Australian show jumper James Arkins has begun his latest international adventure with a seven-week stint at the Sunshine Tour in Spain. Flying in his new team of horses, it initially meant the Olympic Games may be out of reach. However, with two of his new team members off to an unexpectedly strong start in Spain, he’s not ruling anything out.
Following the 2022 World Championships, James Arkins made the difficult decision to sell stallion Eurostar 1 and his other top horse, Joevaro N.
The sale, which marked one of the top offers for Australian-trained show jumpers sold in the USA, was about funding longevity in James’ stable and ensuring there was more to draw from in the future. Strategically, the sale of his two champions allowed James to set himself up for the long term and not just this year or the next.
“The sale of his two champions
allowed James to set himself
up for the long term…”
After competing successfully overseas in North America and Europe as part of that World Championship campaign, James has since been literally chomping at the bit to pick up the reins again internationally.
Midway through January this year, the 32-year-old travelled to Europe with four horses – three from Australia, and one that he’d purchased from the United States. His original plan was to travel to the US to compete, but after speaking to others he changed his plans and settled on heading to the seven-week Sunshine Tour in Spain.
“It seemed to be quite a good idea, because there are a lot of different rings [at the Sunshine Tour]’. I wanted my new team, each unique in their previous experience and exposure to international competitions, to just gain a little mileage and a few scores which suited their own development,” he explains.
MEET THE TEAM
James’ new team of horses includes Rosthwaite Cover Girl, Quint Horta and Braveheart R, all of whom travelled from Australia, as well as Jevaro N who came from the US.
Rosthwaite Cover Girl is a nine-year-old grey Warmblood mare, purchased by James in 2019 as a four-year-old, while Braveheart R is an eight-year-old German-bred Hanoverian gelding he’s owned since 2018.
Rising eight-year-old Belgian Warmblood stallion Quint Horta was purchased from Hayden James, who had imported the horse from Europe as a two-year-old. “I bought him in March last year and had been producing him quietly in Australia, but always with the intention to bring him back over here. He’s quite interestingly bred, by Mosito Van Het Hellehof (Elvis Ter Putte) out of Berenice of Colours, a mare by Parco.”
Jevaro N is a 10-year-old KWPN gelding by H5 Elvaro out of Belrose (Action Breaker), who is a three-quarter brother to James’ original Joevaro – and they were even born in the same year! They are both out of the same sire, and then Joevaro’s dam, Mariona, is the mother of Belrose – and therefore Jevaro’s grand-dam.
“Jevaro is a three-quarter brother
to James’ original Joevaro…”
James explains that over the past few years, Jevaro’s owners had been in touch with him after seeing him competing so successfully with Joevaro. “He was owned by two girls who were riding him, and they knew he had a lot of talent to go and jump some pretty serious tracks… however they were probably not in a position to take him there, and that’s why they got in touch with me two years ago and asked if I was interested.”
“I thought Jevaro was
quite an interesting
horse to buy and produce.”
James said that at the time he was interested but didn’t have the money. “After selling the other two horses and then no longer having established Grand Prix horses in my team, I thought Jevaro was quite an interesting horse to buy and produce. I ended up purchasing him at the end of last year, and I think he’s going to be very good.”
James says that while Jevaro and Joevaro are very different to look at, there are definitely similarities under saddle. “They’re very, very different to look at, you wouldn’t think they were related… but to ride, they both go in the same bridle, they’re both very similar in the mouth, and they’re both quite reactive in a similar way. I immediately felt comfortable getting on Jevaro and was able to adapt to him quite quickly because he does feel very similar [to Joevaro].”
Interestingly, James imported Joevaro as a two-year-old and started the horse himself here in Australia; meanwhile Jevaro was broken in and trained overseas by others, meaning the similarities in this case appear to be nature rather than nurture!
SUNSHINE TOUR
“I’d never been to Spain, not even on a holiday. The Sunshine Tour was my first time there,” says James of his latest competition venture. “It was quite a big trip to get the horses to Spain. To begin with, the flight is quite long from Australia to Holland, and then I hired a truck and we drove three days to get down to Spain. We were basically driving 12-hour days with stopovers, and we drove through the night because there were farmers staging protests in France, and the freeways were blocked with tractors. It was certainly eventful trying to navigate from the top of Europe to the most southern point!”
It was well worth the journey, with James’ team all improving throughout the course of the seven-week tour. “You’ve got lots of different rings [at Sunshine Tour], jumping on grass or sand, and then big championship-style rings and other smaller schooling-style rings. Depending on exactly what you want to do with your horse for that week and what you think it needs, you’ve got every option covered.
“[The team has] really came along throughout the tour. During the last week, my mare [Rosthwaite Cover Girl] jumped insanely well. She was double clear in the CSI4* 1.50m Grand Prix and we were eighth. It was a pretty fast class… I felt like I went quite fast, but it was still a very, very good result.
“Braveheart also did very well and jumped a lot of clean rounds. I’ve had a few issues with the bridle; we’ve had a few changes of bits and just trying to find out what he goes best in and work through that a little, but that’s what the Sunshine Tour was all about. And then Quint Horta, he was just needing the miles, which was hard to get in Australia, but over the tour he became a lot more established. He finished third in his final class there and had some good placings throughout the show.
“Considering how fresh the horses were to international competitions versus what they’re now doing, I’m very happy.”
As for sunshine, James says the tour actually had a bit of a mixed bag when it came to the weather: “The second last week was torrential rain. The rings were literally underwater!” he laughs, adding they had fortunately dried out by the next day. “It still certainly didn’t feel like a true European winter though, that’s for sure!”
Based at the show for seven weeks, James’ movements post-event were not planned in advance as he wanted to let the tour tell him where the horses were at and go from there.
THE USA… VIA HOLLAND
“I thought I’d get down [to the Sunshine Tour] and see what different people were doing and what options they were,” says James, who settled on the plan of heading back to the Netherlands at the event’s culmination.
“We’re renting a place with Matthew Sampson and Kara Chad; Matt is one of the top English riders and Kara is one of the top Canadian riders – she’s been to the World Championships. They’re a similar age to me and a really nice team that we get along quite well with. There’s a property up there near the big show venue at [Peelbergen Equestrian Centre, Kronenberg] and we’re going to base there for the next couple of months.”
In terms of competition plans, James explains that with a new team of up-and-coming horses it’s not so easy to gain entry to the big European shows.
“It’s proving a little challenging to get into some of the shows here, because it’s very much based around your ranking. And right now, I don’t have so much of a ranking as in 2022 because I didn’t compete at FEI-level in 2023 while putting my team together. And so basically you disappear off the radar.”
James explains that it’s therefore a matter of either having the right contacts or paying exorbitant fees. “The other way in is to pay for a VIP table, and then you can go to the show, but you’re talking 5,000 to 20,000 euros per show… I’m trying to avoid that!” he laughs.
Looking further afield, James hopes to be back in America later this year. “That’s where I would like to be, because I believe the horses will be ready to start winning good money.”
“I also found my show jumping colleagues in the USA – both Americans and those from around the world who were based there – great to compete with. I helped train younger up-and-coming show jumpers in the community and I found it to be a very warm welcome. I look forward to more time there.”
In terms of returning to Australia, James doesn’t have any immediate plans. “I want to try and give this quite a good go and see if I can establish myself semi-permanently internationally. We still have everything running at home [Rosthwaite Farm, Southern Highlands], so there’s always the opportunity to go back there, but I’m definitely keen to continue to establish myself internationally, build my team, and bring on clients. I think there’s a lot of opportunity for that right now.
“In a sense I am also taking a leap of faith, allowing my horses to guide the next part of the journey to suit them in terms of the sport and for business long term. I’m totally open to opportunities and with the early success of two on my team, I’m looking forward to the next few months here in Europe.”
“I’m always going to be keen
to represent my country…”
WHAT ABOUT PARIS?
When talk turns to Paris, James is hopeful that Australia will be able to field a strong jumping team this year. “There are definitely a lot of people having a proper go, and there’s some very nice horses out there. However, while at this stage there’s quite a big pool, as you get closer and closer to these big championships, some always drop off for one reason or another… so it is important that we have quite a big pool right now.
“It will be interesting to see how the horses develop; most of the riders in contention are quite experienced, and there are some older horses that we’ve had jumping at that level for quite some time, which could be very strong competitors. But then there are also some very nice younger horses coming through and it will be interesting to see how they develop… they could definitely prove to be some quality horses for the team as well.”
“Paris is an interesting one because when I sold Eurostar and Joevaro, I had to decide whether I was going to Paris or whether the money I was offered was going to be too much to give up. The decision I made was, as mentioned, a strategic one to finance a stronger and bigger team focused on longevity and not just this year.”
“While the Olympics are definitely not my sole purpose [of being overseas], as an Australian who has had the chance to jump for Australia, I’m always going to be keen to represent my country.”
“It’s not something that I was totally expecting this year. But it’s also not out of the question… the couple of horses I’ve got here jumping the bigger tracks, Rosthwaite Cover Girl and Jevaro, if they had a bit of a dream run in the next few months leading into Paris, you just never really know. If I get my MERs and they’re going very, very well, and they need me on the team and I’m ready… then for sure it could be on the cards.” EQ
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE TO READ:
Blue-Ribbon Race for Olympic Team – Equestrian Life, April 2024
