Au Revoir 'Fish' - Fishermans Friend Retires from Competition

By: Keran Ainslie from the May 2014 Issue of Local Horse Magazine

While he did not compete at all in Germany, such was Fish's outstanding type and character that he was the Leader of the Dressage Quadrille in 2003 and 2004 for the Hanoverian State Stud in Celle, Germany

"Victory belongs to the most persevering" Napoleon Bonaparte

As we bid a very fond farewell the magnificent stallion ‘Fishermans Friend’ from the competition arena, this famous quote from Napoleon Bonaparte is certainly one which obviously resonated strongly with Cheryl O’Brien of Remi Stud in 2002 – back then, her perseverance against the word “No” set an unforgettable journey for which the Australian performance horse competition and breeding communities can be so very grateful for. 

9 years ago, Cheryl, along with Paulette Evans of Ribbleton Stud travelled to Germany to purchase a stallion to spearhead a joint breeding programme for the Ribbleton Remi Stud brand.

During the trip Cheryl recalls, “I remember I was videoing Fish and Paulette was beside me going “Oh my god, oh my god, OH MY GOD”. He just blew us away and we instantly fell in love with him”. But, this incredible young stallion who captured their hearts at first sight was initially not for sale. Fishermans Friend was a special stallion from the start and Germany wasn’t about to relinquish him without a lot of consideration…

Bred by Dr. Frank Koeppen in Goettingen, Germany, and born on the 28^th April, 1997 Fishermans Friend’s sire is the legendary Fabriano (Wendulan by Wendekreis from Agmara by Azur) who was the Champion of his 100 day Performance Test. His dam is the beautiful mare Penny Lane (Pik Solo by Pik Bube from Liana by Libanon).

Handled by Holga Finken, Fishermans Friend passed his Licensing at Verden when he was 2 ½ years old. He successfully completed his Performance Test in 2000 finishing 6^th/45 with a total index of 124.08 (Dressage 4^th with 127.11; Jumping 11^th with 112.64). He had outstanding scores: Canter = 9, Trot = 8.67, Walk = 8.67, Freejumping = 8.67, and Character = 9. While he did not compete at all in Germany, such was his outstanding type and character that he was the Leader of the Dressage Quadrille in 2003 and 2004 for the Hanoverian State Stud in Celle, Germany.

Fast-forward three years to 2005 and with Fishermans Friend still heavily on Cheryl’s radar, she contacted Dr Bade, the Manager of the Hanoverian State Stud in Celle to ask again if he would sell him. Repeatedly, in his German voice were the words, “No, no, no, he is not for sale.” Cheryl persisted until finally he said, “You come over and we will talk.” The perseverance paid off and in July 2005, Fishermans Friend – ‘Fish’ - was sold to Ribbleton Remi Stud. Victory!

After the sale and quarantine process, in October 2005, Cheryl and Paulette drove Fish to Brett Parbery’s training facility in Sydney. Cheryl vividly remembers seeing Fish come off the float and straight away, looked around, stood tall, puffed his chest and went “here I am, I’m the man”; he was indeed very special, and knew it, right from the start. After a couple of weeks with Brett he was presented at his first Stallion Parade in Queensland, and then spent 6 months acclimatising and breeding at Remi Stud. Brett competed him during his first season in Australia where he won the 2006 Australian Medium Championship, NSW State Medium Champion, and the 2006 Hanoverian Horse Society of Australia (HHSA) Medium Horse of the Year. After his wins, Fish went home to Remi Stud in Queensland for his second breeding season.

In early March 2007, Tor Van den Berge had a test ride on Fish and they had an instant connection and rapport – the rest is history and today they remain, in Tor’s words, the “best of mates” where Fish simply hears Tor’s voice and will call out for him.

May 2007 was the very first competition for the partnership in Toowoomba, winning the Medium Championship with 76% and then from there Tor and Fish became omnipresent on the Australian dressage circuit with championship wins, Statewide and Nationally, at every level. He was awarded the EFA (Qld) Advanced Horse of the Year in 2007.

Tor’s strongest memory of Fish will always be what he refers to as his “Amazing knack to know when it was his time to perform and his desire to win”, reflecting that Fish just always knew when to be ‘on’ at the right time – Tor says, “You could be struggling away in training at home, but on the day of a show he would just put it on and perform 100%.”

Early 2008 saw Cheryl purchasing Ribbleton Stud’s share in Fishermans Friend, enabling full ownership and the continuation of Remi Stud’s breeding programme with Fish as their showcase stallion - he consistently proved himself as a sire of exceptional quality young stock and future broodmares with multiple awards of Premium and Elite Mare classifications from the international Hanoverian Society. Fish had another successful competition year with Tor, when it culminated in winning the 2008 Australian PSG Championship.

By 2009, with strong performances and championship wins at every level, Tor and Fish were a formidable combination in the arena, enhanced by Fish’s now solid recognition as a leading sire with an impressive volume of young stock showing his outstanding modern type, temperament and trainability. Fish had just stepped up to Intermediate II level, and had won the 2009 Australian Inter II Championship, when disaster struck in the form of a tendon injury, suffered when putting his front leg over the stable wall at a competition in Werribee. For 2010, competition for Fish was over and Tor was devastated, declaring this to be one of the hardest times in his career.

With meticulous care for precise rehabilitation, including stall rest which is never an easy process especially for a stallion at the peak of his performance fitness, Fish came though the injury with 100% positive prognosis and ready to resume his place in the competition arena.

For 2011 and 2012, it was onwards and upwards for Tor and Fish, cementing their leading partnership with wins and championships in the FEI large tour tests. Tor’s love and passion for Fish is palpable in his recollections of their time together and he fondly recalls, “Of all the competitions, the number one thing Fish always did was step up to every occasion - no matter what we did, whether at Equitana or the CDI with crowds going crazy and big AV screens playing, off he went and did the work – he was always a rock and you just always knew, with him, everything would be just right. Nothing would faze him, even when he was frightened, he would just give it everything he had. If he heard the tailgate of the truck go down, you’d hear him run his box, he just loved going to the shows – on arrival you’d see other horses dawdle off the trucks and he would leap off, ready for action. He 100% loved his job and he never let me down, not once.”

Both Cheryl and Tor share a stand out memory of an amazing example of Fish’s extraordinary courage and temperament which was during the 2013 Qld Festival of Dressage where Tor and Fish were part of the ‘Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better’ face-off with Harold the Horse – a rather large puppet horse which features in entertainment segments at the annual Festival.

Tor says he introduced Fish to Harold just two hours prior to their segment, to be held in the Main Arena at QSEC in front of 2500+ eager Festival goers. That’s a lot of people to fail in front of, but there was never a doubt in Tor’s mind that Fish would handle his fear and the pressure like the pro he always proved himself to be. “He was so frightened when he first met Harold”, recalls Tor, “and everyone in my team said I wouldn’t be able to get Fish to do anything in there with Harold – and I said, you just watch, I betchya he does!” The subsequent video of Tor, Fish and Harold went viral as soon as it went online and it shows the complete faith, partnership and showmanship between Tor and Fish.  

At the Brisbane 2013 CDI a week afterwards, Tor and Fish rode what was to be their final Grand Prix together. “I recall saying it was just like going around the arena with an old friend”, says Tor, “and that was just him, a friend, and it sums up everything about him and how he makes me feel. You realize after a while in your career, you only meet one or two of those horses and I always appreciated him for it, his faith and trust and his ready-to-go attitude. When he left to go home to Remi Stud for the final time and it hit that he’s not coming back, it left such an empty space in the team - like your right-hand man is not there. I’m lucky that we go there every week and I get to see him, my good mate.”

In closing the chapter of his competition life, Cheryl offers that they decided Fish could be a schoolmaster for Mel Van der Berge to ride at Grand Prix during 2014 as Tor was about to step up to Grand Prix on Remi Stud’s other stallion, Lauries As. In September Mel and Fish had one competition together, winning both the Grand Prix and the Inter II. And that was to be his final competition. Unfortunately Fish sustained an injury during the breeding season, effectively ending his riding career, but his breeding career will continue. He’s a gentle and relaxed breeding stallion, always collected by females – either Cheryl herself or one of her stud handlers – and performs his breeding duties with the same gusto and professionalism as he did with all his competitions. Cheryl happily shares that Fish likes to have a little sleep on the phantom after each collection…however, he knows he is ‘the man of Remi Stud’ and always keeps one eye on the mares during his ‘rest’!

Fish has successful progeny in dressage, eventing, and jumping, (a number have been performance tested and they all jump). The eventers report they love Fish progeny because they’re quiet, easy to ride and have a talent for the job. Fishermans Friend has proven to be hugely successful in improving the bloodlines of breeding and competition lines in Australia and abroad. He will continue life blissfully as a breeding stallion, hopefully not going to sleep too many times on the job, under the watchful and loving eye of Cheryl O’Brien at Remi Stud.

So, thank you for your perseverance Cheryl and for sharing your beautiful Stallion with Australia - and Happy Pastures ‘Fish’, thank you for the ride, and may you continue to shine on in your beautiful babies!

Fish's top competition results:

COMPETITIONS:

2006 NSW State Medium Champion

2006 Australian Medium Champion

2006 HHSA Medium Horse of the Year

2007 DQ (Qld) Advanced Horse of the Year

2007 HHSA Advanced Horse of the Year 

2008 Sydney CDI Advanced Champion

2008 Australian PSG Champion

2008 HHSA Advanced Horse of the Year

2009 Australian Intermediare II Champion

2009 DQ (Qld) Grand Prix/Int II Horse of the Year

2009 DQ (Qld) FEI Dressage Horse of the Year

2009 EA (Qld) Dressage Horse of the Year

2010 Won his only Grand Prix and Inter II competition before a tendon injury put him out for the rest of the year

2011 Multiple GP and Inter II Championships

2011 DQ (Qld) Runner Up Grand Prix/Int II Horse of the Year

2012 Multiple GP and Inter II Championships

2012 DQ (Qld) Grand Prix/Inter II Horse of the Year

2013 Fish had his first and only competition with Mel Van Den Berge winning both the Grand Prix and Inter II.

BREEDING:

Champion dressage progeny to date internationally include:

First Fisherman = Grand Prix dressage in USA

Finja  = Spanish Young Horse Champion at 5 and 6 years old;  PSG Champion, now competing Grand Prix dressage in Spain.

Feng Shui = Grand Prix dressage in Germany

Multiple dressage champions in Australia include:

Remi Frangelica (Hanoverian of the Year 2013, DJWTS 4 y/o Champion 2013, Qld State Champion 2013 & National 5 y/o Champion 2013)

Remi First Fleet (Qld Novice Horse of the Year 2013 and Qld State Novice Champion 2013)

Remi Flashdance (6/6 wins in 2014, WA Guinot Australia Novice Challenge Champion)

Multiple champion showjumpers and eventers including:

Fair Play = top priced showjumper at Hanoverian Auction - sold to USA

Champion Foals in Australia:

15 foals selected in the Top 10 Hanoverians including:

Roxleigh Figaro - Champion Hanoverian Foal 2006

Ribbleton Faith = Champion Hanoverian Foal 2007

Remi Federer = Champion Hanoverian 2009

Dam Sire of multiple Top 10 Hanoverian foals.

The sire of numerous Elite Mares Internationally and now 11 Elite Mares/EMC in Australia.

Read about Fishermans Friend at STALLIONZONE here

 

Horsezone is pleased to be working with Local Horse Magazine and welcomes their contributions. For more great articles like this one and live streaming from a wide range of events Australia wide - go to www.localhorsemagazine.com.au