2004 CDI Sydney

Young Horse Clinic

May2 , 2004

After an eventful weekend at the CDI *** in conjunction with the CDS W, Sunday concluded with a young horse clinic presented by George Sanna, a leading Australian coach. After the young horse classes of the 4, 5 and 6-year-olds on Saturday, the top three of each class were assessed by Sanna as to their potential and rideability.

The winners of each class were: in the four year old class Shane Davidson on Fairbanks Catargo finished first, with Matthais Hollberg coming second and third on On Track and Conney Island; in the five year old class Rod Brown on Corsica Z came first, with Colleen Brooke on Aerobatics in second and Wayne Moyes on Elusive Cowboy in third, and; in the six years class was led by Chris Chugg on Vivant, with Rod Brown on Triathlon in second and Chris Chugg again in third on Aloundra.

In an informative end to the hectic weekend, Sanna observes and then rides each horse, commenting on their ability and feel, especially regarding their breeding, scope and pace. It is quite a daunting experience for a young horse to compete in an arena as Sanna explains.

"Four year olds in an arena like this - you can expect to be distracted." Sanna offers advice to the riders/trainers regarding their mounts, concluding at the end of the clinic that "all the horses are light and sensitive which is what I think modern show jumping is looking for."

Another main focus of the clinic was the breeding of the horses. There was a mixture of thoroughbreds, warmbloods and coldblood crosses, which tend to be more leg efficient, and more economical over the jump.

There was an outstanding performance from the 6 year olds this year as they showed the most potential, and Sanna believes that 7 or so 6 year olds will make the top future horses. "It's very nice to see our best riders on these horses."

Back to the CDI Sydney Index