Nooities in the competition field

by Chantelle McCabe

In the competition ring, one always hears of Warmbloods, Thoroughbreds and other breeds. Over the last few years, however, the Nooitgedachter has shown its abilities in all disciplines such as dressage, show jumping and eventing.

We, the staff and students of Plettenberg Equestrian Academy, have had the privilege of competing with these wonderful horses in all aspects, and have proven with their skills and expertise, that the Nooitie can stand in the first-place rankings.

Success in breeding

A lot of the success has been in the breeding. In 2006, Sapata Charlie, one of the breeding stallions of Fijnbosch Nooitgedacht Stud, took supreme champion in the Pretoria Show. Daydream Fabius won the supreme champion title three times when he was still competing. Both Charlie's and Fabius' progeny seem to have inherited these genes, proving themselves in the not only the showing classes but in the show jumping and dressage arenas as well. From 2006 to date, the Nooitgedachter has been placed in all classes.

In early 2008, Fijnbosch Nooitgedachters competed in several show jumping shows and took all the placings from first to fourth. The horses that were competing in those classes were the likes of Ethyca Gemini, Fijnbosch Bucha, Calabash Ruby Love, Fijnbosch Alectra, Fijnbosch Salvia, Fijnbosch Ixia, Fijnbosch Erica; all from the different bloodlines that are well-known in the Nooitgedacht community.

Later in 2008, Ethyca Gemini, ridden by Chantelle McCabe (principal of the academy) and Fijnbosch Bucha (ridden by Genna Bombardieri, the academy assistant), competed in their first novice eventing show, and Gemini was placed first and Bucha second. Fijnbosch Bucha went on to win the Sanef dressage qualifier later that year, ridden by Genna Bombardieri.

At the end of 2008, the 'Fijnbosch clan' as they have become known, competed in their last show for the year, and were placed first to fourth in every class they competed in. At the end of the show, Ethyca Gemini, ridden by Erane Jacobs, won the Victor Ludorum of the show for the most points accumulated and winning the one-metre show jumping class in the fastest time.

Ongoing success

The year 2009 was as successful as the previous and the Fijnbosch horses competed in every discipline available. Once again, they came out at the top of their game and were placed in the top rankings in dressage, show jumping and eventing. We sold one of our youngsters at the age of five years, and he successfully competed in the Western Cape in equitation, show jumping, dressage and showing. He has been chosen for the all of the above teams to represent the province. In the middle of 2009, once again the Victor Ludorum was sent home to Fijnbosch for the second year running, making us a force to be reckoned with.

In 2010 the reputation of the Nooitgedacht grew to a phenomenal high, as people started recognising the Nooities unloading at the showground. Fijnbosch Ixia came into his own this year with Shaun West, a student of Plettenberg Equestrian Academy, and won every class he was entered into, including dressage and show jumping. Fijnbosch Salvia, Fijnbosch Bucha, Merrythought Tenor, Fijnbosch Erica, Calabash Pita, Fijnbosch Ixia all competed on a regular basis in the eventing scene and were all placed in their relevant classes.

Once again one of our own, Fijnbosch Salvia, ridden by Kim Wiggill, a student of the academy, brought back the Victor Ludorum for the third consecutive year. We endeavoured on a practice run of polo ponies for junior riders, sold one of our young stock, Fijnbosch Malibu, who quickly became a very popular horse on the polo field.

Striving for better results

So far, in the showring in 2011, we have kept up our reputation of how agile the Nooitgedacht can be. We have competed in several shows this year and all the horses have moved up in their levels of training. With every show competed in this year, the horses have placed from first to fourth once again. One achievement worth highlighting is the exceptional dressage percentage that Merrythought Tenor (trained by Chantelle McCabe) achieved – 76%, placing him first in his class.

Once again the Fijnbosch clan triumphed at the eventing show the weekend of 26 March in George, when Fijnbosch Salvia, ridden by Alle (assistant instructor), won her class.

We can only keep striving for better results, thereby making the Nooitgedachter a popular breed in all the disciplines.