Macken,Broome,and Schockemlohle the worlds best

Alan Smith previews the Dublin Horse Show and also Hickstead and the World Championships in Aachen, West Germany.

THE DUBLIN HORSE SHOW, as much a horse fair as a show, is indeed the greatest of its kind in the world, and for many years the show jumping side of it was regarded by most as an unimportant appendage. Which is strange, for Dublin has as good a claim as any to have been the originator, at least on such a level, of the sport. Show jumping made a spontaneous, and almost simultaneous, genesis in various parts of the world in the second half of the last century. Competitions for 'wide' and 'high' leaps were held at the RDS's show in 1865; such events were also held in Paris the following year, and Russia was stagging them at about the same time. In England in 1876 horses entered for the show classes at the five-day show at the Agricultural Hall, Islington,. were also able to enter, without extra charge, in the leaping classes; while the ational Horse Show in New York opened its doors only in 1883.

Jumping was held at thel900 Olymmpics which combined with the World Fair in Paris, while the first 'internatioonal' came a year later in Tunisia, with German and Swiss Army officers lined up against the Italians. International jumping competitions did not come to Dublin until 1926; one of the Swiss Army officers, a Colonel Ziegler, who brought hundreds of horses each year, suggested to Judge Wylie - who ran the Horse Show with his unique brand of beneficent despotism until his death in 1964 - that it would be an additional shop window in which to advertise the talents of the Irish horse.

The military monopoly continued Cl.. until after tile Second World War, and no one in those early days could possibbly have foreseen just how the popularity of the sport would rocket in the quarrter-century after the cessation of hostiliities. Now, from being the exclusive preeserve of the few, it has become in many countries one of the two or three major spectator sports: in Germany it has long been number two to football, and after 'the World Cup in Argentina it may well overtake the ball game. Millions watch the televised competitions from Wembbley each year, and at Ballsbridge on Aga Khan Trophy day - the Aga Khan is Ireland's international team competition or Nations Cup, of which each country is allowed to hold only one pet season ¸wildly enthusiastic spectators tend to be hanging on to the rafters in their deterrmination to get a good view.

August this year is an especially busy month. the British CSIO (Official Interrnational Horse Show), which started at Olympia in 1907 and has been at least partly in London ever since, this year belongs solely to Hickstead , Douglas Bunn's All-England Jumping Ground in Sussex, where the show culminating in the Edward, Prince of Wales Cup ÀBritain's Nations Cup - will be held just two days before Dublin's opening.

The week after Dublin there will be a general scurry to Aachen, West Germany for the World Championships, which is why the Grand Prix which ends the DUblin show is being held on Saturrday instead of the Sunday which has beecome its usual date: for myself, I must admit that the reversion to a Saturday conclusion to the horse show has much to recommend it. And not only that the bars are closed on the Sunday.

Considering that Ireland has been a major source of supply of horses to the show jumping fraternity for many years - only recently rivalled by the big Gerrman horses who' take kindly to the gruelling demands of constant leaps over increasingly huge fences - and considerring, too, how well Irish riders have done in racing, especially steeplechasing, it is a matter for wonder that the country's nationai teams have made little interrnational impact.

There was a marvellous Army team in the 1930s, when Paul Rod zianko , a one-time Imperial .Czarist Guard but exiled by the Bolshevik revolution, took over their training; for a few years they were almost unbeatable, might even have conquered the irtvincible Germans at the Berlin Olympics in 1936 had they been allowed to go, and were still their country's best after the war.

But, apart from that, remarkably little, until the last five years. A resurrgence headed by, and possibly inspired by, but certainly not confined to Eddie Macken. Originally from Granard, Co. Longford, and a forrngr pupil of Iris Kellet, winner of two Queen Elizabeth II Cups at the Royal International and of the Women's European Championnship when it was held in Dublin in 1969.

Eddie confirmed his early promise when getting into the four-man final of the 1974 World Championship, at Hickkstead, in which he finished second to Germany's Hartwig Steenken who, alas, died early this year after being in a car crash last July. Last June Eddie was second again, in the European Chammpionship this time, in Vienna, beaten by the smallest possible margin, 0.1 sec. by Holland's J ohan Heins.

But the Irishman's career has certainnly not been one of constant near-misses. For the past two years he has been Europe's leading money-winner, with Boomerang, originally owned by Dr. Schnapke but given to his rider in a most generous gesture last October, and with Kerrygold. It was on this horse, owned by Iris Kellet and known as Pele, that he finished second for the World title four years ago: now Kerrygold is leased to Bord Bainne and continues his important part in Eddie's collection of show jumping's major prizes.

Eddie's decision in 197 5 to go and live in Germany, riding for Dr. Schnapke, one of the world's leading OWners of show jumpers. was not uniiversally popular among his compatriots, but he felt that only in this way could he find the opportunities and experiience to develop his latent talent, and he has been proved absolutely right. He has won the last two English Jumping Derbies, two out of the last three Hammburg Derbies, and once at each finished first and second. Early in July he won the Grand Prix in Aachen, a dress reehearsal for the World Championships which will be on the same showground.

Paul Darragh, who took over the ridding of Pele when Macken first went to Germany and won the British Jumping Derby on him in 1975, has followed Eddie. into the professional fold; this debars them from the Olympic Games, but since the International Equestrian Federation abandoned their endeavours to segregate the regional championships, they are allowed into all other competiitions.

Add James Kernan, winner of the European Junior Championship in 1975 and son of one of Ireland's biggest dealers, and some up-and-coming Army riders, of whom Con Power won the first round of last year's European Championship, and it is no wonder that Ireland has for the past two years been third in the President's Cup, the World 'league championship', based on ~ach country's best six Nations Cup results during the season. An accident to the Army horsebox on the way to St. Gallen, Switzerland, in May was a blow; but the damage could have been greater. For various reasons, including Hartwig Steenken's accident and the retirement of the Montreal Gold Medal winner Alwin Schockemohle, the West Germans were not anywhere near their strongest for last year's European title fight in Vienna, but all the signs are that they will be a much more fearsome force on their horneground, and before an exxpected huge and vociferous crowd. Paul Schockemohle, Alwin's brother,· has been able to step out of Alwin's shadow this season, and his consistency is pay. ing dividends.

Hendrik Snoek, son of one of Gerrmany's biggest store-owners, who had to endure the horrible experience of being kidnapped and held to ransom a couple of years ago, Gerd Wilt fang and Fritz Ligges, who rode for his country in three-day events before turning to show jumping, are expected to be the four in their country's team at the championnships. This will be the first time there has been a team as well as an individual category at a World Championships.

In Vienna last June there was also a team title in the European Championnships for the first time, and this went to Holland in addition to J ohan H~ins' individual, which he took with the British horse Seven Valleys. Heins was Macken's principal victim whe~ the Irishman won the Aachen Grand Prix in early July but on the whole neither he nor his compatriots have shown anyything like their Viennese form since takking the title.

Indeed they took only a second diviision team to Hickstead on their first appearance after Vienna and it is diffiicult to decide whether those victories were in fact the start of a revival of Dutch fortunes on the international scene or merely a flash in the pan.

Just as Macken was beaten by the smallest margin for the Individual title last year, so Britain lost the team chammpionship by the least possible amount, a quarter of a fault, earned for being a fraction of a second over the time allowwed in one of the early rounds.

Until now the World Championships, which are only held every four years ˆthe even years between Olympic Games - have been divided, with separate events for men and women. Now they are mixxed, and Britain's team will almost cerrtainly include a woman rider, Caroline Bradley. Caroline is without superior as a producer of young horses, but because she has to ride for other people has all too often found herself 'making' a horse only for it to be sold from under her. But she has shown often enough that, given the horse and time to bring him on she can win the big ones too, among them the Hamburg Derby.

This spring she won the Grand Prix at Nice on the grey Tigre - one of those she has brought along from novice grade - and although he has not the 'mileage' of many of his rivals Tigre has a tremenndous leap which Caroline can harness superbly. They were third in the Aachen Grand Prix, and just before that had looked all over the winners of the Proofessional Championship at Cardiff only to be beaten on the post by the Welsh wizard David Broome.

David's career has been spectacularly successful by any standards, with three European championships and a World title, in 1970, to his credit. Until last· year, when he and Philco, an American-bred thoroughbred, just failed to reach the jump-off he had never been beaten in a European championship, and the first of his Wins, in 1961 with Sunslave, was at Aachen. But he does not like the place and until this season had only been back once. The big obstacles that are usually built there are "horse killlers", says Broome.

This year he has, for the first time, also partnered John MassareUa's Arskey, a horse with a huge jump, who was at one time considered for the Montreal Games team. This one rather than Philco may be David's championship mount.

Both David and Harvey Smith are reegular visitors to Dublin where last year David, withPhilco, beat Caroline Bradley and Eddie Macken to take the Irish Trophy, the Grand Prix. Harvey was left out of the British team, to the accompaniment of a tremendous clammour in the Press and on television since it was quite clear that this was by way of a reprimand for the things he had been saying in his weekly column inthe Sun newspaper.

Harvey has been in and out of trouble for most of his career, the epitome of the blunt Yorkshireman of tradition, but this has only served to endear him to most of the show jumping public both at home and abroad, especially when alllied to a tremendous will-to-win. Losing with grace may be a fine old English traadition, but nowadays the vast majority would rather win. Although big money prizes seem to bring out the best in Harvey, to give uim an additional edge, he has not been as successful as David in major championships: he has been second twice, in 1967, behind David, and 1971, but never yet got his head in front.

The World Championships have atttracted both the United States and Canadian teams across the Atlantic this time, and the latter are scheduled to compete in Dublin before going on to Aachen. John Simpson made a prelimiinary examination of the European scene last year, when he showed himself right up to standard at a number of European shows including DUblin, and won the Rotterdam Grand Prix. The US squad will include several newcomers to Europe, but trainer Bert de Nemethy will ensure that they come fully preepared .•