Heath Ryan and Bobby Dazzler. Image by Britt Grovenor Photography.
New year, new challenges on the home front. While my wonderful partnership with Bobby Dazzler has come to an end, I look forward to bringing on the new kids on the block.
Coolness R is one of Heath’s baby eventers who you’ll likely see out trotting around the 45cm classes this year. Image by Peter Stoop.
For the last five years I have campaigned Bobby Dazzler around the Australian eventing circuit. To start with we were winner-winner-winners. Unfortunately, 2024 was not a great year for us – I fell off in three of our last four 4* starts, while in the fourth, which was the Sydney Three Day Event, I missed Fence 6 and was eliminated. Idiot! And I’m not talking about the horse…
Once upon a time none of that would have happened, but it did and poor old Michael Chamberlain, who owns Bobby Dazzler, decided it was time to get a new rider.
Bobby is now based with Emma Bishop, who in my opinion is the most underrated up-and-coming young event rider in Australia. I wish Emma, Bobby and Michael lots and lots of luck and it would just be fantastic if this combination was to gel and go on to compete at the top end of eventing in Australia. Better still, make an Australian team.
For me, it comes as a bit of a shock to not have a 4* horse operating in the eventing world as we go forward into 2025. However, I do have three baby eventers who will be out trotting around the 45cm classes this year.
BABY EVENTERS
Coolness R is a super quiet five-year-old chestnut stallion by Chilli Morning. Chilli Morning is the only stallion to have ever won Badminton Three Day Event. He did this with William Fox-Pitt in the saddle. Coolness R is out of a mare by Wimborne Constable. Wimborne Constable, I campaigned to 4* level and he was a super, super careful horse over the show jumps. Hopefully Coolness R will embrace the sport like his parents did. He is so quiet that when the staff are collecting semen from him, he can take a long time to get interested and do the job. He is just so quiet. Frustrating for the staff working the stud side of our business but I think he is going to be so much fun to ride in competition.
“Hopefully Coolness R
will embrace the sport
like his parents did…”
Stallion Wimborne Constable with Heath in the saddle. Image by Oz Shotz.
Cooee R is again a very quiet three-year-old mare by Coolness R out of a Brilliant Invader mare. Brilliant Invader was the sire of Ready Teddy who was both an individual Olympic gold medallist and a World Champion with New Zealander Blythe Tait in the saddle. I actually rode the mother of Cooee R, who was called Milchomi. She was straight Thoroughbred and in turn was out of a mare by Idle John. Milchomi was actually bred by my younger brother, Matt Ryan. Cooee R is definitely bred in the purple.
Finally, I have this young stallion called Contendrodel R. I am a little worried about this guy. He is quiet but is very aware that he is a stallion. Unlike Coolness R, he does not keep the staff waiting to do the job when collecting semen. Yikes! Contendrodel R is by Contendro I who is the sire of Chipmunk who won the individual gold medal at the Paris Olympics last year with the German rider Michael Jung in the saddle. The dam of Contendrodel R is Centadel, who is currently competing in the 1.60m classes in show jumping in Germany. Centadel is by Cento, who was a team gold medallist at the Sydney 2000 Olympics in show jumping. On the dam side is Landadel, and he was the only stallion at the Sydney 2000 Olympics to have progeny competing in the show jumping and the dressage disciplines at the same Olympics. Anyway, this young stallion already looks like the most amazing jumper. Somehow, I just have to stay on top! Heart attack territory!
Man! I don’t think I have ever felt so challenged by the thought of the 45cm eventing classes! This is going to be a very interesting 2025 eventing season.
GRAND PRIX DRESSAGE
And then of course 2025 will also see me charging around the dressage arena at the Grand Prix level.
BML Totality is a young stallion owned by Tracey Diederich. He is by the legend Totilas, and is out of a Regardez Moi / Jive Magic mare. Regardez Moi was three times the Australian Grand Prix Champion with me in the saddle and won the Equitana Grand Prix Freestyle six times in a row. Regardez Moi has sired Australian Champion Grand Prix dressage horses and has also sired 5* three-day eventers. Jive Magic was ridden by Rozzie and was also a Grand Prix dressage winner at CDI level. I am hoping that BML Totality is also a young legend in the making. He is only just now getting his head around all the Grand Prix movements and he should make his GP debut this year. To date he has won quite a few Prix St Georges and Intermediate 1 classes.
BML Totality. Image by Peter Stoop.
Right behind BML Totality is Greenrocks Quiver. This is a young mare that came from the Nitschke family and is by our Quaterback stallion, Questing R. I think she is nearly the oldest Questing R out there competing. Greenrocks Quiver is out of a Regardez Moi / Jive Magic mare. It is really hard to get an accurate line on this mare. She certainly started life with attitude, but she is making progress every day and I so much enjoy riding her. It is a little bit like partnering a tigress. She is a ferocious competitor and just never misses a beat in the competition arena. Quiver, like BML Totality, has also won quite a few Prix St Georges and Intermediate 1 classes. I am currently negotiating piaffe and passage. Negotiations are going well but I am ever mindful that Quiver is lots like a tigress. Nevertheless, my feelings right now are that underneath, Quiver has piaffe and passage with the best horses in the world. Exciting. Just a negotiating issue!
Heath and Hunterview Jasper, who’ll be out in the Grand Prix arena in 2025. Image by Rodney’s Photography.
“Jasper is going better now
than he has ever gone…”
Hunterview Jasper is my established Grand Prix dressage gelding owned by the Buckley family. Hunterview Jasper is by Jazz, who is I think No. 3 in the WBFSH Stallion Rankings for Grand Prix sires. Currently the No. 1 WBFSH Stallion in the world is Johnson, who is himself by Jazz. Jasper has so much talent but suffered over the last couple of years whilst I went galloping around the countryside chasing the eventing circuit. Without a doubt the 2024 Christmas break has allowed me to focus and work on Jasper perhaps more than I have ever done in my life. Jasper is going better now than he has ever gone. Funny what a bit of hard work will do.
Behind these three superstars I do have the best young dressage horses I have ever had. I have been watching Mary Hanna’s posts on Facebook saying that she has been inspired afresh after the Paris Olympics and has a program in place for the FEI World Championships at Aachen next year and the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. I have found Mary’s posts inspiring in themselves. I had sort of braced myself to the thought that age is very slowly catching up to me. Clearly this sort of thinking is not something that has occurred to Mary. If I was on the same team as Mary at one of these championships, I think our ages put together would more than double the age of all three riders combined for one of the other nations!
I have indeed worked really hard this Christmas break with my horses and my staff, and it has been really rewarding. I have decided this age thing is a bit of a fallacy and that the real secret is just how hard do you want to work and how much do you want to succeed!
Stand aside, 2025 here we come! EQ
Cheers,
Heath
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