Nancy Jones likely is the biggest fan among the many fans of trainer Jeff Cook as a clinician, explaining, “He knows as much as anybody in the world, and he does it kindly.”
She’s a trainer herself, so when she says, “There’s nobody any better,” she has a real understanding of what Jeff can do.
“He just has so much experience and has a personal knack for reading people, but in a kind way,” she explained.
“He can fix a pony that’s being snarky and he can fix 1.60 (meter jumpers) and be kind and soft and make them better.”
Jonesie used to trailer her students to Hunterdon Inc. for lessons, in the days when Jeff worked there with George Morris, beginning in the early 1980s. She wound up hosting Jeff’s clinics at her barn, Logan’s Brook Equine Center in New Vernon, N.J., before they were moved to the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation nearby in Gladstone 15 year or so ago. Vicky Sroka, who organizes the clinics, sees many of the same people year after year, both trainers and riders.
“We have a following,” she said.
Jeff’s qualities were on display during a clinic last weekend at the USET Foundation’s landmark stable, where he shared his wisdom with riders jumping everything from 2-feet, 6-inches to 3-6 and 4 feet. He came East from his home in Oregon, pursuing a bi-coastal business that last year had him offering 22 clinics around the country, as well as training private clients.
“He can have eight people in his clinic and basically make it feel like you’re the only one there,” said Alicia Madretzke, a professional who participated at the Team with Basil, her homebred son of Balou du Rouet.
Karin Forrester, who keeps her 17.2-hand Holsteiner Silver Fox in her Califon, N.J., backyard, said of Jeff, “He’s so good at making sure you’re getting what you need out of it. He’s so great at being able to communicate with the individual for what works best for them.”
Jeff is a fan of group dynamics, such as the mixed bag of amateurs and professionals who rode in his clinic over the higher jumps.
“When there is variety, we can dive into a whole lot of different problems, we see the good and bad of each other,” he pointed out.
“What one person does well, maybe the other needs to work on. They can look at each other’s strengths and minuses and hopefully we learn from that. My goal would be with every level, pick out two or three things they can work on in the upcoming months.”
Jeff Cook in action. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
With the way he sets the fences, Jeff is “trying to produce some rideability with the courses. If the horses are more rideable, it offers a chance for the rider to be a little quieter with the horse and hopefully, there’s a little more of a harmonious relationship between the horse and rider.”
Discussing trends that he observes in his travels, Jeff noted he often sees rider’s the toe angle out too far, sometimes as much as 45 degrees. He prefers the 15- or 20-degree range; 45 degrees only “if the horse or pony is quite lazy.”
Jeff notes that an extreme angle of the foot in the stirrup can trigger problems.
“I don’t want an excessive grip with the knee, but when they do that, the knee can be away from the saddle,” he commented.
As a result, “they lose ability to be tactful with their leg. When they angle out too far, it can override or light up a hottish type horse.” The result: “Too much leg and if they are wearing spurs, too much spur.”
Another trend he used to see was overbending.
“Now, a lot of horses go into a corner but don’t bend quite enough.” On the other hand, he said, that’s “better than overbending.”
He spent a few minutes discussing hand position, noting that when the thumb is horizontal, the hand can be weak and the elbow, not as elastic as it should be. He likes to see the thumb just inside the vertical. That enables the rider to move easily between positions.
If the horse is quite strong, he advises, turn the thumb a little more to the vertical for a split-second. That makes the hand “slightly stronger to get the horse back, then ideally return to thumbs just inside the vertical.”
Alicia rode Basil without a noseband, and I see that becoming a bit of a trend, in the area of horse comfort and not doing what I call over-tacking a horse.
Alicia Madretzke and Basil. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
“We hopefully are dialing things down,” said Jeff, but it’s not always the case with what he sees as he travels.
In some areas, Jeff will spot what a horse is wearing on his head and his reaction is, “I didn’t even know the name of a bunch of the bridles—what is that? I think that varies by area, by stable a little bit.””
But he has some people who take the noseband off and meanwhile, “they have the horse’s nose cranked to his chest in draw reins.”
He prefers using a noseband—though there’s the odd horse he’s seen where it (no noseband) does make a difference.” He is, however, understandably “very opposed to crank or excessively tight nosebands.”
The FEI is now checking the tighness of nosebands, which he considers a step forward.
I’ve seen clinicians who are rough on their students. Jeff is the opposite, and his polite approach is his trademark.
“You don’t want to let things slide or not instruct,” he said, “but you want to keep it on a positive basis.”