British Breeder Magazine, February 2021

Studbook - News
In the 2020 WBFSH World
Rankings, the highest
ranked British 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!
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