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Chronicle of the Horse Names Rocher Dressage
Horse of the Year
Nicole Lever [February 2004]
She's big, she's black and she's beautiful. When she's pumped
up and reveling in the crowd's adoration, her explosive extended
trot can take your breath away.
And then there are the ears. Those huge, floppy ears - gorgeous
when pricked at full attention, almost comical as they flop on
the sides of her head, keeping time in the piaffe and passage.
With those ears, Chuck and Joann Smith's Westphalian mare Rocher
has become a serious contender in the international dressage world.
Since George Williams took the reins in 2001, he and the mare have
forged a partnership, steadily improved their scores, and are now
true contenders for a berth on this year's US Olympic dressage
team.
For Williams, 48, their achievements in 2003 are a matter of maturation.
“We're each much more secure in what we do, overall much steadier,”
he said. "“rom my point of view, it's just that I've got
a lot more miles [in the show arena]. I have a better plan on how
I'm going to present the test. It's been a major year for me that
way.”
One of Rocher's biggest moments came in March, when she and Williams
finished fifth in the FEI Dressage World Cup Final at Gothengurg,
Sweden. There, under the intense pressure of the international
spotlight and a raucous indoor setting, Rocher and Williams proved
they both had the mettle to compete on a world stage.
U.S. Eauestrian Team Coach Klaus Balkenhol helped Williams and
the Smiths find Rocher in Germany at the end of 2000. German Nadine
Maiwurm, a European Young Riders Championships team gold medallist,
had schooled Rocher to Grand Prix. If it hadn't been for Balkenhol,
Williams said he might have overlooked the black mare.
"Klaus believed in her from the beginning. The very first time
I saw her and rode her, I was a little unsure. She was certainly
impressive, but she was definitely having difficulty with her throughness
and was a little difficult to ride a little strong in the hand," recalled
Williams.
Because he'd trained another horse that lacked throughness and
elevation and wasn’t successful in markedly changing the horse’s
way of going, Williams wasn't optimistic. But Balkenhol was insistent
that Rocher possessed the qualities of an international horse,
so a one-day trip turned into a three-day stay while Williams further
assessed the mare.
Balkenhol rode Rocher, and when the former German Olympian asked
the mare to show him what she had, Williams was impressed. “Then
I could really see the potential. We were pretty wowed by what
we saw that day,” Williams said. “There was a little snickering
at the ears, but no one's laughing anymore,illiams added,
grinning.
The mare's honest approach to work makes her a compliant partner. "She's
very steady, very consistent in her day-to-day work. She loves
the work and tries to please you,” said Williams. “She's
very laid back but has a very strong personality. She'll ignore
the aids sometimes. She gets a little headstrong and I have to
remind her to respect the half-halt a little more.”
She's in her element in a test, though, since she loves to show
in front of a crowd. She's not the type of horse who nervously
anticipates what's coming next, Williams said, but because he can
be headstrong, he must ensure that she always knows the plan.
“I know how to make the transitions with her,” he said. “I know
how to set her up for the movements to get the most out of her.
Riding a good test with Roche is all about knowing her.”
Williams said if she has a fault, it's that she is a diva and would
prefer for all humans to admire her, all the time. “She doesn't
like you to give other horses any attention,? he said. “You must
go to her stall first. She makes sure you're drawn to her."
Cathy Newlon, Rocher's massage therapist, said she makes sure she
times her visits just right. “The mare is very gracious about
letting you in her stall, but I make sure I don't get in her way
when it comes to lunch,” she said with a laugh. Newlon massages
many hunters, jumpers and dressage horses, but Rocher is a stand-out
horse for her.
Her presence is definitely that of a queen. I can just imaging
her giving that queenly-type wave. She's aloof, but she's not spoiled
at all, she's just very composed," she said. Newlon added that
when she first saw Rocher work at the farm, the mare's presence
in the arena inexplicably almost brought her to tears.
"She kind of sucks people in, and they fall in love with her," said
Joann Smith, who has witnessed the "Rocher effect' on people many
times. "It's hard to express in words how she does this, but all
I can equate it to is that she has a certain elegance, like a beautiful
automobile, or she has that Jackie Kennedy appeal; Roche could
wear a pill-box hat and pull it off. She's a special animal."
Having a horse like Rocher has placed the Smiths squarely in the
limelight, a place Joann said she's not always entirely comfortable
being. "She's definitely brought attention to us, to the farm,
to George," she said. "We've gone from being low-key to having
quit a few pressures heaped on us. The farm revolves around Rocher,
and you're always thinking, "Did she cough? Did she sneeze? Is
she all right?"
Although their focus is now the Athens Olympics in August, Joann
said she's trying not to count her chickens before they hatch.
But Williams is more confident.
I think she has a very good chance. She has the conditioning and
the strength to do well. She's on tack now to peak in her training
at the right time," he said.
© 2009 Gypsy Woods Farm.
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