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Posted by Christine Armishaw on 17/01/2019.
Mary Hanna and Calanta
Stephen Mowbray

No More Boogie Woogie for Mary Hanna's Next Dance

Mary Hanna has sold her Rio Olympic mount Boogie Woogie 6 to get her game face on for Tokyo 2020. If she qualifies, the next Olympic Games would be Mary’s sixth Olympics, and possibly her last. She has made some "difficult decisions” in order to set herself up for success.

While the duo competed together at both the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2018 World Equestrian Games, 64-year-old Mary explained “Times are changing in Dressage, and the standard is becoming so high, I felt I had to regroup, and make a new plan for my ambition to make my sixth and possibly final Olympics”.

It seems Mary has really thought hard on what her best course of action for Olympic preparation is. Her horse team has seen multiple team rearrangements.

The 13-year-old, KWPN gelding, Boogie Woogie (Du Moulin x Florett As), has reportedly been sold to Andreas Helgstrand in Denmark. It could be said that Andreas likes Mary’s style – he’s also reportedly bought Mary’s 2017 World Young Horse Championship finalist, Gerion.

So, who’s made the cut on Team Hanna? Mary has turned her focus to 12-year old Dutch Warmblood mare Calanta (Johnson x Goodtimes).  Plans are to compete her in the spring outdoor shows in Europe, under the coaching guidance of Patrik Kittel.

The new second horse in Mary’s string (because we all know one horse is simply never enough, at any level), is 9-year-old Ferrero (by Tuschinski x Jazz), born, bred and trained in the Netherlands.

"He is a diamond in the rough, with no fancy scores or profile, but his owner did a great job with him, having had him since a foal," said Mary. 

We look forward to seeing how Mary, who finished 39th in the Grand Prix at Rio with Boogie Woogie, ups the anti with her newly created team, in the lead up to Tokyo 2020.

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