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"He is just missing that one result to push him into the category of outstanding horses, and I hope that is coming soon, because he really deserves it,” reigning Olympic Champion Ben Maher tells about the impressive Faltic HB (Baltic VDL x Concorde, bred by H.A. Brinkman and M. Huisman and owned by Charlotte Rossetter, Pamela Wright and Ben Maher). 

Contributing to the British team bronze at the Agria FEI Jumping World Championship 2022 in Herning, Denmark, and finishing fourth individually, Faltic HB made his championship debut with impressive ease last year. During the 2022-season, the now 13-year-old stallion showed great consistency, placing within the top ten in seven Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix classes. This year, Faltic impressed again, placing fourth individually at the FEI Jumping European Championship 2023 in Milan, Italy. 

From Oakingham Stud’s Mackenzie Ray, Roger McCrea and Eoin Gallagher to his current rider Ben Maher, everyone involved in Faltic’s journey to the top is full of praise for the incredibly talented stallion. 

“From day one, he was a dream,” Oakingham Stud’s Mackenzie Ray – who discovered Faltic HB as a three-year-old at an auction together with her father John as well as Roger McCrea – says about Faltic. “When Faltic came into the ring, I told my dad ‘I love this one’; he was the only one that came in with such presence, had his ears pricked the whole time, never missed a distance and stayed so consistent. He did not jump overly spectacular, but he did everything with such ease and so effortless. Since I liked him so much, my dad bought him.” 

“He was always a dream to ride and just went in a snaffle like he goes now,” Ray continues to tell about her time with the easy-going stallion. “From the moment I asked him to do a lead change, he just did – and did it perfectly. Riding him as a four, five and six-year-old he felt like riding a ten-year-old horse. He has a bit of character, but you never had to worry with him, even though he is a stallion, there were never any problems.” 

“I am not going to lie… the first few jumps, the feeling was unbelievable,” Ray recalls about her first impression of Faltic. "It was a feeling you don’t get that often, to have something so quick off the floor with that much power – it was quite breathtaking.”

“He was a dream to bring up,” she continues. “At that stage, we were not doing many shows in England, we were mainly going to Oliva Nova and he did the two tours there and there was never a question you could not ask him. Every time I went into the ring, it felt like he had been in there a million times and done it before. As a young horse, he was playful and cheeky, and he liked to buck and have fun, but never to a point that you would feel unsafe.”

Roger McCrea rode Faltic as a young horse as well and competed internationally with the talented stallion when he was seven and eight. “He was always a pleasure,” McCrea recalls. “Everything about him was fantastic, he was just a super easy horse to do in every way and being a stallion, traveling, training at home, jumping at shows, he was always uncomplicated. I had complete belief in him from day one. I have been very fortunate in my life to have produced some good horses, but with Faltic, I knew how exceptional he was from day one. For me he was the perfect horse, and he wanted to do well. He has the right combination of blood and brain.”

As an 8-year-old, Faltic was ridden by Eoin Gallagher. “We started to build him up from 1.30m classes. He ended up being a real star, jumping Nations Cups; we won the Nations Cup in Peelbergen in 2021, we jumped with a score of 4/0 in the Warsaw Final and also won a two-star Grand Prix in Chard that same year.”

“He always had the quality we see now, and it is not a surprise to me that he made it to championship level," Gallagher says. “I had a strong feeling that he could be a contender to go there, and it has been great to see that what I felt was there. He is just a super horse; he always wanted to be clear – from the first day I jumped him. The things he can do with his body are abnormal compared to other horses; he is the best horse I have ever ridden.”

“His athletic ability is special, but for me his brain is his best quality; he is so smart,” Gallagher continues. “However, because he is so careful, he did not stay straight at the jump back when I began riding him; he had quite a bit of right drift and it took me some time to get him confident and have him trust what I was trying to give to him. Once we got that, he never looked back and after only a few shows, we made a great partnership.” 

“Faltic is very easy, he is kind and enjoys attention,” Gallagher tells. “My son – who was only four back then – would go in Faltic’s box and pet him; he was always a very friendly stallion. We bred a lot with him as well and it did not change his temperament, he was easy to manage.”

“There have been many proud moments,” Gallagher says about following Faltic’s success with Maher. “I am proud that I had a part to play in his story. In 2021 we did many new things; his first three-star, his first four-star, our first Nations Cup together… It is special to have been involved in a horse like him. I do follow him and support them, and I was at Olympia when he was placed 5th in the World Cup there – and found myself trying to jump the lines with him! I am very happy he is with a top rider and able to show the world what he really is.”

At the end of 2021, Great Britain’s Ben Maher was given the ride on the talented stallion and last year, Charlotte Rossetter and Pamela Wright – who also own several of Maher’s other top horses – bought the stallion. 

“Faltic has been a huge part of our team for a couple of years now, and he was really aimed at the championships last year and this year,” Maher tells. “I am a little bit disappointed for him to finish fourth individually on two championships in a row, because he would have deserved a medal. However, I think it shows how good a horse he is, and the consistency he produces at the highest level.”

“Faltic is a small horse, but he has an incredible model; a powerful engine for a smaller horse, a big stride, scope and quality,” Maher says. “He has all the attributes and I think that in the future, he is definitely going to be a very popular breeding stallion.”

“In the past, he has been a bit in Explosion’s shadow, but I think that going forward, he will be aimed for the biggest events. He was in Riyadh, and he goes to Prague next and probably he will do the Top 10 Final in Geneva,” Maher continues. “It has been a bit of a quieter year after my accident and I am very lucky to have a large group of horses that we have rotated, so I have been very selective on when and where Faltic has jumped.”

While Faltic and Maher’s partnership began in 2021, the British Olympic Champion actually tried the stallion already when he was a young horse. “However, for different reasons, we never went ahead,” Maher recalls. 

“I remember telling Ben ‘don’t miss him’, when he was there to try Faltic as a young horse,” McCrea recalls. “Belief is a big part of our sport and I always believed in Faltic. His possibilities were huge, and I thought that if he ended up with the right rider, he could do anything.”

Looking ahead towards the Paris Olympic Games coming up next year, Maher is in a very fortunate position. “I am able to look at my team of horses and have more than one option,” he says. “Faltic is a proven championship horse, and while Paris is still a year away, I have a few other horses sort of biting on his heels. I think it comes down to peaking at the right time and what I feel will be the right decision when the time comes.” 

14.11.2023 No reproduction of any of the content in this article will be accepted without a written permission, all rights reserved © World of Showjumping.com. If copyright violations occur, a penalty fee will apply.