Studbook - News AES Gelding Into the Blue An interview with rider Louise Bell by Eva-Maria Broomer 12 | BRITISH BREEDER
Studbook - News In the 2020 WBFSH World Rankings, the highest ranked <strong>British</strong> bred individual dressage horse is the 15-year-old AES gelding Into the Blue. Bred by none other than John Whitaker from showjumping lines by the Darco son Ublesco out of a Calvaro Z mare, & embarking on dressage as a second career after enormous showing successes as a young horse, “Dynamo” certainly breaks the mould. We caught up with his rider, Louise Bell, to tell us more about their extraordinary journey together. 1. Tell us a little bit about how you found Dynamo and your early days with him. What made him stand out for you, and what were your expectations? One day, John Whitaker rang me out of the blue to say he had a cousin of my great show horse and Working Hunter Supreme Champion “Man on Fire” for sale. I had lost “Man on Fire” tragically as an 8-year-old. John had bred him, as well as my other show horse “Cracker”, with whom I had won National Championships and with whom I had become Reserve Champion riding sidesaddle at the Horse of the Year Show. That is why when John rang me and said he may have another horse for me, I was certainly interested. His words where: “I’m not sure if he is what you want, but he’s a great colour!!” In fact, when I arrived up in Yorkshire to see him, he turned out to be completely pink... a pink roan! And I have to say I fell completely in love straight away before he’d even left the stable for the simple reason that I could see so much of “Man on Fire” in him… And then there was his eye! He had the eyes of a very very special soul... naughty, yes, but special! Then John bought him out for me to look at his conformation and a walk and trot up. He was 3 at the time, broken and jumping a small course of fences, but his croup was about a foot higher than his withers and he was quite wide behind and narrow in front, in other words, not the finished article at all and I needed a telescope of vision to see the future “Dynamo” he was going to become! At the time I was the only one who could see his potential. My husband Robert, my vet at the time Alan Walker and my groom Niki Pilar all said exactly the same: “Louise have you lost your mind?” But.... that day up at John’s, the walk he showed was already superb. The trot was not amazing but he was a straight mover and, after all, I was buying him to make a working hunter. He moved very well for showing and dressage had not even entered my mind. When I first got on him that day it was like riding a snake! He was so flexible and couldn’t really go in a straight line. But the walk and canter were already good and the trot was fine and I just knew that with time and strength he would become perfect. His jump was plenty enough for working hunters, but he lacked the added BOOM needed for an international showjumper, which is why John was selling him. After we agreed the deal with John, Robert spent the entire journey home telling me what an idiot I was and that I was going to be stuck with a pink horse! Even my existing showing clients and owners all kept telling me that they thought I was mad. I quietly went on my way doing what I do best and slowly bringing out of Dynamo what I knew was in there. Funnily enough it did not take long. Three months after keeping him under wraps I was walking back into the yard one day and one of my clients said: “Oh is this a new one?” My reply was: “No… this is the same one you accused me of loosing my mind over!” Everyone was blown over! And to this day they all admit how wrong they were… although I will say they did make me doubt myself at the time! In his short showing career Dynamo was a champion from day one, becoming Supreme Champion at Windsor as a 4-year-old and again as a five-year-old, and Royal International Supreme Working Hunter Champion at 5 years old, still the youngest horse to this day to ever have won the Working Hunter Title there. Then, at six years old he became National Champion too. So when I was asked by Horse and Hound to take up dressage for a challenge, Dynamo became the horse I did my first ever dressage test on in an elementary class, and the rest is history! BRITISH BREEDER| 13
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