Cover image courtesy of Widden Stud
Hilary Scott is part of the first all-female jumping team to represent Australia the Olympics, an event in which the country boasts a proud record with a total of 14 medals including six gold.
It was in 1956 that Australia first competed in the equestrian arena at the Olympics and whilst most are going to think that was Melbourne, the horse sports were actually conducted in Stockholm due to quarantine restrictions in place at the time.
Scott competes on a home-bred mare, the warmblood Oaks Milky Way who is described on her owner’s site as “sound, forward and light, with boundless energy and scope.”
Anna Altenburg | Image courtesy of Widden Stud
The 17-year-old mare is part of Australian warmblood breeding history, Hilary’s mother Alice Cameron an accomplished breeder of world-class show jumping horses from her base Oaks Sports Horses at The Oaks, New South Wales.
So why is The Thoroughbred Report talking about warmbloods? Enter Anna Altenburg!
A horse she has been working with for several years now, using the skills she honed in by spending time with one of Australia’s most successful breeders and with one of Australia’s best trainers.
Always a lover of the horse, Anna dreamed of an equine career “but when I was at school I did not know that such options existed.”
Enter a day riding at an event and having a chat with a girl and her dad, an acquaintance of her own father.
Thompson praises Anna Altenburg
“We got chatting,” Antony said, learning that Anna had been working a couple of jobs to support her passion, working with an off the track racehorse.
“She mentioned that she would like to be a polo groom but I told her that she should come and work for us, that there are more opportunities with thoroughbreds.”
“She (Anna Altenburg) mentioned that she would like to be a polo groom but I told her that she should come and work for us, that there are more opportunities with thoroughbreds.” - Antony Thompson
“She didn’t listen to me at first though,” he laughed. “She went to work for a polo team but a week later Covid hit and the polo season closed down so she came to Widden.”
Working with yearlings was an experience Anna thoroughly enjoyed though she did miss her “first love”.
“I loved working with the yearlings but my passion has always been riding,” she said.
Anna Altenburg leading Written By yearlings at Widden Stud | Image courtesy of Widden Stud
And so when the yearling season was over, Anna headed to Warwick Farm where she rode track work for Chris Waller.
She managed to successfully combine her two roles, taking the Widden Stud-bred Zougotcha (Zoustar) through the ring and then riding and strapping the three-time Group 1 winner.
Anna Altenburg strapping Zoustgotcha | Image courtesy of Widden Stud
“Anna was quickly working with our best yearlings,” Antony said. “She is a star horse woman and when Hilary Scott rang me I told her that.”
“She was a gun from the start,” he continued, “naturally very gifted with horses and we were very lucky to have her working for us.”
“Anna (Altenburg) was quickly working with our best yearlings. She was a gun from the start, naturally very gifted with horses...” - Antony Thompson
“Antony was a great help to me,” Anna said, “he has been a wonderful mentor.”
After a time Anna thought that working overseas would be a good experience and when a friend sent her the advertisement placed by the Netherlands-based Australian Hilary Scott she quickly put her application in.
Antony Thompson | Image courtesy of Inglis
Not too many people have such varied experience in the horse world, putting Anna in a unique position to compare the virtues of thoroughbreds and warmbloods though she does, of course, love both.
“The fundamentals are the same, you have to take care of them day to day as you do with top athletes; check on them every morning, take their temperatures, make sure they are okay.”
“The fundamentals (of warmbloods and thoroughbreds) are the same, you have to take care of them day to day as you do with top athletes; check on them every morning, take their temperatures, make sure they are okay.” - Anna Altenburg
“And both breeds are performing at their peak.”
“But there are differences too, for a start the showjumpers are a lot older. I was working with yearlings at Widden and many 2 and 3-year-olds with Chris Waller whilst Oaks Milky Way is 17.”
Anna laughed as she described the differences in temperaments, noting that “thoroughbreds tend to be grittier whilst warmbloods are more prima donna types, they like to get out there and say ‘look at me, look at me!’”
“Thoroughbreds tend to be grittier whilst warmbloods are more prima donna types, they like to get out there and say ‘look at me, look at me!’” - Anna Altenburg
“They are real show ponies, they know they are good.”
“Thoroughbreds are more straight forward, they just get on with things.”
