It’s always an interesting scenario: a rider and horse coming up through the ranks, learning together, one as green as the other.
Hannah Rajotte and Patronus are like a couple of freshmen in the daunting classroom that is international show jumping.
Patronus, a 12-year-old gelding, was previously an FEI eventing horse. “He had started doing show jumping when we bought him, after the metre-20 level,” explained the 18-year-old Rajotte, a recent graduate of Springbank Community High School in Calgary who is coached by Erin Taylor of Ironstone Farms. “And really he’s naturally good at covering the ground, that’s the eventing part of it. Learning the technical parts of the course ‒ both of us ‒ he probably doesn’t have as much to learn as I do. He’s pretty good. Its mostly about just moving up in the heights that neither of us has done before.”
Hannah representing Canada in Traverse City, MI this summer. (hhannahrajotte Instagram)
An important part of that education came at Spruce Meadows, as Rajotte competed with both Patronus and Charlie S 15 at the recent 2021 September Series. The trio enjoyed a good fall sojourn, earning several top-10 finishes in the three-star classes, a fifth and seventh with Patronus. The latter result came in the 1.40m Francis Family Jumper during the North American, in which she had both horses in the jump-off and was double clear with Patronus, three seconds behind the winner. Charlie finished in 10th spot.
The opening week of the Summer Series, the National, marked Rajotte’s debut in the International Ring. “It’s pretty amazing,” she admitted, giving a nod of thanks to her mom who signed her up for riding lessons as a kid. ”I’ve grown up watching top-level riders ride in this ring and it’s been one of my goals and dreams almost for a very long time. So it feels pretty awesome out there. It’s a fun ring to gallop around with both of my horses.
“Patronus in 2019 didn’t compete, but walked out here because I got the Xerox Rider of the Year award. And I was super proud of him then. We had spectators, it was Name the Foal night, so it was a lot and he walked out here like it was any other ring.
“Obviously it’s different now that we’ve competed in it, but both my guys love their job. They just come into the ring and it’s, ‘oh, another really big ring.’ I was probably more nervous than them going out there!”
Charlie S 15 was a lease from Spruce Meadows since December and after the Series she had to give him up. Patronus, aka Theo in the barn, is the family’s horse and “He’s a bit of a special guy,” she described. “He’s sensitive but he’s so good. We’ve moved up and learned everything together. I feel like we have a pretty strong relationship. I love that horse. I feel like we kind of ‘get’ each other because we’ve done so much together. He’s a pretty cool guy.”
That’s not to say she doesn’t have a special place in her heart for Charlie. “He had a little more experience jumping at the metre-40 height and – Theo being more sensitive – having one that’s a little more ‘normal’ helps my riding. He stepped out every day and jumped clean. Also, he’s a big gentle giant. There’s quite a size difference between the two of them and they’re probably as different as you can get. But it’s been great because they are so different, learning how to ride those kinds of horses.”
Rajotte has competed in California in the past, but the Covid protocols kept her from doing any of that the past year. She stuck around home and ventured to Thunderbird Show Park. She is pretty well-travelled, though: she won the FEI Children’s Jumping Classic in 2017 and represented Canada at the Finals in Beijing, where she placed fifth. This past August she competed for the first time at the North American Youth Championships in Traverse City, Michigan, contributing to a junior team silver medal riding Charlie. She has also been the recipient of an EC Jumping Youth Bursary.
But now her education is taking a real leap, an across-the-ocean one. She and Patronus will head to Belgium to work at Tiffany Foster’s barn in Antwerp. Foster, of course, is a role model.
“She’s been someone I’ve looked up to for years,” said Rajotte. “Even at Thunderbird I see her a lot. I’ve gotten a lot of chances to watch her ride, with my coach saying ‘watch this round, watch Tiffany’s round’ so it’s really cool.
“My goal is to get more experience,” Rajotte pointed out. “I’ve obviously never ridden in Europe and I want to make a career out of this. I’m really excited.”
She will also be joining Kara Chad and Matt Sampson of Maple Park Farms in Spain to ride with them for a while. It will all be part of an education that she hopes will eventually secure her a place among Canada’s up-and-coming stars.
When asked what she wants to get done as a show jumper, she replied, “I don’t exactly have a plan to get there because I guess I am so young. I do want to go back to university at some point. But I don’t feel a rush in any direction. I’ll just kind of see where the opportunities take me.”
