Leading a full field at the 2014 Werribee Dressage Festival CDN on 11 - 14 December 2014, David Shoobridge and Gina Montgomery dominated the small tour classes with the young rising star Agent de Jeu and experienced schoolmaster Stedinger, both stabled with the Shoobridge family. It was a total whitewash from day one, in which they wielded the axe of power against 30 other competitors.
David Schoobridge and his own 8-year old Dutch gelding Agent De Jeu (by OO Seven x Florestan) won the Prix St Georges and Intermediaire I with 69.298% and 72.018%, while fellow Aussie Gina Montgomery and the 14-year old Oldenburg stallion Stedinger (by Sandro Hit), which is leased by David and Amanda Shoobridge, rose to victory in the Inter I Kur with 72.500%.
“Initially I was a bit worried with how Agent was feeling, he seemed quite tight/tired from the trip down to Werribee,” David told Eurodressage. “I needed to take him on lots of walks around the polo grounds to stretch and relax. He’s not a very settled horse in new environments. However this is improving with every competition.”
An exciting atmosphere and a show run by a great group of organisers, Werribee proved to be a challenge for Agent but the horse coped well. David was happy to see that the classes were very large and extremely well supported by the Victorian and interstate riders.
“The indoor atmosphere is something that Agent needs to get used to. He’s quite reactive and sensitive to change and noise, so whilst the tests went quite well outside, the freestyle was a different situation completely. At the Australian Championships, Agent’s indoor tests left a lot of things to work on. Happily, he tried hard for the freestyle but I needed to alter my floor plan to make it as simple as possible with the idea that a calm test is a good test! For me, the biggest win was that he stayed with me throughout the freestyl. Regardless of the score or placing, I could’t have been happier with his performance.”
Bred by Isabel and Will Van Gisbergen, who also bred David’s previous Grand Prix horse OO Seven, Agent was acquired to step into OO Seven’s footsteps as his competition career was coming to a close. They imported Agent as a representative for his father.
“Emmy de Jeu brought me some video of him on one of her visits to Australia. He was (and still is) a ‘special needs’ gelding with a lot of talent but with this came a lot of tension/stress issues. It’s taken some time to develop a partnership of trust with him - he’s not a very confident horse but always tries extremely hard," said David frankly.
Looking at Grand Prix as the goal for 2015, David knows the horse has come a long way relatively quickly, so will now try to consolidate all the Grand Prix work at home and remain in small tour for the time being. He works alongside his wife Amanda and also receives help from Kristy Oatley on her trips out to Australia as well as from Ton de Ridder.
“Ton de Ridder is a wealth of information and often makes us riders think about the end result - Grand Prix rather than the short term tests," David explained. "Agent is showing signs of extravagant passage/piaffe and has a great ability to close. It comes back to his confidence - when he’s strong and secure in the mind, he gives the most amazing feel."
Gina Montgomery and Stedinger Make Their Mark in Australia
Runner up in the Prix St Georges and Intermediaire I, Gina Montgomery was particularly happy with her win in the Kur. She felt that Werribee was a great way to finish out the year.
“Stedinger is a fantastic horse who always tries his hardest but he has been very busy with his breeding duties and unfortunately this came against us a bit in the ring," she said. "He felt a little tired on the first day for the PSG, particularly as it is a long drive down for us (12 hours) . We actually had to stop 3/4 of the way down to do an unplanned "collect" from him, so he was slightly flat and just not quite fully focused."
Montgomery admitted that because the freestyle was held indoors, it worked to her advantage as her black stalliong was fully concentrated on her. "We really enjoy riding our program to the Ricky Martin medley," she added.
Bred by Gerd Sosath and imported to Australia by David and Amanda in October 2013, Stedinger has not competed very much in Germany. Gina first got to ride on him for the stud's Open Day in March and has retained the ride since then.
"I have never ridden a more generous horse and I just love working with him," she said.
For 2015, Gina has planned on moving Stedinger up to the Medium tour and compete at the 2015 CDI Orange and CDI Sydney.
"David, Amanda and I are great mates and we support each other really well often having training discussions, bouncing ideas around, and keeping an eye on each other during warm-ups and tests," she said about her working relationship with the Shoobridge family. "Although we all have different styles we all support and encourage each other and I for one really appreciate their input and shared passion for our sport!”
by Sarah Warne - Photos © Derek O Leary
Related Links
Scores 2014 CDN Werribee
Holly Cutler's Hope of a Bright Future with Diva Royale After Scoring in Werribee
Stedinger to Move to Australia