A ride through history with the Sannas

The name Sanna is synonymous with showjumping in Australia and around the world. George Sanna is an Olympian, an internationally renowned rider, and an outstanding coach and businessman. He is a mentor to many and has an uncanny eye for good horses, running one of the most successful equestrian bloodstock agencies in the southern hemisphere.

BY ROGER FITZHARDINGE

ONCE YOU LEARN the amazing Sanna family story, you will agree that horses and the name Sanna were destined to go hand in hand. Although Sanna is an Italian name, George’s mother, Ditti, and father, Harry, were Hungarian. Ditti was born in Romania in 1922 just after the First World War. Romania was then part of Hungary, having been reallocated after the war in a separation that created angst amongst the Hungarian people. As the Romanian government slowly gobbled up landowners’ acreages, Ditti’s father, who was a lawyer, musician and later a judge, decided to move to Budapest where Ditti finished her schooling and did a stenography course. Harry was born into a military family, as his father was part of the Hungarian cavalry known as the Hussars. As a consequence, his involvement with horses and the discipline that came with it was instilled in Harry from a young age.  He was accepted in to the Spanish Riding School, where each year only 20 outside cavalry members are taken from 400-odd applicants, but he decided to stay with the Hussars. In 1932 he represented his country at the Berlin Olympics, the youngest member of the team, finishing seventh in the showjumping.

Harry was in the air force when the Second World War broke out and was back from a stint in Russia, doing a parachuting course near where Ditti then lived. It was through a phone call to an officer at the base that found Harry answering the phone and Ditti inviting him, by mistake, to a party she was organising. It was love at first sight when they met and in January 1944 they married before Harry returned to the war. In December Harry Jnr was born, at the same time Ditti’s father survived a gas bomb attack on Budapest as he was walking home from his work – he lay in a moat and was lucky to live. The bomb caused their house to burn to the ground, but through the kindness of a good friend, Ditti and her parents were housed for the birth of Harry Jnr.

Within three weeks of the birth of Harry Jnr it was decided that the officers’ wives should move from Hungary to a camp in Austria for their welfare, as the Russians were moving in on the area.  Twenty women and their children were taken by bus in the depth of winter to Austria. From bus to train and then horse-drawn sleds, they made way to the camp in an old castle owned by the Catholic Church, which became home for the Sannas for the next five years.

Captain Harry was awarded medals of the highest order for defending a Hungarian frontier along a river parallel to Austria, but eventually the bridge that was important to the stronghold was overtaken. Ditti’s mother, who had travelled with them to Austria, passed away so it was decided that Harry Jnr should be placed in a care facility, where he would be safe. Captain Harry was taken prisoner, but it wasn’t long before he escaped and returned to Hungary where he hid from the Russians at his brother-in-law’s. He made money transporting wine from north Hungary to Budapest with a friend, but it was not easy as they had to be constantly aware of the Russians.

At the end of the war, Harry and Ditti were reunited and, as time passed, decided to emigrate to Australia. They sailed for Perth, where they were put in a refugee camp in Northam and Captain Harry got his first Australian job at a superphosphate plant. Their second child, George, was born in Perth in 1952. Captain Harry had by this time found work on a tobacco farm, and then with Shell in the Cocos Islands while Ditti worked as a nurse’s aide. But Harry Snr missed the horses he had grown up with and on his return from the islands he started teaching at Broadacres, the property of Rachael and Major Pardoe. Here he helped Dianne Bennet with her showjumpers alongside the well-respected Carl (Kalman?) de Jurenak. The family eventually moved to Eltham in Victoria, to establish a riding school. Until then, George had no interest in riding but once in Victoria, and at Xavier College, his passion took over. He learnt to ride on the school ponies, ponies that George says were not typical school ponies, as his father trained some of them to piaffe, passage and to make correct flying changes!

The riding school flourished and Captain Harry was a popular and respected trainer. The family moved again, to nearby Greensborough, where George started to take his competing seriously with his first horse, Yakkandandi, gaining experience in showjumping and eventing. His next horse, Jakes Rio, whom he and his father bought from the markets, was a fiery and challenging Thoroughbred that George trained with the help of his father before school. George’s passion turned to pure showjumping, so he balanced this with an arts/law course at Monash University. The riding school moved again, this time to Coldstream, by which time George had a small team of mostly A grade horses. He and his father would travel to shows while older brother Harry stayed home to run the riding school.

Having given clinics in Tasmania, Captain Harry felt an affinity with the area and decided to move to Forcett when a great facility availed itself. He continued to teach and make a name for himself all over the island, while Ditti worked as a librarian and George, who had completed his first year of law, continued his studies at the University of Tasmania whilst developing a string of half a dozen A grade horses. Harry Jnr helped in the riding school, breaking a few in and training them. It was in Tasmania where Rod Brown (who was always interested in showjumping but at the time worked with trotting horses), started working for Captain Harry and began riding the showjumpers.

George had completed law but deferred his articles so he and Rod could take the horses on the road to compete at shows all over the eastern coast of Australia, beginning with Melbourne and Sydney Royal. It was on this trip that George met his first wife, Sue Steindel. After a year on the road George concluded there was no money in that lifestyle, so he hired stables and based himself at Warwick Farm in New South Wales and began coaching. With a businesslike mind, George sold all his horses and truck, but took his best horse – and what he reflects on as his favourite ever – Tric Trac, to Europe to compete and sell. Of course, the inevitable happened; Tric Trac was injured and required a six-month spell, but George saw it as an opportunity to complete his articles for his law degree and was admitted to the bar. Tric Trac recovered and they went to Europe where he was extremely successful and sold in a few months.

On returning to Sydney and marrying Sue, George leased a property from Roz and Reiner Nist in Oakville, New South Wales, where they spent the next few years working hard and establishing the property. At this time, Captain Harry Sanna, who still lived and worked in the equestrian world in Tasmania, travelled a lot to teach in Victoria. Sadly, in a total blow to the family, it was during one of these trips at a clinic he had a heart attack and died. It was a bittersweet time for George, losing his father while his two great horses, King Omega and Kite, were taking the jumping arena by storm. George rode King Omega at the World Cup Final in Gothenburg, Sweden, and Kite in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. It was a true milestone with George admitting it was a steep learning curve, marred only by some difficulties with team manager Laurie Connell.

During this time the Equestrian Bloodstock Agency (EBA) was born through George, Rod Brown and John MacMillan, who had the view to supply Australian horses to the growing Asian market. EBA became one of the premier niche companies and developed a very good reputation and clientele. George and Rod continued to ride and compete whilst producing a string of outstanding horses. The property at Oakville could no longer cope with the workload so Chatham Park was purchased in the picturesque Hawkesbury area at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Here they created a top-level establishment and for George it was a dream come true. At this time he married his second wife, Janelle, and EBA went ahead in leaps and bounds, as did the number of top-level winning horses that Chatham Park and EBA produced. George and Janelle have one son, Harry, whose interest in riding was short-lived. He is now 26 and an international journalist, having, among other things, recently spent time in Afghanistan covering the war there.

In 1988, George and Rod competed at the Seoul Olympics with George taking EBA Schnapps, a brown gelding by Duellschütz and Rod EBA Slinky. Both finished in the top 25 and after the Games were sold, with Slinky going to George Morris and Schnapps returning to Australia for a short time before being sold to Michael Matz following the 1989 Tampa World Cup final in Florida. Next, it was to Stockholm for the 1990 World Equestrian Games, where George took EBA Spectre and Westend Evita. Following WEG, the two horses were left in Europe, whereupon George and Rod returned to campaign them for one of Australia’s most successful Nations Cup runs, basing themselves in Poland with Susan Bond, a student of George’s, and Vicky Roycroft. George and Rod never stopped working and during this time managed to find about 15 suitable horses for Asian clients. On returning to Chatham Park the EBA partnership separated with Rod and John creating Equus Australia and moving their business to the Central Coast of NSW. George retained Chatham Park and began Sanna Equestrian Bloodstock.

Still continuing to dominate the sport as a competitor, George took HSA Schalkhaar to the 1993 World Cup final where he was second in the Grand Prix on the final day, and was subsequently sold to Irish Olympian Eddie Macken. His successes continued and his next big competition was the 1998 World Cup in Rome where he took Nonex Le Parc. Sadly there was an ownership dispute and the talented combination never went on to the Games.

In recent years George changed the nature of his business slightly and spent more time coaching, an area he loves. His passion was rewarded when he was presented with the 2009 NSW Coach of the Year and 2010 Australian Coach of the Year. As he had been doing for many clients, he was able to source good horses for his students in Europe and it has been a joy for him to see these riders on a successful path to achievement.

George has helped riders of the calibre of Edwina Tops-Alexander, Julia Hargreaves Michelle Laing, Susan Bond and Emily Blinkworth, Lauren Hartog and Jamie Winning. The horses that were brought to Australia to help put these riders on the map included Argentina, Rolex and Romantic Dream for the Blinkworths, not to forget CP Ulixes and CP Qualified (now an elite eventer), Haymen and Vedor for the Hargreaves, Vangelo, Quincy Z and Congo for Jamie Winning, the list goes on and on.

At Chatham Park, there have been many more great horses, including Turf Master, who dominated the arenas from ’93 - ’97. Will was another talented jumper well known on the circuits and was later campaigned by Chris Chugg. And later Boxter, who competed successfully in eventing with Stuart Tinney, won the 2001 Australian State Showjumping Championships with George and was subsequently sold in America in 2005. His current mount, CP Aprilla, a bay Belgian Warmblood mare, was an Australian Showjumping Champion in 2010, and competed at the 2011 Chantilly (FRA) CSI2*, and won the Small Tour Grand Prix class in Abu Dhabi in 2013.

George still resides at Chatham Park and seems to spend most days (nearly all day) on the jumping arena under the liquid amber tree, which must have many great stories to tell. He does not ride much any more due to injuries, but with plenty of students to steer along the path to Grand Prix, and horses to be bought, sold and sourced, there is still much for him to do.  You will find him at many shows helping his students in the expert and experienced way that he imparts with ease and consummate passion. George is a positive, wise, savvy, loyal, gentle, unflustered man who is a great cook and entertainer. He is clearly passionate about his property, his horses, friends, and students. He is a family man, keeping his mother Ditti and brother Harry close, and it is through his family’s unbelievable experiences that he is where he is today. He now has another son, Darcy, 9, and a daughter Romany, 10, from his third marriage to dressage rider Rachael. Darcy, so far, is more interested in motorbike riding than horse riding but Romany loves to ride and is sure to carry on the history with horses. She showed a natural talent for showjumping, but is now following in her mother’s dressage footsteps and competing successfully on her super pony, Smack the Pony. Despite her age and limited dressage experience, she competed at the 2013 National and State Championships. The legacy continues.

 This article first appeared in a previous edition of Equestrian Life magazine. For more information or to subscribe, visit our home page here.