Samantha Clark

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Thursday morning warm up – a couple of short videos

By Samantha Clark on Mar 10, 2011 4:48 pm -

It was chilly and breezy, so turn the volume down before you watch these. I enjoy filming these, and I hope you like them, but the downside is how long they take to upload/download,(I never know which it is, maybe that’s why it takes me so long!) so I’ll try and keep them coming, it just might not be until the end of the day.

First we have Philip giving Isabella a tactful ride with CMP

and then a couple of minutes from the warm up arena later in the morning when it was a bit busier. You can see Will Coleman, Philip again, this time on his new Irish horse, and Alison working Arthur with CMP.

Please let me know if you have any special requests and I’ll do my level best to fill them. Thanks for watching and reading, and GO Red Hills!

Let’s Talk About Frangible Devices with Eventing Safety John

By Samantha Clark on Mar 10, 2011 3:49 pm -

First of all, may I say I LOVE Tallahassee! It’s not at all what I expected, which was something more akin to Jacksonville, no offence Jacksonville! But Tallahassee….it’s giant oak trees, Spanish moss, a distinctly Southern charm, I’m settling in very comfortably indeed. Driving to the event site I thought I might have been dreaming and found myself on the Stepford Wives film set – perfect houses and landscaping, shaded sidewalks everywhere (I resist the urge to write pavement, the English term!)

Phipps Park, and Colin Phipp’s own land where the cross country course is laid out, is like a wooded wonderland, and I did feel a bit like Little Red Riding Hood wandering around, especially when I got completely lost trying to take a short cut. The trees, flowers, birds, wildlife and general peace are spectacular, but the armadillos are the scourge of the

ground crew leaving holes to be filled all over the course. I walked the course this morning with

TD, Eventing Safety John (ESJ) who has travelled all the way from Australia. It’s an interesting perspective to walk with him, he notices all the holes, all the take-off lines, every little thing basically and takes notes so that adjustments can be made later. He, of course, explains all the safety aspects to me as well. Red Hills uses all four frangible devices on it’s cross country courses – the frangible pin, and reverse frangible pin, the MIM clip, and the PRO log. Here ESJ talks us through the MIM clip, used on the teepee jump.

…and now let’s take a look at where the reverse frangible pins can be useful.

How frangible pins work:

Course Designer Hugh Lochore took over from Captain Mark Phillips after a year’s hiatus, and when I spoke to him briefly a couple of weeks ago he told me he’s in the middle of a three year plan for the course. Additionally he’ll adjust the course according to how it rides each year. This jump was an option last year,

…but no-one took it, so it will not be used in 2011. Neither will the bank with the ditch in front on the two star, but the angled logs that was a double on the one star last year, is now an A and B option this year.

The Park is a green field site, so the whole event will seem like it never happened in a matter of weeks. The portable fences are all pinned down with “Spirafixs” or ground anchors,

…one on each side, which are quick and easy to install, and anchor the fence securely.

The City of Tallahassee supports the event in many ways, not least by providing outstanding emergency services, all co-ordinated by One Brave Marine. There are three helipads on the site for medivac choppers, and three paramedic crews with four wheel drive ambulances all provided by the city.

I hope to bring you lots of pictures of the course later. It’s definitely a more open, galloping course than in previous years, and with the undulations, and the three star CIC coming in at about 7and a half minute it will be a good stepping stone on the fitness track for those horses bound for Rolex, or other spring three days. The jumps are all beautifully presented, and with the rain that’s pelting down currently the going is going to be spot on,then once that lets off a bit tomorrow, it looks like the weather is going to be perfect. I look forward to catching up with the other two John’s Eventing Nation, and Commentator, and lots of other people besides, and bringing you lots of news, pictures, videos and more. Please let me know if you have any special requests and I’ll do my best to help you out.

This article is also published on SamathaLClark.com

Warm up – Please do!

By Samantha Clark on Mar 10, 2011 11:43 am -

After torrential rain, crashing thunder and lightning last night, the sun came out this morning along with a brisk breeze to dry everything out, and it’s definitely chilly here at Red Hills, which made for some fresh horses in the dressage warm up area, and quite a lot of lungeing.

Boyd rode all three of his horses: Neville Bardos obviously the most experienced, (10th at WEG last year) looks really fit, and was beautifully turned out, but his new french acquisition Otis looks like it might develop into something special. Although he has some experience in France, Boyd is being sensible and ~~has stopped drinking beer~~ is taking him prelim as it’s his first event here in the US, and their first competition together.

Amy Ruth Borun is doing the CIC 3* with Santa’s Playboy and they were showing some nice, loose work on the flat. I saw Philip Dutton ride Isabella with CMP and she looked ready to run cross country immediately, but Philip sat quietly and patiently, and just rode through canter changes, counter canters and got some nice work.

Alison Springer also came out for a training session with CMP, looking like her and Arthur had stepped straight from the pages of a dressage fashion magazine. Although Arthur was definitely “on the muscle”, he stayed focused on his work, he really is an eye-catching horse, floating above the ground, pointing his toes, there’s something very “petite” about him, and they moved in and out of the practice arena with all the other horses in it.

A completely different horse is Selena O Hanlon’s Colombo who was working alongside them. I hope she won’t mind me saying that just walking on a long rein, he’s not that impressive, but once she picked him and started working he was soft and light, and their transitions were seamless: walk to canter was as smooth as silk and Selena rides him so tactfully and quietly, you can tell they have a long, understanding relationship with each other.

For me, Matt Flyn’s Breakthrough was my “take home” horse of the morning; completely my weakness in a horse, so I had to accost Matt and bug him. He’s a big, plain bay with a gorgeous head and eye, and a little something about him when he walks, and lovely loose, scopey movement, I WANT him! He’s a seven year old doing his first 2* that Matt imported from England (naturally!) as a 5 year old, and he did tell me his breeding on a very short video interview we did but the wind was terrible so I can’t use it, and I’ll just HAVE to catch up with them again later!

Back to Red Hills now for more action. I hope to be able to upload some video later, and I must mention how hard the volunteers and crew are working after all the rain last night to make everything as perfect as possible. We had some good old-fashioned Scottish mud (courtesy of the Lochore family who are here in force!) on the entrances, and the dressage arenas were holding some water this morning, but Boyd’s new friends, the inmates, and the local guys have been sanding and working non-stop to fix it.

…..and before I go, how can I resist a picture of Darren Cha-Cha having a black stallion moment!

Let’s talk about Frangible Devices with Eventing Safety John

By Samantha Clark on Mar 9, 2011 12:41 pm -

First of all, may I say I LOVE Tallahassee! It’s not at all what I expected, which was something more akin to Jacksonville, no offence Jacksonville! But Tallahasse….it’s giant oak trees, spanish moss, a distinctly Southern charm, I’m settling in very comfortably indeed. Driving to the event site I thought I might have been dreaming and found myself on the Stepford Wives film set – perfect houses and landscaping, shaded sidewalks everywhere (I resist the urge to write pavement, the english term!)

ground crew leaving holes to be filled all over the course. I walked the course this morning with

TD, Eventing Safety John who has travelled all the way from

Australia. It’s an interesting perspective to walk with him, he notices all the holes, all the take-off lines, every little thing basically and takes notes so that adjustments can be made later. He, of course, explains all the safety aspects to me as well. Red Hills uses all four frangible devices on it’s cross country courses – the frangible pin, and reverse frangible pin, the MIM clip, and the PRO log. Here ESJ talks us through the MIM clip, used on the teepee jump.

and now let’s take a look at where the reverse frangible pins can be useful.

but no-one took it, so it will not be used in 2011. Neither will the bank with the ditch in front on the two star, but the angled logs that was a double on the one star last year, is now an A and B option this year.

The Park is a green field site, so the whole event will seem like it never happened in a matter of weeks. The portable fences are all pinned down with Spira-fix’s (spelling?) or ground anchors,

one on each side, which are quick and easy to install, and anchor the fence securely.

Let’s talk helmets with David from Antares

By Samantha Clark on Mar 6, 2011 11:16 pm -

I had a little time before the PRO Derby Cross in Wellyworld recently, at the Winter Equestrian Festival to browse the show grounds, and of course it left me gobsmacked. I enjoy it for a day or two purely as a spectator, but the sheer display of wealth, and the competitive drive outside the show ring to display one’s worth makes me uncomfortable.

It seems you can either go two ways. A) bling bling:

and there is no shortage.

Or B) classy. Antares might be a good example of the second option. Lots of beautiful leather goods – saddles, girths, boots, I’m in heaven, and helmets?

Antares added helmets to the line three years ago, and at first, their rep, David explained that they are more expensive because they “are better, and they are better because they are french!” Duh! Then we got into more detail. We did have to interrupt our conversation at one point to rescue a few saddles from the driving rain so excuse the break.

Whichever helmet you choose, we’re glad that more people are strapping one on. Please check out riders4helmets.com for more information. Every ride every time.

Wellington and the PRO Derby Cross

By Samantha Clark on Mar 6, 2011 4:20 pm -

Rebecca Howard under the lights

For me, this was definitely a weekend of mixing business with pleasure; the kids and I spent as much time as possible on the beach about a 45 minute drive east of the (Alice in) Wonderland that is Wellyworld. Really 45 minutes is NOT that far, when you imagine how far most people traveled to get to Palm Beach. So to a certain COTH staffer who spends plenty of time at the World Equestrian Festival and has yet to feel sand in her toes, I urge you to make the trip next weekend because you’ll really feel like you had a proper holiday.

Props to Hannah Sue Burnett for her beautiful rendition of the US National Anthem to start off Saturday night, it was wonderful. Hannah did remark later that she was quite nervous as it was the first time she’s sung The Star Spangled Banner in public. Her first choice karaoke would be the Dixie Chicks’ “Landslide”.

Also, I couldn’t possibly go any further without mentioning announcer John Kyle, who did a fabulous job of not only commentating, but asked some pertinent questions, gave us some interesting background facts. Talking about doing cross country jumps under the lights, John prompted fellow commentator Leslie Law to tell us about training for the Athens Olympics. It was the first time the UK horses had show-jumped under lights, so they duly arranged a special team schooling session one evening, hoping to jump about 9pm, completely forgetting that in England in the summer it doesn’t get really dark before 11pm. Of course by then everyone had fallen asleep, so the Brits went to Athens never having jumped under lights before (!), and basically filled in all the gaps and patched everything together seamlessly. Luckily for all the Red Hills competitors and spectators, John Kyle doesn’t have to fly straight home to England; he’ll be gracing us with his presence in Tallahassee before rushing back to resume duties as Major John Kyle, Deputy Governor of HM Palace and Fortress, The Tower of London. John really did do an amazing job, rousing the crowd, and the competitors, and I can’t imagine it without his skill, wit ,and experience.

David O Connor designed a very clever course; plenty for the eventers to do, some great gallops across the arena, and certainly enough to keep the polo players and show-jumpers occupied. Perhaps it was because we were lucky enough to be watching riders at the very top of their game, but on the whole, they all handled it really well. The polo players, as one, seem to have immobile lower legs, and although they may have looked slightly long in the stirrup, they never budged!

Bruce Davidson’s amazing ride:

Laura Kraut, for me, was the best show jumper on course. Katie Prudent, who took home the Jumper MVP prize, looked equally at ease over the solid fences. Georgina Bloomberg was a last minute scratch which meant that Marilyn Little-Meredith was substituted for Team Triple Crown, and as John Kyle said, she was probably a bit of a ringer as their jumper because she has successfully competed her ride Udonna up to Intermediate level and is campaigning for Fair Hill in the fall, as is well documented on Eventing Nation [From Grand Prix Show Jumping to Eventing].

Dominic State, the polo player for Team Haygain, rode one of Will Faudree’s horse, and Will came into the International Tent to watch nervously but they were both great! Will Faudree of course rode a beautiful and fast round, as well as being the first rider to clear the Hermes joker fence at 4’7″. Will was ultimately the Eventing MVP.

Surprisingly a few of the eventers had problems at the “cross country” fences, and a lot of the event horses were suspicious of the relatively small bank, maybe because it was sand, or in the middle of an arena? I’m not sure. Clark Montgomery posted a beautiful round with just one rail down to start the evening off. Watching him is like a masterclass, such a treat, I’d say he was one of the most stylish all night. There were definitely some riders that had their blood up, and looked like they were out hunting, or perhaps steeplechasing!

It was nice to see Burger, or Destination Known, back with Alison Springer, what a nice-jumping horse he is, and he looked thrilled to be back in the limelight.

There was a great atmosphere; not only did the horses have to contend with jumping show-jumps and cross country fences under the lights, they were also accompanied by loud music most of the time and rain which fell intermittently, so there was a lot going on. I had a little time to wander the show grounds before the Derby X started, and although I’ve been to Wellington a few times now, it never ceases to amaze me. It’s been a few years since I visited, and as usual I’m left gobsmacked – it’s bigger (12 rings?), even more ostentatious – Sushi, safari’s, a nightclub? It truly is a village, but one with a law unto itself.

I was sorry to miss the Nations Cup on Friday night, but enjoyed, as always, Erin Gilmore’s account of it on her Sidelines blog [The Way It Should Be]. Within that story is another very good reason to visit the Kentucky Horse Park this summer. Margie Engle, who helped the US Team to their wonderful win, rode Indigo, a horse she bought from Australia with her winnings from the Hagyard Grand Prix series [Kentucky Spring Horse Shows Announces Sponsors For The 2011 Spring Show Series] when she was leading rider in 2009, and was presented with her check at the Betsy, the first show-jumping competition to be held in the Alltech Arena. The classes are held in the new outdoor stadium in the evenings during the summer and are great fun to watch, and as you can tell, draw terrific riders.

Pablo Barrios, who cleared 7ft 3 inches last night (that’s a foot taller than EN John!) to take the Puissance is also a regular in Lexington during the summer, so they must be something right!

Personally, I was very happy to finally meet Jacob Phoenix in person, eventer Jessica Phoenix’s beautiful son. Jessie rode a great round for Canada, you could see her beaming grin from anywhere you were sitting in the arena the whole way round; I miss our regular updates as part of the 2010 radio show spotlight riders series, but I’m glad that she’s got Exploring and Exponential back in action and headed to Rolex, and I promise to keep you updated. Also aiming for Rolex is another of my 2010 radio show favorites, Missy Ransehousen on BG, or Critical Decision, and I hope to catch up with her soon and bring you some news, but in the meantime, she and Becca Hart are scheduled to be guests on Robert Dover’s radio show a week on Tuesday, March 15th. [Dover’s World]

I could go on and on all day, but sadly we must start heading for Kentucky, snow and a winter weather advisory – back to real life. We really enjoyed our mini-break, and hope you enjoyed reading about it, thanks for joining us. See you at Red Hills.

This article is also posted on SamanthaLClark.com

Wellington and the PRO Derby Cross

By Samantha Clark on Mar 6, 2011 3:31 pm -

Bruce Davidson’s amazing ride:

It was nice to see Burger, or Destination Known, back with Alison Springer, what a nice-jumping horse he is, and he looked thrilled to be back in the limelight.

Pablo Barrios, who cleared 7ft 3 inches last night (that’s a foot taller than EN John!) to take the Puissance is also a regular in Lexington during the summer, so they must be something right!

Leslie Law

By Samantha Clark on Mar 3, 2011 2:12 pm -

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

Leslie Law

By Samantha Clark on Mar 2, 2011 7:51 pm -

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Francis Whittington, the ERA, safety, and the future of Eventing

By Samantha Clark on Mar 1, 2011 12:38 pm -

(All photos by Lulu Kyriacou, thank-you)

It was suggested by an EN reader that we talk to Francis Whittington, President of the ERA, the Event Riders Association, based in England. Thank you, thank you, what a wonderful idea!

Francis took over at the helm of the ERA about a year and a half ago when Clayton Fredericks stood down. Not only is it a position that he takes extremely seriously, but he’s overwhelmingly popular and has already made giant strides.

Poor Francis – having told him it would probably take ten minutes to discuss ERA, we probably spent the better part of an hour discussing eventing, training, his horses, last year, how we’re going to get him over here to the US to do some clinics…

Francis took on the Presidency of ERA because he honestly thinks he can do a good job, and, after talking to him for some time, so do I. He’s thoughtful, articulate, and committed,

“This sport, like for the many others that compete in it, is my life. It’s what I enjoy, it’s what I love doing, it’s what I’m hugely passionate about, and I want to make sure that everybody else enjoys it as much as I do. I want to ensure that it continues to improve and get better, and provide a better service so that it will survive the test of time and people will continue to carry on eventing, and enjoy it for what it is. That’s why it’s so important that we make sure that it’s not just the professionals that are represented here, but the amateurs as well. “

“The way I view ERA is that it’s here to represent the voice, the views of the members of our sport of eventing. Primarily I believe that only by finding the right information and providing that correct information to our governing body can we be sure that the correct decisions are made by the committees. “

“When I took the Event Riders Association over, my belief was that we should be creating an organisation that can communicate on behalf of it’s members, and the area that I focused on was very much the amateur member, from the very lower levels up to about intermediate. That’s not to say that I didn’t represent the views of the professional riders, I certainly do, the difference is I believe that the majority of the professional riders already have the ear, and the telephone number of the person that makes the decision.”

“So it wasn’t as necessary to be trying to find a way to get their opinion, because I could easily get that through a phone call, and also they would be in a position to give their opinion directly to the person that matters. The area that I felt was very lacking was actually the amateur rider, the rider that makes up a vast majority of our sport, who didn’t necessarily have a voice with which to communicate. That’s what I wanted to do with ERA –set ERA up in such a way as to represent ALL riders, but my initial focus was that of the amateur rider and the lower level professional rider, to ensure that I could get them on our side. Often times you’ll find that the amateur rider has an awful lot to say but has no means to say it, and what we’re trying to do here is create a platform for them where we can collate the information and the views of the riders around the country, then take those views in a structured, positive, consistent way to the governing body, which in this case is British Eventing, and make sure that their voice is heard. Not only make sure that it’s heard, but make sure that it’s acted upon as well.”

Francis has definitely had to give the ERA something of a makeover, which has not only meant an investment of time, but also must have taken some thought, and guts.

“When I took over, the Event Riders Association was in theory an international body that represented every rider of every nation to the FEI. Since I’ve taken over there is still the Event Riders Association that communicates with the international rider body in each country, and there is also the ERA UK, which is the UK arm of the Event Riders Association, which works specifically in the UK. It was my decision to split up, and make sure I created a functioning national rider body because I felt it was just not possible for one person trying to get all the views of all the riders around the world. It’s just physically impossible.”

“What I wanted to try to do was to create a rider organisation within each individual country, and my way of doing this was to start with ERA UK, and to develop a format there that I believe could be rolled out to other nations, and allow them to use it, to take our experiences, to take our format and create it in their own country.”

“What we’re trying to do here is create a consistent and structured line of communication that will be effective. Should I one day choose to step down, then somebody else can step into my place and know that the foundations are in place and the structure is there, and that it will work regardless of who takes over.”

“When I took over the Event Riders Association there was no structure in place at all, and that’s something that we’ve worked very hard to achieve. I have put a lot of effort recently into developing the structure and building relationships between the many different parties within our sport in the UK, as well as trying to build relationships with the FEI eventing committee and the International Safety committee, trying to make sure we have more of an understanding, and work together, with the view that what we’re all trying to achieve here is what’s beneficial to the sport as a whole and not the individual. “

It’s been important to Francis that the Event Riders Association develop it’s relationship with the Event Horse Owners’ Association, the Organisers’ Association, and the governing body, British Eventing. ERA has established a bursary with the Owners Association to give back to struggling events each year. The chosen events will be selected from a short list by the members.

“The way I see it is we aren’t only here today working on the sport to make it better for ourselves, we’re here today to put our input back into the sport to ensure that we leave a legacy for the next generation to take over.”

Anyone at any level is eligible to join, for free.

“So far there’s been no membership fee because there’s been no service to the members other than that of communication and hard work behind the scenes on my part. As we start to create some services and benefits online then at some point we will have to start charging a small fee, but only once we can guarantee that we’re providing a service that is going to be useful to our members.”

“One of the topics that came out of the research that we carried out at the end of last year through a poll of our members is that they wanted training. That is the primary thing that the members want. They want support, they want help, they want training; what I’m proposing to do this year is to put on a series of training events taught by professional riders that amateur riders can come and join in on. They will have to pay for the training but we’re giving them the platform from which to go and have the training that they ordinarily wouldn’t be able to have access to.”

“I’ve split the country up into regions, and through volunteers that are now in place, we have a network of regional representatives who are going to liaise with organisers on a regional level, they’re going to set up informative evenings – a social evening where people can get together and talk about the sport and their concerns, raise any issues, and get some education from one rider to another. These regional representatives will also be putting on training sessions within their area, as well as traveling to the events with feedback forms to gather feedback so we can take the information back to the event and to British Eventing, so that we can all look at ways that we can improve our sport as a whole. I believe the sooner we realise that this is a service industry the better it will be.”

“What I’m looking to do at the moment is to reform the international side of ERA. Not in represnting the professional riders solely, but any rider that events on an international level, ie anybody that does a CIC competition from a one star up, and that’s another way on an international level that we can truly represent those voices of these people without creating a stigma that we’re purely here for the professional rider.”

Throughout our conversation Francis talks about a solid foundation, whether it be for the ERA, or in training his horses, or teaching students. He’s evidently given the future of eventing a lot of thought, and, as one of the most stylish cross country riders in the world, we should sit up and listen to what he has to say.

“The training side of it is something that is so, so important to me. My strongest phase is cross country riding, without a doubt. I believe that training the cross country side is the key to ensuring the future of our sport as we know it today. There’s such a risk and a concern that we’re trying to adapt our sport to make it safer, changing qualifications, changing the types of fences that we use, but at the end of the day what we should be doing is focusing on training, and ensuring that riders are trained in such a way as to be safe, and stable and balanced when they’re riding cross country. That’s the way that we make our sport safer. That’s what we’re trying to put a lot of our focus into now through the Event Riders Association UK, and in the training that we do here, and it’s something that I’d like to see rolled out around the world.”

“For sure, every sport has to evolve, but we have to ensure that it evolves in the right way, and that we make our sport safer through the right channels, and that is through training and education, and that is something again that on a personal level, something that I’m hugely passionate about. “

Last year, after a brush with death, Francis survived meningitis to defy his doctors and ride at Badminton just a few short weeks later. Sadly a trip at the steps up put an end to an almost flawless cross country round, a mistake that still haunts him,

“That could have been such an amazing story had we managed to pull that off, and I’ve thought about it every day since then, but it just wasn’t meant to be.”

Francis and Sir Percival went to Burghley last autumn where they finished 10th, and are aiming at Luhmuhlen this spring. He also has four more exciting prospects in his yard this year, with two aiming at three stars, and most importantly, he’s made a full recovery,

“I’m now feeling fantastic. I’m feeling very well. I’m 100% healthy again, healthier now than I’ve been for a very long time, also now carrying far more weight than I have done in a long time, I now look healthy as opposed to anorexic!”

Francis trains on the flat with British Team Three Day Dressage Coach Tracie Robinson, and show jumps with British Show Jumping Coach Rob Hoekstra, but tells me his cross country has evolved from early show jumping training, his mother’s teaching and riding out point to pointers when he was younger. I asked him about how he teaches others,

“I believe that when it comes to riding, especially cross country, that you can either make it complicated, or you can keep it very simple. I believe it focuses around three basic principles. Rhythm. Balance. Control. If you have rhythm and balance, you’re able to maintain control; if you have balance and control, it’s easier to maintain a rhythm, and if you have rhythm and control, it’s easier to stay in balance. That’s as technical as it needs to get.”

“Then through the training you create a solid foundation from which to work from, and from there you can achieve your end goals. The way that I work within a training session, is to assess a person’s weakness with regards to that foundation based around those principles of rhythm, balance and control.”

Francis stresses that the benefit comes not from the 90 minutes you’ll spend working directly with him in a clinic situation, but in the hour every day thereafter that you’ll spend doing your assigned homework, achieving a multitude of things,

“1. It means that we’ve created a solid foundation.

2. It shows them that the format and the process we’re going through is working.

3. It shows that we’ve set a goal and they’ve achieved it, and by doing that it gives them confidence.

4. It makes them an awful lot safer, and

5. It gives them the want and the desire to push on and achieve greater things again.”

He’s all about instilling confidence, and letting riders develop their own style, SAFELY. I have to admit I was excited talking to him; he’s passionate, eloquent and inspirational, and if not putting his money where his mouth is, there’s certainly a amassive input of time and work which you have to admire. I’d like to thank him for his time, wish him the very best of luck this season in all his endeavours, and thank you for reading. You can visit ERA on facebook, and Go Eventing!

This article was also published on SamanthaLClark.com

Francis Whittington, the ERA, safety, and the future of Eventing

By Samantha Clark on Mar 1, 2011 12:32 pm -

(All photos by Lulu Kyriacou, thank-you)

It was suggested by an EN reader that we talk to Francis Whittington, President of the ERA, the Event Riders Association, based in England. Thank you, thank you, what a wonderful idea!

Francis took on the Presidency of ERA because he honestly thinks he can do a good job, and, after talking to him for some time, so do I. He’s thoughtful, articulate, and committed,

Francis has definitely had to give the ERA something of a makeover, which has not only meant an investment of time, but also must have taken some thought, and guts.

Anyone at any level is eligible to join, for free.

“That could have been such an amazing story had we managed to pull that off, and I’ve thought about it every day since then, but it just wasn’t meant to be.”

“1. It means that we’ve created a solid foundation.

2. It shows them that the format and the process we’re going through is working.

3. It shows that we’ve set a goal and they’ve achieved it, and by doing that it gives them confidence.

4. It makes them an awful lot safer, and

5. It gives them the want and the desire to push on and achieve greater things again.”

Indoor Polo at the Kentucky Horse Park

By Samantha Clark on Feb 27, 2011 6:38 pm -

I’m glad to say that the Horse Park is no longer covered in snow, but it is very wet, and looking rather how I feel – tired, anaemic, fed up with fighting the elements during a long, hard winter, coming on the back of the WEG.

Spring cannot come soon enough.

Of course, nothing goes

down at the Park with

out Mick Costello

knowing about it, & it wasn’t long before he found us – dog, bikes, kids and all!

Sadly we didn’t have time to check out the Home Improvement Show, because Mick told us there was a chance to win a ball if you could shoot a basket, (Harry was positive he could have done it!), and also free samples of barbecue!

We did bike around a bit, and saw the Head of the Lake, up close and personal, (it’s deep right now!)

Also, the second fence on the cross country at WEG has moved up the hill a bit.

Derek di Grazia has just completed a visit, and I hope to catch up with him next time he’s here to talk to him about his plans for his first Rolex.

By complete chance, we happened upon Indoor Polo, so stayed to watch for a while.

The Covered Arena (old Indoor) is used for Snowbird Dressage, Mounted Games, Indoor Polo and more during the winter. Knowing nothing about it, we found Shelby who explained the basics, thanks Shelby.

There were more grooms than riders, despite the fact that polo ponies seem to be amazingly adept at sharing handlers and will tie anywhere patiently, and the spectators seemed to be mainly friends and family.

There was a nice energy though, and if the kids hadn’t been so impatient to get on their bikes, I would have loved to have stayed longer to watch. We did have a quick chat with Timothy though, whose 20 year old younger brother, Gates was playing while we talked so he was somewhat distracted. His father played, and his 12 year old sister currently rides hunter/jumpers in Florida but he’s hoping to get her hooked on polo soon too.

It may not be Wellington, and polo at sunset, (Erin @sidelines got that gig, jammy beggar!) but according to the Lexington Convention and Visitor’s Bureau we are lucky to see this here, and will enjoy our polo in the sun too soon enough,

“Bluegrass Note: The Lexington Polo Club plays its matches at the Kentucky Horse Park on most Sunday afternoons in summer — a great excuse to take a picnic or to tailgate. In the winter, matches are played at the indoor arena, making Lexington one of the few places in the United States where you can watch indoor polo.”

You can’t forget you’re in UK country!

Perhaps the best news of all though was the sight of these little flowers poking their heads up at the entrance to the Park.

Even though we’re dealing with thunderstorms tonight, and you never know what you’re going to get next here in Kentucky, I venture to say we may be over the worst, and I’m beginning to get quietly excited about Spring – Rolex, High Hopes, May Daze, hacking at Masterson, short sleeves, Keeneland and so much more.

Also, I nearly forgot. I was too embarrassed to take pictures, but there was a group of about four tourists out at the Park today taking their picture on the Bruce Davidson Statue – literally ON the statue. Taking it in turns to get on Eagle Lion behind Bruce and then taking each others photos. For some reason it made me a bit uncomfortable, but I’m not sure why. What do you think?

Kentucky – Horse Capital, esp at this time of the year.

By Samantha Clark on Feb 26, 2011 6:42 pm -

Leo and I drove down Old Frankfort Pike this afternoon, flanked by some of the most historical, impressive, and ostentatious horse farms in Fayette County.

Our destination: a farm where my friend works in Midway – more stunning scenery and jaw-dropping farms, and although it was a dull, blustery and downright chilly day, who cares?!

We saw lots of inquisitive, hairy yearlings:-

There are people who can look at a bunch of horses like this, and immediately pick out which ones will be fast, which ones won’t, which ones might have problems, which ones will go long or short etc. It’s about angles, confirmation, experience, and a certain kind of horsemanship. I just see sweet faces, furry bodies, gangly legs, something redeemable in all of them, I’d be a terrible pinhooker or bloodstock agent!

We also some very pregnant mares,

and of course a couple of adorable foals.

Thanks again for stopping by. Tomorrow, forecast thunderstorms permitting, we hope to go to the Horse Park and see what’s happening there.

Phillip Dutton & Bobby Costello

By Samantha Clark on Feb 25, 2011 12:23 pm -

As part of Eventing Nation’s endeavor to speak to all the applicants for the role of US Chef/Technical Advisor that we know of, I managed to figure out conference calling this week and speak to Phillip Dutton and Bobby Costello. They may not be a married eventing power couple, as some people have referred to the O’Connors, Hoys, and Laws, (who are not applying jointly), but they are certainly at the top of their game and have a relationship akin to a long and happy marriage – a friendship that goes way back, striving for the same goals, and often finishing each others sentences.

I started by asking how the notion of applying as a couple was born.

Philip: I suppose it was because I teach a lot of people all the time–that’s a large part of what I do now–and people had mentioned to me that they thought I’d be a good candidate, or a good coach for the country. I’d obviously been considering it for some time because we knew Mark’s tenure was up after London, but the magnitude of the job and what it entailed had always put me off. Bobby and I were talking in general terms about what would make a good coach, how one would go about it, and one thing led to another and we started talking about putting in a joint bid. That’s when I started getting really serious about it because it’s fortunate that both of us get along great – we have the same goals and the same vision. The job that we’re proposing that we can do is going to encompass the whole sport, not just coaching a team as such, but we’re going to be trying to bring along a big pool of four star riders ultimately, and having a pipeline of riders, horses, and owners, and encompassing the whole spectrum which will ultimately make this country a great eventing nation.

Bobby: I went up to Phillip’s farm in Pennsylvania for a couple of days before Christmas to continue our conversation, and so that we could both bring our ideas to the table. It became clear very quickly that what we both had in mind was very similar. We both want to fundamentally change the ways in which this country is bringing along and selecting teams. Being successful at the very top level is going to require a very dynamic, new approach to things, and anyone who sees our proposal would agree that it’s going to take at least two people, and a strong back-up team as well to realise our goals.

Q: And I’m presuming that Phillip, as TA will do most of the coaching, while Bobby in the chef’s role, you’ll assume more of the admin duties?

Bobby: I will be very hands-on, not just at the competitions. The Chef job means doing a lot of the day to day organisation of the team, orchestrating where we’re going to train and logistics. Then obviously there’s what we were talking about earlier, the delving a little bit deeper down into the pool of riders and trying to bring along riders sooner, and that will require a lot of organisation, a lot of traveling around the country, parts of the country that we don’t even think about right now, trying to locate talent, bring it along, and work with these riders all the way through to the very top tier. Obviously our involvement will grow and grow as the riders come along, so we won’t be able to spend all our time with the youngest riders but we’ll be a presence in the Young Rider ranks and the Developing Rider ranks, and as the pipeline keeps coming through there’ll be more and more involvement with the riders all the way up to World Class level.

Phillip: Certainly, what Bobby brings to the table as a really well-organised person, and as any of us know that have ever been around any successful team, is that no team works without a really well-oiled, well-managed operation, and that’s we plan to do as well at the highest level.

Q: Philip, do you mind just clearing up for us, will you retire from team competition only, or international competition entirely?

Phillip: I will retire from international competition. I think it will be good for my teaching to keep riding, doing some competing, and certainly getting lessons. For example, I could even imagine spending some time in Germany doing some dressage training. I know now for myself that if I go to Wellington for instance and do a couple of weeks training I come back a much more motivated, more knowledgeable teacher. I think we’re all of us always, whether we’re a coach or rider, trying to up our game and trying to become better at it. I certainly don’t feel like I know everything now, I think I can find ways to be a better rider, and find ways for riders to get better and if I don’t how to, then I’ll find someone who can, as it’s my job to get better every year as a coach as well.

Q: Will the team train with you exclusively, or continue relationships with established coaches?

Phillip: There’ll be a bit of both. We’ll be encouraging the higher level riders to work with the designated coaches that we each agree on. There’ll be a conversation with each rider in an individual situation. Having said that, we will ultimately have a team dressage coach, and a team show-jumping coach as well. At major championships it’s just not feasible for everyone to bring their coach in. The way that we have it structured is that from time to time we would encourage, and hopefully help support people to go to outside coaches and really up their game and improve, but the Team Coach – myself, and the Dressage and Show-Jumping Team Coach need to know these horses and riders well, in fact know everything about them so that when it comes down to a Championship we can fit it in, and work together closely as well.

Q: I don’t remember if it was you, Phillip, who was quoted as saying it was almost harder being the home team at WEG last year, because the teams that travelled here perhaps had more team spirit by dint of their journey here, and had some of that underdog mentality going for them, whereas it seems there is always vague criticism of the US team, either in the media, or on the forums…

Phillip: I didn’t say that it was a disadvantage to be here in the US. It was actually one of the highlights of my career, (of course it would have been a real highlight if it had gone a bit better!), but riding in front of a home crowd – nothing can beat that. I’ve been fortunate to have represented two countries now, and I’ve been in some good teams, and also some teams that didn’t have good morale so I know what it takes, and Bobby’s been in the same situation representing the US in a couple of major Championships. That part of it is not lost on us. We are going to have a very close, working relationship with every rider. We’re not just going to be here for a couple of months of the year. There’s going to be no surprises and I think there’ll be a good feeling amongst everybody, and that will create good morale.

Q: Do you hope to be able to travel to Europe/England and compete over there with the team?

Phillip: Yes. What we are proposing is to actually expand on the Team competition as we know it now, creating more Team competitions here in the US, so that we can practice being a team, working with me as a Coach, and with the other Coaches, we practice riding as a team, we practice dealing with the pressure, working with the Team Veterinarian etc and then once we’ve got that down pat, and the riders and the horses come through that well, then the next step would be to take a team overseas and then practice there again. By the time we get to the Championship level, as in a World Championship, or an Olympics, it will be just like going to work, there’ll be no surprises for anybody, so yes, that’s a big part of our proposal. We do want to to travel overseas but the trick to that is we want to get it all worked out in this country first.

Bobby: I think in the US we don’t get as much practice as the Europeans do at Team competition; on their off years from the Olympics or World Games they have the European Championships, so every single year they’re able to practice coming together as a team and even winning as a team, we just don’t get as much practice. Some years there may not even be a Pan Am Eventing Championship depending on the year, and the level of competition is obviously so high over there. I think what Phillip is talking about is so correct – we’ve actually got to work together as a team, and practice winning as a team, and if we can do that in this country as well as overseas, it’s only going to make us stronger at the Championships.

Phillip: Purely from a financial point of view too, it’s good to get things worked out in this country , and it’s a lot more efficient to do it here, and then once we’re secure with each combination, then the next step is to have funded trips to Europe as well.

Q: If you get the job, how long do you imagine it will be for? Do you have a master plan for a certain amount of years, or is it completely open-ended?

Phillip: We see our plan of building the large pool of championship four-star riders taking two-four year cycles, but we also feel very good about the riders we have in the system right now being able to go out and win medals for the U.S. There is a very exciting and talented group of riders arriving on the scene, which will certainly be a good start.

Q: Phillip, if you don’t get the job, will you retire regardless?

Phillip: I wasn’t planning on not getting the job!

Q: And your wife and children are resigned to you retiring, and immediately taking up a job that involves almost as much work, travel and competition?!

Phillip: Yes, they played quite a big part in this decision. I’ve been riding and competing for a long time now. This will be a great new challenge, a new opportunity and a great chance to help direct the sport.

Q: You have coached, or do coach now so many of the US listed riders, past and present.

Phillip: I’ve had an influence on a lot of the riders. What’s rewarding to me is that they all spread their wings and move on, and have their own businesses. I encourage them to get help from other people, but when it gets close to the big event I usually get a phone call asking for help! That part of it to me is very satisfying, it’s not all about giving someone a lesson every week, it’s more about helping them with their careers and directing them, and I’ve done that with a lot of people. I certainly don’t want to control anyone’s life to the extent that they have to do everything I say, I’m here to guide and help them along the way, and if I can coach them and help them, that’s great, but it doesn’t have to be every day.

Q: If you do get the job, would you spend the next year and a half shadowing Mark Phillips?

Bobby: I’m quite sure that Phillip will be competing right up until the last moment, most likely. We’re both very familiar with the American system, I’ve been involved in it in one way or another for the last 15 or 20 years. However, I would be thrilled to shadow Mark if we do get the position. I’d be happy and honoured to shadow him over the next year and a half or so leading up to London, and do whatever I can behind the scenes to help the cause, and I would obviously be a little bit more available to do that than Phillip, but he would hopefully see it as well as an actual team rider.

Q: Once the Search Committee has had a chance to view the proposals of all the applicants, they then forward them to the Active Athletes, or Riders, and you’re encouraging eventers to speak to their representatives, and be active in the process?

Bobby: To the best of my knowledge, the Search Committee is still going through the proposals, and is in the interview process now. Once they get through interviewing all the applicants I believe that they will make a short list, and that the riders soon thereafter will take over, and I’m sure that they will be conducting some interviews of their own and they will be making a recommendation to the High Performance Committee. I think the active riders will have the biggest voice in this decision which is a very good thing.

(The Active Athletes are Amy Tryon, Stephen Bradley, Lauren O’Brien, Bonnie Mosser, Becky Holder, Kim Severson and Jan Byny. Phillip and Karen O’Connor have had to step aside for obvious reasons)

Phillip: The decision about your coach is a huge part of your career, and I’m sure riders of the future, and riders who have experience as well will think about this long and hard, and try and talk to their rider representatives about their thoughts.

Bobby: It would be great for any rider who’s interested in being involved one day in the High Performance Program, whether it’s this year, or down the road, to make their voice heard to these representatives because they will have a very big decision to make coming up here pretty soon.

We’re so committed and passionate about this possibility of being the Technical Advisor and Chef, and we’re just very hopeful that we’re going to be able to put our proposal into action and help the country realise some fantastic results over the next few years.

Many thanks to Phillip and Bobby for their time, and for being so open with me, and thank you for reading.

This article was also published on SamanthaLCLark.com

Phillip Dutton & Bobby Costello

By Samantha Clark on Feb 25, 2011 12:18 pm -

I started by asking how the notion of applying as a couple was born.

Q: And I’m presuming that Phillip, as TA will do most of the coaching, while Bobby in the chef’s role, you’ll assume more of the admin duties?

Q: Philip, do you mind just clearing up for us, will you retire from team competition only, or international competition entirely?

Q: Will the team train with you exclusively, or continue relationships with established coaches?

Q: Do you hope to be able to travel to Europe/England and compete over there with the team?

Q: If you get the job, how long do you imagine it will be for? Do you have a master plan for a certain amount of years, or is it completely open-ended?

Q: Phillip, if you don’t get the job, will you retire regardless?

Phillip: I wasn’t planning on not getting the job!

Q: And your wife and children are resigned to you retiring, and immediately taking up a job that involves almost as much work, travel and competition?!

Q: You have coached, or do coach now so many of the US listed riders, past and present.

Q: If you do get the job, would you spend the next year and a half shadowing Mark Phillips?

(The Active Athletes are Amy Tryon, Stephen Bradley, Lauren O’Brien, Bonnie Mosser, Becky Holder, Kim Severson and Jan Byny. Phillip and Karen O’Connor have had to step aside for obvious reasons)

Many thanks to Phillip and Bobby for their time, and for being so open with me, and thank you for reading.

Finding Zenyatta

By Samantha Clark on Feb 23, 2011 1:20 pm -

David Ingordo is definitely what you would call a “mover and a shaker” in the bloodstock business. Still in his early 30’s, he moved into a large office at Lane’s End last year, which, apart from a few pictures of Zenyatta, (naturally!) remains largely undecorated due to lack of time. He talks fast, thinks fast, moves fast. David takes meetings in the car on the way to the airport. He’ll fly to the West coast to look at potential stallions at a moment’s notice. He juggles vets, managers and owners in person, and on his blackberry, calmly and efficiently, but quickly. I don’t think he sees obstacles, but challenges, and thrives on the heady pace, and what others might call stress.

“Other guys like shooting pool, or going on vacation or playing golf, but I don’t find enjoyment in any of that. I like to do this. There are days when everything’s going on at one time, and I’m a scheduler, (holds up notebook with no blank spaces), but at the same time, you’ve got to be willing to change direction really quickly. I like it, I wouldn’t change it. “

Horse of a Lifetime

It was David who spotted Zenyatta as a yearling at Keeneland, and bought her for such a reasonable price for the Moss’, that for one terrible moment he thought he might have made an awful mistake!

“We budgeted way more than she cost, but definitely in the Moss’ comfort level. Then when we got her for $60,000, I’m superstitious -I bid 90% of the time from the same spot at Keeneland, and when I saw the two guys walking towards me with the ticket and we got her for $60,000, I thought, ‘uh-oh’ and I ran to the chute where they horses come out, and she has that big, distinctive white face, and I saw that, breathed a sigh of relief, said,’ phew,ok’, and signed the ticket.

The Early Days

The passion for racing was born within him in 1989, when his father, a jockey’s agent, won the Kentucky Derby with his jockey Pat Valenzuela on Sunday Silence, and later took him to watch the Belmont. His mother, Dottie Ingordo-Shirreffs, was Bobby Frankel’s business manager, and in his death is executor of his will, so at 14 years old he went to work: first as a hot-walker, then groom, then Barn Foreman, then at age 18 he had a barn of 10 horses for Frankel at Delmar, enjoying a great meet.

At that point, he would have gladly foregone College but at his mother’s insistence, he enrolled at UK, and before classes worked at Juddmonte in the mornings, where he says with a wry grin, he filled in the real gaps in his education,

“I enjoyed my time there, but what I needed to learn I learned in the mornings on the farm. I’d never worked on a farm, I never saw a foal. I thought horses were born coming out of the back of airplanes! Every horse we had, was 2, 3, 4 years old and came from Europe, from Juddmonte… so that was the first time I ever saw a foal, and I thought, wow, where do you put the saddle on this, when do we train them?!”

Joking aside though, David stresses that having worked with horses at every stage of their development has stood him in good stead ever since,

“It was good for me because a lot of people I know, education happens at the racetrack, a lot of people I know it happens at the farm, but it’s kind of rare that you can get it from birth to when they’re weaned to when they’re yearlings, to 2 year olds, to when they’re broken and trained and ship off to the track, and then bring them back the other way and learn to let them down when they come back to the farm, and getting them in foal, and that whole process.

Most of my success I equate to having worked on the racetrack, having been around the horses, having seen that they come in all shapes and sizes, and seen confirmation faults that really tend to be problems, or just preferences. Toeing out – is that a bad a problem as people at the sales make it out to be? No. Is back at the knee as bad as everyone says it is? Yes, probably. We can walk past the horses that may be the prettiest ones, and go and find the ones with all the tools that are going to enable them to become athletes. With all the good horses we’eve had now we can work our way back, we know what the runners look like, now we have to find them as yearlings, or breed ones like that.

Love at First Sight?

Q: And what about when you first saw Zenyatta?

David: It’s one of those things, I can think of maybe five or six horses that when they walk out, we look at them and think we have to have that horse. When she came out, we looked at her and thought she was just perfect for our program: she was big, scopey, good bone, good feet, had all the right angles. She just had this skin disease which wasn’t the consignor’s fault and I think between that and her size, people just looked at her and thought she was going to take a little time, a lot of people walked by her.

I think at the end of the day it was meant to be for the Moss’ and everyone involved.

The Next Big Thing..?

Q: Do you find now, that Zenyatta influences you when you’re looking for other horses, or do you intentionally try and put her out of your mind?

David: I try not to even reference Zenyatta, if I’m interviewing for jobs or anything like that because on the charts of success, she’ll probably never be achieved again realistically, she was just that good. However, last year I bought six Grade I winners including Zenyatta, and they come in all shapes and sizes. Switch is not as big and robust a filly, but she’s a good size, a little more compact. Mona de Momma is 15.3hh, she won a Grade I. Another one called Crisp who’s 17hh, and everybody compared her to Zenyatta physically, she wasn’t really but people would say that. Majestic Perfection, he was a typical sprinter build, he won the Vanderbilt.

I try to find each horse that I like. I think we do have a type which is that rangy, scopier horse. I haven’t seen another one like her. Her sister is the closest thing I’ve seen that looks like her and she’s by Bernadini, and she’s going out to John Sheriffs in the spring, but she’s the closest thing I’ve seen physically to what Zenyatta looks like, which puts a lot of pressure on her! Otherwise I haven’t really seen anything that kind of looks like her, they can be big horses but they can be narrow in the middle, or their leg doesn’t match their body, or their shoulder doesn’t match, something about them. She was a big filly, but everything went together well, she was always very well-balanced. Like I say, she was just a once in a lifetime thing.

Recognising Greatness

Q: Did she always that amazing presence, that class about her?

David: Well, she did. A lot of good horses have something about them, it’s very rare that they’ll come out and just be common, but she came out and she had class, when she walked out there was a presence about her. Nothing like she has, that all developed, really when she left the training center and went to John Sherriffs.

I spoke to the girls who run the Training Center on a daily basis, and they called me up and said, “You’ve either got one really fast horse, or a bunch of really slow ones”. I was sitting here in my office, and my phone rings, and Jeanne Mayberry and her daughter April run the Training Center, and Jeanne called up, they had let them all do a little something, a two minute lick for the first time, Jeanne who’s trained the Kentucky Oaks winner with her husband, and won a lot of Grade Ones as a trainer, her daughter April was Baffert’s assistant, was around Chiluki, and Real Quiet, and Silver Charm, so they know a good horse. Jeanne called up and said,”you’d better get down here”. By the tone of her voice I was worried that there might be strangles on the farm, or one of the barns had burnt down, and when she said it was about the black Street Cry filly, I asked if she had EPM, or what? She just told me I had to get down there to see her, that this filly was taking one stride to everyone else’s three.

Anyway, I went down there and I watched her go, and it was pretty obvious that she was something special. Just the way she did things from pretty early on in her life. We’ve had a lot of them down there that we’ve like a lot early on in their life, and most of them go on to be pretty decent, some of them will break your hearts, so I try not to get too excited, or the owner too excited and set the trainer up for failure, but I did call my mother, and tell her they’d better think of a good name for the Street Cry filly, that’s always my thing, because we might be reading about her in the paper.

When she left the farm, we actually thought she could be 2 year old Champion, because at the time she was so much ahead of everyone else. We thought she would win everything, crush them, win the Breeders Cup probably, Juvenile Fillies. She just kept having little setbacks, and she kept growing and growing, and having little setbacks, and growing, little baby things. We ended up being right about her winning the Breeders Cup, it was just as an older mare, and in the Classic.

Q: Did you ever imagine that one horse would inspire so many people, and capture the imagination in the way she has?

David: It’s amazing, and at times it’s even lost on me. I’ve been around her so long, which is not to say that I’m unaffected, because there’s no-one who’s around her who’s unaffected, she’s just amazing that way, but yes, I’m shocked. It’s great, and it proves to me and to the entire racing industry that our business isn’t dead at all, it’s just poorly marketed in some ways. We could do some things that might help, I mean Zenyatta is so unique, but if she’s the ultimate there’s still a lot of things that could be done, with let’s say Rachel Alexandra and Uncle Mo and Twirling Candy, and all those different horses out there.

Living with Zenyatta

Q: Do you see her every day?

David: Oh yes, I at least drive by and check on her and see her. Sometimes I’m on the ‘phone in the morning, and I’ll watch her get turned out, and I’ll sit and talk on the phone to someone while she runs around before I head back. She’s part of the family. What she’s done for the business as a whole, for me, for my family, for the Moss’ – it’s like going to see your sister or something!

Q: She’s adjusted so well to a completely different life.

David: Oh, the best, and happy. Happy as a clam, she couldn’t be doing any better. Her coat’s growing out, she’s putting on weight. She goes out, and if there’s a mudhole out there she finds it and rolls in it. We have to keep horses up in the stalls at the racetrack because of the facilities we have and the way it’s set up, but here she can go out in the field and be a horse. She’s got a lot of her good tendencies, personality-wise, they’re still a part of her, but there’s a part of her that’s a horse again too. I see a totally relaxed animal out there that loves it, she’s in her element, she has friends that she’s hanging out with. She’s assimilated beautifully. I’ve seen a lot of these top race mares coming off the track between here and Juddmonte and wherever, and I’ve never seen one take to it that easily and really look happy to be there.

Q: What kind of mother do you think she’ll be?

David: Well, she’s a nurturing animal. Little kids would come up to her at the track and what’s the worst thing, that as a hot racehorse that’s cranked and ready to run, and on edge? To be around a little kid that’s trying to spook it or pet it or something. There was a little girl that walked up and was playing around her legs, and Zenyatta knew it, and was good and didn’t do anything. Another time, a little girl came up behind her and swiped her butt really fast, and normally that would get you kicked from here to Fayette County, and Zenyatta just looked at her, she’s an extraordinary horse.

David will now divide his time between the farm where breeding is about to start, the West Coast, racing and sales down in Florida, and racing on the tv in his office. When he first started, his goal was to buy ten Grade One winners, which he’s done already, (Zenyatta won thirteen on her own), and the tally for this year already at the time of press was two that were bought at auction, broken & trained by his team. Hardworking and driven, he acknowledges he makes sacrifices but, “I woudn’t trade it for anything. I have too good a gig, too good a clientele, too much opportunity and I’m too fortunate. Like I said, I wouldn’t change a thing for the world, it’s great. I like it. ” Thank you to David Ingordo for his time, to Lane’s End Farm, and of course to Zenyatta, and thank you for reading.

This article was also published on SamanthaLClark.com

Finding Zenyatta

By Samantha Clark on Feb 23, 2011 1:18 pm -

Horse of a Lifetime

It was David who spotted Zenyatta as a yearling at Keeneland, and bought her for such a reasonable price for the Moss’, that for one terrible moment he thought he might have made an awful mistake!

The Early Days

Joking aside though, David stresses that having worked with horses at every stage of their development has stood him in good stead ever since,

Love at First Sight?

Q: And what about when you first saw Zenyatta?

I think at the end of the day it was meant to be for the Moss’ and everyone involved.

The Next Big Thing..?

Q: Do you find now, that Zenyatta influences you when you’re looking for other horses, or do you intentionally try and put her out of your mind?

Recognising Greatness

Q: Did she always that amazing presence, that class about her?

Q: Did you ever imagine that one horse would inspire so many people, and capture the imagination in the way she has?

Living with Zenyatta

Q: Do you see her every day?

Q: She’s adjusted so well to a completely different life.

Q: What kind of mother do you think she’ll be?

Kim Severson Looks at the Year Ahead

By Samantha Clark on Feb 22, 2011 1:21 pm -

Kim Severson, who is one of just four riders on the US High Performance A List this year, kindly spared me some time to chat recently from her winter base in Aiken. With four horses in her barn, and what she calls a “medium amount” of teaching, we discussed her horsepower, her training methods, and plans for the Spring Season.

Of course, Tipperary Liadhnan is probably her best known horse, but she has two other youngsters waiting in the wings,

“I have a horse called Wiley Post, an American TB, that I’ve had for about four years, and hopefully he will do a two star well this year. I’ll be aiming him at the Pan-American Games. I also have another horse called Fantasy Impromptu, owned by my mom, who is a Hanoverian, and he too ideally would be aiming for the Pan American Games. It’s a bit of a stretch for both of them, but I’ve been pretty careful and pretty slow with them, so that might be something in our future.”

This is the first year that riders have been named to the High Performance or Developing Riders Lists without a specific horse, so I asked Kim if she could choose which horse she takes to the training sessions,

“Basically, I think Mark (Philips) wants to see the ones that are going to be potential team horses so that he can evaluate them, or as he put it, if we need a second opinion on a particular horse.”

“I’ve actually been in Wellington for three weeks working on my show-jumping with Katie (Prudent) so she’s seen them, and was quite happy, so that’s a good starting point.”

Kim started working with Katie, and Katie’s husband Henri Prudent after the Bromont CCI last summer,

“The team gave us some grant money to work on our show-jumping, to see if it would help for Paddy (Tipperary Liadhnan). Clearly it helped plenty, so this year when the A-Listers got some grant money my plan was always to go back and work with Katie and let her see the two younger horses. And of course Paddy worked with her as well.”

From what little I saw at a few of the big events last year, Katie seems to be much more than just a trainer, but also mentor, and almost mother figure to Kim,

“She is the best! I adore her and Henri both, they are amazing. They’re very good at the whole picture, not just jumping clean rounds, but the whole picture: all the flatwork, all the horse care, all the information, everything. That’s been huge, and opened up my eyes in new ways. I hadn’t experienced it before, and it’s been tremendously helpful.”

After a pretty disastrous show-jumping round at Rolex last year plummeted them out of the top 20, and three rails down at Bromont a couple of months later, Kim agrees that the transformation of Paddy’s jumping since working with Katie has been fairly miraculous,

“It was amazing. I learned that I’m very ignorant about show-jumping! There’s just so much that I don’t understand. I’ve always just jumped the jumps without much thought, I didn’t really understand the intricacies of how the horse jumped, and what you could do to help them. A simple example is counting strides – I had never ever counted strides – I was sort of from the school that anything beyond three was beyond me – but it’s really helped me. Let’s say your first two jumps are seven strides apart, I know that now if I jump in and I’m not on the seven strides, whether it be six or eight or whatever, I know right then and there that I’m not in the canter that I need to have to be able to ride the course, and that’s just been a very simple thing for me to understand and know right away if I’m in the appropriate canter.”

Kim told me also that, counter to what I expected, her strength on the flat was almost her undoing,

“While I think it does help me in some ways–it helps me to have very different canters–but then again I don’t know which canter to use! I mean it’s great to have all these choices, but if you don’t know which one to pick…! If you don’t know how to decide what you need, then it’s not going to be very helpful.”

Similarly, Kim explained that show-jumpers and eventers of course, come from completely different places,

“It’s so funny when you have a lesson with Katie, and she says,’ right, go and gallop the oxer.’ Boy, we eventers go GALLOP the oxer, and she’ll say she didn’t mean quite that fast, and I’ll tell her that she has to pick a different word to use then, and generally we’ll be having lessons with other show-jumpers, and let me tell you, their idea of galloping, and ours, are very, very different!”

Just in case you were wondering, Paddy is in fine form,

“He’s good, he came sound by the beginning of November, and he spent most of November in an aqua-tred. I was at the Asian Games in China with Nina, so I was away and Paddy did a month of aqua-tred. Then he came back in December and did all his flatwork and I started to jump him at the very end of December. He went to Florida the second week of January, and I did a week of lessons with Katie, and then we did two weeks of showing. He’s had a few gallops by this point and he seems to be fine. ”

However, there may always be a reminder of the infection that prevented them from representing the USA at the WEG last autumn,

“The leg doesn’t look normal, it probably will never look normal. It’s just fluid between the skin and the tendon sheath, that’s all it is, it’s just scar tissue. So although it looks a little different, he’s 100 % sound on it.”

I asked Kim about her plans for the upcoming spring season,

“I had thought about Badminton, but I’m not so sure I’m going to do that for a couple of reasons. One is that I’d like to go back to Rolex and show-jump a good round, and the other is that I want to be able to pick and choose what he does. For example if he, for whatever reason, didn’t feel completely right, I don’t want to be locked into being over in England and that sort of thing. I just think the safer option, so that I don’t feel like I HAVE to do something, is to do Kentucky. Then of course, if I feel at any point that it’s not worth running him, I won’t. “

The Horse Park holds mixed memories for Kim,

“Well, it’s funny – at Kentucky I tend to do either really well, or poorly.” She laughs again, “it goes both ways, but I do feel like rather than spending the money to go to Badminton, and feeling that pressure, I would just rather stay here, and then if Kentucky goes well, then maybe he’ll do Burghley in the Fall. I believe Mark would much rather they do a four-star in the Fall, so I need to talk to him about it, but we’ll see..”

I asked Kim how she started her relationship with Paddy,

“Paddy kind of found me. He was brought over as a two year old from Ireland by a lady called Tracy Economidis, to the best of my knowledge for her to ride, but she had some sort of accident and couldn’t ride. So Paddy hung out, and people here and there rode him but he didn’t do a whole lot. I don’t know if he’d ever even been to a horse show when I got him. He was 8 years old then, and really not very far along. He was for sale and Linda’s niece, Ann Wachtmeister, was looking to buy him, so they wanted my opinion. When I first saw him I thought they’d be lucky if he did a two star someday – he was as big as a house, it took me an hour to get him in the water, his jumping style was not the best and so on and so forth, so I wasn’t that impressed. Three years later he went to Kentucky! He’s been pretty amazing.”

I remarked that there must have been something about him that changed her mind,

“Well, not really, he just kept on kind of doing his thing! He kept jumping the jumps, and he went around his first advanced at Poplar, which is pretty big, and he just jumped everything. He literally just kept going and doing. Then all of a sudden, there we were at Kentucky!”

Kim and I agree that physically, Paddy could hardly be more of a contrast to her famous ride, Winsome Adante,

“They’re very, very different creatures, but they’re the same in the heart, and obviously, as I’ve said before, what makes an event horse is their heart and their mind. They’re the same in that respect, but definitely physically they could not be more different.”

“The two younger horses are very different as well; Fancy Impromptu is Hanoverian, but a very thoroughbred-y Hanoverian, and he’s incredibly fancy. But he gets worried, so the dressage sometimes can be tense. Although he’s this big, fancy, lovely mover – if you don’t have the relaxation, then you don’t have much. He’s getting to be quite a good jumper, his technique is getting better and better and he’s the sort of a horse I feel like if I put it in front of him, he’ll jump it.”

“The Wiley Post horse, which is the American TB, is quite sassy, he’s becoming a very good mover, he’s very trainable, and he’s a good jumper. The big question with him is if he’s going to believe in himself enough to do the upper levels. It’s funny for an athletic and quality a horse that he is, he gets worried that he can’t do it. I have every faith in that horse, I believe he’s a very, very good horse, it’s just a matter of him believing that he’s that good of a horse. For him, it will be a wait and see year to what’s going to happen.”

“They’re pretty different horses!”

Kim is renowned for her skill at getting the best out of all sorts of types of horses, and having heard the affection and detail with which she described each of their characters and quirks, I asked her if this is what she really enjoys, and what motivates her,

“You do it because you love it. You love the horses. They’re all interesting in their own way. I do it because I love the horses”

Kim, of course, is easily one of the leading US event riders on the flat, and has taken lessons from Gerd Zuther for the last six or seven years,

“He’s rather like Katie in the fact that you never get the same lesson twice. You get whatever lesson is appropriate for the horse and where it’s at and at what level. He’s one of those people who can look at a horse and know what particular exercise is going to work for it, and what’s going to work best for the horse, he’s pretty unique that way.”

Kim has four horses in work currently, and tweaks their schedules according to how they feel daily,

“I definitely believe that you should have a general plan, ie the day after a competition off, and the first day back in their work I prefer that they go trotting, and say the next day would be dressage. Maybe there are certain things I’ll work on with each horse, or sometimes I’ll get on and feel like I can’t even get to that point today and so I’ll work on transitions instead. I strongly believe that if things aren’t working on a particular day, if it’s a bad day for you, or a bad day for the horse, and we all have those, I’m happy to just leave it, absolutely leave it, and go and do something else. If it’s just not going to happen, then I’d much prefer to just leave it alone.”

I asked Kim who she looked up to most within the horse world,

“Currently, that would be Katie and Henri (Prudent) . Of course you have your influences over the years, like Lucinda Green – watching her jump around the ’84 Olympics and stuff like that, those are the type of people you look up to and always will. I guess I believe that you can learn something from everyone.”

Finally, we talked about having a life away from the barn, being able to relax physically and mentally,

“I’m pretty good at switching off”, she laughs, “It’s not really an issue for me. I like to watch television, and movies, or read. It depends on where you are and what you’re doing.”

The last movie Kim saw was Secretariat at the end of January, and she’s longing to see Black Swan, but the cinema in Virginia is a 40 minute drive so she doesn’t go as often as she’d like. However, she has netflixed 30 Rock, and is well into Season 3 and loving it!

Of course, I want to thank Kim for her time, it was a real treat to chat with her. I was disarmed by how extremely modest she is, and her quiet sense of humour, and I can’t wait to see her at future events. Thank you for reading too, and Go Eventing!

This article was also published on SamanthaLClark.com

Kim Severson Looks at the Year Ahead

By Samantha Clark on Feb 22, 2011 1:14 pm -

Of course, Tipperary Liadhnan is probably her best known horse, but she has two other youngsters waiting in the wings,

“I’ve actually been in Wellington for three weeks working on my show-jumping with Katie (Prudent) so she’s seen them, and was quite happy, so that’s a good starting point.”

Kim started working with Katie, and Katie’s husband Henri Prudent after the Bromont CCI last summer,

From what little I saw at a few of the big events last year, Katie seems to be much more than just a trainer, but also mentor, and almost mother figure to Kim,

Kim told me also that, counter to what I expected, her strength on the flat was almost her undoing,

Similarly, Kim explained that show-jumpers and eventers of course, come from completely different places,

Just in case you were wondering, Paddy is in fine form,

However, there may always be a reminder of the infection that prevented them from representing the USA at the WEG last autumn,

I asked Kim about her plans for the upcoming spring season,

The Horse Park holds mixed memories for Kim,

I asked Kim how she started her relationship with Paddy,

I remarked that there must have been something about him that changed her mind,

Kim and I agree that physically, Paddy could hardly be more of a contrast to her famous ride, Winsome Adante,

“They’re pretty different horses!”

“You do it because you love it. You love the horses. They’re all interesting in their own way. I do it because I love the horses”

Kim, of course, is easily one of the leading US event riders on the flat, and has taken lessons from Gerd Zuther for the last six or seven years,

Kim has four horses in work currently, and tweaks their schedules according to how they feel daily,

I asked Kim who she looked up to most within the horse world,

Finally, we talked about having a life away from the barn, being able to relax physically and mentally,

Clifton Promise is For Sale and Blyth Tait is Coming Back

By Samantha Clark on Feb 20, 2011 8:42 am -

The schedule for the London Olympics next year has now been released. However, if you have deep pockets and fancy attending as the owner of a Three Day Event Horse with a real shot at a medal, then continue reading.

Clifton Promise, the scopey, bay New Zealand TB who caught the eye of so many last year, when finishing 7th at the World Equestrian Games, is now on the open market.

It was a decision that owner Francis Stead didn’t come to easily, but, due to financial commitments, she is now coming to terms with it:

“The decision to sell Clifton Promise has been a very tough one to take, but if Jock is to achieve his dreams – and I have every confidence that he will – we are both convinced this is the right decision to make. The timing is also right, as Clifton Promise’s new rider will have well over a year to qualify on him before the Olympics.”

I spoke with Eric Duvander and Jock about the decision to sell Clifton Promise. Jock Paget has recently been re-united with Clifton Promise in England, where they are in training with the New Zealand team, and told me: “he’s looking and feeling really good, he’s a little bit fresh, this time of year he’s always a bit fresh at the start of the season but he’s really good.”

Kiwi High Performance Team Leader, Erik Duvander told me that obviously it will be a blow to the squad to lose Clifton Promise, “It’s obviously very unfortunate, but being in the Horse Game for a long time, sometimes it just ends up being that horses become worth a lot of of money and people can’t afford not to cash in on it. “

Obviously the dream solution would be for Clifton Promise to be sold and for Jock to keep the ride, but if this doesn’t happen he has other options. As well as picking up the ride on four prelim-level competition horses in England already, he also has 3 more exciting prospects arriving from the Clifton base in New Zealand next week.

“I still plan on going to the Olympics, I just don’t have a horse yet, and hopefully these three that are coming over from New Zealand (Clifton Razz, Clifton Cognac and Clifton Signature) will be able to take care of the other Championships” (Normandy, Rio). The horses coming over range from CCI * to almost CCI 3* level, and Clifton Cognac is related to Rolex 2010 and WEG silver medalist Cool Mountain.

Erick Duvander is also confident that Jock will represent New Zealand again, “I’ve talked a lot to Jock about it. All the investment and time from the High Performance Program that goes into what Jock does is actually an investment in him, and we hope that he would look back at the end of his career and have had five or six, or eight horses like Clifton Promise in his life, not just the one, we don’t see him as a one-horse wonder.

“We’re looking at the long-term, hopefully there will be something there for the Olympics, but I’m pretty sure there will be something there for the next Championships.”

Jock is determined to make the best of the situation, and perhaps with his teammate, Mark Todd’s influence, he is hoping for a catch ride at Badminton this spring, “I would just love to go to Badminton, I’ve done some catch rides before. I did one at three star level and it went well, and I really enjoyed it. I’d be happy to do it.”

Erik Duvander agrees that they will continue to work with Clifton Promise on the squad until he is sold, “in the end of the day he played a big part of our success at the World Games, and we’re not going to just cut him out. Also a horse isn’t sold until he’s sold, and he’s a part of our program, so we’ll probably find a way around it as such, to maintain Jock in the program, and if it’s with Promise or any other horse, we’ll keep investing in Jock as a rider.”

Clifton Promise will concentrate on his dressage, “the horse has nothing to prove now”, and Jock thinks there’s probably 10 marks improvement to come yet. On the Clifton website, it says that they hope Promise will earn seven figures from a sale. The Kiwi squad will have a clinic with Henk Nooren next week, and there may be another familiar face joining them soon.

Olympic and World Champion Blyth Tait, who hinted that he might come out of retirement for London when I spoke to him last year before the WEG, is indeed trying to make a comeback a reality. He has moved to England, bought a horse and is looking at a couple more.

Next month, Clarke Johnstone and Lizzie Brown are due to arrive in England, which will make for a busy season for Erik Duvander.

This article was also published on SamanthaLClark.com

Clifton Promise is For Sale and Blyth Tait is Coming Back

By Samantha Clark on Feb 20, 2011 8:38 am -

Clifton Promise, the scopey, bay New Zealand TB who caught the eye of so many last year, when finishing 7th at the World Equestrian Games, is now on the open market.

It was a decision that owner Francis Stead didn’t come to easily, but, due to financial commitments, she is now coming to terms with it:

“The decision to sell Clifton Promise has been a very tough one to take, but if Jock is to achieve his dreams – and I have every confidence that he will – we are both convinced this is the right decision to make. The timing is also right, as Clifton Promise’s new rider will have well over a year to qualify on him before the Olympics.”

“We’re looking at the long-term, hopefully there will be something there for the Olympics, but I’m pretty sure there will be something there for the next Championships.”

Next month, Clarke Johnstone and Lizzie Brown are due to arrive in England, which will make for a busy season for Erik Duvander.

John Kyle: Bringing the Voice to Red Hills & PRO Derby Cross

By Samantha Clark on Feb 18, 2011 11:50 am -

As if the calibre of riders on the teams wasn’t tempting enough, plus “hosts” Boyd Martin and Leslie Law, I can also spill the beans that the PRO Derby Cross will also have a rather special commentator. If you watched any of the 2010 WEG on FEI TV, then you may be familiar with John Kyle.

Luckily his schedule commentating on the Western European League of World Cup dressage will allow him to spend some time in Florida at the beginning of March, so after the PRO Derby Cross, he’ll be headed north to commentate at Red Hills, which might be slightly more within his comfort zone.

“I’d be a cross-country commentator before anything else,” although he did work the Cardiff Express Eventing as well as a number of other main arena events, (“If you’ve got the opportunity to be in a ring making a prat of yourself then that’s always quite good fun!”) and of course covered all eight FEI disciplines here in Kentucky last autumn.

Well known in England for his knowledge of all equestrian sports (I hope he won’t mind if I share that a friend of his joked that he reads the FEI rules book in bed at night!) and great sense of humour, along with that all important “gift of the gab,” we can look forward to a great night of Derby Cross, and a couple of excellent days cross-country commentating at Red Hills with a distinctly British flavour!

Fittingly, as eventing historically has military ties, the PRO Derby Cross will benefit Operation Homefront, a charity that provides assistance to the families of service members and wounded warriors.

Hugh Lochore, course designer for the second year running at Red Hills, thinks John, who was recently asked to submit an application for commentating for London 2012, will definitely be a perk for Red Hills. “To get John and his enthusiastic voice on the mic will be a massive boost from the public point of view; the people of Tallahassee won’t know what’s hit them!”

For competitors at Red Hills, the cross country course, which underwent massive changes last year in Hugh’s first year, is in the middle of a three year plan. This year there’s a new water jump, as well as some other adjustments.

“It’s a very undulating course, and there’s a heck of a lot of trees, so what I’ve tried to do is bring a lot more of the jumps out into the open. There’s a temptation to site them under these magnificent oak trees, but the truth is the footing under the oak trees isn’t very good, so I’ve brought them out into better, grassy take-offs and landings, and I think that’s proved to be quite popular.”

“I’ve already got next year’s course planned, I just wasn’t able to do everything I wanted to do in the first couple of years, but next year I have it all down on paper already, so it’s really beginning to look like a ‘Hugh course.’ In terms of the footing being firm or soft, we’ve had a great winter of rain, and it’s quite sandy soil, so it won’t be firm, it should be just right.”

The Red Hills cross country is also innovative, and a leader in safety: “We’ve got MIM clips, we’ve got Pro-logs, we’ve got reverse pinning and standard pinning, and I think we’re the first event to try all four frangible systems on the courses.”

If you’re thinking about entering and worried you might be too late, Hugh reckons they will still take a few more. “The way things are the last couple of years with internet entries everyone enters at the last minute, but we’re very pleased to have six out of the eight American WEG team members coming, as well as Canadians, a Brit (Leslieee!), an Argentinian (Go Jose!).

“We’ve got a very good entry and that just makes it quite pleasing from a standpoint of last year must have gone well if everyone’s coming back again.”

If you’re thinking about going to spectate, I absolutely encourage you to do that too. The Red Hills website has all the information you could possibly need, as well as some history on the area. I’m looking forward to going for the first time, and can’t wait to bring you news from Tallahassee. Thanks for reading.

Will Faudree

By Samantha Clark on Feb 18, 2011 11:36 am -

Will Faudree is a busy man; perhaps you’ve read his blog on the USEF page Club Equestrian, or his article on fitness on the USEA site? As well as organising an Oscar Style Awards Ceremony for PRO, and an undefeated return to Westminster Dog Show. Not to mention running a busy barn, and preparing for the Luhmuhlen CCI4* later this spring; so I was incredibly grateful when he spared me half an hour recently to answer some questions.

Q: You seem to have an awful lot on your plate? How do you prioritize and make time for everything?

Will: I’m a big believer in lists. I make priority lists of what I need to get done, in what order things need to get done, and I tend to stick to that until everything’s completed, before I finish the day.

Q: Did you make plans for your horses over the winter for their spring campaigns?

Will: Yes, I did. I sat down at the end of the fall season last year, and thought about where I wanted to head with my two advanced horses, Pawlow and Andromaque. With the PanAm’s being a 2 star this year, obviously the main goal is the Olympics in 2012, and so I wanted to come up with the best plan to try and make that become a reality.

So the planning really started last fall, after Boekelo for Andromaque, and after Pawlow’s AEC’s, and he didn’t end up doing a Fall CCI, but the plan started to go from there with him as well.

Then as far as their day-to-day stuff and their competitions came in, obviously we were bringing Pawlow back from a very minor injury, so that was very calculated and articulated as to how that was going to go, and then we started adding the daily schedules, and canter schedules and so on.

Q: It must have been incredibly disappointing to have to withdraw Pawlow from team consideration after the AEC’s?

Will: It was extremely disappointing, I’d worked very hard over the summer, as we all had, and had really tried to focus on making the WEG a reality; obviously it didn’t work out the way I wanted it to, but hindsight’s always 20/20. I think he’s going to come out this year and be a better, stronger horse for it.

Q: So what were the reasons behind aiming for Luhmuhlen?

Will: Mainly due to the minor injury. I had originally thought I was going to aim for Badminton, but with Badminton being the third week of April this year, it made it very tight. I would have had to rush him back into doing canter sets and gallop sets, and even though he’s stayed sound the whole time, and has never taken a lame step I didn’t want to rush him. Luhmuhlen comes six weeks later, so that gives us some additional time to leg him back up.

Q: Did Boekelo give you a taste for the European events?

Will: Well, I’ve been very fortunate in my career. With Antigua I was able to go over to England, and do Badminton and Burghley, as well as the World Games in Aachen, so I got a taste of it there. I actually took Pawlow to Blenheim in 2009; and it was a real treat and a huge honour to go on the Boekelo trip. It gives you that incredible hunger. Someone asked me if the three star level was different, or specifically more difficult than you would see over here in America, and I couldn’t disagree more, a three star is a three star – what makes it different is the 40,000 spectators, from start to finish lining the roads. That is something that we only get to experience at Rolex in this country, and I think that was one of the things that was hugely beneficial for the riders who went to Boekelo, in that it gave us a taste of the high atmosphere at these highly populated events.

I’ve competed in Europe before so I know how close the grandstands are to the dressage ring, and I’ve been fortunate enough to go to some big events so I’ve ridden courses where the crowds are very thick, but I remember Tiana Coudray being suprised at all the people packed around the jumps so that sometimes you couldn’t even see the fences. Obviously we’d seen them walking the course, but riding on the day, you’d come around the turn and sometimes not be able to see the jump for all the spectators, and that can have a huge effect on riders, and horses, so I think it was a great experience for all of us to get to go to Boekelo.

Q: PRO did such a great job of keeping everyone back here in the States informed of how the event was going for you all. Tell us about what you do for PRO?

Will: I do as much as I can with PRO, and I think PRO is an amazing organisation which is only going to get bigger and better, and I’m very excited to be a part of it.

Q: And you’re organising the PRO Awards Night?

WIll: I am, in conjunction with Samantha Lendl and Hawley Bennett. It’s going to be very exciting. I dream very big, and I got this idea and told a few people about it, and they were really encouraging. My friends call me Rainman, because I have a wealth of useless knowledge, I can tell you all sorts of dates in history, Academy Award trivia, numbers, anything like that. So I had this idea for the PRO awards: everything in our sport is points based and I thought it would be really fun for people to have nominees. I think it will open the door to a lot of other potential sponsors. For example, if you look at the Screen Actors Guild, they have their own awards night, and it’s for actors within their own group, which is how PRO was put together, it was riders within our sport looking for advantages for the whole group.

So I think the more we can put our sport in the public eye, with some big names, the better. I have four performers confirmed. I think it is going to be a fun night. We don’t have a venue yet, but in 1927 the first year that they held the Academy Awards, twenty-six people attended in a very small hotel lobby in Hollywood, and if that’s what the first PRO Awards ends up being, so be it, but I think it can only grow from there. Of course I want it big, if I could I’d get Joan Rivers up there interviewing us all on the Red Carpet! I did sit down and write out how the night’s going to run from start to finish, with performances and presentations; I have some actors to give out the awards, and I think it’s going to be a lot of fun, I hope it’s going to come off as I envision it in my mind.

Q: You wrote a very interesting article on the USEA website about fitness.

Will: I wrote that article mainly because I got so aggravated: I kept hearing people, and professionals from our sport who don’t compete in the modern short format, saying that it’s not the same sport, and there’s not as much horsemanship, and there’s not as much time in the saddle, and it really aggravated me. I think fitness is incredibly important, and what I really tried to convey in that article was that you’ve got to know your horse, know when they can take a breath. If you don’t know your horse, then as a rider you have to be smart enough to know when to throttle back and feel and listen to what’s happening underneath you, it’s rider responsibility.

Q: How do you do your fitness work? Do you use interval training, or gallop uphills?

Will: I do use interval training at this time of the year. My horses, personally, have the month of November off, and then I start by doing a lot of walking, road work, and trot sets. Then once I’m up to about 20 minutes of trot sets I’ll start adding flat work, and I’ll usually have all that accomplished by the end of December. Then starting in January I’ll go every four or five days to do canter sets, starting with three and a half minutes,building it up each time, to around the beginning of March. From there, the horses have usually done an event or two, I won’t have gone for time, just building their muscle fitness up, and then I’d go into more sprint and speedwork rather than interval training. The same thing, I’ll gradually increase the speed and how many times I go up to build each horse up to the required level of fitness.

Q: It sounds reassuringly old-fashioned, and methodical.

Will: It’s very methodical. I keep a record of every horse in the barn that I fill out every day. I have Andromaque’s and Pawlow’s gallop schedules from Luhmuhlen all the way back to January. I have options, obviously, because I know I’m not going to make every gallop, and that’s why I always write in pencil (!), the only thing I write in pen are the competition dates, then I can shuffle the gallops around a bit if I need to. I have a system whereby at the top of my gallops notes I’ll grade them 1 -3, 1 meaning the horse felt incredible, 3 meaning I need to do something a little bit different.

Missy,(Andromaque) at Boekelo was perfect. She had the fastest cool-down rate on Saturday, her heart rate was back to normal within one minute, she practically took two deep breaths when we finished cross country and that was it, and we finished ten seconds inside the time. That’s her, she’s a very fit horse.

Pawlow, he’s not at all fat or anything, but I feel like I’m one of the trainers on The Biggest Loser when I’m doing his fitness work, because he is SO lazy!

Andromaque is very focused, she’s very much like Antigua in a lot of ways. She’s a bit quieter in her brain, the fitter Antigua got the more tightly wound mentally he’d get, whereas Andromaque gets more and more focused as she gets fitter.

Pawlow doesn’t change at all: he’s the same horse on a daily basis. You can kick him all you want to trot faster but it makes no difference! I have a pact with Pawlow. He’d been through a lot of different barns before I got him, and I even tried to sell him, but I owned him and just kept going with him and before I even knew it he’d surprised us both by reaching two star level. Before we did our first two star, I made a pact with him that I would never ask him to come to my side of the fence, and I know he doesn’t want me on his side of the fence, but we’ll just sit at the fence and have conversations when we’re together, and we have a great partnership now. It was at that 2* event that Jennifer Mosing approached me about owning him. I had met her several times teaching clinics, and that was the start of her owning horses.

Q: Where is Andromaque headed this spring?

Will: Well, we thought long and hard about it. Boekelo was only her fourth advanced. She did Millbrook, then Richland then the AEC’s before going to Holland. On the Saturday night of the AEC’s she had a mild colic from dehydration, which is something that had never happened before. She drank about two buckets of water after cross country, but she was still dehydrated because it was so hot there, so we took notes for future reference, and now she’ll always get fluids if it’s a warm day. I didn’t want to try and take her to Kentucky, I would never want to scare her, and she did a lot last year, and I want to make sure she’s very confirmed at the three star level before I do a four star. Having said that, she made the time around a very tough CCI 3* track, so I don’t feel like I need to do another CCI 3*, instead I’m going to start her off on some higher profile 3* CIC’s this summer, in a lead up to hopefully Burghley in the Fall. So she’ll go to Luhmuhlen as well, but she’ll do the CIC 3* there, then go to Aachen for the CIC, and Barbury, a combined test at Gatcombe, then Hartpury, and if all that goes well she’ll go to Burghley.

Q: So you’ll be spending the summer in England.

Will: Yes, I’m very lucky, Jennifer Mosing who owns Pawlow and Andromaque, and I talked about it. Jennifer’s an incredible sponsor, but more importantly she’s an incredible friend, and we have a really great time together, and we have a lot of fun with the horses, so we’re excited about it.

Q: And you have two new horses this spring?

Will: I do. DHI Color Candy is an Irish horse, a preliminary level horse who’d done a couple of preliminary level events in Ireland. I just did my first event on him, and he was great, but we have a little work to do on our half halts, he doesn’t really understand the concept of half halts, but he’s a very cool horse. We’ll probably take it a little slowly at first as I get to know him and build a partnership with him. My goal is to take him to the Pan Ams: he’ll move up to Intermediate hopefully mid-Spring, and then depending on how our partnership develops, I might try to take him to Europe as well, and maybe do the Olympic Test Event, but if not, just to be over there and get a lot of intermediate miles over there would prepare him really well for the Pan American Games, if I’m selected. The other new horse is a young, french horse called Riesling De Buissy; he’ll start competing in March and is a very cool horse too.

Q: The Westminster Dog Show, how did that happen?

Will: Jennifer, who owns my horses also owns shows dogs, and her handler, Bryan Livingstone has shown them for many years. Bryan’s wife Desiree came over to Blenheim in 2009, and we were talking after the cross country, I’d had a great go and we were all excited, and I asked her if Westminster was just like the film “Best in Show” and told her how much I’d like to go one day, and she said right there and then that they would find a dog for me to show. I’d pretty much forgotten about it until I was teaching a clinic at Jennifer’s place in January last year, and she told me that Desiree had called and had a dog for me to show at Westminster. Brody was a yorkshire terrier, and I went into the Breed Show, and I was more nervous going into that little 8 by 10 circle with that little Yorkshire Terrier than I was leaving the start box at Kentucky. It is INTENSE, and those people don’t mess around! So I walked around in there, did my little tour, and all of a sudden they pointed at me, and I was worried I’d been eliminated, but then everyone started clapping and I realised unbelievably that I’d won. This year I won’t be showing Brodie, I’m showing a Papillon named Tiger, or so I’m told!

UPDATE: Sadly the dog Will was supposed to show didn’t qualify, but Jennifer did have two dogs win Best of Breed, and one was fourth in the Toy Group.

Q: Before we let you go, we should give your Barn Manager Nat a big shout out, we saw her on EventingNation, riding a lovely Canter horse.

Will: I have to say, Nat is amazing. She works to an incredible standard, and I so appreciate everything she does for my horses, and for her horses. I just can’t say enough about what a fantastic person she is.

Q: Thank you so much for your time, I didn’t realise quite how busy you are, what with the riding, the dog show, the awards, and everything else…

Will: The eventing is my main focus, and producing these horses to best of my ability.

Thanks again to Will for his time; you can cheer him on as a member of the Team FarmVet/Cavalor at the PRO Derby Cross on March 5th in Wellington, or at any of the spring events, and if you need an extra for your pub quiz team, Will is your man! Thank you for reading and Go Eventing!

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