Australia is sending a team of eight young riders to the “Aachen of youth”, the Hagen Future Champions competition in Germany this month, thanks to the driving force of Kate Dertell and daughter Jessica.

Inspired by Jessica’s opportunity to compete in the Young Rider class on Sabble Farm’s Gladstone M.H. at the prestigious competition at Hof Kasselmann last year, mother and daughter set the wheels in motion to get a whole team together for this year’s event.

“After the incredible experience Jessica had at the Future Champions show last year, we thought it would be a great idea to bring a team of young riders together to train and compete in Europe to hope to share these incredible experiences,” explains Kate.

With the growing awareness in Australia of the wealth of talent being shown in the younger riders and realising that the future champions in the sport are worth nurturing towards our future Olympians, to take this talent internationally has transformed a pipedream into reality.

Jessica and Kate decided it would be exciting and rewarding to give other Australian young riders the opportunity to travel to Europe to train and compete at this year’s event, which runs from 11-16 June. They set on a plan of trying to make it happen after speaking with Equestrian Australia (EA), which needed to ratify the teams and the competition.

Kate – who along with husband Doyle, is based at Future Farms Arabians in Bolinda, Victoria – then had to arrange for horses to be leased in Germany.

“We set about trying to work out how we could make this possible without having to fly horses over and back,” says Kate. “After several discussions we started working on putting a plan together to lease experienced horses, organise a training boot camp and protocol day, and then take a team of young riders to compete at Future Champions. Jeff and Annemieke Vincourt Krom and Francois Kasselmann have been instrumental in the European organisation, along with Di Saunders from EA.”

Annemieke and Francois were instrumental in organising loan horses capable of the work at the CDI Children’s, Juniors and Young Riders levels.

“We want to make the young riders all support one another and work together as a team. The experiences they will gain travelling, training and competing in a different part of the world can help shape their futures in the equestrian world. Future Champions is regarded as the ‘Aachen of the youth’ and attracts the best young athletes from all over the world to Hof Kasselmann in Hagen every year. A total of eight Nations Cups are held in the four age groups – Pony, Children, Juniors and Young Riders.

“Many a future Olympic participant or championship rider has already celebrated their first international breakthrough here, so the Future Champions rightly provides a glimpse of the sporting future in the dressage arena. Germany’s only youth Nations Cup has been held at Hof Kasselmann since 2011.

“It is going to be incredibly exciting to watch our young riders competing on the world stage and to see and learn about the sport at the highest level and, as a consequence, realise the dedication and hard work that is required to make it on the world stage in dressage. It will be an eye-opener, I am sure, and will help them realise the discipline needed to make the best of the sport. It’s exciting and much appreciation to those who have brought this dream to reality.”

The lucky youngsters packing their bags for the competition are:

ABBY WEEL (CDIO-Ch)

“It is a dream come true…” 

“I had my first dressage lesson at the age of seven and fell in love with my horse, discipline and the sport of dressage straight away,” says 13-year-old Abby. “In 2020, on my 10th birthday, I begged my mum not to have a party but pledged to attend my first Equestrian Australia official dressage competition up against the big players of our sport, placing.

“My biggest success was last year, winning NSW State Elementary Pony Champion, Australian Youth Dressage FEI Pony Champion, Australian Dressage FEI Pony Champion, and this year receiving over 72% in our first attempt at the Medium level.

“It is a dream come true that next month – I will be riding down the centreline at Hof Kasselmann’s Future Champions show! I would stay awake late at night, or set alarms for early in the morning to watch Rose Oatley [daughter of Australian Olympian Kristy Oatley] on Daddy Moon at this same show, dreaming that one day I would be able to ride and represent my country.”

ZALI MILLS (CDIO-Ch)

“I live in Corowa, NSW, with my mum, Belinda, and my brother, Jobe, and I’m in year nine at Corowa High School,” says 13-year-old Zali. “I was introduced to horses through my nan, Cherie, when I was two years old. I joined our local Pony Club at the age of three and from there I started doing local Pony Club gymkhanas and all the fun stuff and have been a competitive show rider since I was around five years old.

“I started my dressage career in 2020 when I bought my first horse from Future Farms. This is when I met Jessica Dertell, who has now become not only my coach and mentor but a great friend who I look up to as a dressage rider.

“My team of dressage horses began with Kizashi, and since then I have added horses including Bloomfield Royal Winston, Prince Charming FF and many others.

“In my career I have achieved many amazing awards and placings and have been lucky enough to experience a lot of high-level competitions. Some of my memorable wins include both FEI Children’s tests at Dressage by the Sea; my rider class at Melbourne Royal; FEI Pony Individual and Freestyle tests at the 2024 Australian Youth Dressage Championships and many more!

“My ambitions and goals for my dressage career are to firstly keep learning and bettering my skills and then to one day represent Australia, which would be a dream come true.”

MORGAN COCKERELL (CDIO-Ch)

“I have been riding since I was nearly three years old, so for 10 years now,” says 13-year-old Morgan. “I started competing in Pony Club dressage when I was eight and began official competitions about four years ago.

“My biggest success would have to be winning the CDI Childrens Championship at Dressage & Jumping with the Stars two years in a row.

“To be representing Australia and riding overseas is something I thought I would only ever dream about. To be given this opportunity, to be able to learn and build new friendships through this experience will be something I will treasure forever.”

TIA ROSE MCKENZIE (CDIO-J)

Tia Rose learnt to walk on four legs at the same time she was learning to walk on two, having started riding at only three years old. Her early achievements commenced in the show ring, this year winning both EA National Champion Rider and Junior Athlete of the Year.

Two years ago, she embarked on a new chapter and embraced the intricacies of dressage with an equally youthful mount, Phenomenon, who was only four years old when their partnership began. They were named CDI Junior Champion at the Australian Dressage Championships in 2023, and awarded a gold performance medal.

Tia and Phenomenon are definitely a combo to watch. She is an ambitious but humble young rider pushing the limits of what is possible. Tia, now 16, is the highest ranked Australian Junior rider and she describes the upcoming Future Champions Tour as a dream come true and an amazing opportunity.

EMMA HUTCHINSON (CDIO-J)

“I started riding at a very young age. Mum had horses and was breaking in my pony Charlie when I was two, so she used to put me on the back of her and I haven’t stopped riding since,” says 16-year-old Emma. “I started competing dressage in 2021 at age 14, when we bought our first Warmblood.”

Emma says her biggest success in the dressage arena was at this year’s Sydney CDI on her new Warmblood gelding Freshman R, where she gained second and third place in the CDI Junior Team and Individual tests.

“He is very new to this level so to be in the top placings I was so happy with how far we have come in such a short time,” says Emma. One of Emma’s goals was to score over 70%, which she did in both tests. “To get two scores over 70% at the same comp was very rewarding and satisfying.”

Emma also does a lot of show riding and has some big achievements in that arena, being a previous winner in her rider class at the Nationals; gaining Champion Senior Rider at 2024 Canberra Royal show; and also claiming Champion and Reserve Childs Galloway and Grand Champion Childs exhibit at the Grand Nationals this year.

“Coming from a small town with limited resources and coaching facilities we have had to do a lot of travelling to get the education we needed to train the levels. So, to be part of the Nations Cup team and represent Australia is literally a dream come true,” says Emma.

“The hard work, determination and having the right people in my corner have made this happen and I’m so grateful for this amazing opportunity not only for myself but for my fellow Aussie teammates. I can’t wait to experience the international level of riding and the feeling of riding up that centreline; the coaching, the learning and the support in a team environment will stay with me forever.”

MADDISON VALLENDER (CDIO-J)

Maddy has grown up surrounded by horses and commenced her riding career in the showring at five years of age, enjoying successes at HOTYs, Royal Shows and SHC Grand Nationals. Following a four-year break from the horses, 14-year-old Maddy returned to the show jumping and dressage competition arenas and shortly thereafter found Ronan R, a talented yet quirky Warmblood bred by Heath and Rozzie Ryan. The two commenced on a very serious dressage journey together, which has seen them progress up the levels quickly to compete in their first official FEI Grand Prix test with Maddy just 16 years old.

After purchasing the 14-year-old German-bred mare Rubinell from Hayley Gilbert last year, Maddy has had a very busy 2024 with notable highlights including wining all three CDI Junior tests at Willinga Park Dressage by the Sea with Rubinell. The pair scored above 70% in every test with an impressive 75.575% in the CDI-J Freestyle, placing them amongst some of the highest scores ever achieved in CDI-J tests in Australia. This year’s Sydney CDI was equally successful for Maddy and her team, with Rubinell achieving two firsts and a second in the three CDI-J tests and Ronan R placing second in all three CDI Under 25 Grand Prix tests.

Maddy is extremely humbled to have been selected on both the CDIO-J and CDIO-Y teams to represent Australia at Future Champions in Hagen 2024, and is enormously grateful to all involved in providing a talented team of young riders with this amazing opportunity.

You can read more about Maddy in the March 2024 issue of Equestrian Life.

ROSIE HEAGNEY (CDIO-Y)

Rosie started riding at the age of 4, attending pony club on her Shetland pony Koala, and by the time she was 8 she had decided that jumping or showing were not for her and she focused on dressage.

She was very successful on her pony, Harrington Park Timeless Dreams, winning the Primary Preliminary Championship at the 2017 Interschool Nationals as the youngest competitor. Encouraged by this success, Rosie began competing at official dressage events, and moved onto a larger pony, Mr Buck Meister, that she trained through to Medium level and who in 2022 won all three classes at the Australian Youth Dressage Championships in the FEI Pony division.

Keen to continue to learn more and transition into the FEI Junior classes, Rosie moved onto a more educated horse in Redgum James 007. They started at Medium and had a fabulous three years training and competing through to Prix St Georges, with a competition highlight of taking home the rug for the FEI Junior Freestyle at the Australian Dressage championships in 2023.

“Representing Australia at an international competition in Europe is a lifetime goal fulfilled,” says Rosie. “I am so looking forward to gaining international competition experience, making it less of a big step if I am fortunate enough to train a horse to Grand Prix that I can take overseas in the future. It’s exciting to be going as a team with riders from other states that I don’t know very well or at all – it will be great to make some awesome team memories and new friendships.”

JESSICA DERTELL (CDIO-Y)

“It is going to be incredibly
exciting to watch our young
riders competing on the world stage.”

Growing up on the family’s breeding and training farm, Future Farms in the Macedon Ranges, Victoria, Jessica was riding before she could walk. Initially it was showing in the Arabian and open rings, and a little Pony Club, with Jessica first commencing official dressage when she was 11 years old.

Jessica has been blessed with much success over her career – in the show ring she has been champion rider at multiple Royals, Grand Nationals and EA Nationals. In the dressage arena, Jessica has taken multiple horses to Australian Championship honours – both in youth and open, including Big Tour, Under 25, Young Rider and Junior levels. She has won classes at every CDI currently running across Australia. In 2023 Jessica rode in her first Nations Cup for Australia at Future Champions in Hagen, Germany riding Sabble Farm’s Gladstone MH. This year, 19-year-old Jessica was picked for the Nations Cup team for CDIO5* Compiègne, France – this time on Sabble Farm’s Cennin. Jessica is currently based in Europe on her campaign to be on the Australian team for the Paris Olympics.

You can read more about Jess in the November 2022 issue of Equestrian Life. EQ

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