Hazel Shannon and WillingaPark Clifford have added a fourth Adelaide CCI5*L title to an already illustrious career partnership than spans nearly 15 years. Image by Atalya Boytner Photography.
Hazel Shannon and 19-year-old WillingaPark Clifford have now won Adelaide CCI5*L an incredible four times. Their partnership spans nearly 15 years and 58 starts at FEI events across the levels – including 16 completions at the elite end in four or five-star long-format events. Hazel says they’ve continued to evolve as a partnership, and despite his age Clifford is better than ever.
Hazel Shannon, who originally hails from the far north Queensland town of Mutchilba, first met Clifford when he was in a paddock next to Heath and Rozzie Ryan’s property in Heatherbrae, NSW. Neighbour Wendy Ward owned him; her sister had bred and raced him, but he was too slow. He was by Passing Shot, out of a mare named Twin Pearls by Double Income.
Wendy handed him over to Hazel to ride and train – and an amazing partnership ensued. The pair rose up the grades, debuting at FEI level in 2012 and reaching four-star level (old three-star) by 2014. Of course, no story is without its ups and downs – a nasty cross country fall in 2014 left Hazel with a broken pelvis, while Clifford was thankfully unharmed. Not to be deterred, by the end of 2016 the pair had won their first of what would be four Adelaide CCI5*L titles. However, the next three wins very nearly didn’t happen.
Hazel Shannon and Clifford on their way to winning their first Adelaide CCI5*L in 2016. Image by FEI/Julie Wilson.
‘WILLINGAPARK’ CLIFFORD
In 2017, Clifford was to put on the market due to unforeseen financial pressures. With Hazel unable to purchase him herself, she and Heath Ryan made a last-ditch attempt to keep the partnership together by reaching out to the late Terry Snow of Willinga Park.
“We had anticipated this looming problem and I personally had approached a group of people with the view to buying Clifford so Hazel could keep the ride and try for Australian representation with Tokyo 2020 in mind,” wrote Heath in the January/February 2019 issue of Equestrian Life.
“At the last moment my negotiations fell through, and Clifford was to be sold on the open market on the Wednesday before an event at Goulburn in October 2017. In desperation, Hazel and I stayed up all that night and drafted out an email to Terry Snow, who neither of us really knew other than he had just conducted the first big dressage competition at his magnificent Willinga Park equestrian facility at Bawley Point on the NSW South Coast.
“We finished up at 2am and decided to go to bed for a couple of hours to mull over our email. At 7am we reviewed it and hit the send button. That Thursday morning started like every other here at Ryans, except without doubt everyone was depressed. At 8.30am whilst teaching a lesson, my phone went off, which signalled the start of a normal working day for me teaching and riding and juggling phone calls. I flicked open the screen and pretty well froze. Every sensibility focussed up on the phone call and I remember everything around me fading out of my consciousness. The incoming call was from Terry Snow. I answered and there was no beating around the bush: ‘Terry Snow here and I understand you have a bit of a situation with this horse Clifford.’
“I stammered a bit and said, ‘Thank you for clearly having looked at my email’ and that, yes, I felt Clifford and Hazel were a very exciting young combination on the Australian horizon which I felt Australia was about to lose. Terry basically said ‘well, we can’t have that’ and moved straight into how much he would have to pay, and could we get Clifford back in work straight away so that he could honour his entry in the Goulburn Australian One-Day Event Championships in two days’ time.
“Time stood still for me for the next half hour, and I can still remember those amazing moments thundering through my life on the phone to Terry. It’s history now but Terry went ahead and bought Clifford, who is now called WillingaPark Clifford. Clifford and Hazel performed two days later at Goulburn where Terry turned up to watch his new acquisition, and like a fairy tale, Hazel and WillingaPark Clifford won.”
JUST GETTING STARTED
As it turns out, Hazel and WillingaPark Clifford were just getting started. They went on to win the five-star at Adelaide in 2018 and 2019, the first combination to do so at Adelaide, and one of only five in the world to win the same five-star event three times.
Hazel and WillingaPark Clifford on their way to victory in the CCI5*L at Adelaide in 2018. Image by Michelle Terlato Photography.
Not bad for a horse that Heath had once described as “a particularly nondescript-looking individual”. As they say, you should never judge a book by its cover, and Heath recognised early in the partnership that Clifford had ability and a will to try that far exceeded that of the average event horse: “He has a brilliant temperament and is super-dooper reliable. Over jumps he looks better when they get bigger because he always tries 110%. In the trying department, Clifford is a freak.”
Hazel and Clifford tackled some of the world’s toughest international events over the years, including Kentucky CCI5*L in 2019, Pau CCI5*L in 2021, and Badminton CCI5*L in 2022, although luck wasn’t quite on their side on these occasions.
In 2022, their dream of representing Australia finally came true when they were named on the team for the 2022 FEI World Championships in Italy. It wasn’t the best event for the Aussies, but Hazel and Clifford performed well. Over the last couple of years, they’ve continued to accrue solid results at Australian four-star events – but as we now know, another big five-star win was just around the corner.
Hazel and WillingaPark Clifford made the Australian team for the 2022 FEI World Championships in Italy. Image by Michelle Terlato Photography.
A FOURTH WIN
Hazel and Clifford have of course now just added a fourth Adelaide CCI5*L to their record, a phenomenal feat given Clifford is rising 20 this year.
Entering a sixth Adelaide CCI5* wasn’t on Hazel’s radar for a long time. “To be honest, I didn’t think I would. Not just because of his age… he’d already done it and been so successful at it, it didn’t really cross my mind.”
However, without a major goal in 2025 – and the idea of another Adelaide start mentioned by onlookers following a great competition in the 2024 Sydney CCI4*L – Hazel began to consider it. “In years gone by we’ve always had something to aim for, whether it be a World Championship or an Olympics or a CCI5*L. We had got to the point in the last few years where I thought, what do we do now?
“We did Sydney CCI4*L last year, which again wasn’t hugely planned, but we got to the point where he was still feeling great and going well, so I thought, ‘Why not? I’ll do Sydney’, and then I thought that will probably be his last long-format event. And then he did Sydney and pulled up really well. And then everyone was asking, ‘Are you going to do Adelaide next year?’ That put the thought into my head.
“I just took it step by step and did the fitness, and when the entries closed, entered. And I just thought if there’s ever a day where I don’t think it’s in his best interest physically or mentally to keep pushing for a CCI5*L, I would’ve pulled the pin on it and stopped.
Hazel and WillingaPark Clifford during the first horse inspection for this year’s Adelaide CCI5*L. Image by Michelle Terlato Photography.
“We did the preparation, and it was all really smooth and easy. And then he went to Adelaide and just did his normal thing. As far as five stars go, he just does it so easily. I’m really glad that the idea was put in my head. He loves doing it so much, it just would’ve been a bit of a missed opportunity for him and for me if we hadn’t.”
The pair laid down a solid dressage score of 30.3 in Adelaide to place second after the first phase and were third following their cross country round where they were clear but accrued 11.6 time penalties. A podium finish was already looking like a truly incredible result for the duo.
In the show jumping, they had just one rail down – the best result of any. When leaders Shane Rose and The Bandit unfortunately dropped three rails, and second-placed Sophia Hill devastatingly missed a jump with Humble Glory, Hazel and Clifford rose to the top of the podium.
“A HUGE SURPRISE…”
Hazel says prior to the event she anticipated they would compete and go well in the three phases, but that was about the extent of her expectations. “I really do take it step by step when I’m doing a three-day event, just focusing on the next step and trying not to think about the end result too much, as I don’t think that’s helpful in competition.
“Every time I did a phase, I would plan going into the phase and afterwards I’d have a quick reflection in my head of what I did, what I could have done better and what went well – and then I move on to the next phase. So even with the show jumping, I was trying not to spend much time thinking about what the outcomes could be beforehand.
“After my show jumping, I was happy. I’d watched a couple of rounds at the beginning to see how the course was riding and then I stopped watching, so I didn’t know how it was riding. I’d heard quite lot of clapping, so I’d assumed there were a few clear rounds. I was happy with my one rail; I was happy with the round. I thought he jumped well. He felt happy and there had been some things I’d been working on that I’d felt had helped in that round, so I was actually feeling really happy with it overall and happy having completed another one.
Hazel and WillingaPark Clifford had just one rail down in the final jumping phase at Adelaide this year. Image by Michelle Terlato Photography.
“I assumed that I might even move down with the one rail down. Throughout the year competing at CCI4*S level, a rail can easily move you down a few places, so at that stage in Adelaide I thought people were going clear. It was actually a huge surprise… Sonya Johnson came over and congratulated me. I said, ‘Where have I come? I don’t know the placings!’ And she told me. So it was a surprise. A very nice one.”
Their fourth win is the first with Hazel listed as Clifford’s owner. With Terry Snow sadly passing away last year, Clifford was gifted to his rider – and Hazel says she can’t express her gratitude for what Terry and his wife Ginette did for her and Clifford.
“I’m really appreciative of this huge influence they’ve had in Clifford’s and my career. They are one of the main reasons that we’ve been able to keep the partnership going. It means a huge amount to me, so thanks to Terry and Ginette.”
Clifford has had a remarkable 58 FEI starts across the levels for 13 wins in his career, four of which are in the Adelaide CCI5*L. That record also includes an incredible 16 completions at CCI4*L or CCI5*L level. It’s a remarkable feat that we are all privileged to have witnessed.
Hazel and Clifford’s Adelaide CCI5*L wins, L-R: 2016 (image by FEI/Julie Wilson), 2018, 2019 and 2025 (images by Michelle Terlato Photography).
A CLIFFORD THING
So how does a horse like Clifford remain so sound, fit and healthy at nearly 20 years of age? Hazel says she carefully manages him – but can’t take all the credit.
“I’ve done everything I can to make his life as easy as I can. Good surfaces, time off when I think he needs it, not overworking him… he’s also mostly been my only top horse over the years, so everything I do is for him and to keep him well. Maybe that helps.
“But I can’t take all the credit for that. It’s such a hard sport on a horse anyway, and most other riders are trying to look after their horses as well. So I think partly it’s just he’s just such an athlete and I am just really lucky that he has this really amazing body that’s let him be the athlete he is for so long. It’s partly Clifford and just being lucky… some people can stay at the top of their game for longer than others. Careful management and just really fortunate genetics.
“I think no one will ever know the true secret to his longevity. It’s probably just a Clifford thing.”
NEVER STOP EVOLVING
“It’s amazing how much you and your horse can keep changing and getting better if you want to,” says Hazel when asked what she’s learnt through having such a long partnership with the one horse.
Hazel and Clifford, pictured her competing at a 2022 Nations Cup event in Haras du Pin, have enjoyed an incredibly long partnership. Image by Les Garennes.
“If you keep looking for information or ideas… the sport’s always changing, and I’ve noticed quite a big change in cross country in the 10 years we’ve been at the top level. You have to keep changing to suit the sport, and everyone else is also striving to be better.
“It’s easy to track how I’ve grown as a rider in that time, and Clifford as a horse. When it comes to age, you’d think there’d be a time where they’d peak and then might go downhill or stay the same… but I’ve really found that the more I’ve been able to learn and grow and change, then so has Clifford. It’s amazing how much further, how much better and how much influence you can make with careful and slow training.”
“Like us, they’re always
learning and changing…”
Even in their fourth win at Adelaide, there was evidence of improvement. “I had feedback from quite a few people at Adelaide that it was the best dressage they’ve seen Clifford do. They said how supple and swinging he looked, which you wouldn’t expect from a 19-year-old. The show jumping has been a little bit of a weaker side in the last five or six years and so to have actually gone from third to first in the show jumping phase is proof that, like us, they’re always learning and changing.
“When you spend this amount of time with a horse, you have a horse with a lot of education, knowledge and prior experience, which can make them even stronger in competition and even more reliable. I know if I make a mistake – I’ve made mistakes on him plenty of times, as everyone makes mistakes – and I have full faith that he’ll get me out of it at times. Of course, I don’t like to rely on that, but it’s very nice to have that up your sleeve!”
Hazel and Clifford on their 2025 victory lap in Adelaide. Image by Michelle Terlato Photography.
WHAT’S NEXT?
“Clifford will have some time off in the paddock. I just go by feel with how much he’ll have – at least two to four weeks,” says Hazel of her immediate plans with Clifford. “However, by the end of two weeks he usually goes a little bit feral in the paddock, and in the past that’s when he’s gotten hurt! So I’ll bring him back into some light work earlier than you would with some horse, but it’s self-preservation for him.
“He’s pulled up really well, and people keep asking me, ‘What now?’ I don’t know… I never thought I’d be doing a five-star with him at 19, so I really don’t know what we’re going do in the future. If he’s feeling great when he comes back into work, we may do some one-day events and see where that takes us. It’s just really up to Clifford.”
“It’d be sad to retire him
early because he loves doing
what he does so much.”
While Clifford is older in terms of a horse competing at five-star, to retire him completely to the paddock at his age could still mean many, many years of idle time. Hazel, who knows her horse so well, feels this wouldn’t necessarily be in his best interests.
“It’d be sad to retire him early because he loves doing what he does so much. I don’t really want him to go and sit in a paddock when he thrives off work and thrives off competition so much. He likes working and when you take him to a competition, especially something like Adelaide, it’s an extra level of enthusiasm and love. He really does thrive off it.”
So, Clifford’s future will very much be decided by the horse and how he feels. “He of course owes me absolutely nothing. So as soon as he wants to retire, I’ll be more than happy to let him do so.” EQ
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