Photo with kind permission of Nico Morgan

I’m hardly original in being a huge fan of Francis Whittington, not just for his stylish and effective riding, but also for the considerable time and effort he commits to  ERA, his passion for Eventing, his eagerness to share and give back to the sport, his messy lorry scattered with son Max’s toys, clothes and kit but none of his own, and for the fact that he can walk the Burghley cross country on saturday morning in completely unsuitable shoes for wet, dewy grass but still smile, laugh and carry on a conversation as if it were a normal day. For this and countless other reasons, it seemed like a good idea to ring him up and reflect on the last few months of competitions, and find out what he’s planning for during the winter.

Having ridden at Luhmuhlen CCI**** in the spring, (finishing 11th), Barbury and Gatcombe in the summer, and finally two horses around Burghley this month, Francis is as well-qualified as anyone to discuss cross-country, specifically Mark Phillips’ courses, and in what direction he thinks the courses are going,

“Barbury wasn’t as strong a three-star track as it has been. Luhmuhlen certainly was a question; it was a very different type of event and different type of track to Burghley.  This time at Burghley, as Mark Phillips kept saying, he’d gone very “retro” with it, and I think he was just trying to do something different. What’s interesting to see is when you have Ian Stark doing a very similar thing – going bigger and trying to get the horses galloping and going forwards – I think they’re doing the right thing, and I think we do need to encourage the courses to become more galloping courses, and encouraging riders to be traveling forwards, not hooking backwards.  I think that will play a big part in allowing riders to start riding in that rhythm again, and a rhythm that they can maintain throughout the whole course. By encouraging riders to keep traveling forwards, and by forwards I don’t mean faster but traveling forwards in rhythm and balance, it will allow them to jump the fences in a better way, and then over time they’ll find it easier to gallop and make the distance and make for a nicer ride as a result of it.”

Although at first riders may have been overwhelmed by the sheer size, on reflection some have since remarked that perhaps the Burghley course lacked technical questions, (ultimately there were 49 clear jumping rounds, 5 that completed with 20 jumping penalties, 11 eliminations and 9 combinations retired) and I asked Francis what he thought about that,

“I had a wonderful ride around the cross country on Sir Percival at Burghley. When I heard about the course – that it was going to be very big and very forward, I thought that was good because I thought it would really suit my way of riding, it would allow us to get into a rhythm and continue to maintain that rhythm and travel around the course in a confident manner. When I walked the course, again I thought to myself, ‘Jeez, this is a proper, big track!’, and the fact that Mark Phillips had gone the full length meant you had to be sure your horses were fit enough.  Although the track was maximum size, width and all the other dimensions, I felt very confident in the way that he’d built it and in the thought processes that he’d clearly followed, he wanted you to go out and ride with confidence around the course and get into a good, forward rhythm, and the track was built like that consistently right to the finish, and sure enough, it made for a really nice ride.”

(Francis’ cross country ride at Burghley 2011 on Sir Percival courtesy of Burghley.tv)

Sir Percival just covers the ground so easily, he’s very straight and really enjoys it, and I think that’s one of the main things with Percy is that he does enjoy his cross country; he focuses, he gets on with it, and you can trust him.  That was very evident from the start when jumping off the leaf pit – he came to that in a lovely, balanced manner, just waited and listened, jumped down to the bottom with so much control, he felt very comfortable, and then just locked onto the next fence and I was able to ride up to the skinny, and that just shows his experience and also his confidence in that cross country phase. We got held (because of Oliver Townend’s fall) and I was worried that might upset my timing and rhythm slightly, but once we were allowed to continue we got straight back into that rhythm and had a fantastic ride around the rest of the track. I hadn’t intended to be so far inside the time, but I couldn’t be 100% sure that my watch was completely accurate after the hold, so I wanted to make sure I had a few seconds spare should there be a discrepancy in the timing, and that’s how I ended up being 16 seconds inside the time.  It’s not that we go any faster in between the fences, because I don’t believe we do, but one thing about Percy is that he’s so quick to move away from the fences and he’s so quick to set up to a fence, that that’s where we save our time. I think if we ride with a good rhythm around the course and we stick to that good rhythm and allow the horse to jump out of his stride then my theory is that if you save a quarter of a second before and after each fence that’s half a second saved at each jump, then all you need to do is save a few more half seconds and before you know it you’re 30 seconds up, and that will make a big difference to your horse come sunday.”

An unlucky rail on the final day saw Francis and Sir Percival finish in 13th place. Although thrilled with the final result Francis said he was disappointed with his dressage test which he felt was not his and Sir Percival’s best effort by far, and left them playing catch-up for the rest of the competition.  

Easy Target, Francis’ second ride, was attempting his first four-star CCI, a culmination of years of training as he’s been with Francis since a lucky encounter at the very start of his career,

“We don’t actually know his breeding, I stumbled across him in a dealer’s yard when he was four, and we’ve just been building a great relationship up between us over the years now, and I think he’s a lovely horse.  He isn’t full thoroughbred but I believe I can get him fitter, and I believe that psychologically he’ll be a bigger, better, stronger horse for his Burghley experience next year, and it will allow me to ride him in such a way cross country that I’ll be able to save time to make up for those seconds that we used up around the course at Burghley this year. Bearing in mind also that I had that early run-out, so I then dropped off the pace slightly as well, so I think I can get him pretty darn close to the time, and in the time. He’s incredible, he’s got everything there.”

Francis’ cross country at Burghley 2011 on Easy Target courtesy of Burghley.tv

(Fun fact: Easy Target is owned by Catherine Witt who can obviously spot a good horse AND rider as she also took home the prize for winning owner of Parklane Hawk ridden by William Fox-Pitt!)

Impressed by Francis’ analysis of the course, and the thought that he’s obviously put into his rides since the competition, I ask him if he’s ever considered course designing,

“It does interest me, but with my involvement with ERA, long-term I’d like to be able to see that I can play a really important role in the development of the sport world-wide, as well as on a national level.”

Francis is also incredibly popular as a trainer and clinician in England, and this eats up a lot of his time, especially during the winter months. He talked about his teaching philosophy,

“I believe that in order to really train and to learn, it’s knowing what the real problem is, and addressing that, not just the symptom that you can see.  I try to keep things as simple as I possibly can, and provide people with the information in a way that suits that individual. We all absorb information in a different way, and learn on a different level, and it’s about tailoring a lesson or a session in such a way that each individual within that group is able to take something away and learn from it.  My theory has always been that if somebody doesn’t understand what I’ve said, it’s not because they’re being stupid, it’s because I haven’t explained it clearly enough, or in a way that suits them.”

photo with kind permission of Nico Morgan

“The training is about building and creating a solid foundation that they can then build on, and one of the principles I work with is a three point principle of rhythm, balance and control. If you have your rhythm and your balance, you’ll be able to have control.  If you create control to find a rhythm, you’ll be able to give your young horse balance, and it goes around in a circle with those three points – you only need to have two of them to create the third, it doesn’t matter which two of them you have.”

“When I go to teach at a clinic I don’t feel that I’m there necessarily to teach somebody, as such – I’m there to provide them with the information that I have, and to share that information with them, and allow them to take as much information away from me as they want to take. I just want to use the experiences that I’ve had in my career, where I’ve been fortunate enough to train with some of the best trainers in the world, and to be able to share that information to help make it possible for everybody else to enjoy a sport that I love, and also to give them the ability to become more secure in their riding, and therefore safer, and therefore be able to enjoy the sport even more.”

Which of course begs the question who Francis trains with, and who would he consider as a mentor?

“I train with a number of people who help me. Yogi Breisner’s always been extraordinarily helpful, both in the way of training and on a mental level. Tracie Robinson, who works with the  dressage with the British Team, has been fantastic and a huge support, and not only for the dressage, but in a funny way for the discussions that we’ve had before I’ve gone out on cross-country, I hold her in high regard, I think she’s been a wonderful asset to the team, and a great support to myself. Over the years there’s been many other different teachers and instructors. I’ve always believed you can learn something from everyone – everybody’s got information to give and the older I’ve got the more I’ve understood that, and I like to think that I’d be more open to listening to other views and ideas because they might not work with that horse that you’re on, but they might work with another horse later on sometime, later on in your career.”

I’m very excited to be able to announce that Francis will be coming to do a clinic in the US on  November 19/20, the weekend before Thanksgiving at Chattahoochee Hills, and more details will be announced soon. After that, his focus will be on the Olympics next year, with a prep run at another historic British Three Day Event,

“The way I see it at the moment is Easy Target and Sir Percival will be coming out of the winter aiming for Badminton.”

Wishing Francis and his team the very best of luck for next year, and many thanks for his time.  We look forward to welcoming him to the South (never thought I’d write that!) and I’ll be sure to bring you full reports –  what a treat!  Go to clinics and Go Eventing!

This year’s 50th anniversary Burghley was special for so many reasons: I may have said at some point that I thought it belonged to Boyd Martin and his miraculous mount Neville Bardos for their fairytale top ten finish. It could also be argued that it was all William’s, taking a record-breaking sixth win on six different horses, passing legends Ginny Eliot and Mark Todd’s five apiece, and equalling Lucinda Green’s record at Badminton.  The cross country course – massive and “retro”, the going – perfect, the weather – maddeningly inconsistent, all played a factor too. However, each year Burghley is incredibly poignant for one former competitor, and his wife who finished sixth this year.  I was thrilled to catch up with Vere and Clea Phillipps at the prize-giving, and talk to them about their own Burghley memories. 

Lead the Way started eventing with Clea in 2003, and first completed Burghley in 2007, starting a consistent record here.  He was 6th in 2008, withdrew in 2009 (and instead went on to a top 20 finish at Pau CCI****), 8th last year, and 6th again this year.  Lead the Way is just one of many of the success stories sourced by Clea’s husband Vere, who finds hunters, jumpers and eventers,

“I bought Lead the Way as a four year old in Ireland. He’s by Supreme Leader, but he’s not that well-bred on his dam’s side so he didn’t have a good enough pedigree to be a top class racehorse, but he did jump. We brought him home, and Clea was riding another advanced horse that I thought was too strong for her, so I told her if she sold that one, I had a nice four year old that she could produce, he’d be top class and I promised I wouldn’t sell him.”

This may have been a harder promise to keep than it sounds as Vere has made a successful business of selling super horses, primarily eventers, but also top notch hunters and jumpers, and his word was tested many times by people trying to buy Lead the Way,

“I’ve been selling horses since 1981, about fifty or sixty horses a year, and I’ve had an event horse on every British team. (European, World and Olympic) as well as the winners of a CCI*, CCI**, CCI*** and CCI****. My ambition now is to sell an Olympic show-jumper, I’ve sold Grand Prix and Trials jumpers, but I’d like to sell a really top class show-jumper now.”

In fact, the very first of William Fox Pitt’s six winning Burghley rides, Chaka, was a horse Vere found, and although he’s bought and sold horses all his life, he’s promised that Lead the Way is an exception, and as Clea points out, laughing,

 “I’ve threatened him with much, much worse than divorce if he ever sells him! Lead the Way’s the only one I have managed to keep. I’ve had him since he was four and we have a very special relationship.”

Vere has spent most of his life local to Burghley, a keen fox-hunter and show-jumper, and he explained why this area is so ideal for producing quality horses,

“The thing about the Quorn is it’s light land and you can still take your own line so you’re not queueing. Basically I’ve got a glorified cross country school with hounds and people around to get them brave, but you can still jump in your own spot, so it’s a really good place to get the eventers brave and get them going.”

Vere out hunting with the Quorn, photo used with kind permission of Nico Morgan

Vere also has some experience eventing, and although he enjoyed amazing success, he said ultimately it was too time-consuming, and despite three CCI**** completions, he told me that he never really considered himself an eventer,

“What happened was my late wife, Polly, was killed in a fall from Coral Cove at The Scottish Open Championships in 1999. When Polly got killed, I took up eventing because I wanted to ride one event in her memory. As you can imagine, it was a tragic time in my life.  I was told I couldn’t do an advanced event because I wasn’t qualified; I was very angry because I’d been riding international trials in show-jumping, and any eventer can go in a Grade A class, I didn’t see why a show-jumper couldn’t enter an advanced event. Anyway, telling me I couldn’t do it was the best thing they could have done to me because it was like a red rag to a bull: I put five show-jumpers on to the lorry and started qualifying them. I did five novices, five intermediates… and I rode Coral, (in Polly’s colours)  and six months later we were fourth here at Burghley.  He was an amazing horse. I was never really “an eventer”! I came back the next year and did two events and I was 12th here out of about a hundred odd starters, and then I went to Badminton and I was 24th, and I won Polly’s memorial twice, and the second time I won it Coral was 16 years old, and I thought I’d retire at that. I’d wanted to win her memorial (a trophy given by Vere in Polly’s memory in the Advanced class at Eglinton in Scotland to the highest placed British rider who has never represented Britain in a senior team). I did a two star, a three star and then Burghley.”

Since retiring from eventing, Vere has found happiness again with Clea, and they have a four and a half year old son, Joss,( named either after Quorn Master Joss Hanbury, or Vere’s dog, or neither, Vere’s sense of humour is very dry!) Joss, as you’d expect, is well-mounted, and rides his pony Polo, and Vere told me the family enjoy show-jumping together,

“As a family sport it’s less time consuming than eventing.  We take all the young event horses show-jumping and hunting, but we don’t event them. We sell them to riders so they have the pick of the best.  They’ve never actually evented but they’re ready to go, they’re ready to fast-track because of the jumping that they’ve done  and the experience they’ve had already.”

Lead the way is a Grade A show-jumper, and Clea is that rare eventer who actually looks forward to the final phase!

“I take him to the jumper shows that Vere and I do, I don’t campaign him particularly, we just go to the shows around us and he jumps the 1 metre 45 classes, and he’s very consistent at what he does. I love it, absolutely love it, I love show-jumping day! I hunt too, but I don’t love it as much I enjoy eventing. You forget how much you like hunting until you go, and then you see all your friends, but I’d be a fair weather hunter.”

After a slightly tense dressage, and a hold on cross-country which might have accounted for some confusion with her stop watch and thus a few time faults, but of course a lovely clear show-jumping that pulled them right back up the order, I asked Clea what she thought of Burghley this year,

“I didn’t think the cross country was strong enough. I thought it was big but not technical enough. I think Mark Phillips, great course designer as he is, had possibly underestimated just how good the horses and riders are these days, and just building big isn’t enough, and although it’s not fair to call it a dressage competition, it wasn’t enough of a test for a four star.”

and what comes next?

“Lead the Way will have a holiday and then we’ll make a plan for next year. I was going to go to Badminton this year but the ground was very hard so I didn’t get a couple of the runs before because he’s my only horse and I’m not prepared to burn him round on ground I consider potentially damaging. I shall continue to look after him, and eventually his day will come and he’ll win a big one. I would be very tempted to switch from eventing to show-jumping, but I want to jump Trials and things, and show-jumping can bankrupt a millionaire, so I very much enjoy the level of jumping I do with Lead the Way, and for the time being I’m lucky enough to have a horse that’s pretty good at both sports. It suits me well.” 

Lead the Way may enjoy a holiday now, but there’ll be no such luxury for the Phillipps family; not only do they have a nice selection of hunters, eventers and jumpers, Vere told me he’s also been enjoying his racing,

“For the last ten years or so we’ve been buying National Hunt horses as foals and yearlings, so I’ve always held up to about thirty thoroughbreds as well, which we sell for National Hunt racing. We’ve had some good black type winners now, one with Phillip Hobbs called Lead On, and a good horse with Charlie Swan at the moment that J P McManus has bought, and then some of the ones that aren’t that fashionably bred but can jump, we’ll turn into eventers, like Lead the Way, so we do have that facility for people to buy thoroughbreds from us, as well as the Irish Sport Horses. I love watching horses grow on the farm. We sell most of those unbroken, and the trainers get their pick, and then sell the others at Doncaster or at Tattersalls. The objective though is to sell them all as unbroken three year olds, so they never hit the eventing scene. It’s ironic, the dearest horse I’ve ever sold (so far!) was a National Hunt horse that was unbroken! A three year old, he went on and raced, he was a nice horse.” 

Clea and Lead the Way turning in a nice clear despite deteriorating conditions on the final day at this year’s Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials

I wondered, what is the most important thing to Vere when he first looks at a horse?

“I’ve always looked at the horse first, then I ask about the breeding. I’ve got to like the stamp enough, or the movement for an eventer, or the type for a hunter enough.  The type first really.  If I absolutely love the performance and the jump, I’ll put up with a bit less confirmation. Everything’s a balance. I’ve never found a ten yet. I score them as I see them.” 

“Lead the Way, as a novice horse, I’d have given him an 8. (When I protest, Vere goes into more detail)  Well, you could say that his hocks are a little bit straight, you could say that he’s a bit upright, you could say that his jump is ok, I’ve had better jumpers!  As a five year old he went to his first show, and he had at least a couple down, and snaked all around the 1 metre track, and I told Clea it was terrible, and she retorted that it was actually good, I hadn’t seen him the week before! People forget how much time it takes to produce a horse to get it looking like this. What you want is a horse that’s trainable, people do forget that. As long as they’ve got the goods, they’ve got to train the brain, and train the horse the right way.”

Luckily Clea and I agree about how beautiful Lead the Way is,

“He’s totally enthusiastic all the time, he’s on your side, he tries his best, he loves any show you take him to. He does think he’s the King of England though, and he does think he’s the sexiest thing that’s ever stepped into a pair of Woof boots, but then I think he’s right, so I probably humour him!” 

and finally I get the answer to that burning question that’s been me driving me crazy – what is the significance of those quarter marks?!

Don’t read (look at!) this post if you don’t enjoy my dog photos, that’s all it is! But if you do, feast your eyes on these beauties waiting patiently, or not. while their owners yuk-yuk it up in the Members Enclosure at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials

Don’t read (look at!) this post if you don’t enjoy my dog photos, that’s all it is! But if you do, feast your eyes on these beauties waiting patiently, or not. while their owners yuk-yuk it up in the Members Enclosure at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials