EN’s Got Talent: Forming a Partnership with Tate

We hear all the time about horses at the top of the sport, but what about the next generation of equine talent? EN’s Got Talent introduces the future superstars of the sport, interviewing riders about how they’re tackling training with these youngsters. Have you spotted a spectacular young horse at an event you think should be highlighted in this column? Tip me at [email protected].

________

Andrew and Tate at River Glen. Photo by WNC Photo.

Last week we met Andrew Palmer and Tatendrang, a 7-year-old Trakehner stallion owned by Anissa Cottongim who won his first CIC* at CHC International last month. After conquering the horse’s rearing problem and aversion to water, Andrew and Tate cruised through novice before moving up to training level when the horse turned 5. “We didn’t want to run prelim until he was 6, mostly because he was still doing a lot of growing,” Andrew said. “He was also a little immature mentally. Once he moved up to training, he would get distracted on course. Training was also a challenge because he was so much bigger than the jumps and very stimulated by the show atmosphere. It was hard to get him to focus on the jumping. We had stops because he was galloping around looking at everything else, and the fences would surprise him.”

Both Andrew and Tate learned together how best to tackle these challenges at training level. While Andrew had campaigned other Trakehner stallions, he’d never had to do much pushing down to a fence.  “I had to learn to ride a horse that was so green and eager,” Andrew said. “I realized I rode around without my leg on, so I had to become aware of that. Even if he was galloping and he was plenty forward, I had to put my leg on to get him to focus. Before, we were just running and the fences were coming to us. I had to learn how to get his attention focused on the fences.” After Andrew tweaked his riding style, he and Tate brought home solid placings at Rocking Horse, Chatt Hills, Poplar Place and Ocala at training level.

Andrew and Tate at CHC International. Photo by Aly Rattazzi of Rather be Riding Photography.

Andrew stuck to his plan to move Tate up to preliminary when the horse turned 6, but they were unfortunately eliminated at the Rocking Horse Spring Horse Trials when the horse wasn’t quite ready for the fences to come up so quickly in combination. But after some cross country schooling, Tate figured out the new challenges and won his next event at Poplar Place. Tate finished out the year well — including making an appearance at the AECs — and had a very solid spring season before contesting his first CIC* at CHC International. “He’d had a bit of time off before Chatt Hills,” Andrew said. “We were trying to get him in a one star and had entered him at Red Hills. We were on the fence about going because of the EHV-1 scare, and we ended up withdrawing.”

Next Andrew tried to enter Tate at Ocala Horse Properties, but the horse ended up with a slight sprain in his left front pastern. “The vet actually cleared him to run a one star, but said to be careful about riding him in deep footing,” Andrew said. “Ocala can get deep in front of the jumps since it’s on sand, so we had to scratch from that too.” The next one star opportunity was CHC International, and Andrew took Tate to the Area Championships at Poplar Place as a prep run. “He ended up winning that,” Andrew said. “It was a small class, but it gave me a lot of confidence going into the one star. For him to come out and be in the lead from the beginning solidified in our mind how ready he was.”

Andrew also rode another stallion in the CIC* at CHC International, Inamorato, and he took the early lead in the dressage with that horse. “Right as I was about to go out and get on Tate, I saw that I had just lost the lead,” Andrew said. “That was just the motivation I needed to get on Tate and push him just a little bit more.” Andrew and Tate scored a 42.1 to lead the very large division and never looked back. “On cross country, I didn’t feel him get distracted at all, which was also really exciting,” Andrew said. “He really locked onto the fences. I felt like he could have run through any kind of atmosphere and done well.” After rising to the occasion at CHC International, Tate is headed for the CCI* at Fox River Valley in Illinois this weekend. “It feels like it’s all coming together right about now,” Andrew said. “It’s fun with a horse his age to see how far he’s come. It makes the whole experience a little more gratifying.”

Next week on EN’s Got Talent: We’ll meet Tamie Smith and Fleeceworks Cinco, a 6-year-old Holsteiner gelding and West Coast YEH superstar. Tamie and Cinco won the 5-year-old Young Event Horse West Coast Championships at Twin Rivers last fall after beating out 29 other 5-year-olds at Rebecca Farm to win their qualifying event. Cinco moved up to preliminary this year and was third in his debut at the level at Galway Downs in February. Ashley Stone tipped me about this talented youngster: “I definitely think he’ll be one to watch for in the next couple of years, especially with Tamie in the irons.” Thanks for the tip, Ashley!

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments