Horse magazine october 2013

ANDREW HOY - BE INSPIRED! YOUNG DRESSAGE HORSE BREEDING ILSE SCHWARZ - AN AUSSIE IN FLORIDA

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Editor: Chris Hector CEO: Roz NeaveDesign: Alexandra MeyerPhone: (+61) 3 9421 3320 Fax: (+61) 3 9421 3375E-mail: [email protected] Address: PO Box 2316 Richmond South 3121

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On the Cover: Charlotte Dujardin, Roger Yves Bost & Michael Jung Photos: Roz Neave & Julia Rau

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Page 68BE INSPIRED-ANDREW HOY

VOLUME 31 No. 10 ISSN 0817-7686.

ABN 33 007 410 960

Ultimate Warmup with Rebecca Ashton


To my mind, international dressage was, for a period of time, hi-jacked by philosophy of win at all costs, of naked power, of performances so ‘spectacular’ that they left the horses a nervous wreck, with gold medal winning horses unable to participate in the presentation ceremony for fear they would bolt.

The winds of change started to blow two European Championships ago at Windsor, the winner there was pretty spectacular, but finished his work so cool that Edward Gal could do his lap of honour holding the buckle of the reins, with Totilas regarding his adoring fans with a quizzical look on his pretty face…

At the next Championships in Rotterdam, those bad old days were banished, what went before was Dressage BC, before Charlotte and Carl, and here we

had winning tests that were soft, correct and a joy to behold.

Two years later, in Herning, at the first leg of the Championships, the teams event, the transformation is complete. In the most spine-tingling championships of anyone’s memory, where the gold medal was still swinging on a single percentage point two thirds of the way through the final act of the drama – Helen Langehenenberg’s ride on Damon Hill. It was victory to a German team that showed that dressage can be both thrilling and correct, while the highest score of the team’s championship went to the pair who were part of the charge at Rotterdam: Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro, who now four years down the track produced a Grand Prix that experienced (and knowledgeable) observers declared the greatest GP test they had seen… ever.

Really the only blast from the past was Andreas Helgstrand’s test on Akeem Foldager (Akinos / Loran). Surprise, the gelding has the same distinctive tail switch that characterizes Andreas’ horses (and this one is definitely not in season, the excuse used for mares in the past). The tension produces a passage that is truly weird, holding the left hind leg, quick with the right one. And the judges give it a 7.9, the next passage

sequence is exactly the same, for an 8.1… and yes, on the final centre line, they see it: 6.9. I’m sure you will find the test on youtube if you don’t believe me, but it was the sort of dressage I find hard to watch – forced, artificial, ‘spectacular’. And the good thing? They finished in 15th place on a 72.72. Sadly, it was a performance that meant the home team, Denmark, finished out of the medals. Sad because both Anna Kasprzak and

“IT WAS A VICTORY TO A GERMAN TEAM THAT SHOWED THAT DRESSAGE CAN BE BOTH THRILLING AND CORRECT”

DRESSAGE.. GOOD vs EVIL Words by Chris Hector

Photos by Roz Neave & Julia Rau

It was hard not to see these Championships as perhaps the final chapter in a battle of good versus evil.

Charlotte Dujardin & Valegro and the best test ever


Donnperignon (Donnerhall / Mozart) who finished on 75.881, and 6th place, and Nathalie zu Sayn-Wittgenstein) and Digby (Donnerhall / Sandro), 5th with a score of 76.003, produced lovely honest horse-friendly tests.

I must confess that I did not like the high scoring test of day one, Isabell Werth and Don Johnson FRH (Don Frederico / Warkant). Okay, the horse does not have the conformation of a dressage horse, he is flat on top and high behind, but that does not excuse the fact that so much more is happening in front than behind. The horse looks blocked over the back, and it is regularly irregular, particularly in the passage. I thought the whole test was jerky, manufactured, hard going. I was not entirely alone in my assessment, Isabelle Judet at B, thought it the 21st best horse she judged over the two days, while three, Leif Törnblad, Dietrich Plewa and Gustaf Svalling, thought it was the 5th best in the entire competition. They end in 8th on a score of 75.213.

The other spectacular judging lapse came on the test of British newcomer, Michael Eilberg and Half Moon Delphi (Dimaggio / West Wall). This was a test that I really liked. The grey mare looks so sweet and rideable. The walk looked

Michael Eilberg & Half Moon Delphi


You can’t manufacture the atmosphere of a real Championship.

No matter how much champagne they spray, or how much bling they throw around, circuses like the Global Greed Tour can never match the feeling at a genuine Championship. Here the best of each nation, representing their country with that special feeling a flag on the breast pocket inspires, are locked in battle. It’s the real thing.

Okay, some of the riders are still learning their craft at this level, and there is a fair gap between the cream and the rest, but that is one of the reasons we have championships – to give riders something to aim at, to raise the standard of the sport in their home countries. So there are a few ordinary rounds before you see an artist like Luciana Diniz at work with a horse like Winningmood (Darco / Cassini) and it all starts to happen.

The teams event was won in grand style by the British – even without their number one combination, Big Star and Nick Skelton, who is apparently being ‘rested’ for Rio. Ben Maher grabbed the lead on Cella (Cento / Chin Chin) right from the start, the only no fault ride in the speed class and at the end of two rounds of team competition, he was still on zippity zip, as was the ageless (pickled in alcohol?) Michael Whitaker and Viking (Jacomar / Almox Prints). Scott Brash on Hello Sanctos (Quasimodo vd Molendreef / Nabab de Reve), finished with just 4, while William Funnell and Billy Congo

SHOWJUMPING... ALWAYS SURPRISES

Words by Chris Hector and photos by Roz Neave & Julia Rau

Roger Yves Bost & Castle Forbes Myrtille


(Vechta / Animo) was the discard with 12 faults in the first round, but clear in the second. The Brits finished on a 12.18 just 0.59 in front of the Germans.

For the Germans, that most beautiful of jumpers, Cornet d’Amour (Cornet Obolensky / Damiani) and Daniel Deusser jumped a double clear as did Ludger Beerbaum (facing his 50th the following Monday) and Chiara (Contender / Coronado). The Swedes, lead by the wonderful Holsteiner stallion, Casall Ask (Caretino / Lavall) and Rolf-Göran Bengtsson, again clear, clear, took home the bronze.

Ben Maher & Cella Daniel Deusser & Cornet d’Amour

Scott Brash & Hello Sanctos

“THE TEAMS EVENT WAS WON IN GRAND STYLE BY THE BRITISH - EVEN WITHOUT THEIR NUMBER ONE COMBINATION”


DOUBLE GOLD FOR GERMANY IN MALMÖ

Christopher Hector reports from the European Eventing Championships

Roz Neave and Julia Rau took the photos

The great Swedish novelist, Henning Menkel, goes out of his way to give the district of Skåne in Sweden, a bad rap. Menkel’s anti-hero, Kurt Wallander (middle aged, diabetic, overweight, depressed, identify at your peril) inhabits a landscape that is both physically and morally awash with gloom and doom. It is something of a surprise to find that the seaside village of Malmö is in fact a bright sunny spot beside the sea with not a mutilated corpse to be seen, unless we count the bizarre Turning Torso, Santiago Calatrava’s 54-storey high apartment block that dominates the landscape. This is the perfect home for a European Eventing Championships – though the winding narrow strip of land must test all course designer, Germany’s Rüdiger Schwarz’s considerable ingenuity to find the required 6000 metres of track.

After the intensity and pressure of the Euro Dressage and Showjumping Champs, in neighbouring Denmark, it is a relief to be back amongst the laid-back world of eventing. Here, like everywhere else in the world of Horse Trials (with the obvious exception of super events, like Badminton) you can feel that the life-blood of the event is the energy and enthusiasm of the volunteers.

Watching the riders working their horses in, Roslyn and I are thinking about the differences between here and home. Our top riders would not look out of place but generally their riders are more ‘correct’ than ours. Which is no surprise, these riders have grown up being instructed by educated, experienced professionals, riding trained school masters – rather than having to fashion their own out of raw three-year-olds, or confused refugees from the racetrack, with the assistance of well meaning, but often uneducated, instructors.

The difference shows up particularly in the riders’ hands, and no-where is this difference more glaringly apparent than the first horse and rider combination in the arena, Germany’s Hop and Skip (by the Irish stallion, Skippy Too – a half brother to Jumbo, out of that prolific producing mare ‘unknown’). The rider’s hands literally do not move at any time in a test that is as unhurried as it is accurate, and Dirk Schade is very unlucky to be the first cab off the block. A score of 44.3 puts them right up the leader board, but even with this first horse, the current problems in Eventing Dressage judging are starting to show.

The judging at the London Games was all over the place, and the team at Malmö: Marilyn Payne, Christian Landolt and Christina


Klingspor seem a bit confused about what is good and not so good. Ms Payne at C has Hop and Skip on 175, Mr Landolt at B, 182, while Ms Klingspor at H can only manage 172. But wait, there’s worse to come.

Next combination of interest, Ingrid Klimke and FRH Escada (Embassy / Lensherr), really light up the arena. The shape and balance is different, the mare is at another level of engagement and at last the judges are reaching – occasionally – for the 8 button, but none has been brave enough to hit up a 9. It must be amazing for Ingrid to be sitting on a horse with so much scope, especially after all those years riding Butts Abraxxis, who was exceptionally honest, but as Ingrid herself said, moved ‘like a pony’. There is nothing pony-ish about the bay mare and at the end of day one she is on top of the leader board and the only horse/rider combination to go below 40 – 39.4.

I’ve been fascinated during the day by the appearance of a team from Belarus, with their riders on very impressive Trakehner horses. Viachaslau Poita is riding Dervish (Vopros / Sabo), a handsome stallion, and he has a solid test to finish on 55.6, and Viachaslau agrees, after some pushing from the press officer (he’s not very confident in English), to tell me something of the sport of eventing in his country. It is, for the Belarussians, an historic occasion, the first time that they have fielded a team for the Europeans, and perhaps the last for a while too, since Viachaslau’s stallion is only 7, while his team-mate, Alena Tseliapushknia’s Passat (another Trakehner, Punsh / Seans) is sixteen years old and may not appear at this level again, and there are only three

Ingrid Klimke & FRH Escada

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How does a nicely brought up girl from Armidale end up in steamy Florida?

“A man. There’s no other good reason. After I did my PhD – joint lubrication and arthritis, a general mechanism – my major was in biochemistry/physiology, I was just travelling to America, then I was going to go to Germany, working with horses to pay my way. Then I was supposed to go back to Australia to keep my post-doctoral work going and I met Ken Braddick at Devon in Pennsylvania.”

(By way of background, Ken is a former political journalist, tech entrepreneur, high flying businessman – now to be found peering through the lens of a Nikon, taking his photos for his hugely popular website, www.dressage-news.com)

Love at first sight?

“For him, not for me. He had to work really, really hard. He followed me around a lot, wooed me for months and months, and I finally decided that I would leave Australia and live in America –because he made it very clear he wouldn’t live in Australia. He’d been there, done that, too many rules in Australia, he said. He liked the land of the free and the home of the brave. I had spent some time in Wellington, working with some horses, it didn’t look anything like it does now, but I figured you could ride horses and make a living here… and here I am.”

Bit of a climate switch from Armidale…

“Just a little. Eleven years later I am still not used to it, and still trying desperately to get out of it during summer. I do a lot of clinics in Australia about that time.”

“For the first four years I was in America, I worked for Oded Shimoni, he is an Israeli who is based here. We did winters in Florida and summers in New York. Then I did a winter in Vermont – that was eye opening, blizzards, ice storms – not great horse riding weather. I got fed up

with moving back and forth, and Ken and I decided we should try living in the same spot for a year at least. I quit my job and set up my own business in Wellington.”

“I do a lot of training horses, I am riding a lot, there are a few clients I am teaching. My barn is nine stalls, not enough, so I have horses scattered up and down the road. I do clinics, mostly out of the season, because the season is peak business time with clients who come down from the north.”

How did you hook up with Steffen Peters?

“There used to be an annual young riders clinic here. There were always three or four instructors and one year Steffen was one of them. On the Monday, he had spaces open for the local trainers. I had two horses at that time, and he wasn’t a popular clinician here then, he didn’t even do regular clinics here. I rode with him, and it was like okay, there’s my trainer. I had one horse that was going Grand Prix, and one horse that was a very difficult Small Tour horse, and Steffen just made total sense.”

“He taught half of my first lesson in German, given my name, and half way through, he went, is it okay that I

Readers of the very early editions of THM may have encountered Ilse Schwarz in an earlier life as a inveterate contributor to the kid’s page we used to have. Ilse and her sister, Ruth, used to

recount the adventures of their super pony, Speck, complete with charming illustrations. It’s just a few years down the track now, and Ilse has swapped chill New England for the heat of Florida,

but she is still ‘mucking about with horses’, and following her dream of riding for Australia…

ILSE SCHWARZ - MAKING IT IN FLORIDAStory by Chris Hector & Photos by Roz Neave


Body Alignment: We want our back to be in a neutral position where all the natural curves of the backbone remain unchanged, whether we’re sitting on a horse, walking around or executing the following exercises. These curves give “suspension” and lessen impact. The vertebrae all fit together like a jigsaw puzzle, cushioned by intervertebral discs so to minimise wear and tear. If out of alignment, we may get discs wearing unevenly or pressured to bulging point. We will also get blockages that will not only cause back pain but will also inhibit correct use of joints. Neutral is best described as a zone rather than one set position as we are all built differently.

How to obtain a neutral spine while lying on your back with knees bent:

THE ULTIMATE WARMUP

Before We Start:

Dressage Coach and Pilates Instructor Rebecca Ashton shows you how to get on your horse, feeling great

and ready to star at your next competition..Good pre-competition preparation can mean the difference between being amongst the ribbons or going home before the prize giving. The following exercises will get you mentally focussed, improve your body awareness and warm you up before your test. Better still, they only take a few minutes and can be done in the back of your horse float!

Why?

• This exercise tests the strength of our back extensors and abdominals. • It allows for better ability to stay tall and elegant in the saddle and for a longer period of time.

How? • ABC• Sit with knees bent. Keeping a neutral spine, lean back and then return to the start position. Keep lifting your head to the sky throughout the whole exercise to help keep you tall.

Watch out for:• Gripping or lifting with feet• Slouching waist• Collapsing the pelvis under you• Hunching shoulders• Weight more on one seat bone than the other

NB: Never lean back so far back that you feel pain in your back. Your abdominals must be strong and supportive at all times.

Photos by Richard I’Anson

The exercises are meant to wake your muscles up and get them ready for the job at hand, not wear you out, so go slow and steady. The three things to think of before beginning the exercises are Alignment, Breathing and Core (ABC).

• feet/knees hip width (will not be on horse)• slight curve maintained in the lumber region of the back• long through the waist• ribs resting heavy on the ground• chest wide • shoulders down but not excessively back• head carried gently on shoulders

Breathing: Focusing on breathing will get oxygen deep into the body to get the muscles ready for work and also keep you calm. Breathe by keeping the core engaged (see below), the shoulders relaxed down and expanding the lungs and ribs. Remember, the lungs don’t just take up space in the front of our chest, but all the way to the sides and the back as well. Sometimes we forget to breathe into these areas!

The Core: The core consists of the deep muscles of the pelvis. They are the ones closest to the bones whose job it is to hold us upright. It is also these muscles, as opposed to the big, outer muscles of the body, that we are focussing on in these exercises.

Engaging the core: The two muscles we focus on are the sling of muscle across the front of our lower abdomen, the transverse abdomens and the pelvic floor muscles. We can think of gently tightening a hipster belt to activate the transverse muscle or think of a pelvic elevator lifting up to engage the pelvic floor.

THE EXERCISESFLAT BACK

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One of the most important concepts Andrew McLean has introduced to the world of the horse is that horses are not ‘naughty’, they are just being given the wrong signals and message. Now Andrew is working in a new direction, the dimension of ‘affection’ between horse and handler, and how that opens up new thoughts on horse training…One of the most piercing examples of the belief that the animal really knows what it ought be doing, and is just being ‘wicked’ by not doing what is required, were the methods Andrew found in Asia for training elephants.

“There is a religious belief that the Hindu god Ganesh gave the people the elephant to serve them and all they have to do is make it submissive. Elephants are far more dangerous than horses, and the death rate of mahouts is far higher than it is for horse people. So they tether the young elephant in various ways and torment it with sticks and spears until it doesn’t fight anymore, and they withhold food, and sometimes water too, so that it’s further weakened. After some days, they then haul it between two large elephants and a rider hops on and gives it all the signals it’s supposed to react to, but he doesn’t think he’s training it, he thinks he’s making it do what it already knows and because it’s been hauled along, it vaguely learns the signals over some days and weeks. When he puts on

the brakes on the hauling elephants, they stop, so the elephant that is being hauled does too, so it inadvertently learns all the cues, but in such a crude way.”

“Sounds crazy doesn’t it? But when you look at sophisticated, civilised horse rider / trainers and their interaction with their horses, sometimes, it doesn’t look all that different… People often believe that the horse has insight into his behaviours, that he knows what he has just done, that he has a concept of right from wrong.”

“Often I think the biggest problem with horse owners is just that they believe the horse does know what he’s meant to do. I think that’s a big mistake, I think to be fair you should apply the precautionary principle: if he doesn’t do it then he doesn’t know what it is that you want him

or her to do. And if you are consistent as a trainer, then he will learn to do what you ask, and he will know it and do it when you ask. Tom Roberts was my greatest mentor as a trainer. He was the first to describe learning and reinforcement and put it in easy terms. Whatever the horse is doing will either ‘profit him’ or ‘profit him not’. If you are careful to ensure the horse profits from doing the right response, and you are consistent, the behaviour will become ‘old hat’. Actions transform to habits: simple. ”

“There is a great variation amongst horses and some are always going to be more difficult than others and I think that’s why they all need careful use of pressure / release in early training stages. I believe the main difference between the so-called good horse and the bad one, is a result of what we reward in the early stage of training. The ‘good’ one lucks on the right response and is rewarded for it. The ‘bad’ one offers the wrong response and the handler adds to the problem by rewarding the wrong response. If the horse does something we don’t want, say goes to rear up, and we release the pressure, then we are rewarding the rear. Or if he rushes backwards, and we release the pressure, we are once again, teaching him to do what we don’t want him to do. We must be sure that we only reward the behaviour that we want.”

ON PUNISHMENT

ANDREWMCLEAN

“THERE IS A GREAT VARIATION AMONGST HORSES AND SOME ARE ALWAYS GOING TO BE MORE DIFFICULT THAN OTHERS AND I THINK THAT’S WHY THEY ALL NEED CAREFUL USE OF PRESSURE / RELEASE IN EARLY TRAINING STAGES.

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The five-year-old classes saw another twist in the topsy turvy career of the Dutch stallion, Vivaldi (Krack C / Jazz) when he provided three of the top 12 in the first round of the Five Year olds, including stallions in second and third, Desperado (out of a Havidoff mare, and Dancer (out of a Tango mare).

Only this year, Vivaldi’s owner Joep van Uytert put an end to the horse’s competition career, bringing him back to the breeding barn after Hans Peter Minderhoud failed to get the horse from small to big tour.

This year, Vivaldi had the largest number of sons selected for the Stallion Licensing – 17 – of which two were selected to go on to the Performance test.

Vivaldi’s sire, Krack C supplied the 7th placegetter in the first round, Dorado (out of a Rousseau mare).

The winner of the class, the chestnut Hanoverian mare, Scara Boa, ridden by a 30 year old first timer at ‘the worlds’, Lena Stegemann. Scara Boa is out of a Wolkenstein II mare, and by the Sandro Hit son, Scolari, who is royally bred on the dam sire: De Niro / Weltmeyer.

Scolari has been standing at the Hengststation Pape for the past seven years, and has been moderately popular, with 556 registered offspring, with 23 states premium mares and two licensed sons. He has produced 39 competitors with a total of €4,304, according to the 2013 Hanoverian Stallion Yearbook, in which he is ranked

equal 15th on the dressage stallion rankings with a breeding value of 139 – equal with the excessively hyped Schockemöhle / Blue Hors stallion, Hotline (Hofrat / De Niro) who sired the 5th placegetter, the Danish mare, Svalegards Hottie (De Noir) and the French representative, the solidly German bred, Hermes de Hus (out of a Rohdiamant mare).

Perhaps the Sandro Hit bubble has burst? The winner was the only representative of the S line in the top 12, and out of the 38 to qualify for the first round, there were two by Sir Donnerhall and one by San Amour – none by the erstwhile super star of young horse breeding, Sandro Hit, himself.

The most successful dressage sire of all, Donnerhall, was sparsely represented in the top 12, with only the pre-match

THE WORLD YOUNG DRESSAGE HORSE CHAMPS - A Breeding Analysis

Story by Chris Hector & Photos by Kenneth Braddick

Scara Boa takes our the five year old class Up to second - Floricello II


favorite, Damon’s Satelite (Damon Hill / Rubin-Royal) making the top 12, ridden by the reigning Queen of German dressage, Helen Langehanenberg. A 9.9 in trot couldn’t compensate for a 7 walk, and they finished 8th.

In the final Scara Boa held her form to take the championship, while Andreas Helgstrand and Floricello II (Florencio / Dormello) provided the upset of the day, failing to qualify in the first round, then winning the small final to go on take the Reserve Championship.

Laura Stigler rode the bay Doubleyou W to first place in the six-year-old qualifier. The gelding may carry the Hanoverian brand but he is at least in part a product of Denmark’s premier stud, Blue Hors, being by their home bred, Don Romantic (who combines the blood of their first super sire, Don Schufro, their foundation sire, Romancier, and the Danish half blood mare, Menuet). Doubleyou W is solidly German on the dam line – by Rohdiamant out of a Calypso II / Graphit mare.

Up to second - Floricello II Doubleyou W and Laura Stigler

Eva Möller and Sa Couer


Forget Tony Robbins if you want a bit of inspiration. The place to be is an Andrew Hoy clinic. The Australian eventing legend has a lot of advice for your time in the saddle, and for life in general.

Having finished eight days coaching in 34 degrees of heat in Bangkok, Andrew took on the chilly Canberra winter in a clinic organised by Natalie Blundell, before heading over to Perth where he regularly helps young riders. Like any successful equestrian, Andrew focuses on the basics. “The more I ride, the more I work on the basics. There is just no quick fix. The basics ARE the quick fix,” he insists.

Andrew is all about creating a thinking rider. His communication with each rider in the clinic was a highlight. “A lesson for me is not just on the horse. It’s the discussion beforehand and what I’m thinking about on the drive home. Communication is really important.” Before each session, he would ask each rider the main point they got out of their previous lesson and at the end, the main ideas they were taking away with them.

During the lesson, he would ask those waiting their turn what they thought of the horse on course and when the rider had completed the exercise, what they

thought of it. To a young participant having trouble with a hot horse he advised, “You have to make this happen. I could get on the horse and I guarantee I could ride it. But that’s not what it’s about. I can’t teach you feel. This is about you learning.” Andrew is a strict but fair coach. He wouldn’t move onto the next rider until the previous one had not only understood what he was saying but had also achieved it.

He wasn’t just interested in the riders thinking about the process. They had to act. That’s where the success is. When Amy Roberts was taking bigger, slower lines to give herself time to sort out the situation, Andrew remarked, “We have to react off what we feel. Don’t over analyse things. Yes you have to hear and process the information but then you need to act on that. You’re still analysing when you should be acting. Fix it straight away.”

Andrew didn’t just focus on the faults. When Sarah Farraway had done a good

round and Andrew asked her what she thought, she replied, “Alright.” Andrew disagreed slightly. “No, it was good, not just alright. You need to know that. Don’t be like the dressage judges that just give a five for everything. If it’s good, we say so.”

It was just the week before that Sarah had great success at the Young Rider Dressage Nationals across all the levels and it turns out that she isn’t a bad eventer either. Andrew could see the talent, “If you develop this, you will be good. You’re only 15 and you are the master of your destiny. You just have to set the programme.” But just one bit of advice for the young rider, “Clean the mud off your body protector. It’s a dead giveaway!”

Andrew was all for programmes, stating, “Just like any successful businessman or CEO, you have to have a programme; a formula. Your single employee is your horse and he has to do it your way. You have walked the course, the horse hasn’t. You

“WHY DO SOME RIDERS ALWAYS HAVE GOOD HORSES? HORSES ARE MADE, NOT BOUGHT.

ANDREW HOYTHERE IS NO QUICK FIX

Story & Photos by Rebecca Ashton


What is the main point you’d like riders to take away from this clinic?

There is not one point because number one, when they first get on a horse, they need to have correct posture. Number two, they need to have the horse going forward and number three, they need to ride the rhythm. Also there are only the four things that you teach the horse: go forward, stop, turn left and turn right and if one of those is not working then it is a very bad formula.

I doesn’t matter what level I work at and what level rider a work with, I really enjoy working with riders. But it is the rider’s responsibility to take on the improvement. It’s not my responsibility. All I can do is give them the information. They have to find the way; the feeling and I can’t teach them the feeling.

Do you believe in working on rider fitness?

Yes. Rider fitness is paramount. Now that does not mean that the rider has to go and run a marathon to be fit for running, they need to be fit to ride. They need good core stability. Core stability is the one thing that has been overlooked for a number of years and that’s one area that needs focus. You see, the riders can be very fit, but if they do not strengthen the right muscles, then it’s going to be wrong. First of all they need to get on the horse then they need to have correct posture. Correct posture is going to develop the correct muscles.

The older one gets, the more one needs to work on personal fitness. The younger person is very flexible and elastic through all of their muscles and they have a fitness that is automatically there whereas when we get older, we spend more time sitting in front of a computer, more time doing work that’s not related to being outside whereas when you’re young you’re outside playing so it’s much easier.

What do you do for your own fitness?

I go running and I work with a swiss ball quite a lot, exercise that focuses on core stability. I work with a guy who trains me and also keeps me aligned with chiropractic work once a week.

Do you take training ideas from other sports?

Look I’m all the time looking at other sports to see what is relevant to our sport. The one thing that’s very common is the eye/ hand/ subject co-ordination. The closer the hand is to the eye, the more balanced the whole combination is.

can’t get your confidence from the horse, he has to get his confidence from you. You are the leader.” A good structure will give the horse that confidence. The riders had to find the right formula for each animal.

“Why do some riders always have good horses? Horses are made, not bought. You have to work with the horse. My horses always work with me and give me 110% over a big track. Why? Because I am so consistent with my training and follow a very structured routine; with my riding, in the stable routine, in the truck. When I go to an event, there are no surprises. I don’t have competition tack and working tack. I use the same gear all the time,” Andrew explained.

Nat Blundell was a great example and Andrew pointed this out while she was on the course. “Nat is successful because she has a clear structure. You must know what you want to do and not just hope the horse will save you. Of course sometimes you do something wrong but you only have 10% room for error.”

The seven times Olympian didn’t mind mistakes as long as riders learnt from them. He was quick to point out that the biggest mistake is to do nothing. “There is no one in the world who has been successful by doing nothing. You’re better to do something and get it wrong than to do nothing. I’ve had huge failures but I’ve taken onboard information from people I respect and then acted on it. You don’t live long enough to learn from your own mistakes alone. You have to look at others. To be good, it’s more than just a riding lesson.”

And that’s the thing about Andrew. His advice can be used in life in general.

One strong message of the day was that the rider remain focused on the subject. The subject is either the horse or the jump. “You get zero information from the trees! Do you ever get nervous?” he asked a rider. When the reply was no, “Well I would. I never have a nice feeling if I don’t look at the jump. You have to concentrate.”

He meant concentrate the whole time and never give up when something isn’t quite right. To young Amy Roberts, “You give up on your steering. You ride to the jump and think, ‘Oh damn. I missed it.’ You can neve r give up. You have to fight for it; right to the fence.”

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Horse magazine october 2013