(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!
