Making strides IN EVENTING!

With his stable star Apteryx, West Auckland rider Kyle Brenten Calder is firmly established on the eventing scene, and is looking forward to continuing to check off his goals.

Unknown to many, Kyle spent the first four years of his life living in the USA. He was born in Pasadena, California, where he lived for two years before his family moved to Seattle, Washington, for another two years.

Shortly before his fourth birthday, his parents decided to move to Auckland, as they had the opportunity to buy part of the family farm in Waiatarua, in the foothills of the Waitakere Ranges - this is where Kyle grew up and developed his love of horses.

“As a really young kid, I was more into BMX and rugby than horses. However, I remember watching my sister and cousin ride at Henderson Valley Pony Club and thought I’d give it a crack - how hard could it be?” Kyle laughs. “Mum got me my first pony, Sam, and I loved it. He was 10.3hh and quite a little devil; he used to buck me off quite a bit, but eventually, I managed to get the hang of it. Mum thought after half a season, I’d get bored and give up, so she gave Sam to my cousin to ride, but BMX had gone out the window, and I was still hooked on the horses. So I started riding Urchin, who was a Welsh Arab that Mum had bred. After a bit, my sister’s pony Storm-Boy, got sick, so we both started riding Urchin and, in the end, we swapped, and I ended up with Storm-Boy and my sister, Ashley, kept Urchin.”

Kyle began his eventing career with Valdez, a Thoroughbred bay gelding by Blue Razor and out of Nassimento (Nassipour), who was purchased from Janelle Nicholls. Kyle and Valdez headed up the levels, competing from Pre-Novice to the current 2* level in their two years together, with plenty of placings along the way. Kyle’s next ride was Sensation, a purchase from well-known eventer Janine Hayde; another bay Thoroughbred, this time by Defensive Play and out of Raewyn’s Polly (Mighty Avalanche). Buddy had competed to the current 3* level with Janine, so he was a fantastic opportunity for Kyle to ride at the higher levels again, competing right through to 3* successfully with a placing at Puhinui in 2012. Kyle was also selected to ride for New Zealand in the NZPCA Inter-Pacific Exchange in Hong Kong during this time. Unfortunately for Kyle, the Puhinui Three Day Event in 2014 was to be the end of Buddy’s competition career, as he was vetted out at the trot up due to a heart murmur.

AS A REALLY YOUNG KID, I WAS MORE INTO BMX AND RUGBY THAN HORSES. HOWEVER, I REMEMBER WATCHING MY SISTER AND COUSIN RIDE AT HENDERSON VALLEY PONY CLUB AND THOUGHT I’D GIVE IT A CRACK; HOW HARD COULD IT BE.

However, Kyle’s luck was about to change - Kiwi was about to enter his life.

“We had heard about Kiwi (Apteryx) from Helen Connett, who had broken him in. We got in touch with the owner, who suggested we come and look at Kiwi that weekend; she also suggested we take the truck up and just take him straight home if we liked the look of him. So we turned up, and Kiwi was standing there ready to be loaded onto the truck; I asked if I could maybe have a quick ride on him first,” laughs Kyle. “Although we only walked around in the arena, I could tell he had some potential, so we loaded him up and off we went home. He hadn’t jumped at all when we got him and had only been on a few outings with his breeder without competing, but he was a super quick learner, and within two or three months, he was coming together nicely.”

Kyle and Kiwi, a Clydesdale X Thoroughbred by Trojan Horse, rocketed onto the eventing scene, winning three out of their first five starts (with a second in there for good measure) with sub-

OUR SEASON WAS REALLY TOPPED OFF BY WINNING THE WAITEKO TROPHY AT THE KEITH ANDREWS ONE DAY NATIONALS IN NORTHLAND IN APRIL, KIWI LED FROM START TO FINISH...

30 scores. After that, they continued to storm up the grades with help from an excellent team around them, and within three years, they made it to 2* level with plenty of success along the way.

“I remember we took him to his first One Day Event at Pre-Training, and we won that on our dressage score of 70ish%. He quickly breezed his way up the grades; within a year, he had won a handful of Training classes and his first Pre-Novice at Springbush in 2016 on my birthday weekend – my first ever winner’s rug, a great birthday present, thanks Kiwi! He went from strength to strength very quickly; he has always been very willing to learn and is naturally gifted with his movement for the dressage.

“I’ve been so lucky to have such amazing support over the years. Since I was about 13 or 14, I have trained closely with Kris Hughes, who has generously helped me regularly. Kris has not only been a great dressage coach but also a mentor and my second-biggest supporter. In the past couple of years, I have also been helped immensely by Saskia Ostermeier and, more recently, Greg Smith, who has been great at bringing out the best in Kiwi. Jumping-wise, my coaches have included Kirstin Kelly and Blyth Tait in earlier years with Kiwi, and currently, Donna Edwards-Smith and Vaughn Jefferis. The most important person in my riding career would have to be my Mum, though. She has always been there every footfall of the way and is my number one supporter and the world’s best groom! I’m so lucky to have her by my side; I wouldn’t be even close to where I am today without her.”

However, the eventing journey hasn’t been all smooth sailing for Kyle, and there have been a few major setbacks along the way, including horse injuries and a bad fall last year.

“In March 2018, when we were competing in the 2* at Puhinui, Kiwi felt slightly off in the dressage. We didn’t overthink it then because the ground was a little soft underfoot after some really heavy rain. The show jumping was a challenging track, but Kiwi is usually a relatively consistent show jumper, so it was very odd for him to end up with four rails down. After his round, I noticed some heat in one of his legs, which turned out to be a tendon injury that forced an immediate end to our season. It was a tough time waiting to find out the extent of the injury, but fortunately, there was only a small amount of damage to the tendon, and we were able to have stem-cell treatment, which worked incredibly well. After a careful 12 months of rehabilitation for Kiwi, I was very grateful to have him back out competing like nothing had ever happened.

“The biggest setback I’ve probably had in my riding was a nasty fall at Brookby Horse Trial in February 2022. I was riding a horse I was schooling, George, who had recently stepped up to 2*. Unfortunately, George misunderstood the ground line at jump three of the cross-country, a tabletop shaded under a tree in the fence line. We hit the jump quite badly, resulting in a rotational fall and George landing on top of me. I nearly broke my pelvis, and while I was okay in most ways, I’ve been left with some longer-lasting injuries, which I’m still managing each day even now.”

WITHIN A YEAR, HE HAD WON A HANDFUL OF TRAINING CLASSES AND HIS FIRST PRE NOVICE AT SPRINGBUSH IN 2016 ON MY BIRTHDAY WEEKEND – WHICH WAS ALSO MY FIRST EVER WINNERS RUG, GREAT BIRTHDAY PRESENT THANKS KIWI!

Still based in West Auckland, Kyle works as a chartered Building Services Engineer at Jacksons Engineering, specialising in mechanical services as the Commercial Lead. Currently, he only has Kiwi due to none of their homebred horses growing tall enough for him. However, that hasn’t stopped him from having one of his best seasons yet this year.

“We’ve been fortunate to have a fantastic season this year with wins at Te Rapa in the 2* and Taupo and Brookby in the 3*, and placings at Riverdale, Arran Station, Brookby and Kihikihi in the 3*. Our season was really topped off by winning the Waiteko Trophy at the Keith Andrews One Day Nationals in Northland in April, Kiwi led from start to finish, and we had a near-perfect run, only adding a few crosscountry time penalties to our dressage score in some very deep going.

Disappointingly, the Three-Day at Taupo didn’t quite go to plan this season due to Kiwi having a small bout of tying-up on cross-country day. Still, he was all fine and happy by the end of the day. That will be our big goal for next year, as at the moment, it’s still proving to be the elusive one!” C