It was only four years ago that Australian dressage rider, Mark Arthur, returned to the competition arena. Mark is now in his early forties and after having an 18-year break, he saw Brett Parbery riding Victory Salute at the Sydney CDI and it was enough to entice him to get back in the saddle.
Over the past few years, Mark has been quietly climbing up the ranks and is now one of Australia’s top competitors in the small tour competitions.
At the age of 21 (over 20 years ago) Mark was riding Prix St Georges and competing against the likes of Rachael Sanna (nee Downs), Matthew Dowsley, Claire Wickins and Gina Montgomery. All these riders are now recognized as some of Australia’s best. At eighteen, Mark represented the Australian Universities in the equestrian competitions at the World Student Games. He then decided to study at university instead of in an arena. He also traded his horse for a football and played Rugby with one of Sydney’s top rugby clubs, Gordon.
Twenty-five years later, Mark is now married with 4 daughters and lives at one of Sydney’s favourite beaches, Coogee. His two horses are kept at the old Sydney Showgrounds right next door to Centennial Park and only kilometers from the CBD of Sydney.
Kooinda Saint, better known as Tom is a 13yo gelding, by Salute out of a thoroughbred mare. It was his long time friend and trainer Carolyn Lieutenant (who owns Brett Parbery’s WEG horse Victory Salute) that spotted Tom at a dressage event and suggested that Mark see if he was for sale. Mark laughs, “I couldn’t believe my luck – he actually was for sale!”
Tom was competing at Elementary at that stage but after four years of hard work this combination are highly competitive at Prix St Georges and Intermediate I. So what sort of temperament has Tom. “He’s a bit or a worry wart”, said Mark, “ but when he gets in ‘the zone’ he is incredibly genuine and gives 100%. He used to grind his teeth but he’s now quite a contented horse. That’s the buzz of dressage – developing a horse and creating a harmonious combination between horse and rider. I love it!”
Since being back on the competition scene, Mark has been training with Carolyn Lieutenant who is a proven Grand Prix Champion and trainer in her own right. Mark has recently called upon Australia’s High Performance Squad trainer, Clemens Dierks. Most of Australia’s top competitors have at some stage been under the careful eye of this extraordinary trainer. “Like Carolyn, he has amazing intuition”, says Mark, “ When you’re doing something wrong, no matter how small it is, he sees an alternative. All very much about encouraging the horse and not confronting him yet at the same time helping him out of his ‘comfort zone’ so as to improve”. Once a week Mark loads his horse and travels to the outskirts of Sydney for a 6am lesson and then heads back to the heart of Sydney to off load his horse and be at his work by 9am. Luckily he has an extremely supportive wife who helps make this happen.
It was only in the last year that Mark decided he needed another hosre. Before heading to Germany, Mark looked up and down the coast of Australia and even visited Tasmania trying to find the right horse, “I was looking for a horse with more scope and a bigger mover than Tom.
I paid special attention to the walk and canter. I casually asked Clemens Dierks to see what it would cost for him to head to Germany with me to see what was on offer. Eventually it happened – surprisingly for less expense than many people might imagine. We visited various studs with bloodlines on the sire and dam side you only read about in Australia and rode lots of horses”. Eventually Mark and Clemens found the right horse at the PSI headquarters at Hof Kasselmann in Hagen, Germany. Show Master, who is now safely back in Australia, is a 6-year old gelding by Show Star (Sandro Hit), out of a Fidemark (Florestan) mare. “He definitely stood out. I can’t wait to get him out and see how we go. Hopefully we will be competing in early 2012 - I hear Clemens saying be patient”
This is the first time Mark has attempted training a horse to Grand Prix and also the first time he has ridden the higher movements. Kooinda Saint will competing at Prix St Georges and Intermediate I at the Australian Dressage Championships but will hopefully do his first Big Tour competition by November this year. “We have hit many brick walls. The gap between Small Tour and Big Tour is huge. You feel it over months of frustrating training sessions. It’s massive for a first timer! At times I didn’t think it was going to happen. But as Clemens reminds me constantly, you have to be patient and it takes time to build strength. It’s only recently that the penny has dropped for Tom – and me! A month ago we could only manage a few one-time changes and suddenly out of the blue he now bounces across the arena with ease. It’s quite amazing to have developed that. Such a buzz!”
Mark, like Brett Parbery, sits very quietly and allows the horse to move freely but he is also learning how to ride his horse, Kooinda Saint, to the limit. At the recent New South Wales Championships, Mark was so keen to defend his title that he rode his horse beyond his limits and ended up coming 13th in the Prix St Georges. So disappointed with himself, he then did some work with another well known Australian trainer/rider and friend, Denise Rogan, who managed to bring back the calmness that Mark is known for and he finished the Championships with a 5th in the Intermediate I and winning the Inter I Freestyle.
The 2011 Australian Dressage Championships will give Mark the chance to prove his hard work and passion has been well worth it. These Championships run from the 27th to the 30th October at the Sydney
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