Breaking the Stereotype: Kaaru Flash Duke and Julie Mills

This article is from the September 2020 Horse Deals magazine.

Julie, tell us about Duke. He is a 17.2hh purebred registered Clydesdale. I purchased Duke as a 15-month-old yearling from a Clydesdale breeder in Broadford, Victoria in about 2007.

I broke Duke in under saddle myself as a three and a half year old and slowly brought him on. That is where our amazing journey and very special bond began.

When I originally purchased Duke, I had no idea he would be so trainable nor did I ever envisage him reaching FEI Intermediate 1, especially given the obvious fact that he is a Clydesdale, not a Warmblood. (But shhhhh, we won’t tell Duke that as I’m certain he believes he is a Warmblood!)

When he was a four-year-old, we did a bit of everything, jumping, cross country, the odd show here and there, trail riding. Duke was a bit of a “jack of all trades” kind of horse.

When Duke was about five, we started having general riding lessons and that was when I realised Duke’s amazing talent, well more like trainability, for dressage. The more I would ask him to do, the more he would do for me. Our lesson then quickly turned into weekly dressage lessons.

We initially started off competing at local dressage competitions under Adult Riding Club. We quickly surpassed the levels which then led us down the path of actively competing in open EA competitions. Within a few short years of us competing in EA, I quickly became known as “the girl on the Clydie.”

In 2018, Duke commenced competing at FEI Prix St George and then towards the end of 2019 we had our first go at an Intermediate 1 test, which I think he did an amazing job with.

He loves piaffe and whenever something either gets too hard, too confusing or just to be plain naughty, he will just piaffe and do nothing else. It’s his crowd pleaser or party trick.

Our ultimate dream would be to reach the top of the sport and compete at Grand Prix. Achieving this would also make Duke the first purebred Clydesdale in Australia to reach such a high level in Dressage.

To date, Duke is the only purebred registered Clydesdale actively competing at FEI Small Tour Dressage in Victoria and I believe he may be the only one within Australia. As an owner and trainer I am so proud of all his achievements thus far.

What are his achievements in the dressage arena? Duke and I have performed dressage demonstrations at festivals such as at the National Heavy Horse Festivals. Most years he has managed to qualify for both National and State Dressage Championships.

I think for me, his biggest achievement so far is to compete at Intermediate 1 in open competition against all the seasoned imported Warmblood horses and still do just as good a job as them. He certainly had a big crowd watching that day, which he loved. The test wasn’t perfect, but for him it was absolutely perfect. Every time I ride Duke, whether in competition or training, he always gives me 110% and more.

Are there any aspects he struggles with? Duke does struggle to keep his energy levels and stamina throughout his tests. Since Duke is a heavy breed, we spend the majority of our time working on his fitness, his suppleness and flexibility. Then we have to always make sure he keeps his hind end quick, especially for his tempi changes, and keep him super collected and connected. Otherwise he struggles to keep his rhythm and balance.

What was Duke originally bred for? Being a purebred and registered Clydesdale, Duke was originally bred to pull heavy carts and wagons. The family that bred Duke were very much involved in the heavy horse shows.

In this case, Duke never got to do any of the work he was originally bred for. He has not been broken to harness or broken to pull chains, in fact when we attended the National Heavy Horse Festival in January 2020, he was absolutely petrified of the other Clydesdales that were pulling wagons and carts ­— a bit comical given that he is a Clydesdale and all! But, we can forgive him for that, given how much he has excelled in dressage.

What comments do you receive when you are out at competitions? We always receive a huge amount of attention and an array of comments. I’ve been told by many spectators that they love him because he is different and not the norm. Whenever we are dancing around the dressage arena, Duke manages to have a captive audience watching on, in awe of what he can do!

A lot of comments we do receive are; “wow, how do you get a Clydesdale to move like that?” and “look how trainable he is.”

I have also had a lot of comments over the years informing me how much Duke has inspired people to get out and do what they love; ride; regardless of what breed their horse is. This also includes a lot of other dressage riders, who ride breeds other than Warmbloods. It has inspired them to get out there and have fun and show off their horse’s talent, no matter the breed.

While 95% of our comments we receive are positive and most people love watching Duke progress through the dressage levels, we still do come across the negative side of the sport. The stereotypical part has generally come from some professional riders and some judges, that think Duke should not be competing amongst the elite professional imported horses and riders at FEI level.

When I started coming through the dressage levels, we were competing in the elementary section and I was told by a judge that I probably shouldn’t waste any more time with a horse like this because he would probably never achieve higher than elementary level. The judge said I should follow suit and go out and buy a proper dressage horse; a Warmblood. Occasionally, still to this day, Duke is judged upon his looks rather than his performance.

Thankfully, any negative comments just make me more determined to show everyone that my Duke can be just as good, if not better, than your “stereotypical Warmblood.” He can make a top-level dressage horse, as he executes the high-level dressage movements correctly.
At the end of the day, I love each and every test I ride with Duke, regardless of the score or the placing. I absolutely love performing the higher tests and showing the world that anything is possible and achievable. We will continue to progress through the level and see how far we can go. The sky is the limit!

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