Summer 2012 - the American Hanoverian Society!

69.474% on Sunday. And it couldn’t
happen to a nicer young lady. Brandi is
a joy to know – always pleasant, optimistic
and energetic. She tells us about
Fenice, “He was so good at that show.
He has really started to mature over
the past year. I have been working with
Heidi Berry here in Virginia, and I also
go up to Maryland to get help from
Scott Hassler. They have both helped
me tremendously with him.”
But it hasn’t always been easy. Brandi
explains, “Fenice has taken a long time
to figure out the changes (I’m talking
years!) and over this last winter he
finally got them! This has been a huge
breakthrough for him. He has been
schooling the piaffe/passage/pirouettes
for a long time, but the changes have
been holding us up. This weekend was
a big confidence builder for me in realizing
that my horse is solid now in the
changes and I can start to focus on
making other things better.”
Although Brandi admits to being nervous
going into the test on Saturday,
she says, “I knew we were ready, but in
the back of my mind I couldn’t help
but wonder if everything would just
fall apart. As soon as I turned down the
center line and made the first halt/
salute any worries I had, completely
vanished. He was amazing. He was
confident, relaxed, and full of power.
The test was flowing and energetic and
the changes were clean and big! He
waited for me in the tempis and never
got flustered. All the years of work and
trying new exercises, and being happy
with small micro-steps of improvement,
paid off after that test. I was sitting on
a solid FEI horse that I had made from
the beginning! There is something really
special about that.
“Sunday the test was also good. It lacked
a little of the power that the other test
had, and he got a little tighter, but my
changes were clean and he actually
scored better. What made me really
happy was that two different judges
had seen my horse go on two different
days, and both scored him very similarly.
This made me even more confident
in my horse and his training.”
“I think what I’ve learned through these
last few years with Fenice is that there
is no set time line for where a horse
20 T HE AMERICAN HANOVERIAN
Above: Gentleman N (Grusus-SPS Rumpelstilzchen/Raphael), bred by Kathryn and Jeffrey Nesbit, Va.,
and owned/ridden by Kristin Herzing, Pa., was awarded first place at Intermediaire II scoring 64.342%.
should be at a certain age. Some take
longer than others. You have to be
patient. If you have a horse you really
believe in, don’t give up. Keep working
at the problem and maybe try to find
other ways to approach it. Sometimes
you really have to think outside the
box to solve something. Looking back,
there were so many times I thought he
would never figure it out, but all the
times I perceived as failed attempts
were just opportunities to find new
ways to solve the training problem we
were having. Now I have a huge toolbox
full of ideas and exercises to help
future horses in their training and I
owe it all to Fenice!”
Intermediaire I
COntessa (COntender-ginger/
Gibralter) scored 68.421% for
the win in Intermediaire I. She
is owned by Rachel DeMarcus, Va.,
and ridden/trained by Donna Gatchel,
Va. I first met this team in 2007
when they were winning at Fourth
Level. Contessa is now confirmed
at Intermediaire I and heading for
Intermediaire II. Donna says Contessa
has the one-tempis and passage, but
piaffe is taking a little longer to conquer.
Owner, Rachel, has been a constant
supporter of her horse and trainer,
attending the shows, carrying towels,
brushes, water, whatever the pair may
need for a good turn-out.
Donna says, “I was thrilled with my
ride at the CDCTA show, she produced
some great work, earning 8’s for her
extended and medium trots and 8’s for
her tempi’s, which are so easy for her.
The pirouette work is still hard but we
did get 7’s so I was happy about that, I
lost her in the extended canter on the
diagonal, which brought our score down.
I definitely hope to go all the way with
her, she has come so far and I do love her.”
Intermediaire II
at intermediaire ii it was anOther
familiar pair taking the blue
ribbon. Kristin Herzing, Pa., on
Gentleman N by Grusus out of SPS
Rumpelstilzchen/Raphael, bred by
Kathryn and Jeffrey Nesbit, Va., scored
64.342% for the win. When I contacted
Kristin to tell her Gentleman would be
the representative for Intermediaire II in
this article about Hanoverian winners
at every level, she commented, “I didn’t
know that the CDCTA show had
Hanoverian winners at every level, but
I am not surprised. I can’t say enough
about my Gentleman and the breed, in
PAT LIMAGE PHOTO