Hey Eventing Nation,

I’m John Lechner, otherwise known as “EventingSafety John” from the Eventing Safety Bog, writing for Eventing Nation from my home in Australia.  This is my first post as a certified EN writer so I hope you enjoy it.

Aussie Eventers, much like our North American cousins are tough, industrious, creative, hardworking and know how to live off the smell of an oily rag.  I don’t know any Eventers who don’t work extremely hard, not only at their sport but making a buck so that they can continue to chase the dream in our amazing sport.

This is my first post with an EN author account and I have chosen to make it the first in what I hope will be a long running series looking at Australian Eventers, their sport and the creative ways they find to make a buck.

My first guinea pig is Eventing and Dressage Legend (just ask him) Heath Ryan.  Heath is an amazing horseman who has spent much of his lifetime not only achieving amazing results in Eventing, but also as a world class Dressage competitor.  Only two weeks before finishing fifth on his own Mystery Whisper in the four star Australian International Three Day Event – Adelaide, Heath won the Australian National Dressage Championships on his stunning black stallion Regardez Moi.

Heath’s Bio is too numerous for me to mention here, but let’s just say that horses are in his blood. The Ryan family including Heath’s parents Rod and Sue, his brother Matt and his wife Rozzie have all represented Australia at the highest levels.

Heath, like most pro riders, teaches his working pupils, who move around so fast and continuously it is hard to get a head count, as well as other students who come to Heath & Rozzie’s farm at Heatherbrae in NSW, about 2 hours north of Sydney.

Heath is also a clinician and can be seen around the world teaching eager riders in both his disciplines.  So you’re thinking that none of this is particularly exciting, he’s a pro rider who trains people and horses, no biggy, and your right.  The difference with Heath is he is a showman, horse breeder, horse trader and marketer extraordinaire.

Heath and Rozzie, along with business partner Ann-Maree Cambridge, created Auction of the Stars.  “AoS” for short is a business that holds 4-5 auctions of performance horses annually here in Australia and attracts buyers not only from across Australia but across the world to pick up some beautifully bred Aussie horses.

Yes, AoS is only about performance horses, for the three olympic disciplines, with a heavy slant on both pure Dressage and Eventing horses.  The Auction runs over two days of a weekend and is held in several locations across Australia during the year.

Last weekend I attended the last auction of the year, which is held at Ryan’s farm.  Saturday morning began with a parade of horses and finished with a master class and cocktail party.  I didn’t make it to this year’s cocktail party but have in the past and this is where Heath – The Showman, really steps out.  It is a fantastic chance to see the bloodlines of many of the young horses in action as Heath and his team put the top stallions of the Stables through their paces.

Heath giving a running commentary on the horses

I arrived Sunday morning just as the final parade of horses was getting underway.  If you have never met Heath, one thing you need to know is he could talk the leg off a dog.  Ryan’s farm looked very different from normal; there were extra temporary stables brought in to house the extra horses, vendors selling tack, insurance and coffee (very important on a Sunday morning).  The place was abuzz with excitement and last minute preparations. 

Heath’s team of staff, volunteers and anybody else who could be roped in were finalising grooming, tacking up and generally keeping the well oiled Ryan’s machine ticking.  Heath does know his weakness, talking, and he had a very tight time-line planned for the parade of horses, 4-5 horses at a time, 15 minutes per group. One of the team was responsible purely for watching the clock.

It was fun to watch from in amongst the action and I got to catch up with some old mates who always seem to pop up at these types of things.  To be honest it is funny watching Heath in action. I know that AoS is a critical part of his business.  He breeds on average 50 youngsters per year from his own stallions and large team of broodmares.   AoS is vital to turning over these youngsters, but I also know that Heath has a bigger plan. His stallions are selected and imported from Europe with the goal of breeding the perfect performance horse using a variety of bloodlines. 

Heath does not play for the short-term, he is in this for the long-term and can see clearly where he believes that Aussie horses need to be both now and further down the line. 

All that said, Heath has to support both himself and Rozzie at the elite level.  That’s three teams of horses because he competes in both Eventing and Dressage, whilst Rozzie focuses on Dressage.  That is a serious horse habit to support for any family. 

So how about the actual Auction?  Well 38 horses were presented for sale, and 19 sold under the hammer which is exactly half.  Experience shows a few more will sell in the coming weeks.  After the taxman has taken his cut over $350,000 in horse flesh was traded–not a bad weekend.  Six horses sold were listed by the Ryan’s, the remainder by a variety of clients who brought along their prospects hoping to get the top dollar that is often attracted at AoS.  One of my old friends I bumped into on Sunday morning had only two horses listed and she walked away, I’m thinking, very happy after selling both for a total of $62,000.

So how does Heath support his Eventing and Dressage habit?  The answer is by breeding and selling his own horses, selling other peoples horses at AoS.  To list a horse in AoS you pay an entry fee and you then pay a further 10% commission on the sale price.  In 2010 there have been five Auction of the Stars, around Australia. 

What I also know is that Auction of the Stars is a unique format in Australia and it helps to lift both the profile and quality of the sport horses here.  Heath works bloody hard to achieve what he does.  Most days he trains 15-20 horses–he is training both the next generation of sport horse and the next generation of Olympic riders.  For example, Boyd Martin is a product of Heath’s yard.

Heath’s biggest downfall is also his greatest strength.  He really does love a chat and if you pop into his yard, or run into him walking a cross country course, he will stop and make the time to talk.  He is never too busy to share his wisdom–often much to the complete distraction of everyone else around him, because ‘Heath time’ means that things go until they are finished. 

If you do pop into his yard you may just see him working a young dressage hopeful in a piaffe with his mobile phone tucked into the strap of his safety helmet, yes he wears it every time he gets on a horse, chatting to some client in a far flung part of the Country or world about a ‘service’ from his amazing stallion.