In the Saddle With... David Shoobridge - Equestrian Grand Final Dressage Competitor

David Shoobridge and OO Seven competing. See OO Seven's Stallion at Stud listing

In lead up to the Be The Influence Equestrian Grand Final, Jo Johnson caught up with dressage competitor David Shoobridge, for a chat about his gorgeous imported stallion OO Seven and to find out what he's most looking forward to at EQUITANA...

Congratulations on being the number one ranked combination, following the five round qualification series, for the Equestrian Grand Final Dressage - tell us a bit about the gorgeous OO Seven?
He is one of the most rideable and trainable horses I ever come across. I know it sounds like a bit of a cliché but he really is! He tries hard and is definitely not a quitter, the better you ask the better it happens with him. He has super passage and his half passes are amazing with the reach that he gives. He doesn’t get affected by atmosphere (although sometimes his rider does!). I’m very fortunate to have him. At home he’s the king pin, his stable overlooks the indoor arena and he’s got a view of everything. He’s very well-mannered and can be led around in a halter. I was schooling him the other day and my 3 year old daughter, Annabel, came over and wanted to get up, so she sat on his wither while we did a working pirouette! He’s a very gentle and genuine horse with not a bad bone in his body.

Have you competed at EQUITANA before?
No I have never competed at EQUITANA, this is my first time, but I have been to two events with our stud Revelwood and frozen semen importing business Waterview Park.  Its great fun!

What are you most looking forward to about competing at EQUITANA?
I'm really looking forward to competing in front of a large crowd, which always gives a great atmosphere. The pressure will be on to not make mistakes – no room for rider error!

What are you looking forward to about Equitana, besides competing?
We are having a Revelwood and Waterview Park stand again so I’m really looking forward to that! This is a great way to promote our horses and sell our stallions to people throughout the country. It’s not often we get so many breeders in one location and I really enjoy meeting the customers. There will be a special offer on services sold at EQUITANA too, so come and visit us! (See all Revelwood’s top quality stallions here). We’ll also have Emmy de Jeu, who sourced OO Seven for us, at the stand chatting to people about what’s trendy in Europe, what’s working and what’s not. Emmy will of course be flying the Dutch flag while OO Seven and I compete too! In addition to our stand at EQUITANA, I’m looking forward to seeing all the latest horsey innovations and checking out the other stands.

What are your future plans for OO Seven on the competition front?
We plan to focus on the big shows. After EQUITANA it’s the Saddleworld Dressage Festival and World Cup Final on 6-9 December. Then OO Seven will have a few weeks rest over Christmas and we’ll start working towards the 2013 CDIs. If the opportunity arises to compete at Normandy (WEG) that would be amazing but it may not be a practical thing to travel a 16yo horse around the world. I’m genuinely happy to ride him and enjoy him every day and compete in Australia. We’re having an absolute blast!

Who has been an inspiration for your dressage career?
There are so many professional riders in the world that I look up to it’s hard to name one. Because we are also into the breeding side of things, I really admire Wolfram Wittig who integrates breeding, breaking and training and produces top horses. Edward Gal is a phenomenal rider and trainer, as is Hubertus Schmidt. I aspire to be as good as these riders who can produce top horse after horse. On a day to day basis my wife Amanda and I work together and bounce ideas off each other (and sometimes throw ideas at each other!). As a husband and wife team we have been the biggest assistance to each other with juggling breeding and training horses and having a family.

When buying a dressage horse, what do you think are the most important traits to look for?
I used to think when buying, get the best looking and the best moving – it didn’t matter if they’re a bit hot or a bit spooky, however, over the last couple of years my mentality has changed. Now I think it’s most important to have a horse with proven bloodlines, who is trainable and wants to do the work. There’s no point in having a flash looking fancy mover who doesn’t want to do the work. If we are looking for a horse for a client we look for rideability and mechanics and everything flows on from there. If a horse wants to do it and has got mechanics that’s good. They mightn’t have the big trot but a horse that really wants to do the work is the one that will make it to Grand Prix.

A hot tip for up and coming dressage riders wanting to succeed?
Stay focused, keep a level head, train really hard and enjoy it! Too often we see people at competitions putting a lot of pressure on themselves. Of course at these competitions we need to put pressure on ourselves to a degree and can’t go in with our eyes shut, but we need to remember that the arena is simply the place where we get to show off our training and focus on that. If we get distracted by emotional build up we can’t do our best.

Are there other horse sports you enjoy besides dressage?
We have done a bit of jumping at jump club and Amanda and I have been talking about doing some eventing with Revelwood Destiny and Smash Hit, who we think would enjoy it. The dressage arena will always be our serious place but eventing would be fun!

Is there a horse sport you'd love to try?
Polo!

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
Snow skiing. I’m a really keen skier and it would be very easy for me to get lost on the mountain and stay longer than I should!

Something people might not know about you?

I think I’m a pretty open book! Although maybe one day I’d like to have restaurant and wine bar – I love good food and wine!

Thank you so much for your time David! We look forward to catching up with you and OO Seven at EQUITANA and wish you all the best for the Equestrian Grand Final.

The Be the Influence Equestrian Grand Final will see some of equestrian sports finest, challenged by a host of young rising stars, when world class riders gather to compete in this premier multidiscipline event, which will feature dressage, jumping and exhibition eventing.

Visit the Horsezone stand (site #216 in the Grand Hall) at EQUITANA and meet paralympic gold medallist, Joann Formosa and go into the draws for great daily prizes! READ MORE

Quick Links

• Find out more about the Be The Influence Equestrian Grand Final
• View OO Seven's stallion at stud listing
• See all Revelwood Stud stallions at stud
• Visit the Revelwood Stud website
• View dressage horses for sale on Horsezone