Hueppe’s backpacking journey to Hannover Lodge

Cover image courtesy of Hannover Lodge

Written by Georgie Dennis

Hinnerk Hueppe arrived in Australia as a backpacker 11 years ago and has since created his own breaking and pre-training business; Hannover Lodge.

Predominantly focused on breaking and pre-training, the operation is also responsible for preparing breeze-up horses and for the third year in a row, Hannover Lodge will present a draft at the Inglis Ready2Race Sale.

“Hannover Lodge has been going for three years now, since July 2017,” Hueppe said. “We started with a couple of horses and now we’ve got around 100 horses on the books.

“Our main focus and business is breaking in, pre-training, spelling and the rehabilitation of racehorses.”

Originating from Germany, horses had always been a hobby for Hueppe. He competed at a high level of show jumping before arriving in Australia on a backpacking trip and eventually finding himself in the racing industry.

“I used to show jump a lot in Germany and then came over to Australia to backpack,” he said. “I worked for a show jumping lady over here at Oaks Sport Horses and continued on to work for Wild Oaks at their pre-training farm.

“I then spent nine months with Melanie O’Gorman up in Scone as her Racing Manager and I did my first ready to run draft with her. Then I went out on my own and that’s when I had my first ready to run draft three years ago.”

The best education

Hueppe is trying to go down a different path with his breeze-up horses and purchase yearlings that he and his clients would be happy to retain should they not make it to the sale. His idea behind this is to relieve the pressure on needing to sell the horse, and concentrating on giving the best possible education he can.

“It used to be a bit of a product where the horses either had injuries or had a reason not to make it to the yearling sales so then people would try to send them to the ready to run sales,” he said. “Which means generally they had minor issues or delays in their preparations.

“We’re now trying to buy a horse that we would be prepared to race ourselves, which means all the clients that I’m involved with basically buy a horse that they’re prepared to own themselves or race.

“If they are physically and mentally able to make it to the breeze-up gallop, then we will take them there. If we feel they need more time or they’re not ready, then my clients are generally prepared to keep them and either syndicate them or race them themselves.

“I feel going down that path helps to have a racehorse that you’re comfortable selling and preparing because you’re not selling a product because you have to, you’re selling a product that you’re prepared to keep yourself, which means you’re already approaching it differently when you buy the horse in the first place.”

Education is the priority when it comes to Hueppe’s breeze-up horses which is why he does the majority of the breaking-in himself.

“I probably wouldn’t want to do this if I wasn’t breaking them in and riding them myself," he said. “I think it’s too hard if there's third parties involved.

“At the end of the day, the product you’re eventually going to sell is going to be different if you’re personally involved and that’s why I try to have involvement in the horses.

“But in general, I think it’s very important that you get to know the horses on the ground and you keep a close eye on their education and the way they’re brought up because at the end of the day, particularly the breaking in, it can define their whole career.”

Something for everyone

Hueppe tries to present something for everyone in his Hannover Lodge draft for the Ready2 Race Sale so picking out his standouts is tough.

He believes everyone has different ideas of what a stand out 2-year-old is but there are three horses in his 13-strong draft that he is particularly fond of.

“There’s a lovely Odyssey Moon colt in there which is interesting,” Hueppe said. “He’s out of a More Than Ready mare called Swish and he’s a beautiful athletic horse. He’s doing everything very easily.

“We’ve got a lovely Winning Rupert who is out of an Encosta De Lago mare called Easy To Read. I have him with Clare Cunningham simply because she had a big involvement with Winning Rupert. She did a lot of his track work and she’s very fond of him (the colt). He does everything very easily.

“And there’s a Pride Of Dubai colt which is out of a mare called Impressive Eagle. He came to me through a client and he got broken in at Scone.

“He’s probably not your typical breeze-up horse but he’s a very classy colt and he also does it very easily but he will need a bit of time.”

When asked about the progeny of this year’s crop of first-season sires, Hueppe, like a lot of industry participants, said he was a fan of the Capitalists but he also said he liked what he has seen of Kitchwin Hills' resident Sooboog.

“In terms of the way they have taken everything in their stride, I would say I’m quite fond of the Capitalists and the Sooboogs,” he said.

“I’ve had to deal with both stallions and the Sooboogs are very laid back and relaxed horses, whereas the Capitalists are probably not quite as relaxed in their mannerisms, but they’re very athletic horses and they are real sprinting types and real athletes.”

In terms of this year’s breeze-up market, Hueppe is hopeful that international buyers not being able to attend the Sale will see more Australians get involved.

"The Hong Kong market is very important for this Sale, but I’d really like to see the auctioneers push more for local people and Australian trainers to get involved,” he said.

“That’s why we’re trying to change the product a bit, that’s why we want to try and create a horse that's suited for every market and not just to go overseas to Hong Kong.

“If we try to educate them how the Australian trainers like them to be educated, there’s a much greater chance that those trainers get involved and that they’re more comfortable to buy at this sale.

“At the end of the day, a good quality horse is always going to sell and I believe that’s all we can hope for at this sale.”