in the USA, Christan was a competitive eventer and was long-listed for the Olympics with a 14.2-hand pocket rocket named Theodore O’Connor; she competed the pony to four-star level before Karen O’Connor took the reins and rode him to team gold at the Pan American Games and two top-10 placings at the Kentucky Three-Day Event.

Christan first crossed paths with German Riding Ponies in the States 25 years ago, but it wasn’t until she met a special pony in Australia that she recognised them as serious dressage prospects. “I had a client with a pony name FS Golden Storm, and he was the first German Riding Pony ever imported into Australia,” recalls Christan. “He was about 15 years old and competing Medium level when I started riding him. I ended up taking him to FEI level and he was absolutely the most fun. He was like a little horse rather than a pony, and he could hold his own with the horses. He changed my perspective entirely about German Riding Ponies.

“I’d always wanted to breed the fancy, big Warmbloods. And then there were these German Riding Ponies that I realised were just as fancy as the Warmbloods, but smaller. I had so much fun with FS Golden Storm, and that’s what put me on this trajectory of wanting my own German Riding Pony to ride myself, alongside breeding the Warmbloods.”

“He changed my perspective entirely
about German Riding Ponies.”

IN LOVE WITH A MOVIE STAR

Deciding she wanted to breed a pony for herself to train to Grand Prix, Christan did some research and fell in love with the buckskin GRP stallion Movie Star, by FS Mr Right. Importing frozen semen (Movie Star has since been imported to Australia), she purchased a mare from Victoria named Sansannah Solar Flare.

“The resulting foal is Glenhill Matinee, my perlino mare. She was exactly what I wanted, except for the colour!” laughs Christan. Fortunately, the colour grew on Christan and Matinee has proven to be the perfect partner for a rider who in breeding season in particular lacks the time to ride regularly. Although she’s only lightly competed the mare due to time constraints, Christan has had some great results with her – and most importantly, she’s reliable at big atmosphere competitions despite not always being in consistent work.

“He’s the epitome of the German Riding Pony. He’s treated like a normal horse at our place, and now that he’s proven himself both in competition and in temperament, he’s at public stud this season for the first time,” explains Christan, adding that they’ve had no issues with him performing double duties.

Nacho trains at home with Riley Alexander of Alexander Equestrian, who works and competes all Glenhill’s Warmblood mares and has had great success with a number of them this season. “I’m not the biggest fan of having stallions around that I don’t believe in,” explains Riley. “I’m not interested in dealing with the stallion behaviours, especially if the quality isn’t there. I said to Christan, ‘I’ll call it… if Nacho’s not good enough, he’ll be a lovely gelding. But he’s just ticked every box as he’s gone along… I’m kinda running out of ammunition!” he laughs.

“The training process is very much the same [between Warmbloods and GRPs]; I just look at them like little Warmbloods, which essentially they are. A young horse is a young horse. That being said, My Hollywood, he is very easy. I never have to think about lungeing him beforehand or anything like that,” adds Riley.

Christan explains that while weight-wise Riley is fine to train the ponies, in the competition arena he’s a little tall. Therefore, Alison Gill – who Riley has known for many years and refers to as the “Pony Queen” – picks up the reins at events, and it was Alison who partnered Nacho through his many successes this season.

“Mr Hollywood is fantastic, we all just love him,” enthuses Alison. “He’s a character and such a little man, he’s got all the presence. He’s an enjoyable pony to work with and he wants to do the work, he’s so sensible. It’s fantastic – especially with him being a four-year-old stallion – to be able to trust him as much as we can. At DJWTS, his first big competition, it was such a huge environment… he just took it all under his belt and off he went. We had to stand around waiting for presentations next to mares and not once did we have an issue. He’s just such a nice person to have around and it makes it all the more enjoyable to work with him.”

A GROWING HERD

Besides Glenhill Matinee and Glenhill Mr Hollywood, Christan also has GRP mare Glenhill Divine Classic, as well as two filly foals in the paddock – with more on the way this season.

“Divine Classic – we call her Peach – was bought as an embryo in utero by Numerus Clausus out of the mare Divine Essence that Vicki Chidgey imported. She is rising four and nearly ready to compete. She’s a liver chestnut and just amazingly flashy; she’s a little Warmblood. Everyone is really excited about her,” enthuses Christan.

In addition, Christan recently bred two foals via embryo transfer out of Matinee by FS Numero Uno. Christan is retaining the filly – named Glenhill Totally Toffee – and has also purchased another FS Numero Uno filly out of the imported mare Dailara (St.Pr.St) from Leanne Shead, named SPB Dominique. This season Christan is expecting a number of foals by Glenhill Mr Hollywood, while also continuing to import frozen semen to further develop the stud’s lines.

“She’s a liver chestnut and
just amazingly flashy…
everyone is really excited about her.”

“We have a couple of foals coming from Mr Hollywood this year, including one out of Peach, and then an FS Next Diamond (by FS Numero Uno) coming from Matinee, via imported frozen semen. I’m really looking forward to those two, they should be pretty exciting.”

GENETIC DESTINY

As Christan explains, GRPs are derived from Warmbloods among other breeds and are technically considered a type rather than a breed per se. “They have to be approved by Westphalia to be called a German Riding Pony; the stud book has to look at them and go, ‘yes, that is the correct type’,” explains Christan, adding that Glenhill Mr Hollywood, Glenhill Matinee and Glenhill Divine Classic are all Westphalian approved.

When it comes to breeding GRPs, Christan has taken the same approach as her Warmbloods and bred her mares via embryo transfer so they can stay in work and compete. Interestingly, Christan says that while the size of the recipient mare can impact the size of the foal at birth, it doesn’t appear to affect their final height.

“They’ve done many studies now and the height of a horse in the end is all genetics and DNA, and it really doesn’t have anything to do with the size of the recipient mare. A foal out of a small recipient mare may be maybe born smaller and a foal out of a bigger mare might be born bigger, because they’ve got more or less room in utero to grow, but they will stop growing at their genetic height regardless. Mr Hollywood was out of a Thoroughbred mare, Peach was out of a Standardbred mare, and they are both under the required pony competition height.”

Perhaps even more interesting is the role genetics play in their temperament. Christan doesn’t feel that the foals usually take on many temperament traits from the recipient mares, good or bad. Instead, they are more likely to grow up and reflect the traits of their genetics.

“It goes to show that genetics are so important. You don’t want to take a mare that was unsound or unrideable and think you’re going to fix it with a certain stallion. It doesn’t work like that. But it’s also amazing how the good genetics come through… you really can breed on and feel safe that what’s coming out is going to be pretty close to what you expect it to be.”

NOT JUST FOR KIDS

“Initially what I was seeing was GRPs being imported to Australia for somebody’s child to ride, and obviously that is the aim of the breed,” notes Christan. “When Mr Hollywood won at the Sydney CDI this year, the international judges were very adamant that these ponies are meant to be ridden by children and easy to ride for a child, and I believe that’s part of the reason why he won, because he’s just very easy. However, every single pony that I have sold has been to an adult rider.” What Christan has found is that there’s a real demand for dressage mounts that are easy and manageable, but also with the potential to train up to the FEI levels.

“The GRPs, they’ve just got easy temperaments,” explains Riley. “I suppose because they are bred for children; in Germany they’ve been developed as great little horses for kids to ride. And it shows – while I’ve only worked with the ponies here at Glenhill, they are the best temperaments of any horse or pony I’ve ever worked with.”

Christan has also noticed an increase in the number and quality of GRPs in Australia over the years, and while the accessibility to imported frozen semen is a factor, she credits those who’ve imported quality mares along the way. “I want to thank the people that have taken the time and spent the money to import nice mares. There’s been quite a few and it’s very costly.”

Alison Gill has noticed big changes in the pony dressage scene here in Australia over the years. She first became involved with dressage ponies when in her early teens she began gravitating towards the discipline. She purchased a two-year-old Australian Riding Pony and took him from Preliminary to Grand Prix – and although during that time Alison rode horses as well, and still does – she made a name for herself in the pony market and has therefore been involved with ponies one way or another ever since.

“The pony dressage scene here in Australia has changed drastically since I first began competing. Beyond Prelim and Novice where there were lots of children on ponies, there were very few at Elementary, Medium and Advanced; you’d often be the only combination competing. Whereas now there are far more competing at the higher levels and also the young pony classes, and the quality has improved. When I was first competing, there would be one or two nice ones you’d see, but now the quality is consistently getting better and better and the average is coming up and up, which is great.”

“The pony dressage scene here in
Australia has changed drastically.”

Alison believes “a good horse is a good horse” whether it’s 14 hands or 17 hands – however, she does feel the good ponies are particularly clever and quick. “They are really fun in that respect. When you get a good one, it’s like having this little pocket rocket under you!”

Alison has certainly had some good ones: her currently Grand Prix ride, German-bred Hilkens Denali (by Dreamcatcher), was second in the Inter II and Grand Prix CDN classes against the Warmbloods at the Sydney CDI.

“When owner Wendy Lorincz and I first decided that we wanted to take Denali to Grand Prix and chase that dream, it was an exciting road ahead and a long one, and it’s now so rewarding to have him settling into that level and getting confident and stepping up. At 18 years old, he’s getting better and better; he’s just a testament to how durable, versatile and great GRPs are. Taking him out now, he’s really starting to get rewarded for the quality of his work,” explains Alison.

“It’s so good now that the ponies are getting better and gaining more recognition. For some people, they are just the better choice compared to a horse; a lot of the clients I work with just enjoy the ponies because they are easy and fun, and because the standard is improving, they are just as good as some of the horses and they are getting more and more competitive against them.”

While the adults are the ones commonly enjoying the ride at present, the expansion and improvement of the GRP in Australia is set to benefit kids as well. “I think the last hurdle or stigma that needs to be overcome is that more professionals are happy to ride the ponies,” says Christan. “Riley loves riding the ponies. A lot of the people that bought pony foals from us this year are intending to put them under professional riders. I think if more professionals got on board schooling them, then how amazing would that be for kids in the future?”

It’s certainly been a successful year for the Glenhill team, and Christan concedes that German Riding Ponies are now fully ingrained in the breeding program alongside the Warmbloods. “We certainly never went on this journey with Glenhill Mr Hollywood expecting to have the top young pony in Australia this year… we’re just all having a good time and we’ll keep training him as if he’s going be an FEI horse and see where it goes. He’s just so cute… every day I see him in the paddock, he just makes me smile.” EQ

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE TO READ:

How Glenhill Stays a Step Ahead – Equestrian Life, October 2022

Glenhill Sporthorses: Meet The Team – Equestrian Life, March 2023