Former New South Welshman John Twomey recently made the trip across the Tasman with his 11 YO, 17 hand jumping machine Highly Recommended.  They came to take advantage of the first class competition offered at the Melbourne 3 Day Event, held over the Queens Birthday weekend, at the beginning of June.  John reminisces that he took part at this prestigious outing for eventers at Novice level  back in 1989.  He had a great time with his 15 YO brother, who shared the experience as his groom. A lot has changed and 2010 sees John with a very good horse and serious prospects of riding for New Zealand at the 2012 London Olympic Games. Like many of his peers, John has suffered the ups and downs of the sport but says, “When you have a horse like HR the ups far outweigh the down moments!”.

Formerly from NSW, John and Caroline (Hooper) made their home in New Zealand about 10 years ago and immediately fitted in with the horse scene and the beautiful countryside of Cambridge.

John begins … “We live in a very horsey community and both Caroline and I work teaching riders and training horses.  We met on the competition circuit in Australia, Caroline was well known for her FEI performances on the grey Arabian bred gelding Merrifield Zia and was shortlisted for the Seoul Olympics.  It is amazing how many people associate her with this great little horse!  After that came Northern Tresco, who was a different type and required some different strategies to get to Grand Prix.  We have had some really good horses, but for me, the best is my current ride Highly Recommended – HR to his friends.  He is HR at home and this name could also mean “His Highness” and mostly he has the attitude of a King and thinks he rules the world.”

I asked John to tell us a little about his fantastic horse and he said:

“Well he is a truly purpose-bred Eventing horse. He is by the well respected and proven sire Brilliant Invader. His dam Diversity is by Distelfink, a well respected stallion who stood in New Zealand at the Long Spring Stud.  Distelfink sired a number of top liners including Duty Free, Diomedes LS, Daylight LS, Damontez LS, Falcon and Denver, along with Olivia Bunn’s GV Braveheart and GV Danzar.”

Sarah Milne, who bred Highly Recommended, has made a huge impact on the quality of NZ sporthorses as her mare Diversity has produced a number of outstanding progeny including three NZ Young Event Horse winners.

John added, “Highly Recommended won this coveted award at Taupo in 2005, when shown by Sarah who was a student of mine.”

“Jumping judge, Vaughan Jeffries commented on his style and scope.”

“Sarah did a great job and this success cemented HR’s  future as a top international prospect – just the sort of horse I wanted to help me achieve my goal to be a top international competitor!  Something told me our fate was sealed and HR soon changed owners.”

John had a chuckle in his voice when he said, “Berni, in the early days it sometimes felt like I was waiting to see who died first … he spent a lot of time on his back legs and was a hard nut to crack!  He has a toughness that caused early problems, but this has proven to be the characteristic that makes him special … he is a NEVER say NEVER kind of horse and will keep trying long after the others have given up.  I guess we have had an eventual meeting of minds which has allowed me to tap into his gritty attitude and awesome physical attributes – he certainly is special!”

I asked John to tell me about some of the early successes:

“As a 6 YO, he won the National 1 Day Event Championships (CIC) and also the 3 Day Championships (CCI) and again as a 7 year old won the National titles at two star level in both 1 Day (CIC) and 3 Day (CCI) level putting us on notice that he was on track as an Olympic or WEG prospect for the future.”

John says, “Many of our most memorable disagreements have come about through his “colossal lack of submission” coupled with a very well developed homing instinct.  He always becomes strong when we face home – that might be the stables at a competition, where the car and his friends are standing or coming back from a road ride or hack out and heading towards his paddock and stable.  I remember well one ride out and when we turned for home and his speed increased at the same rate as my control decreased!  This caused some very worrying moments as we approached an 8 ft ditch surrounded by Barbery Hedge! We survived, but both of us arrived home with a number of long thorns imbedded in our backs. (ouch!!!.)  HR is so brave and focussed and I always knew that this was his strength.”

John continued … “At about 8 years of age, Highly Recommended started to mellow and gave me some sensational rides.  He was prepared to wait and listen, his homing instinct was still there but the frantic element was replaced with a calmer obedience which gave me the best feeling of controlled power – we could jump the moon!  Just when things were looking great, my horse pulled up lame and I was faced with the worst situation for the owner of an eventer or race horse - a core lesion in his tendon - which would need at least 12 months and probably closer to 18 months therapy, to ensure a full recovery.”

I found it interesting to hear about HR’s recovery from such a potentially career ending injury and John explained:

“Many of the traditional management strategies for injuries such as tendon tears have changed over the years and rest is no longer considered the ideal management for tendon strains and lesions.  The vets from Massey University in New Zealand are quite used to seeing these injuries and have had great success with long term treatments.  They recommended a 52 week “graduated exercise program” which began with 5 minutes daily walking on a bitumen road or hard ground.”

“The time and demands of HR’s exercise increased so that at the end of 12 months he was up to short bursts of gallop.  From there I had to work on his endurance, strength and stamina and gradually bring him back to jumping with great care so as not to overtax his injured leg and risk undoing the long months that went into his recovery.  Even though my horse was still young in terms of an international level eventer, I was very mindful that time away from training would be a setback and the lack of competition experience for over 12 months would be sure to take its toll when the big questions were asked.”

“Our return to training and preparation went very well at our first few outings so we stepped up to a start at the Richfield 1 Day Event, 3 Star CIC, which is also the NZ National Championships. We had a dream run and finished 3rd with double clear jumping rounds – it felt good!  The Dressage phase is always a challenge as we have energy to burn on day one – I am managing his enthusiastic temperament better … more scientifically developed feeds are helping me to feed smart for controlled energy over all three days.  This makes such a difference and I am really pleased that we were able to source Prydes feeds when we came to New Zealand.”

John continued, “Things were nicely on track for a start at Puhinui CCI 3 Star, the field was small and it was great to compete against the best - HR was in fantastic form.  Stuart Tinney made the trip from Australia to enjoy some good Kiwi hospitality and wonderful eventing.  I was very confident, as our preparation was on track and I had a comfortable feeling that the home town advantage would work for us!  On cross country day everything was going well but obstacle No 12, with its huge ditch and technical elements was to claim Highly Recommended’s chance to finish.  He hit the top of the fence very hard and tumbled,falling heavily.”

“When the initial impact and shock was over and we were both on our feet, I was horrified to see that he had completely split the muscles and surrounding soft tissue of the sternum  (between the front legs) and was bleeding profusely - this was the end of the event for us, but the real damage was HR’s shattered confidence. His recovery was almost as painstaking as the tendon injury but more frustrating as I was dealing with mental injuries rather than physical and it is difficult to assess the healing process!  After a good break we took him back to 2 Star for his comeback at the Hastings Horse of the Year event in March 2010 - he won in fine style and we were very pleased to add this Horse of the Year title to HR’s list of achievements.”

“3 weeks later we started at Kihi Kihi in the 2 Star class and finished the event in 2^nd place on our dressage score, we had fantastic cross country and showjumping rounds and it was encouraging to feel HR getting physically and mentally stronger. We planned to make a 3 Star comeback at Taupo in May 2010.”

John shares a disappointment. “I am sure that I would not be the first rider to be confused by the qualification processes and we found out that our 3 Star ranking had lapsed and that we could not start the Taupo event at this level.  It was a real blow as we would miss the opportunity to make this competition a strategic part of our London preparation.”

“We started at Taupo in the 2 Star class but unfortunately our performance was a little disappointing as Highly Recommended put in an unusually poor dressage test.  With two more days to go and the dressage over, HR returned to true to form for his cross country and showjumping, allowing us to finish in fifth place, on the first day’s dressage score.”

John talks of his lead up to the Melbourne 3 Day Event in June. “From the end of May 2010 our focus was to prepare for the trip to Melbourne – there is much to organise, but at all times the fitness and well being of the horse must come first!  The lead up to our Queens Birthday weekend mission did not go as the text book would have it!   I was prepared for the demands we faced on one of the most testing cross country tracks, with 5500 gruelling meters and a number of tight turns and very technical fences.to face.”

“My horse ‘feels the distance’ as he is a 17 hand Warmblood cross with a heavier frame and more weight to carry on his legs.  I wanted to be sure that he was fit … but not at the risk of galloping too much.  He went on the water walker for two weeks to give him fitness with no strain on his legs.  I could feel that he was not 100%, 3 days before the trot up at Werribee Park, so his work just prior to the event consisted of a couple of rides but no real training and I knew that this would give me some challenges on day one … and then again on showjumping day.  The Melbourne venue introduces another element which does not favour us - the indoor arena - where the dressage and showjumping takes place.”

John recalls. “Highly Recommended does not give his best work indoors and is inclined to be spooky and lose concentration.  As I expected, he got tense in the atmosphere and made a few mistakes.  In the dressage, he broke in his half pass and missed a few steps in the extended trot.  He showed his forte on Cross Country day, even though the going was slippery he jumped beautifully and moved up a place … it was fingers crossed for a clear round on day 3.”

“The Showjumping phase demanded our best.  He felt fantastic and had recoverd well after cross country day.  I was very pleased with the way he cleared the first few obstacles,   unfortunately jump 7 was placed right next to the long side wall, adjacent to one of the big steel uprights and a spectator stepped out as we approached this jump, HR shied and ran out.  The incident perhaps served to show me how green we are as a combination at this top level of the sport however, it was a great experience and certainly part of the education we need to go through. I love the opportunity to learn and am grateful for the chance for this invaluable experience. Over the next year or so I will look to show Highly Recommended more of the strange things he will encounter as he moves up the rankings and we will be working hard to make sure we are on the London bound plane in 2012!”

“I guess we are like an old married couple now.  We know each other well and have learned to live with our respective shortcomings.  We respect each other and have developed an understanding which allows me to bring out his best. Having done a lot of talking about me and Highly Recommended, it would be very remiss of me not to thank all the members of the  team who have helped to make this happen. It really is a team effort which has got us to the big events and given us the chance to go for London 2012!”

“Firstly I must thank my wife Caroline – her tireless work and endless patience with our dressage training has meant that we can go into this phase with confidence.  A horse with HR’s sensitive and reactionary temperament would surely struggle without a sound and systematic education to fall back on.”

“Then I must thank our wonderful friends, family and grooms who are all there and offer their unconditional support – it really means a lot.  The New Zealand National Coach Eric Duvander has been a wonderful trainer and mentor.  He was originally from Sweden and came to New Zealand where he was based with Mark Todd.  His international experience has given all of our riders an invaluable insight and his dedication is awesome.”

John added, “I would also like to acknowledge the much appreciated support of our long term friend Caroline Lieutenant from NSW.  My wife and I were actually in Sydney, celebrating a number of birthdays which all fall on the 19^th of May.  As we sat around the table, I received a call to tell me that my entry for the 3 Star class at Taupo had not been accepted.  I was devastated and told our friends that I could not see how I would raise the funds and put everything together to make a trip to Melbourne in June.”

“I guess what happened was a case of being in the right place at the right time and anyone who knows Caroline Lieutenant would have witnessed her generous spirit and empathy with riders who are out there, doing their best and having a go.  Caroline busied herself and miraculously raised the cash to enable me to make the trip to Australia.  We are so grateful to her for the gesture … and of course will be cheering for her brilliant horse Victory Salute and Brett Parbery in their bid to represent Australia at WEG in Kentucky – go Sam!!”

John finished his story by adding, “I must say Berni, when Caroline and I moved to New Zealand we were both hooked on Prydes feeds as we had proven the difference with many horses, over many years and knew that we could rely on the results of good feed and good training.  We were delighted when we found that our favourite blends were available from Donna at Cambridge Grains.  She has worked with us to ensure a constant supply - which has been a concern since so many of our students and other riders have discovered Prydes too!”

“We have to be flexible when feeding a large number of horses, it is a must that everything we feed our own and visiting horses is palatable - a horse with no energy is incapable of working and will lose condition and good health. We cannot risk this in a professional stable such as ours.  For some horses we need cool responsive energy and others – particularly the eventers – we need a high energy diet, but not at the risk of losing their cool!  Easi-Response is what most of horses are fed and if we have a struggle to get the condition on – we top them up with BioMare Cubes, for the fussy ones we find that Rebuild works well too.”

“Prydes EnergyPak is great for getting the carbs in just before a big event and this diet means that Highly Recommended finishes three days of competition almost as fresh as he is on dressage day.  Understanding the control you have over the energy level is certainly one of the advantages of working with a specialist feed company who are dedicated only to horses as Prydes Feeds are.”

“I must mention just how well our mares and young stock do on Prydes BioMare cubes.  This is a very complete ration and even has the roughage requirements, so it is easy and I do not have to worry about the calcium phosphorus and other mineral balances which are so important if the youngsters are to grow into strong eventers when they are mature.  Prydes have really helped us in every aspect of the everyday feeding and special requirements that are part of the two disciplines that we specialise in. Caroline and I can confidently recommend Prydes products to our students and friends.”

John concluded … “Berni it has been great to talk to you and share our amazing story with Cyberhorse.  I appreciate being able to thank the people who have helped … and of course Prydes Feeds who have been long term supporters.  I hope to see you again in 2011 and then again in London.”