EQUESTRIAN: Blushing mount feels like The King

ANENDRA SINGH
At 157cm, he suffers from "the little man's disease". He is quite a talker though, and, after strutting about and putting on a sterling performance, he can be down right arrogant.
No not former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson or for that matter West Indies cricket batting maestro Brian Lara, who is currently touring New Zealand.
We're talking about the characteristics of Glenturret, a horse belonging to Waipukurau dressage rider Amanda Goldsbury. The 13-year-old gelding will be out to do Goldsbury proud this week during the world-class Kelt Capital-sponsored Horse of the Year Show, which started in Hastings today.
Standing at 15.2 hands high in horse speak, the Present George (advanced class) is the apple of 18-year-old Goldsbury's eye. "He really thinks he's a person. I often catch him blushing," she says, her eyes smiling when asked if she ever talks to her mounts. The other mounts are geldings too - 15-year-old Young Rider horse Julius and the more recent acquisition, six-year-old Avante Garde, her aunt Maggie Simcox bought for her less than a year ago. The taller Julius (17.2hh, 177cm), Goldsbury believes, is reticent and not as confident as Glenturret.
"He has a personality but is not so outgoing and he doesn't like many people," she explains as an affectionate mum would when distinguishing one child from another.
There's little doubt that there's only room for one when the podium beckons at the end of competitions - simply put, Glenturret would prefer it if Julius steered clear of his path.
"He (Glenturret) is arrogant when he wins anything. When he gets home he tells you when he wants to be fed and when he wants to go out for a walk. He's the king of the stables," she says of the gelding, who will also take part in the international derby on Saturday afternoon when four Kiwi combinations will take on their German counterparts after the mounts names are drawn out of a hat - that means no rider can ride their own horses.
The King prefers to make a grand entrance into the dressage arena for the six-minute routine to the tune of Elvis Presley's Rock Around the Clock, followed by the theme song from Bonnie and Clyde, before taking a bow to the beat of the Cats musical tune Jellicoe Ball. In case you were wondering, Goldsbury did seek Glenturret's seal of approval for the music ("He pricks up his ears in approval or looks disinterested when not.").
It's a shame to break such a rapport but for the former Central Hawke's Bay College student it will become a harsh reality by the end of this month.
Goldsbury is off to Germany, where she will join the professional stable of a group of riders for a career-building next few years.
She will be based 45 minutes out of Frankfurt, a dream she will fulfil after coming to terms with the disappointment of missing out on last December's four-day Young Rider World Cup in the German city.
"There were no horse flights because FEI (Federation Equestrian International) didn't notify IRT (International Racehorse Transport) in time," she explains, saying the mounts need to be at a destination at least three months before an event to acclimatise from the southern hemisphere summer to the northern hemisphere winter.
Opportunity knocked again a fortnight ago at the young riders nationals in Taupo when Goldsbury caught the eye of German judge Hubertus Hufendiek, who gave her the nod after talking to Wellington trainer Andrea Raves.
While she will have to overcome the language barrier in Germany, Goldsbury considers herself lucky that people she will work with speak good English.
The cost of buying and "campaigning" (breaking in and grooming) a horse will perhaps be more daunting, considering she didn't have much success in securing sponsorship here.
"It is hard to get sponsorship for dressage compared with showjumping or crosscountry where people can see the results more clearly," she says.
By the end of next month, Julius will be sold, as he is too big for Goldsbury's 13-year-old sister, Rebecca.
"I'll miss my home and horses but I'm also quite excited about where I'm going," she says, shrugging her shoulders and putting on a wry smile when asked if she'll also miss her boyfriend, world junior cycling champion Westley Gough, of Waipukurau, who is also heading off to Switzerland in a few months.
That's life and a subject that's out of bounds to the media for now.