Warmblood Invasion
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Industry greats weigh in on how Thoroughbreds lost their position as America’s dominant sport horse and whether they could be poised for a comeback Bounding After the Back ‘Warmblood By Stephanie L. Church Invasion’ t only takes a amount to five figures or more in But this buzz around the OTTB second to lose a prize money. is, quite frankly, a renewed one. second, but it can A number of Thoroughbreds The celebration of second-career take a minute to — athletes already produced Thoroughbreds has waxed and “Iget it back,” says legendary primarily for speed and waned over the years. Early sport endurance — are game to take on horse arenas were studded with horseman and international these vigorous demands and in retired racehorse greats, along with competitor Jim Wofford on doing so have gained notoriety as many “Thoroughbred-type” horses the challenge of balancing second-career eventers. Several that were seven-eighths or even accuracy and speed during are traversing courses today and fifteen-sixteenths Thoroughbred. today’s technical three-day- have shone a spotlight on the But Wofford and others say event cross-country courses. breed: Thoroughbreds made up that such factors as changes in Complex jump combinations, more than 28% of the 2015 Rolex competition rules and consumer or “questions,” call for the horse Kentucky Three-Day Event entries preference and, hence, demand to have a brave but careful, scopey back in April, and a passionate led to an influx of Warmbloods jump, and long stretches between posse of retired racehorse owners in eventing and other sports. And obstacles demand a nimble, and enthusiasts followed these while the Warmblood has held ground-covering stride. Spend contenders start to finish. strong since this tip of the scale, a little too much time getting We’re also seeing which our sources agree was in through a water complex, and Thoroughbreds excelling in the the 1970s and early ’80s, there are you’ll end up with time penalties show jumping and dressage indications that Thoroughbreds that could cost you a placing, arenas, wearing saddle pads are, indeed, making a comeback in which, at the upper levels, can emblazoned with “OTTB.” some sport horse arenas. KIT HOUGHTON BELOW: WOUDENBERGH/ARND.NL; VAN LYNN ABOVE: 36 OFF-TRACK THOROUGHBRED ❙ FALL 2015 FALL 2015 ❙ OFF-TRACK THOROUGHBRED 37 Castlewellan Bounding Accolades: Under Wofford, Back After the ‘Warmblood Invasion’ winner of the Radnor Hunt International Three-Day Event in 1982; second at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event SPORT HORSE ROOTS in 1983; fifth at Burghley in George Morris, who is widely considered one of the most influential riders and 1983. Reserve horse and rider trainers in the sport, says the American sport horse, up until the late 1950s and 60s, for the 1984 Olympic Games. was based on the American show hunter. “The show hunter was as close as possible Karen Lende (O’Connor) went supposed to be a horse that could go across American hunting country — which on to launch her career aboard is not ditches and banks and the up and down in Ireland, but it’s across fields, Castlewellan. and there’s a lot of galloping, and they’re rather high fences,” says Morris. “So the tradition for the American hunter was a Thoroughbred horse, because he had the FAVORITE THOROUGHBREDS FAVORITE heart, he had the stamina, he had the quality … the substance.” This early Thoroughbred hunter had a very low, big stride, says Morris, that wouldn’t lead to fatigue the way a higher, choppier stride would. “Lots of hunters became open jumpers, lots of hunters were on the USET (United States Equestrian Team) in the earlier days,” he recalls. These horses were well-suited to the spreads and combinations and the shrinking allowed times for jump-offs. And even with ready access to the purpose-bred jumpers of Europe, some of the European trainers favored these animals. “Bert de Nemethy particularly liked the American Thoroughbred,” says Morris. “I had two European trainers, Bert de Nemethy and Otto Heuckeroth, and both of them said they’re the best horses in the discipline. … Most of the horses up until we started importing these European horses in the early ’70s, even in the ’80s, with For the Moment and Touch of Class,” were Thoroughbred horses. MARY PHELPS PHOTO/COURTESY JIM WOFFORD MARY PHELPS PHOTO/COURTESY Castlewellan Alex Accolades: Wofford piloted Alex, an 11-year-old 17-hand brown Thoroughbred, to a CCI*** victory at Chesterland in 1980. “Alex was an American Thoroughbred by Crème de la Crème … how in the world they ever got that name through, I don’t know,” says Wofford. “Alex was a gift to the equestrian team as a 4-year-old from Mr. Walter Staley Sr. I loved Alex from the moment I saw him; he was just a quintessential Thoroughbred. He had presence, he had a face to die for, very, very intelligent eyes, mealy nose brown (tan around the mouth fading into bay), and Alex was the laziest Thoroughbred you have ever met in your life. Alex didn’t care if he won or not, and I completely cared, and we kind of met in the JUMPING HALL OF FAME COURTESY SHOW middle. At least one of us would Equestrian icon George Morris, pictured here, explains that the Thoroughbred was the American sport horse of the 1950s and 60s. 38 OFF-TRACK THOROUGHBRED ❙ FALL 2015 Market Light “Marley” is owned by Christine Siegel and ridden by Emily Brollier. We are dedicated to ensuring the aftercare of retired racehorses and are a proud supporter of the WinStar Farm trainer, Richard Budge, leading Market Light at our training center. 2015 Thoroughbred Makeover. (859) 873-1717 WinStarFarm.com 157986-WinStar-full-V2-OTTB.indd 1 9/11/15 2:19 PM show up for cross-country. He Bounding was a wonderful field hunter, After the ‘Warmblood Invasion’ the team retired him and let me Back keep him. He led the field for the Piedmont foxhounds for the next four years.” USHERING IN THE AGE OF CALYPSO Morris feels there was neither a particular moment where the hunter/jumper Fine Tune disciplines turned to Warmbloods, nor was there a “tsunami” of European-bred Accolades: Unraced bay gelding ridden by Tad Zimmerman was horses that covered American show arenas; the shift was more of a subtle pivot in the unriding alternate at the 1975 which he played a significant role. First trips to Germany in the late 1970s with Pan American Team and 1976 Michael Matz (of both Olympic show jumping and Thoroughbred race training Olympic Games. “He got about as fame) and Melanie Smith (Taylor, also an Olympian) yielded several notable close as you can get to being on jumpers — American Grand Prix Association Horse of the Year Val de Loire FAVORITE THOROUGHBREDS FAVORITE the team without going on,” says and Olympic team gold medal mount Calypso among them — that caused the Wofford. Americans to pay attention. Thriller II Accolades: An English Thoroughbred that helped launch Derek Di Grazia’s international eventing career in the late 1970s. “He was a bright chestnut, 16.3, with the same attributes — fast, brave, agile — all the things you think of when you think ‘Thoroughbred,” Wofford says. The Jones Boy Accolades: Placed second in the inaugural FEI World Cup Final, in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1979. “He was off-the-track, he hunted a little bit,” Morris says. “He tied for the first World Cup final with Katie Monahan (Prudent). He was KIT HOUGHTON the best 17-hand Thoroughbred Americans began paying more attention to European Warmbloods in the late ‘70s, when horse you can trot to a 5’ Melanie Smith Taylor’s imported Calypso rose to the top of the sport. vertical.” Calypso, a horse by Thoroughbred stallion Lucky Boy, was a pony type that For the Moment Morris describes as very fast, sensitive and careful. He recalls, “(Smith) imported Accolades: Won the 1995 him, took him to Florida, he was an intermediate horse and a superstar, and I Budweiser American Grand Prix Association Championship at age entered her with him in the International Jumping Derby in 1979 as a 6-year-old, 21 with rider Lisa Jacquin. because I was afraid she would not have the surety of the Olympic Games in 1980 (due to the boycott of the Moscow Olympics) … so I prematurely entered this 6-year-old and he won.” With Calypso, Smith also captured the other two legs of the Triple Crown of show jumping, the American Invitational and the American Gold Cup, making her the only person to win all three events with the same horse. She and Calypso were also a part of the USET’s gold medal team at the 1979 Pan American Games in Puerto Rico, and she ended up winning the individual bronze aboard the Dutch-bred gelding in 1980’s Alternate Olympics. “Calypso, that single horse, he was the Gem Twist of his era, he was the popular horse of the world,” says Morris, referring to Greg Best’s silver medalist mount (an OTTB) in the 1988 Seoul Olympics. “And everybody had to have a Calypso. It was unfortunately a perfect storm, and about that same time, racehorses were harder KIT HOUGHTON For the Moment at the 1988 Seoul and harder to get, they were breeding them a little different, smaller, more for Olympics. sprinters ... and since we started going to European horses, the European horses’ 40 OFF-TRACK THOROUGHBRED ❙ FALL 2015 Bert de Nemethy, shown here on Thoroughbred gold medalist Touch of Class, riding alongside Catherine Burdsall, particularly liked the American Thoroughbred.