Looking for a challenge and enamoured by the level of partnership required between horse and rider, Jemma Heran first dipped her toe into the dressage world 10 years ago. Recently enjoying a stint in Florida with Grand Prix horses Total Recall and Saphira Royal, the 27-year-old is on an upward trajectory and last month cracked the 70% barrier at international level.

“I wanted to build a relationship over a number of years and challenge my ability to train a horse… for me, it meant that next step was dressage,” says Australian rider Jemma Heran of how she first became involved in the sport.

Jemma began riding at eight years of age with her 11-hand Welsh pony named Donna, and it was this little mare that initially carried her into the world of competitive riding. Starting out in the show ring with show hunter pony classes, Jemma was hooked. “I had four ponies before moving to a galloway and then eventually a hack,” she explains.

Countless success in the show ring would follow, and her career highlights included winning National and Grand National classes. However, once Jemma hit the peak of her career, she began considering what was next. “I really fell in love with each and every horse and hated selling them, and I also loved training them further. Most of my show horses had tempi changes and other ‘tricks’; I showed off-the-track Thoroughbred Black Tie for roughly 10 seasons, and in the end we had trained to Prix St Georges level,” she recalls.

THROUGH THE DRESSAGE DOOR

Jemma’s first dressage horse, Go Dutch III, was imported in 2014 and her career in the sport began in earnest. “The intention [of importing Go Dutch] was to get my foot in the door at Young Rider level. We started chipping away at national-level dressage, as I continued full-force showing.”

Jemma says it was the challenge that dressage presented that eventually had her hooked. “I love progressing and developing as a rider. In the show ring I had hit a peak; I had won a lot with different horses, and I truly believe that equestrian sport is about progression. For me, dressage was the next step. Being able to love them and progress with them for a number of years was also my preferred way! Once I fell truly in love with the sport and the challenges it bought to me, I progressively gave away the showing,” explains Jemma, whose last show was at the 2019 Grand Nationals where she won her rider class.

Jemma believes that showing provided her with an invaluable pathway to where she is today. “It brought some fundamental basics from the Training Scale to my riding today and has been a huge part in shaping me as the rider I am now.”

“I love progressing and
developing as a rider…”

THE DRESSAGE ERA

By 2019, Jemma had built a dressage team at home alongside Go Dutch, including Under-25 Big Tour horse Hedelunds Mefisto. Jemma says that both Go Dutch and Mefisto taught her more than she could imagine. “I owe a lot to both of them. Dutch was very hot; this is how I liked them after showing hot Thoroughbreds for a number of years. I really had to take my time and work out how to manage the energy and channel this into the movements.

“When I originally bought Dutch, I bought him with the intention to show him as a hunter as well as in Small Tour and Young Rider dressage. This was a really fun time: he won Champion Hunter Hack at the Grand Nationals, and then we went on to win the Young Rider classes at the Boneo CDI a month later. It was very cool to be able to show a horse at the top of two sports at one time. Dutch really showed me the way in the Young Rider classes and created a drive in me that made me want to continue. He was really special to me.”

It was then ‘Meffi’ who helped Jemma take the next step once she switched to dressage full-time. “He really taught me the Grand Prix moves, in a very traditional way. I was lucky enough to spend time training with his previous rider, Hubertus Schmidt.”

Jemma feels incredibly fortunate to have had a very well-trained horse and a very traditional rider to learn from in the early days to teach her the basics right through to the Grand Prix. “This is something I was able to carry on with in the future and use training younger horses through the levels. It was a really valuable part of my career moving forward.”

The impeccably bred Total Recall, by the legendary Totilas and out of Weihevoll (the dam of Isabell Werth’s famed Weihegold OLD), was seven years old when he was imported to Australia to join Jemma’s team. The gelding was well-performed in young horse classes under Germany’s Matthias Alexander Rath for owners Gestüt Schafhof, and Jemma explains that he was purchased from a video just prior to COVID lockdowns.

“We spent our time during the pandemic really training and solidifying the Prix St Georges movements. At this time, he showed a lot of talent for the future in Grand Prix. We started in the PSG in Australia and my intention was to start him in the U-25 Grand Prix in my final year, however as a result of COVID we were unable to do so.

“At the time he started the PSG he showed a bright future in the sport with a lot of talent for collection, however he was a little difficult to get him to stay with me… he was very easily distracted. As we began to ride one solid PSG test after another, I then considered starting him in the Inter II classes. We had one of our first Inter II and Grand Prix starts in the national-level classes at the 2022 Sydney CDI.” A month and a half later, Jemma flew to Europe with Total Recall and another young horse.

THREE-MONTH TRIP

It was always Jemma’s plan to train and show in Europe – but first she had to finish her double degree in business and law. She figured that with the degree under her belt, it would be a waste if she did not spend the time to obtain her practical legal training and get admitted as a lawyer. “The same day I was admitted as a lawyer in Brisbane was the same day I flew out with two horses.”

Initially Jemma’s plan was to live and train in Europe for three months, however she’s never left. “I found a lot of opportunities to grow and learn. At the three-month mark, I really felt there were endless opportunities, both in the competition arena with many more shows available, along with the training that I could receive overseas. It was not something that could be replicated at home. I chose to stay on the basis that there was so much more to learn; I felt I needed to pursue this dream whilst I was young and fit.”

Arriving in Europe with Total Recall, Jemma’s stable quickly grew with the purchase of Saphira Royal 2 (by San Amour I out of Hir Highness, by Monteverdi) and another young horse.

“When I moved, the first show I took Total Recall to was Fritzens-Schindlhof in Austria, and this was also his first CDI Grand Prix. Whilst I was there, I saw Saphira Royal and fell in love with everything about her and thought I had to have her. Maree Tomkinson played a big part in supporting me in my journey to Europe, and she helped me get into contact with the Kasselmanns [at P.S.I.], which is where Saphira was at the time. Within a few months she was mine and the journey begun.”

Jemma has since been based at Hof Kasselmann in Hagen, Germany, and trains with P.S.I. rider Frederic Wandres. “After moving to Germany I spent some time finding where to base. When you move so far from home, you really leave behind a solid support network that is so important in this sport. My groom from home, Christy Baker, spent the first year abroad with me and together we had a focus of not only finding a trainer who was invested in me, but someone who was there for each step of the journey. Training with Freddy and living and training at Hof Kasselmann, I feel totally supported and we share the same goal – along with our training methods and care for the horses.”

FUN IN FLORIDA

Early last year, Jemma made her first trip to Florida with Total Recall and Saphira Royal – the latter just competing lightly. “We did a few shows; Saphira and I had to train a lot and work hard on building a relationship together. We went back to Europe for the summer, and Freddy and I really focused on training for a few months before showing at Peelbergen CDI [Kronenberg, The Netherlands, December 2023].”

Early this year, it was back to Florida with both horses – and Jemma’s partnership with Saphira Royal, now rising 15, has gone from strength to strength. To date, the pair have contested five CDI events in Wellington and Palm Beach, scoring as high as 70.717% to win their first international Grand Prix, as well as 70.575% in the Grand Prix Special. Both were PB scores.

“Together in Florida we have learnt a lot and have had the benefit of showing as little or as much as we want… Global Dressage Festival in Wellington is a great way to attend a number of shows in a row without travelling far, and it allows you to develop in an accelerated way. Showing here this year has allowed me to really get to know Saphira: what works best for her going into a show, how to keep her happy and feeling good at the show… and now it all starts to come together! This is so valuable, and we hope to carry this back to Europe.”

With their results on an upward trajectory, Jemma and Saphira Royal have ticked off their FEI MERs for the Paris Olympic Games and are also on their way to satisfying the Competition Criteria section of Australia’s Nomination Criteria – which stipulates, among other things, that combinations must have two scores “approaching or exceeding 69%” in a Grand Prix test at CDI3* or above, as well as “demonstrated experience” at two Grand Prix Special tests at CDI3* or above. Jemma and Saphira have several Grand Prix Specials under their belt, and in the Grand Prix test have a score over 70% plus several over 67%.

With the option to compete at a number of upcoming local CDIs in Florida, as well as countless competitions on offer over the European summer, it will no doubt be an exciting few months ahead as Jemma and Saphira’s partnership continues to blossom. Whether Paris Olympic team selection comes their way or not, Jemma says she’s committed to remaining in Europe with both her Grand Prix horses to continue training to the best of their ability.

“At the moment there is no plan to return to Australia. I have a long-term view to improve and develop both Total Recall and Saphira Royal in the Grand Prix… we will see where this takes us!” EQ

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