International Grand Prix dressage rider and trainer Katherine Bateson-Chandler has recently added an exciting new prospect to her lineup. The 6-year-old Oldenburg mare, Fine Time, was secured for her by long-time sponsor Jane Forbes Clark. After returning to the show ring this season with her Grand Prix mount, Alcazar, Bateson-Chandler is both grateful and excited for the challenge and opportunity of competing with the new FEI hopeful.
Bateson-Chandler’s new ride, Fine Time--or “Angel”, as she is known at the barn-- comes with some significant competition credentials. After being started in the stable of Danish Olympian Andreas Helgstrand, Fine Time competed as a 4-year-old, taking sixth at the 2015 Danish Young Horse Championships. At the 2016 World Championships for Young Dressage Horses, she was 11th in the 5-year-old final. The youngster went on to claim 7th place at the Danish Young Horse Championships before coming to America and finding a new partner in Bateson-Chandler this February.
"I feel so blessed to have an owner and friend like Jane to purchase this exceptional young horse to develop to Grand Prix," said Bateson-Chandler. Bateson-Chandler added that she is especially grateful to Simone Pearce, who did much of the horse’s early training, saying “She has given Fine Time such an amazing start and also has been so kind and helpful to me in getting to know this special horse.”
When asked what she enjoys the most about her new partner, an ecstatic Bateson-Chandler revealed, "I think everything about her is special. She has everything I have been looking for: three stunning and correct paces and a fantastic character. What more could I ask? She has that special kind intelligent look in her eye. She knows she's special in the most humble of ways."