“It doesn’t always go to plan"

Article from May 2019 Horse Deals magazine.

A conversation with Matthew Dowsley and Rodney Martin about Four Year Old Young Horse competitions.

It is some relief when we realise that; it’s not just me! Four year old horses can be as unpredictable with the best of riders too. Australian WEG Team member Matthew Dowsley and Rodney Martin have had enormous success in Young Horse classes over the years with the likes of Cinderella, Rhodes and SS Dante, etc, all declared Champion of Champions at Victoria’s Dressage With The Stars. Interestingly, none of the aforementioned Champions took out the title as four year olds. Rodney headed to DWTS in March with OEH (Oakford Equine Hospital) Forever Chili, a really lovely four year old by Furstenball out of a Rotspon/Calypso II mare. “He is the quietest young horse I have had,” says Rodney, “and I thought he would have coped at Werribee. However, during the arena familiarisation prior to the competition, another horse crashed into the arena edge and Chili got a fright. In the first round of the class he was uptight and a little spooky. He placed fourth in round one, however after a ride in the indoor the next morning we decided to withdraw him from the competition. It is better for the judges to see a nice horse a little upset once than to reinforce that behaviour in the judge’s mind by continuing when you know it is not going to go well.”

“It is difficult to know how the four year olds will cope, and certainly before the Sydney CDI I will take him out more to indoor arenas to work him. In past years I have had hot horses and managed to get them around. It depends on the individual. You can work hot down, and if the horse is bold he copes, however Chili is quite timid and there would have been no point trying to push him through.”

“In Europe,” says Matthew, “the four year olds have much more experience indoors and at bigger competitions. We go to Clarendon and it is like competing in someone’s back paddock. Also, the four year olds at DWTS need to be more established than the average four year old to do well in these competitions. Chili is beautifully educated for a four year old and many in the class are not. And he did not cope, and I think people need to realise that many four year olds are just not ready for a competition like DWTS. Many are just not prepared well enough (in fact ours in this case). The four year olds have to just walk, trot and canter, but it is not that easy. It is better now that the show is in March, as the horses are just that much older than they were when the show was in December. They do cope better when they are five and six year olds. Also, I would like to see the Young Horse classes conducted in a bigger, more open arena as they do in Europe. I don’t like to do too much with them at four, because I think the more they do now, you take away at the other end of their career in terms of wear and tear on their joints. And I am more interested in the other end.

“Rodney loves the Young Horse competitions, and when I was younger I thought they were great. It is a wonderful showcase for the breeding, and the owners enjoy it because it is a big show for horses at a lower level, which is good. However, I would rather ride higher level horses that are a bit more on the job.”

“We didn’t get Chili until he was nearly four years old,” continues Rodney, “And he was very green, but he has such a great temperament. He gets 20 minutes to half an hour’s work five days a week, and coming into winter, as he gets closer to five, we will ask a little bit more. He has such a good balance already. He just has to get stronger, which is a matter of time. He has already developed a lot and is well and truly ahead of his level, and it was such a shame he was frightened at DWTS. He was gelded because we think lovely stallions make even better geldings. Despite them being so well trained at home and going well at local competitions, you just don’t know with a four year old how they will react to that big atmosphere for the first time at Werribee. When they are a bit timid, it’s tricky because you can’t just work them down. It’s a matter of time and repetition. It is nice too if you have them over a number of years, four, five and six year olds, and the judges tell you they can see the progression of the paces and the strength, etc.”

We arrived at Matthew and Rodney’s property at Woodlands in the Southern Highlands of NSW to watch Chili in action at home. A Four Year Old winner for sure; such a lovely young horse.

Chili worked beautifully and after about 20 minutes that was it. He has another crack at the Four Year Old Young Horse class at the Sydney CDI and after that, he will certainly be a young horse to follow.

Photos: Julie Wilson

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