Glistening Waters & ESNZ Series Final 2021


‘Rewarding’ Stallion Series to Bravado Ego Z
Saturday, 10 April 2021


Logan Massie has every confidence Bravado Ego Z has all the right attributes to be an elite showjumper . . . and the onus is on him to make sure he is finished off just perfectly.

The Dannevirke combination are the 2020-2021 winners of the Equibreed Leading Stallion award. They only joined forces in late July and came out firing at their first POLi Payments FEI World Cup start, the opener at Hastings where they placed fourth. It was their best finish of their five World Cup starts, but Logan says things could have been a little different.

“The tracks were as big as ever this year and the competition these past two years has been tough compared to other years. I would have liked for us to have had a win and I think we would have with a little luck but I am not disappointed at all with his efforts given we were jumping against some very established combinations,” he said.

Bravado Ego Z is a Holsteiner by Balovgran Z out of a Carthago Z mare and was bred by Linda Mayer. “We were looking forward to an Australian campaign this year and see how that set us up for the future but that just isn’t possible now. Instead we are looking forward to starting the next season and possibly look to head away after Christmas. There are a lot of big things on the horizon for us – either Europe or the United States. The owners are excited to go on a bit of a journey with us so that is great. It was always the plan to get everything we can done in New Zealand before heading away.”

Bravado Ego Z may be the quietest and mildest mannered at home on the farm but Logan says he is a completely different horse when he sees the ring. “He is very willing but as a stallion he has his own way of going so I have had to be careful about how hard to push him. That is one of the things we have had to learn – we didn’t know what we could and couldn’t do with him and just didn’t get a whole lot of build-up to learn that. He came to us just seven weeks before the Hawke’s Bay World Cup round.”

He says the horse is always better after three days of jumping and they still have a lot to learn about each other. “Once you put him against the clock it changes things, so I am still working on riding him under pressure and speed. He just has so much power underneath that if you lose control of him – like if he is too quick to one fence, it is hard to pull him back and not put him off his rhythm. But that is what I see as promising – he has always got that energy it is just controlling it.”

This first season together was a consolidation one and Logan says he’s hopeful the showy chestnut stallion will come out firing next season. “We have the winter to work on the learnings from our World Cup rounds.”

He is chuffed to win the leading stallion award. “It is rewarding for the owners that we take something away from a season that was a little bit cut short. There was no Grand Prix at Takapoto and the cancellation of the Land Rover Horse of the Year Show was very disappointing for those who have worked all season. The Olympic Cup was the onshore goal for Bravado since the day we bought him . . . we were working towards that all season.”

Bravado Ego Z has been used for breeding and Logan is excited to see what is produced from the two mares he has in foal to the stallion.

Logan was very thankful for the support he had from the horse’s owners Sue Holden and Fiona Hall, as well as the team behind him at home, and particularly his girlfriend Alexa Dodson and groom Ashleigh Santo.

By Diana Dobson
10 April 2021