On Sunday, almost three months to the day after Wayne Roycroft resigned, we learned that Prue Barrett had been named Australian eventing’s new performance director. Eventing Nation’s ESJ interviewed Prue and wrote a very positive review on Tuesday, and I think that she sounds like a good fit for Australia. But, as is always the case, this view is not shared by all of the members of the Australian program.
I spoke with a former Australian team rider this week, and they explained to me that a group of riders had sent Equestrian Australia a list of thoughts about the coaching application process that included such recommendations as widely publicizing the coaching search, taking a suitable time to make the decision, hiring a cross-country specialist, hiring someone who would be able to attend all of the major international competitions, hiring a veteran rider, and not necessarily hiring someone based in Australia. This was of course just a list of suggestions, but the person I spoke with did not feel that the hiring process reflected that Eventing Australia payed a great deal of attention to the recommendations.
Only time will tell if Prue is a good hire, and obviously any candidate would be met with skepticism by the riders after Australia’s tremendous performance under Wayne’s 20 year leadership. But, these first few months will be critical for Prue to show the abroad Australian riders that she will be an international leader for Australian High Performance. Go eventing.
Update: I should clarify that by “former Australian team rider” I mean a non-US based Australian who has ridden for Australia before and likely will again.
