THE WORLD YOUNG EVENTING HORSE CHAMPIONSHIPS
the Mondial du Lion
Story by Christopher Hector and Photos by Roslyn Neave and Eric Knoll
W
hat I love about the Mondial du Lion - the world
championships of young eventing horses - is that
it is so totally unfashionable.
Here is a real horseman's event, driven by an understanding
of the nature of the horse, and the nature of the relationship
between horse and rider. Imagine, two whole days of
eventing dressage, no frills, no frumpery, not even a flying
change to entertain the masses - this is certainly not the sort
of thing that will attract the mythical audience of several
billion Chinese that seems to be the guiding light of the FEI's
program to dumb everything down. It's certainly not the sort
of thing that will attract Mr Tops' rentacrowd of wannabees,
and the rich (soon to be less so) and would-be-famous.
Here the old codgers sip their Muscadet as they discuss the
pedigrees of the day, they may be a bit old and wrinkled but
they can dial up bloodline details on their smart phones well
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enough. This is a real horse event, for real horse people.
Which is not to say that the audience is limited to aged
peasantry. As we sip our evening drinks back at the hotel, we
catch up with a couple who have traveled all the way from
England. The wife is a sometime eventer, the passion now
passed to her little daughter who is into pony eventing, and
tells us she is a Chris Burton fan, and tells us the names of
all his horses she has seen. They love their first taste of the
Mondial because despite what the FEI may believe, there are
there are people who love eventing for what it is, and don't
see the necessity of dumbing it down to try and make it
something it will never be....
It is also a very welcoming and friendly event, but a lot more
security conscious, understandably because it's France, and
they won't let us park in the press park because we haven't got
our car pass yet because we haven't been to the press bureau.
Once through, take a deep breath and enjoy the wonderful
colours of the autumn leaves, settle back and try and work
out which stallion is working with which mares...
There are no standout sires this year, the only stallion
with two representatives in the six-year-old class is Jaguar
Mail (Hand in Glove xx / Laudanum xx). In the seven-yearold class, it is Diamant de Sémilly (Le Tot de Sémilly / Elf III)
with two, while Jaguar Mail has one in this class too.
Still there are a few interestingly bred horses doing well.
The young British rider, Gemma Tattersall is riding
Chilli's Gem, by William Fox-Pitt's four-star performer, Chilli
Morning out of a mare by Rock King who is by the great Just A
Monarch. On the bottom line we find the influential Anglo
Arab, Inschallah - all of which adds up to 72.66% 'blood'.
The chestnut mare looks a lot like her dad (dare I say, she
even looks a bit scopier) and she is putting together a stylish
test - not so you'd know it from the score board, the judges,
Christian Steiner (Austria), Eric Lieby (France) and Anne
Persson, seem determined to play it safe and are stuck on
three scores - 6, 6.5, 7 - and they don't get higher for the
really good work, or much lower for the not so nice. Although
it might be noted that there are very few not nice tests, the
overwhelming majority of the riders are riding tactfully and
quietly, there's nary a lean-back-hunt-them-forward auction
trot to be seen, and there are very few tense horses, even if
they don't really get hurt for being tense (see above).
The dark grey, Vanity Fair is another stunning mare, she is
by Diarado (Diamant de Sémilly / Corrado) out of a Chacco
Blue mare, just a wonderful mover and ridden sweetly by
Frenchman, Christopher Six.
ABOVE: Gemma Tattersall and Chilli's Gem;
BELOW: Vanity Fair and Christopher Six
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Riga de Hus and Olivier Chapus
At Rio we noted a couple of horses going round in the
eventing of dressage breeding, and here at Le Lion we
had Riga de Hus - straight dressage, by Rascalino out of a
Diamond Hit mare. He's only a little chap, but Olivier Chapus
does not look under-mounted, and the horse has fine trot
and a better canter.
Christopher Burton, who seems to be starring pretty
well everywhere these days, has a lovely test on the Dutch
branded - but almost entirely Holsteiner bred, Fire Fly. The
bay gelding is by Zavall VDL by Casall, out of a Corland /
Indoctro mare. Looking at his papers, and percentage of
blood, 45.31%, you might expect a heavier type, but he is
leggy and lean.
Christopher thinks the six-year-old test with its giving
of the rein at strategic points is good to show the horse's
training: "Is it a hard test to ride with all the giving of the
reins? I have a view that this ability to give the rein is very
important for one-star horses, and it should be in all lower
level tests, because if you are not able to ride with a forward
giving hand, then it shows up. It amazes me how many top
riders can't ride with a forward hand. It's a big issue, so
this is why it is a great movement."
And the horse you are riding, Fire Fly...
"He's come to us this year. He's got a lot of quality, as you
can see. He's not been the easiest as a young one but he has
improved a lot, and today he gave me a really good ride in
the ring
Fire Fly finishes in fourth place in the six-year-olds on a
score of 44.2%. The leader in this class is the German entry,
Painter's Maxim ridden by Kai-Steffen Meier. The Trakehner
stallion is by Phlox who is by the Russian Trakehner, Waitaki,
and he is out of a mare by the Thoroughbred, Painter's Row,
who was banished from the Dutch studbook because his
semen was not considered of sufficient quality.
Painter's Maxim is another forward moving horse,
open in the gullet rather than forced into a frame, and
sweetly relaxed.
ABOVE: Firefly and Chris Burton; RIGHT: Chris with wife, Bek
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In amongst the horses, are lots of old friends. Ingrid
Klimke is one of our all time favorite people. She is here to
compete in the seven-year-old class, and it is great to get her
take on the event:
Is there a special art to preparing horses for this world
young horse championship?
"For sure you must have them in good condition because
for the young horses it is the first time they run around nine
to ten minutes. For the first time this is real life compared
to what they do when they are six when they do the young
eventing classes which are a bit like a showjumping in a big
field over cross country fences. Here they have to gallop
through the bushes, through the trees, jump nice fences
which are different to what they have seen before."
Do you like to start them in a couple of two-star events
before you bring them here?
"I think they definitely have to run two to four two-stars to
make sure that they have enough mileage, have seen enough
and not be all of a sudden surprised to see such pretty fences
because they are very well decorated here."
Is there are different way of preparing these young horses?
"I think it is pretty much the same as it is for the older
horses. I canter every five days. I like to go on the hills and plan it eight to twelve weeks before so they gradually
increase, I build it up slowly not in a rush at the end."
There are some lovely horses here...
"I saw them on the trot up, and there are some very nice
horses, nice shapes, nice conformation, not so many overbuilt like we sometimes saw in the past. Especially in the
seven-year-old class, there were many that I marked, nice
conformation, nice type, nice hind leg. Now all the eventing
riders know that the dressage and the jumping count for
more so they take more interest in looking out for horses
that have proper gaits so they can win the dressage and
hopefully be good showjumpers, because the ones that are
only good cross country, will not win a championship."
I think the riding style has become nicer, the riders are
quieter, more sympathetic...
"If you watch the French riders, or the Irish riders or
the English riders, they have all improved their dressage a
lot in the last years. They know that good dressage, good
throughness, building up young horses in the classical way,
will bring you further."
They were not many tense horses in the ring today...
"Hopefully mine not either - we'll see."
Tell me a little about your horse - Weisse Duene by Clarimo
out of a mare by Romino...
"She's normally very nice in the ring, she is a little more
uphill now and can carry herself a little bit longer. She's very
easy in the half pass, it's fun to ride her in the dressage, she's
not spooky or over-whelmed, she has been very good in her
tests the whole season."
You've just come back from walking the course, what is your
impression?
"It starts very inviting, with nice fences, not too difficult,
nice turns and all of a sudden, at the second water, you see
the first really narrow one. Then it starts, there's the corner,
Ingrid Klimke and Weisse Duene
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and then down to the brush fence, and then the next narrow
one. Then you have the house, with the angled brushes that's definitely a test because you never know how the
young horses will balance, do you have them very quick on
the hindlegs or choose the alternative if you feel they are too
much on the forehand. But again, it is beautifully built and
they learn a lot - there's ditches and the first water, the fence
in the water really means you have to canter through it in
good balance and a little uphill. I think they will learn a lot,
and it is beautiful."
Sometimes with young dressage horses they are stars in
young horse classes but they don't go on to the big sport - yet
here, a lot of the horses that have gone well have gone on to
great success at the highest levels...**
"That's what they said in the first briefing, the horses you
see here, many of them you will see in Tokyo. And we saw in
Rio, many who have been here."
"For me this is an event where I can bring a young horse
and see how they are going to be in real life. How they cope
with a real cross-country. You see if they have the gallop for
three and four-star, I want to see how they cope with the
difficulty of the variety of fences, then you know if they can
take another step, or if they are a nice horse for a junior. Are
they a young rider horse, or something for four-star."
"For me it is one of the greatest events, it gives you the
most information about the horses you have brought here.
You learn about your horse."
Did you bring Bobby (Horseware Hale Bob) here?
"Yes, he took off. When I got to the finish, I asked everybody
- would you like to take him home? I didn't want to take
him home. It was horrible, I thought about jumping off in
one corner because he was so fast and I had no influence
at all. It was here that I thought, I don't think he is a lady's
horse. Then I started to really think about selling him, but
then with Chris Bartle's advice, I changed him into a gag,
and really made sure that he half halts after every fence
and learns to listen. We found out that it was time for a big
change, and it worked. He decided to stay with me and listen
to the half halts..."
As we drove from St Lô to Lion de Angers, the fields
were filled with black and white cows, how amazing, that
the marshlands of Holstein, should have produced a breed
of cow that has taken over the dairy world, and a breed of
horse that has been seized upon by every major studbook in
the world. Ingrid's horse is essence of Holsteiner - his fourth
line goes: Capitol, Caletto II, Ramiro, Sacramento Song xx,
with a blood percentage of 51.37%.
Ingrid and Weisse Duene finish in the lead late on the
second day, but right through the test it was a battle with
Britain's Pippa Funnell and her homebred, AES registered,
Billy Walk On, with the lead swapping between Ingrid and
Pippa every second movement.
Billy Walk On by Billy Mexico who is by Cevin Z (three
crosses of Cor de la Bryère, two of Capitol, one of Sacramento
**For an historical review of some of the great horses that
have competed at Le Lion, click here.
Pippa Funnell and Billy Walk On
Song xx and one of Ladykiller xx) out of Bidorette, by that
great Selle Français export to Holland, Le Mexico, out of one
of Jan Greve's great mares, the Almé daughter, Twiggy. Billy
Walk On is out of an Irish mare, Shannon Line by Golden
Bash out of a Bossumpierre mare - that's 85.75% blood.
Billy Walk On's test was a delight, the bay gelding is just
so perfectly balanced, everything was so relaxed and scopey,
particularly the enormous walk, which dragged the panel
into giving a 9. Perhaps, Ingrid's mare was a little more
forward, and she picked up her share of 8s and even 9s, but
it was a very close run thing - going into the cross country,
only 2.1 points separates the two.
The Billy Stud is run by Pippa, and her husband,
showjumper, William Funnell and breeder, Donal Barnwell. I
asked her if they set out to breed eventers or showjumpers?
"Showjumpers, but a lot of the mares have quite old
fashioned Irish / Thoroughbred breeding. The modern
showjumper has to have quite a lot of quality and blood,
so even though we are breeding for showjumpers, some of
them have enough quality to go eventing."
How many stallions in the program?
"We've bred some of our own, and we've got some younger
stallions. Billy Congo (by the Voltaire son, Vechta out of a
mare by the Almé son, Animo, with Irish breeding on the
bottom line) would be our main one. Cevin Z is another one
we own and we use him quite a lot, but we are also using
outside stallions as well."
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The one here is by Billy Mexico...
"Billy Mexico we bred by Cevin out of a Le Mexico mare."
Is it easier to breed eventers than jumpers?
"No, it's much the same. We've got a lot of horses traveling
all over the world now, and this week we've got our first online auction, with ten three-year-olds up for sale."
We seem to have some of our most significant discussions,
sitting over a drink at the Brasserie at our hotel, and this time it
is German coach/manager, Hans Melzer's turn. Lion d'Angers
is, in his opinion, THE most beautiful event in Europe. The
most beautiful stables and the most beautiful course.
It is certainly the prettiest Pierre Michelet course I have
seen, and as Ingrid pointed out the variety of fences combined
with a HUGE crowd, is the real test of the youngsters.
I'll let Roslyn's photos tell the tale, cut the words so you
can enjoy these wonderful fences in this exquisite setting...
The placings for the top nine in the six-year-olds stay
virtually as they were after the dressage with only one horse,
Flash (Dutch bred -Bustique / Haarlem) adding 0.8 time to
Sanne de Jong's dressage score. The rest were clear clear.
Kai-Steffen Meier's wonderful Painter's Maxim is still
in the lead, closely followed by the Belgian duo of Ducatai
d'Arville and Lara De Liedekerke- Meier. The gelding is
another by Diarado out of a Perpignon mare. In third we
find Britain's Izzy Taylor riding Jockey Club Fleurelle - once
again a dressage horse finds an honest job in the world of
eventing. Fleurelle is by Vivaldi (Krack C / Jazz), his dam is
by the jumping bred, Sydney (Goodtimes / Libero H) but
there is more dressage blood on the bottom line with the
Ferro son, Kennedy.
Christopher Burton's Fire Fly is still holding on to 4th
place, followed by Austria's Felix Vogg and Mathurin
v/d Vogelzan (no breeding available), the Swiss, Ronny
Thijs and Consequent Pia Z (Contendro I /Quinar), Flash,
Aktion de Belheme (Lauterback / Jerricho Pierreville) and
Jean Lou Bigot and German, Sophie Leube and Jadore Moi
(Conthargos / Asi).
Enough with the words, sit back and enjoy the pix...
ABOVE: Flash and the Dutch rider, Sanne de Jong over
Michelet’s exquisite violin jump; TOP RIGHT: Ducati D’Arville
and Lara De Liedekerke for Belgium, clear and fast and to
hold their dressage place; BOTTOM RIGHT: And there in
the background is the master himself – Pierre Michelet...
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TOP: Izzy Taylor makes it through the first water complex with
Jockey Club Fleurelle; BOTTOM: Another over the musical
fence, Consequent Pia Z and the Belgian, Ronny Thus;
OPPOSITE PAGE: What a wonderful horse Painter’s Maxim runs down the course…
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TOP: Christopher Burton had to ride to get Fire Fly
focused for this one; BOTTOM: Sophie Lube over
the very cute Ducks’ fence on Jadore Moi
OPPOSITE PAGE: French veteran, Jean Lou Bigot comes out of
the water complex on Aktion de Belheme; BOTTOM: Swiss rider,
Felix Vogg and Mathurin v/d Vogelzang - no sign of a duck out…
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It is the same story in the seven-year-olds, the top ten
all come home, clear, no time, they have learnt so much on
Michelet's course, positive learning, thanks to this master
course designer...
Ingrid, wonderful Ingrid Klimke is still at the top to the
table with Weisse Duene, and the equally wonderful Pippa
Funnell is hot behind her on Billy Walk On. Maxime Livio is
in third spot on Vroum d'Auzey (Nouma D'auzay / Allegreto)
followed by Gemma Tattersall and Chilli's Gem, followed by
Maxime yet again, riding Vegas Des Boursons (by the Jalisco
son, Allegretto out of a mare by the Thoroughbred, Tin
Soldier). Jonelle Price is keeping the Dutch flag flying with
Cooley Showtime (by Chin Chin out of a mare by the great
Thoroughbred, Julio Mariner). French star, Thomas Carlile
is in 7th on Vassily de Lassos, who is Thomas' preferred mix
- by Jaguar Mail, and out of an Anglo Arab mare, by Jalienny.
They are followed by Astier Nicolas with the Selle Français,
Vinci de la Vigne (Esterel des Bois / Duc du Hutrel). Then the
oddly named Finnish representative, Bofey Click (Swedish
bred, Chirlon / Distinctly) ridden by Sanna Siltakorpi.
Rounding out the top ten we have Jive About Wonderland
(Elvis Terputte / Grannus) and the Belgian, Lara de
Liedekerke-Meier.
What a great days sport it has been. This is pure equestrian
sport and it shows that a well organized, smoothly run show in
a great venue can attract massive crowds. The sooner a couple
of the bureaucrats in the FEI head office learn to appreciate
eventing like this, the longer our sport will survive...
ABOVE: Ingrid and Weisse Duene, start getting used to that name;
TOP RIGHT: Yet another beautiful fence, and a beautiful combination,
Pippa Funnell and Billy Walk On; BOTTOM RIGHT: Maxime
Livio, off the drop, heading for the skinny on Vroum d’Auzay
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TOP: Gemma Tattersall has a new star, Chilli’s Gem;
BOTTOM: Thomas Carlile, Britsh bred but he grew up, and
rides for France, on Vassily de Lassos
OPPOSITE PAGE: Jonelle Price is looking cool on Cooley
Showtime; BOTTOM: They make it over the corner but it
wasn’t pretty – Maxime Livio on Vegas des Boursons
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TOP: Don’t they love their Rio silver medalist, Astier Nicolas, home
clear on Vinci de la Vigne; BOTTOM: Kevin McNab shows how to ride
the drop on Vihara du Causse
OPPOSITE PAGE: Jive About Wonderland and Lara de LiekekerkeMeier through the chess board (Photo – Eric Knoll); BOTTOM: Last
horse of the day, Sanne de Jong and Enjoy, head for the finish line...
50 EVENTING
And it is not all over till the fat lady sings (although fat
ladies in France are thin on the ground) and the showjumping
for the six-year-olds turned into a thriller.
Christopher Burton went clear, if somewhat noisily on Fire
Fly, to put the pressure on the threesome in front of him, and
they obliged. Izzy Taylor’s lovely Jockey Club Fleurelle, had
the last fence, Lara de Liedekerke-Meier’s Ducati d’Arville put
two down to drop from second to sixth, then the horse that
had lead the event all the way to the final stage, Kai-Steffen
Meier’s Painter’s Maxim, fell apart and had two down to
drop to fourth, and the Belgian, Felix Vogg and Mathurin v/d
Vozelzang with a clear, moved up into second place.
Australia’s has its first event World Champion in Equestrian,
although Christopher was modest enough to admit at the
press conference that he had his share of luck - “he knocked
rails and they stayed up, while there were good riders and
good horses that tapped them and they came down.”
It seems our boy can do no wrong - go Burto!
Izzy Taylor and Jockey Club Fleurelle, the chestnut
mare is owned by the Hong Kong Jockey club and
set for the Asian Games next year, and Izzy was
a bit teary that this was her last ride on her.
Felix Vogg and Mathurin v/d Vozelzang: “I got him in December, he’d
done hunting and some small classes in Belgium. At the start he was a
bit difficult in his dressage but he was super cross country and super
jumping - he’s just a super little brave horse with no breeding.”
52 EVENTING
Christopher Burton was of course, on a high after his victory on Fire Fly: “It is the first time I’ve won at Le Lion, it’s very
exciting for us. He was purchased at the Boekelo Sales last year, he’s very very nice on the flat, he can gallop and jump, but
he has learnt a lot. To be able to come here and riding around Pierre Michelet’s track is an excellent learning curve, they go
into it as baby novice horses and they come out of it feeling like they can go two-star...”
It was pretty much the same story in the seven-year-olds.
Jonelle Price had a lovely clear on Cooley Showtime, while
Gemma Tattersall on Chilli’s Gem had a rail - then to the oohs
and aahs of the locals, the wheels fell off for Maxime Livio
as Vroum d’Auzay decked four poles. Tom Carlile’s clear on
Vassily de Lassos takes him into fourth, equal with Astier
Nicolas and Vinci de la Vigne. The Kiwi and the two French
combinations were still on their dressage scores.
Jonelle Price and Cooley Showtime - clear as
you might expect with Chin Chin as his dad....
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Billy Walk On and Pippa Funnell - “He’s never had two down before, in fact he’s had very few rails in his career. I
guess the atmosphere doesn’t help, and yesterday was the furthest they’ve ever gone, but he’s one with a future.”
Out came Pippa Funnell on her super Billy Walk On, then
quelle horreur, two rails down and Pippa holds her second
spot in front of Jonelle by just 0.3!
It was left to Ingrid Klimke to restore some sanity to the
scene. Weisse Duene never looked like having a problem,
home clear to stay on her dressage score and the world
championship goes to another of our favorite people at one
of our favorite events. The spectators, just on 50,000 of them,
sure had their money’s worth. hTHM
Ingrid Klimke: “The last time I won was in 1998, the first time I came here,
with Sleep Late, I am happy that I have won it again... with another grey.
I think both my horse and Pippa’s horse are possible Tokyo horses...”
54 EVENTING