Missing home but loving training with Patrik Kittel and finessing her skills with the best riders in Europe, Mary Hanna is enjoying her current horse as she aims for a record seventh Olympic Games.
As Mary Hanna astutely observes, there is a big difference between qualifying for the Australian Olympic dressage team and being selected. Mary never takes anything for granted – but by the same token never lets an opportunity pass without giving it her best shot.
Much as she misses her family, friends and pets back home – along with the laid-back lifestyle – Mary has chosen to train and compete in Europe so she can continue to learn from the best. She is staying at Swiss dressage legend Daniel Ramseier’s property, training with Swede Patrik Kittel and mixing it with the American Olympic team.
“To know so many of
the top riders simply
pushes you to be better.”
“I love to pick out the good riders and go and sit and watch them warm up,” she enthuses. “I love to watch their empathy, their harmony, the lightness of their aids, the willingness of their horse to the rider. Watching these good riders gives me a feeling that I’m able to emulate that.”
Keeping fit and staying focused, Mary is enjoying her progress with Ivanhoe, an 11-year-old gelding by Desperado out of a Jazz mare who was recommended to her by Patrik in late 2022. She has brought ‘Ivan’ up through Small Tour to Grand Prix and believes she can fulfil Patrik’s faith in bringing them together. She says Ivan has as great talent for piaffe and passage and with Patrik’s help is really coming together. “I’m enjoying every single moment,” she says.
EQ LIFE: So Mary, tell us about where you’re living and who you’re training with.
MARY: We are living very comfortably in a unit close to Daniel Ramseier’s property. Daniel won a medal at the Seoul Olympics and is well remembered for his ride at the Sydney Olympics for the Swiss team. The property is truly beautiful and has a fabulous indoor arena and working outdoor arenas. It has all the modern technology of water walkers, treadmills walkers etc. The atmosphere is extremely congenial to working horses and provides the best facilities and the best care possible. The property is very handy to our unit, not only for its training purposes and horse-friendly stabling, but is also not very far to Patrick Kittel’s, with whom I train now.
Something else that is fantastic at Daniel’s property at the moment is that most of the American team is training here. To just sit and be able to watch them train and talk with them in regards to systems of training etc, is very interesting and inspiring.
Adrian Lyle [USA] is training there. She’s an amazing rider and so harmonious and with great empathy, and with her trainer and American coach Debbie McDonald it is an absolute treat to behold.
Of course, it will be four of us Australians and all the American team going to Hagen for the big CDI competition where 60-odd horses are entered (6-10 June, read more here). It will be incredible. It’s inspirational to watch such harmonious riding in between training with Patrik, and to know so many of the top riders simply pushes you to be better.
I am training again with Patrik Kittel who is my rock and such an honest and enthusiastic coach who really knows me well. I have the utmost respect for him, and we are making good progress. He found Ivanhoe for me and so we feel he is ours and I have a point to make, and prove this horse’s talent, with his help.
We drive down to Patrik sometimes four times a week to train there. I’m in boot camp, so to speak, and I’m very excited with the progress and improvement that we are making week to week. The whole process, the whole atmosphere is quite sensational.
Training with Patrik is fantastic and in talking about what we train, we train everything! Always looking at the frame, the impulsion, the expression, the sitting and keeping those feelings within all the Grand Prix movements. It’s not just one thing, it’s a huge gambit of exercises and training skills to produce better tests.
Of course, I can’t tell you how many centrelines to halt I make – it’s all about starting a test with a really good impression with a dead square halt; practise makes perfect here. Ivan has as great talent for piaffe and passage and with Patrik’s help it is really coming together with confidence, expression and bigger steps. The piaffe is more and more closed and the cadence, expression and groundcover in the passage so much better.
Patrik has really helped with Ivanhoe, a horse he knows well. This improvement in marks in the piaffe and passage tours is important to help the overall scores as this is where points are well weighted. I am sure that with a beautiful horse like Ivan we will be able to show out in competition what we can produce at home and I’m really looking forward to the future competitions.
I’m enjoying every single moment. I love where we are living, Daniel’s property and the wonderful facilities, and to be able to train with Patrik is like dressage heaven on earth… and of course there is Ivan!
EQ LIFE: How did you find Ivanhoe and what made you choose him?
MARY: Patrik knew I was looking for a horse. He knew exactly the sort of horse that would suit me, the style and the type and the competitiveness that it needed to be. I was in Australia and he called me and said he had a beautiful horse with the most wonderful temperament he thought would be really suitable for me. There was another horse I was looking at but this was the main contender, so I flew over and had a look at him.
The best thing about looking at horses with Patrik is that he knows them so well because he’s had them for some time and he knows their ins and outs. He knows their strong points and weaker points. He knows exactly the type of horse that would suit me, as he’s been helping me for some years.
When I saw Ivanhoe, I thought that perhaps he was a little small but when you ride him, he goes like a super big horse. I really liked his hind leg. When I first tried him, he could be a little strong in your hand but that has absolutely improved with him getting to know me and me him, becoming better balanced and physically stronger.
The outstanding attribute with Ivan is that he has such a fabulous mind. He is always on your side, and I never ever feel worried about him, especially at competitions when he’s in the ring; he’s never looked at anything or done anything wrong, and when you are looking at a horse that you would love to take to the Olympics, this is one of the highest priorities.
He’s just has a wonderful character and I look forward to seeing him and riding him every day. When I purchased him, he had only done one Inter II test for a mediocre score, but he was young and inexperienced. I loved him in so many ways. Patrik was right… he was a horse so suited to me.
EQ LIFE: Can you remind us of the horses and the Olympics that you’ve been to already?
MARY: My first Olympics was Atlanta [1996] with Mosaic, a wonderful little chestnut gelding that was New Zealand bred and I was the training with Clemens and Judy Dierks in Australia, and before the Olympics with Kyra Kyrklund.
Second Olympics was in Sydney [2000] with the wonderful bay gelding Limbo and training with Clemens Dierks at the time. The next Olympics was with Limbo again and that was at Athens [2004] and still training with Clemens, but he was unable to help me there as he was contracted to the New Zealand team. [German Olympian] Hubertus Schmidt helped me there and that was also amazing. What a gentleman and generous to boot.
I missed Beijing [2008] because I had Port Said at that time and he had some soundness issue. The next one was the Olympics in London [2012] with Sancette; at that time I wasn’t getting any help constantly. I started training with Patrik and he found me Boogie Woogie. I went to the Rio Olympics [2016] with him.
The next one was the Tokyo Olympics [2021] with the fabulous bay mare Calanta. I had no trainer again leading up to that and it was obvious to see that this lack of help was taking its toll. I had Henri Ruoste to help me there at the Games. It was then home to Australia and back to Covid and no competitions for some time. Henri continued to help me.
“I have to pinch myself
that I am at the pointy end
for yet another one….”
“It is what every
rider aspires to…”
Having competed at six Olympics I have to pinch myself that I am at the pointy end for yet another one. It is what every rider aspires to and for me it’s the challenge to get there that is life! It’s the best challenge of all!
EQ LIFE: Is there a competition that you have been to that absolutely sticks out in your mind as an absolute pinnacle?
MARY: There is no question that the Olympics at Atlanta with Mosaic was the most memorable competition of my life. Mosaic was a little horse and a real trier who loved the shows; the bigger the better, the more atmosphere the better he went. I so remember entering that arena and thinking that I was on top of the world. It was a super performance and he qualified for the Special and then finished 23rd overall! He gave me so much confidence. I never looked back after riding that test at those Olympics and it was his demeanour that helped me through. It was outstanding competition. I have never felt so proud!
EQ LIFE: What is it that makes you continue to go back to Germany to train and what inspires you to train there?
MARY: At home in Australia, I have myself and my mirrors and my feelings and a few people around me to help me with feedback to train, but there’s nothing like having a trainer that really inspires you and has all the information at their fingertips to help as Patrick does in Germany. Also, to train amongst other top riders is really inspiring. Just watching them ride and to realise the principles and watch them use those principles and see how they work, and then applying them when you ride yourself. It’s a totally different feeling.
Of course, with the interest in the public eye, it’s not always the easiest thing to see other people’s training. At times I have that chance and I can assure you that every lesson and training session I may see with Patrik, you could be videoed and shown to the world… they don’t move off the basic principles and it’s all very friendly and beautiful. I really love it. It’s logical and simple.
EQ LIFE: How do you keep your fitness and your strength? You certainly look super fit and elegant on a horse.
MARY: I think it’s about having constant reminders about your position when you’re riding, and correct posture develops the correct muscles and I’m always working on my position and my posture. I am sure as hell not the youngest rider there… in fact I won’t say… but I am treated as every rider is… no age allowances here!
It’s not easy but you have to be very determined to work hard at core stability and the like. It was weird to become thin as result of quite extensive chemo [due to a skin cancer diagnosis in April 2023], and then I thought that maybe I should put on weight again – but no it was about strengthening. It’s all well and good to be thin but you have to gain strength within that weight!
I have a routine that I do at home, which is a combination of Pilates and yoga. It’s nothing that I do in the studio or in a group of people, I do it in my own home each day and I find this suits me perfectly.
EQ LIFE: Could you give us an idea of a week in the life of you and Ivanhoe training towards Paris?
MARY: My horses work really hard four days a week… Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday. We go through most of the work on those days that we need for the Grand Prix. On Wednesdays and Fridays, we go for a ride out around the roads as there are some very lovely quiet roads here. Or I just get on and do a stretching day and rising trot… just stretching, loosening and suppling.
There are alternatives here as well as the walker that he goes on most days anyway; there’s a water treadmill and so that mixes his work up. Also, some good hills and great hacking days out. When talking about working in hand, he’s good to work in hand but we don’t need to. He’s a really good egg and does everything well. What we need to work on is literally the throughness, the softness and suppleness and the ability to have him over the back, and with this ability all the other movements get better.
EQ LIFE: In a lead up to these huge international competitions and on the morning of, how do you prepare yourself mentally when you know there’s a weight on your shoulders about performing well?
MARY: The days before the competition and at the competition I love to focus on good riding. I love to pick out the good riders and go and sit and watch them warm up. I love to watch their empathy, their harmony, the lightness of their aids, the willingness of their horse to the rider. Watching these good riders gives me a feeling that I’m able to emulate that. It’s the feeling that it’s just another day and another training session leading to riding all the movements knotted together. It’s nothing super special. It’s just another good day.
Watching these riders gives me purpose and really makes me feel a part of the sport.
I focus my mind on what Patrik says. When I’m riding, I’m totally focused on my position and how I am riding. How am I using my aids? How am I influencing my horse? It’s just like I have Patrik’s voice in my head and I try my hardest to listen to myself and what I’m doing. I simply like to think about what each movement needs to ride it well and do my best and concentrate on every step.
I don’t have any rituals that I go with before the test and I don’t have any superstitious moments. I simply want to get in the zone and focus on riding every movement to the best I can.
EQ LIFE: What are your thoughts about selection and qualification for Olympic Games? Do you think that our system is a fair way to do it? And do you think it’s comparable to other countries?
MARY: Remember, there’s a big difference between qualifying and being selected! You have to get two FEI MERs, you have to obtain two scores over 69% at Grand Prix and then you have to have done two Specials. This is all fine and no matter where you are in the world it is possible to do those qualification scores.
As far as selection goes, once you fulfil the qualifying criteria, I think the only thing that’s really missing in our selection policy is a head-to-head competition with all the qualified combinations that want to be selected. This is what the Americans are doing at Hagen (6-10 June, read more here) and I think it’s a highly recommended thing for the Australians to do.
It’s not that I think that the head-to-head is it the be-all and end-all criteria, but I think it should come into consideration. Our policy has a lot of weight on team membership and the like – it’s not just about the head-to-head – but I think it would be a very good thing to have in place in Australia’s selection policy. That seems logical to me, at an international show with international judges.
“It really makes you strive
for the best you can do.”
EQ LIFE: We wish you all the very best in your final selection competitions and look forward to seeing the results and watching you via live stream here in Australia. What is it that you love about the European circuit that differs from Australia? And what do you miss about Australia?
MARY: In Europe it’s amazing that you can sit and watch good horse after good horse after good horse – it’s absolutely incredible. It really makes you strive for the best you can do. Of course, my career isn’t at the beginning of the road and as a consequence my love will be to coach and to teach. Being immersed in these horses and this competition at this level in Europe and the training is going to put me in great stead for the rest of my times.
Of course, times march on and the training nowadays is different to how it was back when I had Mosaic. The horses have become more impressive, more elastic and bigger movers and as a consequence training techniques have to change… always for the better and always in a kind and friendly way. That is exactly where the sport is heading and it is important to realise this, not only with our riding but also our training. It is true that judging trends change. What they are looking for changes slightly as the sport and the quality of horses evolve. This is not to say that a 7 or anresuis 8 isn’t a 7 or an 8, it’s just that certain resistances are frowned upon, while other traits are attracting positive input.
Along with this judging, trends change and judges tend to focus more on certain things. There is no question, at the moment, it’s about harmony and softness, the overall general impression so that it looks easy – no open mouth, no pushing and pulling. It has to be all totally harmonious, and I believe that’s what the judges are really wanting the most at the moment. This is a good thing.
You are aware of what the judges are wanting and so you train to please them and get better marks, and it’s important to read their comments that are there to help not hinder, and try to fit more of what they want the next time. You know what they want and that ease and fluency of an empathetic ride and expressive horses showing there want to do the work.
Of course, there’s a lot about Australia that I miss. My beautiful home and property and the weather, (maybe a sail or two) my pets and horses at home. All my family, and I do love coaching and the students I have over there. It excites me. I love the little competitions. It is a different world in Australia compared to here but there are a lot of charming things about being smaller and loving life and enjoying the smaller competitions and the joy of seeing people improve so quickly.
The progression with the top horse riders in Europe is slower because they’re so good and the judging in Europe certainly favours those well-known riders. Of course they deserve the big marks; they are experienced and talented and have earned their place and they ride fantastic tests. All the same it would be nice to see some of the lesser-known riders that ride really well and do mistake-free tests be a little bit more rewarded in the judges’ eyes. That’s not a criticism of the judging at all. It’s just how the sport is, but with so many super talented horses and riders and trainers the gap should not be so wide.
I do love Europe but also miss a lot of things about home as Australia is the lucky country. All the same, it’s not only about being in Europe in dressage indulgences. Aussies are so lucky to be so free an easy about the enjoyment of life.
Can I say how shattered I am for the loss of Elliot Patterson. He was an outstanding rider and trainer. He was empathetic and above that an all-time great guy. You will be missed, Elliot, and your riding was an example of all of what I am talking about. Too sad.
So, follow your dreams and make the most of every day – I am! Who knows what tomorrow will bring! EQ
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE TO READ:
Mary Hanna, Enjoying the Ride – Equestrian Life, March 2023
