The Flying Dutchman | ||
This article first appeared in a previous edition of Equestrian Life magazine. For more information or to subscribe, visit our home page here. © Art Uytendaal
To renew his amateur status and regain his own Olympic eligibility, Art needed a two-year hiatus from the family business. A chance meeting with a Kiwi sheep farmer, an admirer of fine riding, set Art’s sights on the Antipodes. It was Rotterdam 1954 and the 23 year-old horseman was looking for an adventure. Fortunately for Australia’s Show Jumping scene, New Zealand’s Immigration Department decreed they did not require Show Jumpers, but the big country next door might. Those same kids, under Art’s tutelage, went on to trounce the opposition at Royal Shows and Art had found his place in the world. Now domiciling happily in an idyllic patch of Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula with his wife Kerry, Art is content to reflect on a successful career (but would still give his right arm to be 25 again). But, more on that later. “When I arrived in Australia there were some difficult times. At one of my first competitions, I stopped out twice and was told by a rider I couldn't ride and should go back to where I came from. A week later at the next show, I beat him and all the other riders, which silenced them,” he says.
Art at the Melbourne Show 1964.
© Art Uytendaal
“The Equestrian section was held in Stockholm due to strict Australian quarantine regulations and when the riders returned they talked about Dressage and realised I rode in this style and practiced it with my horses,” he says. “Previously in riding classes I would not be called in, as all the riders had their legs in the forward position, but after 1956 I went on to win Champion Rider at Royal Shows. “ “There are so many things that make a great Show Jumper - both orthodox and unorthodox,” Art says. “Guy Creighton had the most wonderful eye and judgment of stride, on any horse, many not educated in the Dressage way. But, he stepped out on the horse I previously rode, Mr Dennis, at the Montreal Olympics coming 5th in the World. “Kevin Bacon, with a style of his own, sometimes lifting high off the horse, had the same judgment and courage,” Art says. “I always said, if only I could have selected a team to go to Europe. It would have been Kevin Bacon on Chichester, Geoff Evans on Cygnet Rambler, John Fahey on Bonvale and Sam Campbell on April Love. Remember this was 1972. They would have won so much if only it had happened,” he says. “I would tell all aspiring riders to do their ground work. They have to understand that it is not a 'draw rein' that makes the horse work from behind. When I first came to Australia, they laughed at me with my legs straight down - people did not do Dressage then, but that is what I knew from Europe. It has taken a long time for Australian riders to change." “It is so good now to see that people are actually doing the right thing by their horses." “It is no fluke that Vicki Roycroft, Colleen Brook, George Sanna and Rod Brown and later Chuggy are still going strong. They have always believed in their ground work,” Art says. Lots of hard work, a hereditary competitive streak, some good luck and brilliant horses led to three major events, Art recalls, that defined his best moments as a Show Jumper.
Art in front of the record 7'2" Puissance wall - jumped with Chatter at the Adelaide Royal in 1969.
© Art Uytendaal
“Jumping the Puissance record of 2.1 metres at Adelaide Royal, which stood for many, many years until the fences were changed to allow the wall to become the spread fence was a highlight. “But one of the best times of my life was when my father made a visit to Australia in 1974 and I won the Prince of Wales Cup on Mr Dennis, beating Kevin Bacon on Chichester. There were only two rounds and I beat Kevin by over two seconds. My father nearly fell out of the grandstand, he was so proud,” he says. “I did find it extremely hard not being eligible to compete at the Olympics because I was a professional. By selling my horse Johnny Walker Whisky to Belgium, and receiving what then would have been a record price for a Show Jumping horse in Australia, I set off to England, Despite the wins, a couple of setbacks made for some challenging times for the professional coach. “One of my biggest challenges was when I moved to Whittlesea in Victoria’s south. I was told by EFA officials that they were setting up the EFA’s Show Jumping Centre of Victoria at the show grounds and they would require me there as coach. I bought a property, but the centre did not eventuate. However, fortunately we ended up with the Victorian Show Jumping Stables there.” “Then, when I was appointed to go to the Olympics in Los Angeles as the trainer and I disagreed with Laurie Connell (who wanted to take George Sanna off King Omega) I was promptly dumped, without a letter or telephone call from Equestrian Australia,” he says. “With the changes to Show Jumping over the last years, the fences have become lighter, on break away cups, but they are smaller. Therefore, times have been tightened. I sometimes think times are too tight in the first round and the excitement of more horses in a jump-off has disappeared; so audiences are not as excited with it. “However, with the breeding of warmbloods in Australia today, I would give my right arm to be 25 again.”
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© copyright. Equestrian Life. Saturday, 4 May 2024 https://www.equestrianlife.com.au/articles/The-Flying-Dutchman_ |
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