The Biggest Competition of my Life

By Brett Parbery

Photos Annie Lever

Hello to all Equestrian Life readers. My name is Brett Parbery and I am based in Germany with the beautiful horse, Victory Salute (Sam) owned by Carolyn Lieutenant. We are in Germany to attend specified selection events and then to prepare for the Beijing Olympic Games 2008. Now I’m sure each and every one of you has a tale of triumph or tragedy regarding your competitive riding career. I’m sure that everyone has faced challenges in the competition arena and that one competition perhaps stands out as being the biggest competition day of your life. Well here’s the story of how we have gone so far.

Since the calendar clicked over to 2008, it seems that every competition has been significantly more important than the last. It all started in February when Heath and Rozzie Ryan, Maree Tompkinson and I went head to head with the Japanese and New Zealand teams, in the Pacific League Regional Olympic Qualifier. For me, it was my first time representing Australia so I really wanted to put my best foot forward and show the selectors that I was up to the challenge. It was clearly the most significant competition of my life. The result from that event was that the four of us qualified as Australia’s first ever Olympic Team to compete in an Olympic Games held outside of Australia.

Sam and I then travelled to Europe at the start of March to begin the pre Olympic training and selection period. Since arriving, we have been based at the training stable of dressage maestro Hubertus Schmidt, in Borchen – Etteln, Westfalia. A month after arriving, we attended our first competition in Herford, a medium sized National Show. For us, it was our first competition on international soil and I really wanted to show the Germans what an Aussie could do. After a patchy test, the result was positive with a third place and 67%. I came away from Herford with a quiet confidence that we could improve significantly under Hubertus’s watchful eye and that bigger things could be in store. The next competition was two weeks later in Hagen, at the famous property of the Kasselman family, better known as PSI. It was our first crack at a major International COI, and all the big names were there. Walking through the stables was like walking through the Dressage Hall of Fame. Funnily enough, whilst it was daunting, I felt more at home in that environment than sometimes at my local competitions back home. After a few days of training at the show, I produced a disappointing and mistake ridden Grand Prix test for a forgettable score in the low 60’s, a score high enough however to qualify me for the Kur. I decided to ride Whisper’s Kur for the first time with Sam because I love the Cirque de Soleil music. This is a great Kur produced by Mel Widdis and I thought that this would be the answer to putting me back on track. WRONG!! I rode what I thought was a good Kur, but the judges disagreed, giving me another disappointing score. It was a long drive back to Hubertus’s place that night with my tail between my legs.

With the resilience that is unique to equestrian enthusiasts, and with some good coaching from Sam’s owner Carolyn Lieutenant, I set about working on the weaknesses from Hagen in the lead up to our first Olympic Qualifier two weeks later in Wiesbaden. After the disaster in Hagen, this upcoming show in Wiesbaden had superseded all other shows, becoming the most important show of my competitive career. I felt the need to rally the troops so I sent an SOS call back to Australia and a week later my wife Mel flew in. In times like these, it’s best to have family close by and Mel is great at keeping me focused.

Leading up to Wiesbaden, we had found some new gears in Sam’s trot work, which complicated the canter work. With more energy and more expansive paces, came unreliability and uncharacteristic mistakes. Speaking with Heath Ryan on the eve of the Grand Prix, we agreed that we should try to ride mistake free, rhythmical tests and not take any unnecessary risks. Well one of us kept to that game plan and the other made too many mistakes. There were eight Australian combinations in Wiesbaden, more than any nation excluding Germany. It was a proud day to be Australian with all riders putting in a solid performance. Once the dust had settled in Wiesbaden, the real players for the second and third positions on the Olympic team behind Kristy Oatley, had emerged as Hayley Beresford with her lovely stallion Relampago de Retiro, and Heath Ryan with Greenoaks Dundee. Whilst the two of them could breathe a sigh of relief, the rest of us had a lot of work to do and only two and a half weeks to do it. With my confidence at an all time low after Hagen and now Wiesbaden, I had to try and dig myself out of this slump and find some form.

The next stop for the travelling road show was Lingen, a privately run invitational dressage tournament organised by the Kampmann Corporation. This had been set as our last Olympic Qualifier and possibly the biggest competition of ‘ALL’ of our lives. During the weeks leading up to Lingen, I was able to further consolidate the newly found trot work and settle down the canter phase of our test, and was feeling confident that a good score was not far away.

With nine Australians entered, we were again the most represented nation outside of Germany. I noticed that everyone was a little edgy in Lingen, and whilst we all get along famously, there was a feeling of desperation among the group. That desperation however did not stop the wonderful support and sportsmanship displayed by every rider. I had mentioned to Heath that I was going to go for broke this time and was scrapping the idea of low risk riding. Heath was understandably adopting the same game plan as at Wiesbaden, in search of the same result. He almost did it by scoring a solid 65%, 0.2% better than in Wiesbaden. I was the last of the Australians to ride in Lingen and as everyone’s score came rolling in, my job was progressively getting harder. Kristy and Hayley had great tests and were nearly untouchable for us. My eyes however were on Heath’s score.

After a great warm up by the master trainer Hubertus Schmidt, I entered the Lingen arena ready for battle. The next six minutes were a blur but as I was in my final passage towards G, I took a look at the running scoreboard and knew that Heath and I were going to be close, and upon departing the arena, my score was announced as 65.2% which made me the third best Australian of the day. I was pumped and in my eyes, I was back in the race.

I am writing this piece on the eve of leaving for Rotterdam CHID ****, as one of a four member Australian team in the international teams event. The same old soldiers are fronting up for battle, Heath, Rozzie, Maree and I. No matter what the outcome, I can assure you that we all will be trying our absolute best for Australia and for possible Olympic selection. I for one, and I know that I can speak for the others involved in this campaign, have learnt a tremendous amount about competition life in the big league. Thank you to the Equestrian Federation of Australia for providing funding to make this all possible, and to my sponsors Prydes Easifeed, Virbac Animal Health, Peter Horobin Saddlery, Camden Saddleworld, Joint Performance, Fortissimo Freestyles, Equissage Australia, HAMAG Leather Products, for the wonderful professional support they have given me throughout this campaign.

EDITOR’S NOTE  The Dressage Team was announced as Kristy Oatley (Quando-Quando), Hayley Beresford (Remampago Do Retiro), Heath Ryan (Greenoaks Dundee) with Rozzie Ryan as traveling Reserve (Donna Carerra). Victory Salute (Sam) will be utilised as a ride for Georgia Bruce at the Paralympics in September at Hong Kong. Currently Brett and the horse are still at Hubertus Schmidt’s place, the horse will then go into quarantine and Brett will fly home. After the games Sam will then fly back to Australia for a spell.

The next journey will be to aim for WEG, Kentucky in two year’s time, with the well-earned international experience taken on board,