The search committee has announced it’s short list for the position of US Eventing Team Chef D’Equipe/Technical Advisor, and it is a short list. Just two applicants go forward – David O Connor, and Leslie Law , who I spoke to last night.
It was hard to find a time to catch up with Leslie as not only is he busy with a stable full of very nice horses that have come out this spring with all guns blazing – winning and placing at every event this year, but he also teaches students and has a full calendar of clinics. On top of this, he’s also a hands-on dad to 16 month old Liam, who was present, (and vocal!) during most of this interview, and who Leslie jokes that if he gets the job, Liam will be his assistant who will stand up and say no when it needs to be said!
I asked him when he first thought about applying for the job.Leslie: Well, it’s hard to pinpoint an exact date, it’s something I’d been thinking about for a long time. Once the application was open there were a few people who were keen that I should apply, and while they certainly didn’t persuade me because I had given it a lot of thought and was going to do it anyway, they might have nudged me in that direction, but it’s definitely something I’d been thinking about doing for a long time.
Q: We spoke at Richland Park last summer briefly about your nationality, and whether you would ever consider riding for America; did you ever consider it might be a conflict being British and coaching the Americans?
Leslie: (Big laugh!) I don’t see it as a conflict at all, I live here now. I don’t think Yogi (Breisner) finds it a conflict being Swedish, because he’s been extremely successful with the Brits! If I was living in the UK, I don’t think it would necessarily be a conflict but I think it would make it more difficult logistically, but that isn’t part of the equation anymore, because I’ve been here five years and my intentions are very much to stay here.
Q: Can you see yourself one day riding for the US?
Leslie: If I do get this job, then I won’t be able to ride for America, so we have to take it one step at a time. I never say never to anything, but this is a bridge to be crossed first before I could ever think about that, because like I said, if I got the position, it wouldn’t even be a consideration.
Q: You’ve got such a lovely bunch of horses right now. If you get the job, will you continue to compete, but just not at international level, how will that work?
Leslie: I would very much want to compete on some younger horses. Personally, if you’re riding I think it helps to keep you in touch with the sport, if and when it keeps changing a little bit. I think it helps you to be able to relate to what the competitors are going through. Also, I always have enjoyed producing young horses, it’s been a big part of my life and it’s very rewarding and very satisfying to bring horses through the levels. Obviously I wouldn’t be competing at the top level, but I would want to still continue with young horses because it’s so rewarding.
Q: But you’re willing to pass up the chance at representing Britain again to coach the US team?
Leslie: Absolutely! Life moves on. My time on the British team was a fantastic experience, and it’s been a huge part of my life. It’s not about preferring to do one thing over the other, but about life ever changing, and moving forward. It’s a direction I’ve thought about going for a long time, and that’s the way I’d like to go now.
Q: You’re also extremely popular as a clinician; would you say that you’ll use some of your experience teaching clinics as a coach?
Leslie: Obviously they help you with your coaching/training technique, but clinics are quite a different situation to coaching a country. What I’ll be able to draw upon as far as coaching a country will be my personal experience when I was fortunate enough to be on the British team. I was part of the British Team which has been extremely consistent for the last ten years. Not only was I part of that team, but it was standing alongside the excellent individuals like William (Fox-Pitt) and Pippa (Funnell), in team situations with them. It was not only about what I was doing, it was about sharing what they were doing as well, seeing how they work, and how Yogi orchestrated a group of outstanding individuals to create a winning, consistent team. That’s where I think I’ll be able to draw a huge amount of experience from seeing how that worked.
I went to Atlanta, where my horse had a stone bruise and didn’t compete, and that was not a great time for the Brits, so I’ve been able to witness the program where it didn’t work so well, and then I was fortunate enough to be there when it got put back together, and saw it change for the better. (Leslie won individual gold at Athens 2004)
Drawing from William and Pippa, working alongside them, having my own system, but also drawing from their programs, because we would talk as team members, and seeing how they created success, and how Yogi was able to put us all together.
Q: How do you apply that to the US?
Leslie: I don’t think it would be all that different. I think the US has an abundance of talent in riders. At Pine Top this weekend for example, the quality of riding there is extremely exciting. The biggest thing I learned from Yogi was dialogue with the riders; he brought us all together as individuals, and worked with us as individuals, but created a team from that. A lot of that was through great dialogue between Yogi and his riders.
Q: Do you know if you’re allowed to pick your own support team, or if that’s decided for you?
Leslie: Again, that would be something that I would discuss with the riders, and see what the feeling is there, because that’s how we decided on who we used in England. I do applaud the fact that we’re not stepping straight into the job, we’ve got eighteen months to shadow Mark, and to start having dialogue with the riders and start feeling who they like. Ultimately, it would come down to me to make that decision, but it was after much discussion with the riders that Yogi and the management appointed the British Eventing Dressage and Jumping coaches.
I think the important thing is that regardless of who we choose, there must be continuity. Tracey Robinson has been coaching the dressage phase for the British Eventing team for eight to ten years, and Kenneth Clawson taught jumping for a long time, and Peter Murphy shadowed him for quite a while before taking his role on. I think the continuity is extremely important, that those people are going to be there for a period of time so that they get to know the horses and riders, and it’s not just stepping in at the last minute.
Q: I’m sure, if you do get the job, that you’ll be wanting to take riders to England to compete, and the fact that you still return regularly, and obviously are so familiar with the competition scene there must be an advantage?
Leslie: Well, I’m sure many of the other applicants are extremely familiar with Europe as well. I suppose it makes it easier to go there and know the procedure, and know what is expected, and so being comfortable there I might be able to put my riders more at ease, which is very important.
Q: When you first moved from England to the US did you find it was a huge adjustment, was it difficult?
Leslie: Yes, any move like that is a big adjustment. I wasn’t completely unfamiliar with the States – I was very fortunate and came over here as a kid and spent a couple of summers over here as a working student in a jumper yard with Ian Silitch, so I was familiar with the system over here. That was a learning curve in itself at the time, so it wasn’t something totally new, but it was still a big adjustment, for sure.
Q: After the euphoria of the Athens Olympics, and the tight-knit team spirit that you had enjoyed in England for so long, did you feel at all isolated, or lonely when you first arrived here?
Leslie: No, I didn’t feel lonely because again, it was a decision that I gave considerable thought to. I’d discussed it with my parents. I didn’t just wake up one morning and decide to up and go! I still had Shear L’Eau (his gold medal partner) but I was ready for a change, ready to take my life in a new direction, as if I get the job, coaching will likewise be taking me life in a slightly different direction again, and that is something that I’m more than ready for now.
Q: Do you feel like you know most of the riders in the US now, after your five years here riding, teaching, doing clinics etc?
Leslie: Yes, I think I do know most of them now. I’ve had five years here now to almost stand on the sidelines a little bit – observe and watch from an outsider’s point of view. I’ve been able to make up my mind and form opinions about little things that work and perhaps other things that might not work so well. It’s been quite useful to watch and learn.
Q: Well, you certainly seem to have embraced the lifestyle, you’re popular within the eventing community, and you seem to have adapted very well..
Leslie: Well, you perhaps see that more than I do, but again, that’s no different to being in a team. You go to places that you’re not familiar with and you have to adapt very quickly, whether it’s going halfway around the world to the Olympics in Sydney or Atlanta, or just across Europe to the Olympics in Athens. Being able to adapt quickly is part of being successful.
Q: What do you think are the biggest differences between eventing in England and in the US?
Leslie: I think one of the biggest differences is the geographic part of it. That’s one of the things that you learn to come to terms with, that is one of the biggest differences I see. You’ve got a group of people on the West Coast and a group of people on the East Coast, whereas in the UK you’re much more likely to have everyone competing against each other more often. Over here you have your two groups of successful riders on each Coast that might only compete against each other once a year at Rolex.
Q: Will you continue to teach clinics if you get the job?
Leslie: Yes. Obviously they would have to fit in and around the coaching position, but I very much enjoy the clinics. It’s a great way to share my knowledge, and give something back, and you get to meet some great people that you might never otherwise meet. I think it’s important to try and inspire people, and to try and give people something that they can take away, and hopefully that will help them.
Q: I’ve mistakenly used the word “coach” throughout, but actually the position is for Chef and Technical Advisor. Will you actually coach though?
Leslie: My application is for both divisions. There again I would draw on my experience with Yogi, and that interim period of eighteen months/two years before one takes the position I would have extensive dialogue with the riders to see what their feelings were. The decision would come down to me at the end of the day, but I would make the decision based on what I’d heard from the riders.
By this time I’d kept Leslie far too long, and although he’d been extremely obliging and I was certainly enjoying myself, his “assistant” was becoming impatient! I used to spend a lot of time with Leslie and his brother Graham when they were both competing together in England, and I’d forgotten they both have the best laugh – quick, infectious, and definitely a bit naughty, it was lovely to hear it again! I’d like to thank them both for their time, wish both Leslie and Lesley luck competing this season, and thank you for reading.
This article was also published on SamanthaLClark.com
