by Nancy Jaffer | Dec 15, 2024
McLain Ward came close to topping a historically strong show jumping field on Sunday, but a heartbreaking rail at the last fence in the jump-off gave the Rolex Grand Prix in Geneva to the Netherlands’ Harrie Smolders, who picked up a check for $419, 442 in the process.
It was the first-ever 5-star victory at 1.60 meters for Harry’s mount, Monaco, who had finished second 11 times outside of championships, according to EquiRatings.
The fastest time of 41.48 seconds in the 10-horse tiebreaker was recorded by McLain, riding his Olympic USA team silver medal mount Ilex, with whom he has partnered for a mere 10 months. His clocking would have beaten the winner’s mark of a clear trip in 41.74 seconds, were it not for that pole dropping from the Rolex vertical with a mere unlucky touch of a hind hoof.
McLain Ward and Ilex.
Harrie had the disadvantage of being first to go in the jump-off; McLain had the advantage of being last to go.
As it was, McLain finished fourth in a field that was the sport’s strongest grand prix in 14 years, ever since EquiRatings started keeping those stats. The contenders included two Olympic individual gold medalists, the European champion, the world-ranked number one horse and rider (who also hold the world champion title) and former European Champion Martin Fuchs, who had won the Rolex International Jumper Riders Club Top Ten Final Friday night at the Palexpo arena. (Click here to read this story.)
So fourth place in such a high-caliber class is impressive, but not much consolation for missing out on the big prize. “I’m always disappointed not to win a big event, but it was a brilliant way to finish off what I consider a great year with Ilex,” McLain told me.
“Only beginning to ride him in February and to be able to put together the season we have is a testament to his talent, and I am very appreciative to all of the people around us make that happen,” he said while also praising his Dutch-bred gelding.
McLain, who can now take a few deep breaths, added “I’m very much looking forward to a bit of a Christmas rest with my family and to a great 2025. I always remind myself I’m very fortunate to play a game for a living.”
As he accepted his trophy moments after his victory aboard his 15-year-old Holsteiner, Harrie enthused, “I’m extremely happy. Monaco really deserved this win. Fantastic what this horse has done for me.
Harrie Smolders takes the spotlight.
“To start the jump-off in a field like this I think it is nearly possible to go straightaway from the first rider to win this, all riders behind you can go faster. He’s (Monaco) in fantastic shape at the moment, he’s so smart, so experienced. What he showed today is outstanding.”
Harrie admitted to the situation being “nerve-wracking,” noting that the riders coming after him could watch what he did and figure out where to make up their time on the course so they could go faster
“I really took my chances. I didn’t know if it was enough,” said Harrie, “I really took my chances. I didn’t know if it was enough, especially in this ring horses with a bigger stride have a little bit of advantage in a jump-off.”
Monaco checks out his trophy.
Harrie now has the first segment of the four-leg Rolex Grand Slam to his credit and moves on in 2025 to the next, in his home town of s’Hertogenbosch.
All four Grand Slam grands prix must be won in a row, so Martin’s September victory at Spruce Meadows no longer counts toward the Grand Slam for him, and he must start over.
Second place went to Giulia Martinengo Marquet, who rides in the uniform of the Italian air force. Her clean ride on the Selle Francais Delta Del’Isle was timed in 43.75 seconds and kept her EquiRatings record for clean jump-off rounds at 100 percent, though this was only her third such trip.
Right behind her was the promising young Belgian rider Gilles Thomas, on the Selle Francais stallion Ermitage Kalone in 44.77. He is also rated by EquiRatings at 100 percent, though again, this only his third jump-off at this level with the horse.
The podium: Harrie Smolders still can’t believe he won; Giulia Martinengo Marquet was second and Gilles Thomas third.
The class wound up having as many twists and turns as the course designed by Gérard Lachat of Switzerland and Gregory Bodo of France, who also did the Olympic routes in Paris with Santiago Varela.
The course for the Rolex Grand Prix
And speaking of Paris, the Alexandre III Bridge jump from the Paris Games wound up being a big time troublemaker. World Number One Henrik von Eckermann of Sweden had a run-out there with King Edward, mirroring a run-out he had in the second round of Friday’s Top Ten at a narrow fence of white rails. That’s on top of a disappointing fall at the Olympics.
Henrik’s compatriot, Peder Fredricson, also experienced a run-out at the Alexandre bridge in the Grand Prix jump-off with Catch Me Not to wind up sixth. Martin Fuchs broke a rail there with Leone Jei, who then not surprisingly dropped a pole at the first element of the double combination that came next. At a different fence, Italy’s Lorenzo de Luca came off Denver de Talma when the horse couldn’t negotiate the distance to the Rolex oxer that was the second-to-last obstacle in the jump-off.
Peder Fredricson at the troublesome Alexandre III bridge.
Two-time Rolex Geneva Grand Prix winner Kent Farrington of the U.S., had a rail at the oxer that was the B element of a double in the first round, and missed out on the jump-off with Greya, but finished twelfth as the fastest 4-faulter.
The first round was quite something. The list of eight riders who retired there after knockdowns included the USA’s Olympic team silver medalist Karl Cook with Caracole de la Roque following three dropped rails, and European Champion Steve Guerdat of Switzerland with Dynamix de Belheme, as well as other big names, among them Daniel Coyle of Ireland and Germany’s Marcus Ehning.
Click here for results
The big show as the year comes to a close is the London International, set to start Wednesday, with dressage and driving as well as show jumping, and a host of exhibitions.
by Nancy Jaffer | Jun 21, 2024
All the major league action was overseas Friday, with a storybook American winner at an Olympic dressage observation competition in Germany, and a less happy ending for the U.S. show jumping team at the League of Nations in Rotterdam.
Marcus Orlob, who began riding Alice Tarjan’s Jane only in February, won the Grand Prix for the Special at the Schafhofs Dressage Festival with a lovely test between good halts, featuring smooth transitions, classic pirouettes and a tension-free performance throughout. He finished on a personal best of 73.913 percent ahead of Adrienne Lyle and Helix (72.739), another new combination owned by Zen Elite Equestrian. A third new U.S. pairing, Endel Ots and Zen Elite’s Bohemian, tied for fourth on 72.587. All three are contenders for a spot on the Olympic team.
Marcus Orlob and Jane.
“That was a phenomenal ride today,” said Adrienne of the performance by Marcus.
“It was so exciting to see. It’s been fun watching them develop that mare throughout the season, how smart and slowly they’ve brought her along. Today she was in the right place to be able to turn it up. That’s really exciting for our country.”
For her part, Adrienne was delighted with Helix.
“It’s definitely our best test,” noted the Olympic veteran, who will ride Helix in the Special on Saturday, and her other Zen Elite mount, Lars van de Hoenderheide, in the Grand Prix for the Freestyle.
Adrienne Lyle and Helix.
According to Adrienne, Helix, “was the most trusting and the most sensitive. I was able to ride him with really quiet aids, which I really like, and the balance stayed good throughout.
“I couldn’t ask for more. There’s still so much more power in there, so much more in the tank, but we’re just sticking with our plan as being very methodical in developing him mentally and physically, step by step. The more judges see him go like that, the more the scores will go up, even with him going the same (type of) ride,” she continued.
In Rotterdam, the U.S. team’s two highest-ranked show jumping riders, Laura Kraut (Baloutinue) and McLain Ward (Callas) each had a rail, which kept the squad out of the second round, limited to eight of the 10 countries participating. The U.S. finished last, as the American dressage team had on Thursday in that discipline’s Nations Cup at the Dutch venue. Germany also did not qualify for the second round in the Rotterdam show jumping contest.
However, the U.S. did make the cut on overall points earned during the League’s three-show series to qualify for October’s final in Barcelona. Callie Schott, the least experienced rider on the squad, was fault-free on Garant in the first round, as was Jessica Springsteen with Don Juan van de Donkehoeve.
Click here to see final League of Nations standings
The winning French contingent, guided by Chef D’Equipe Henk Nooren, had seven clear rounds in seven tries (only three riders compete in the second round under the League of Nations format.) Henk indicated that the Rotterdam team–Julien Epaillard, Simon Delestre, Kevin Staut and Olivier Perreaux, will be France’s Olympic team.
“Our biggest goal is the Olympics, especially because it is a home Olympics, but we also wanted to qualify for Barcelona Final at the same time,” Henk said.
Kevin Staut, who had been injured in April 2023, hadn’t jumped in a Nations Cup since 2022, unquestionably proved his worth.Henk pointed out Kevin was under “enormous pressure to prove himself again, that he has a horse to go perhaps to Paris with in a couple of weeks.”
Kevin said, “it’s been a really long way to come back to this level, so it’s really emotional. Some clears don’t have the same value as others for this reason. We have had tough days, tough weeks, tough shows and a few weeks ago I was not really sure that we could come here and be ready — but here we are! I’m proud of my horse and all the team around us.”
Julien Epaillard and Donatello D’Auge clinched victory for the French. (FEI photo)
Robert Ridland, the U.S. chef d’equipe, felt the course designed by Quintin Maertens, Louis Konickx and Peter Grant, was too easy. He cited the fact that there were 37 trips without jumping faults across two rounds among a total of 63 trips for the two rounds. Four rounds that otherwise would have been fault-free involved penalties for exceeding the 73-second time allowed.
The League of Nations course in Rotterdam.
“The course didn’t do its job. It appeared too easy when we walked the course,” Robert contended.
But he noted, “All of our team horses jumped very well, and it was a very competitive class today, so while we had wanted to finish higher in the standings, I’m still pleased with how our horses jumped, especially Callie and Garant and Jessie and Don delivering the ever-important clear rounds for the team.”
The winning French team: Kevin Staut, Julien Epaillard, Chef d’Equipe Henk Nooren, Simon Delestre, Olivier Perreau.
For Schfhofs results, cllick here.
For Rotterdam League of Nations results, click on this link.
by Nancy Jaffer | Jan 14, 2024
A U.S. Equestrian Federation clinic for 11 up-and-coming young riders set off a storm of heated comment on social media Saturday, after some who viewed the session criticized comments by clinician Katie Monahan Prudent, while others supported her approach.
A member of the gold medal 1986 World Championships show jumping team, the always-outspoken Prudent was an equitation champion as a junior and won many hunter and jumper championships over the decades. She last competed internationally in 2015.
USEF issued a statement on Sunday saying, “We are aware of concerns regarding the recent clinic and are conducting a review of the matter.”
The federation added, “The safety and well-being of both horse and rider are of the utmost priority to U.S. Equestrian. Effective communication between trainer, horse and athlete is critical to safety and success in equestrian sport. At times, direct words are needed to get this across when coaching; however, under no circumstances does U.S. Equestrian condone training techniques that do not put horse and rider well-being first.”
Katie Monahan Prudent competing on V in 2013. (Photo © 2013 by Nancy Jaffer)
The video of the segment with the controversial remarks was not available on the USEF network in the wake of the furor. The listing bore the message: “The recording unfortunately is not working. We will fix the problem shortly.” An edited version appeared subsequently.
There were those on social media objecting to the way the 69-year-old Prudent addressed some of the students, who were between the ages of 16 and 21, calling it “bullying.” Others were incensed when she mentioned flipping a horse over backwards, suggesting one rider should “crash him into a fence rather than letting him turn” and saying that horses “need a good licking sometimes.” Prudent also criticized “animal rights activists who know nothing about training horses.”
She was critical of the fact that riders didn’t even know how to safely shorten their stirrups when mounted, and suggested to U.S. Show Jumping Developing Chef D’Equipe Anne Kursinski that doing it properly should be the subject of another lesson.
“As a group, you guys lack discipline,” Prudent informed the riders. She told them, “either you don’t listen or you’re just birdbrained.”
The clinic took place in Wellington, Florida, while the USEF’s annual meeting was being held in Kentucky, ironically with an emphasis on “social license to operate” for the sport, so it has public acceptance.
Kaylee Monserrate, who called Prudent’s coaching “incredible for me,” said “her fast corrections for any mistakes I made kept me safe during the 1.45m schooling we were typically doing.”
She did, however, suggest some of Prudent’s comments, “could have been done so a little more tactfully, such as insinuating flipping a horse, etc., which is not okay.”
Kaylee noted, “The most learning here needs to be the industry as a whole, including the trainers in it. How students in a horsemanship clinic such as this one have never saddled a horse or properly changed their stirrup length is incredible and mind-blowing.”
She suggested many of Prudent’s remarks “came from what seems as an area of frustration,” and contended the industry itself is broken.
U.S. eventing world championships individual silver medalist Dorothy Trapp Crowell reacted this way, “I understand I am old school, but I actually agree with everything she’s saying. God forbid any of my lessons or clinics from the past were put out on Facebook now. Pull up your big girl britches and do what she says. She is actually trying to keep these kids safe by giving them the tools they need to ride safely. Which in the end keeps the horses safe.”
Hope Glynn, whose daughter, Avery, was in the clinic, called it “great,” citing the instruction of not only Katie, but also Anne Kursinski and Beezie Madden.
“Katie set a tough gymnastics and if you answered the test, she praised you and if you didn’t, she taught you what to do…I am far more offended by trainers who say, `Yes, good job’ to everything. I encourage you to watch the whole clinic, the positives, the negatives, and spend your time learning instead of attacking someone online.”
Dutch Olympic show jumping individual silver medalist Albert Voorn, on the other hand, was outraged, stating it was unbelievable “that the USA equestrian federation allows this on their showgrounds. The world is totally lost.” (It isn’t U.S. Equestrian’s showgrounds, actually, but licensed shows are held there.)
Eventer Halley Anne commented, “What I learned from this is that if someone tells me to flip my horse over, I will leave the lesson. Hyperbole or not. If that’s the best way an instructor can think of to explain what they want me to do, then that is not the lesson for me or my horse. That being said, I liked her tough teaching style.”
Jeremy Steinberg, former. U.S youth. dressage coach, observed, “If it is in fact the case that `under no circumstances, does US Equestrian condone training techniques that do not put horse and rider well being first,’ you would clearly see that both horse and rider, on many occasions, were being over-faced, horses being incorrectly punished for lack of education as well as riders. If it was in fact the case that those horse and rider combinations were not up for the task, it should’ve been US Equestrian or Katie’s responsibility to then educate as opposed to berate and rough up.”
Meanwhile, Alice Debany Clero, the country’s leading junior jumper rider in 1986, declared that “Katie was the best trainer I ever had. Of course, she didn’t really mean she would flip the horse over. She was just trying to make a point to the riders that the ability of stopping in a straight line is very important.
“Please don’t let her blunt expressions soil her reputation,” added Alice, who coaches the Dubai show jumping team.
And here’s one more viewpoint, from Susan Bright: “When I was in college,” I was in a clinic with a top clinician/judge from Virginia Beach. I was winning equitation classes and felt like I knew quite a bit. During the mounted discussion, he threw his clipboard at me and said, `Riding isn’t about looking pretty, it’s about being a thinking rider.’
“He took off my stirrups and had me ride cross-country jumps until I fell off. (Then) said to get out of the way of the other riders. That lesson blazed a mark in my mind. But it made me a better thinking rider.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Jan 7, 2024
Sagacious HF, a genuine warrior of a dressage horse who won medals for the U.S., died this weekend. He was less than three months short of his 25th birthday.
The Dutch warmblood (Welt Hit II/Judith X Cocktail) competed until the age of 23. He began at First Level in 2004, and took his final step into the arena in 2022.
Although several riders did well with him, he enjoyed his greatest success with Lauren Sammis, who earned individual silver with the gelding at the 2007 Pan American Games, where the combination contributed to team gold.
Sammis, who thanked owner Al Guden and his late wife, Judith, for the opportunity to compete Sagacious, trained him from First Level to the Games in Rio de Janeiro at Small Tour and then to Grand Prix. He won six Grands Prix and Freestyles in a row in 2009.
Sagacious and Lauren Sammis at the 2009 national champoinships. (Photo © 2009 by Nancy Jaffer)
While his Pan Am results with Sammis were the most memorable of his career, Sagacious also went on to perform with a variety of women in the saddle. They included Caroline Roffman in 2013, when she rode him in the U-25 at Aachen; from 2014-2018 Chase Hickok, top U.S. U-25 rider in 2015 who also competed in 5-stars abroad. In 2018, Allessandra Ferrucci took up the ride, followed by Jordan Lockwood.
Judge Natalie Lamping said of Sagacious on Lauren Sammis’ social media page, “He was a heart horse for so many riders. He taught so many after your training, Lauren.”
When asked what made the horse special, Lauren believes, “The thing about Sagacious is he was so smart. When you didn’t use his intelligence, he found ways to use his intelligence to entertain himself. That horse was exceptional and he was ready to learn.”
She added, “He changed dressage. Through my career, I’ve had international judges come up to me and say at that time we were the best pair in the world. In my youth, I had no idea the journey that we were on. I’m grateful to him. I was just riding.”
She pointed out, “The way he moved in his prime was memorable. He had such carriage, such swing, such ease; it was a beautiful picture. Everything happened out of a balance and an ease, not pressure.”
The ground-breaking aspect, in Lauren’s view, was that “He had more scope than any of the horses at that time. He was the beginning of what the new face of dressage looked like. You could say that Totilas then became the face of dressage. Those horses changed the trajectory of the sport.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Jun 1, 2023
The professional hunter divisions at the Devon Horse Show have drama enough, but the $25,000 USHJA Hunter Derby a day later always takes it up a couple of notches, as star performers meet in a demanding two-round format.
The field of 38 for Thursday’s class included a line-up of major talent, including High Performance Working Hunter Champion Cannon Creek, 3-foot, 9-inch Green Hunter champ Front Page, High Performance Working Hunter Stake winner Lafite de Muze and last year’s Derby victor, Autograph.
Cannon Creek, Autograph’s stablemate, led with a score of 96 in the Classic round, but the tables were turned in the Handy round for which 12 qualified. Autograph, his sleek black coat setting off his supple frame, jumped with the same type of authority that won him the class in 2022.
“He’s so scopey. You can’t build jumps too big for him,” his rider, Hunt Tosh, bragged. Autograph, a son of Balou, earned a 94 in the Handy, the same score as in his first round, but this time it carried the day. His total of 188 brought him the $7,500 first prize.
Hunt Tosh and Autograph. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
Analyzing the route for the Handy, Hunt agreed there weren’t many options in terms of approaching the fences, as is sometimes the case.
“You had to follow the same path and be tidy,” he commented.
“I think it truly was a jumping contest today. There wasn’t a place that you had to do anything crazy tricky. It was nice for the quality hunters that went in and jumped solid good rounds.”
The course designed by Alan Lohman included a tribute to Philadelphia, just a few miles from Devon. Among the fences was a model of Independence Hall, while renditions of the Liberty Bell were markers on the route.
Hunt was leading in the first round on Cannon Creek with a 96. But the 2022 USHJA International Hunter Derby winner tripped in the Handy to wind up with a score of 80 and finish 10th.
Cannon Creek and Autograph, owned by the Wheeler family (after whom the showgrounds’ second ring is named) are both imports who came from Emil Spadone’s Redfields Farm in Califon, N.J.
Colin Syquia, who rode Front Page to second place, noted “in the first round, he answered every question.” In the Handy, he was maybe a little bit late to the first jump on the left turn, but after that, he was awesome.”
Colin Syquia and Front Page. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
That may be what brought him down to a 90 from a 95.5 in the first round. The horse belongs to Cynthia Sulzberger, whose family publishes the New York Times, hence his name.
Hunt and Colin are respected professionals who have been on the scene for years, but the Derby’s third-place finisher, Ariana Marnell, is just 17. She finished ahead of her trainer, John French, ninth on Milagro.
Ariana rode in junior classes at Devon last week before stepping up to the biggest test of all with Ocean Road.
She was “just trying to have fun” by competing in the Derby.
Arianna, who will be going to Auburn University when she finishes high school, noted that Hunt is someone “I’ve been watching since I was six or seven years old,” adding at the post-derby press conference, “it’s exciting to be sitting up here.”
Hunt noted the fact that it is only her first derby at Devon makes him nervous, observing, “Colin and I have been sitting side by side for a while now; she’s sneaking up really fast.”
Ariana didn’t have high expectations for what the class would bring.
Ariana Marnell and Ocean Road. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
“I was just excited to do another round,” she said, referring to making the cut for the top 12. She is, however, no stranger to Devon. Her first national title with Ocean Road was the Junior Hunter Finals at the showgrounds in 2021.
“He really likes Devon,” said Ariana, who moved up from ninth place in the first round to score a 93 in the Handy, the second-highest score in that round.
Colin Syquia, Hunt Tosh and Ariana Marnell. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
“He’s super easy,” Ariana commented.
“He’s always really good. If there’s a mistake, it’s definitely mine, always.”
Hunt understandably is fond of Devon, but not just because he’s so often a winner here.
I had heard people say the Derby should offer more than $25,000 in prize money, but as Hunt noted, you have to wonder where it would come from. And while more money would be nice, of course, just being able to compete in a derby at Devon is enough.
“Devon to me is one of the most special ones, a show you look forward to every year, even the fact that we’re still able to come here with the development around it,” Hunt observed.
“I’m so lucky to have the owners I do behind me, who stand behind Devon as well. As long as we have Devon, I’ll take whatever they can do. As many times as the gate at the Dixon Oval opens, we want to go in.”
Click here for derby results
by Nancy Jaffer | Feb 19, 2023
Over the eons that I’ve written about the horse industry, showing, eventing, racing and other equestrian sports, I’ve accumulated stacks of programs, orders of go, course diagrams, photos, magazine articles and newspaper clippings. Lots and lots. Boxes and boxes of them.
Some (not even all!) are jammed into a storage locker, where I’ve started to go through the imposing piles of paper. This journey down memory lane begins with the 1970s and runs on through Olympics, world championships, World Cup finals and other competitions from around the globe. I’ve rediscovered pieces about people and horses, some well-remembered but long gone now, and a sort of historical perspective on what’s happening today.
As I culled the archives, I found so many interesting old stories that I decided some should be shared with my readers now and then, before the paper they’re on crumbles into dust. A few of these articles may be familiar; others could offer a new viewpoint.
I’m starting with a 1985 piece on eventer Mark Phillips, written when the Olympic gold medalist who won Badminton and Burghley came to the U.S. Equestrian Team headquarters in Gladstone, N.J.,to give a clinic for American eventers. It may seem a bit quaint, but remember this was a different era and quite a big deal at the time because of his connection with Britain’s royal family.
Here’s the original of the 1985 story that introduced Mark Phillips to many of my readers.
In 2023, we all know Mark as the former chef d’equipe for the U.S. eventing team, and a sought-after course designer (he put together the cross-country route for the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games and many other tests here and in Europe). His daughter, Zara (Tindall), who was only four when this story was written, went on to become European Eventing Champion and subsequently World Champion, earning an Olympic team silver medal to boot.
Mark Phillips consults with U.S. team member Boyd Martin in 2017. (Photo © 2017 by Nancy Jaffer)
But 38 years ago, that was yet to come and the general public knew Mark Phillips best as the man who married Great Britain’s Princess Anne. Below is the story in readable form (don’t try to make out the words in the clipping above–you’ll strain your eyes.) The article was written primarily for a non-horse-oriented audience: Here it is–
June 16, 1985: Yank Equestrians jump at chance for some royal lessons
The world at large knows Capt. Mark Phillips as the good-looking fellow who married Great Britain’s Princess Anne.
In the international equestrian community, however, Phillips is famous for his competitive stature. His dossier includes four wins at the world’s most prestigious Three-Day Event and membership on the British teams that won gold medals in the Three-Day Event at the Munich Olympics and the World Championships.
He also has a reputation for good sportsmanship, and it is the desire to share his approach to riding with others that has brought him to New Jersey for a few days.
Phillips is giving a helping hand to up-and-coming American eventers at the U.S. Equestrian Team (USET) Training Center in Gladstone.
There are those who might consider that aiding the opposition. Even Phillips cheerily refers to the American three-day riders as “sort of traditional enemies” of the British in the sport.
“America has always been the team to beat as far as we’re concerned,” he notes.
But Phillips is quick to add, “If you can’t help somebody in sport, well … ,” and the unspoken words are a dismissal of those too mean-spirited to share their knowledge.
Three-Day Eventing is enormously popular in Britain, where the combination of dressage, riding over obstacles cross-country and jumping fences in· a stadium setting can draw 100,000 spectators.
Ironically, though the U.S. has won the eventing team gold medals in the last two Olympics, the sport has a much lower profile here.
That doesn’t make it any less of a passionate pastime for its practitioners, however. Their ranks include the 15 riders who came from all over the East and Midwest over the weekend to work with Phillips. He volunteered for the duty and did not charge the team for his presence, considering it “an honor” to be at the elegant Gladstone facility.
“So much history in equestrian sports and success has come out of this place,” he explained.
Phillips even admitted to a bit of I nervousness before arriving.
“Americans are more technical than we are,” he observed. “We tend to ride more by the seat of our pants.”
The riders got along well with the informal Phillips, partying with him at a local restaurant one night and eagerly seeking his opinion on their horsemanship.
“I work on my own at home, so this is particularly valuable to me,” said 23-year-old Nick Marnye of Kentucky after finishing a schooling session with his palomino quarter horse, Good as Gold.
Phillips liked Marnye’s mount, and that was a boost to the young rider.
“It certainly gives you a little more confidence,” said Marnye, adding he appreciated Phillips’ attitude.
“I know he’s here to help me, not destroy me,” added Marnye, who had some previous instruction that rendered the opposite effect.
Indeed, Phillips in action is the essence of encouragement. Attired in boots, breeches, an argyle sweater and flat wool cap, Phillips instinctively goes through the proper movements-holding imaginary reins, straightening the shoulders as he instructs from the ground.
“Thank you very much indeed. Excellent,” he says with enthusiasm time after time, as riders successfully use suggested techniques and obtain the desired response from their animals.
Phillips believes in pushing the positive.
“If you take the top 10 riders in the world, what’s the difference on the day (of competition)?” he asked.
“Confidence. If confidence is high, you go and do it. If you say, ‘I’m no bloody good,’ you give up.”
Though he is 36, giving up is something Phillips himself has yet to seriously consider. His sport is a dangerous one. A tiring 1,100-pound horse who takes a misstep at an immovable cross-country jump can mean bone-crushing disaster for a rider.
But the father of two is looking ahead to the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, and hoping to be a part of the scene there.
“I’ve had two or three really bad years, when horses I thought would come through, haven’t,” said Phillips.
“But I won the Novice Championship last year with Distinctive and I’ve got two or three others I’m very excited about.
If these prospects don’t pan out, he conceded, “That might be the time to call it a day and spend time teaching.”
As Phillips has acknowledged in the past, “There’s no fame shorter than sporting fame” and he accepts the fact that the moment will come when the trophies will go home with his students, rather than himself.
He teaches all over the world, doing instructional clinics in Australia and New Zealand regularly, and ranging as far afield as Japan. He hopes to do more such work in America after breaking the ice this time.
And it’s possible there may be more opportunities like the commentating stint he handled for Australian television at the Olympics.
“I had never done it before and I was a real novice,” he admitted. “But people wrote and said they enjoyed it. That gave me a bit of a buzz. Maybe all the effort was worthwhile.”
Eventing sponsorship in Great Britain is quite the thing, and Phillips is backed by Land Rover. The firm is committed through 1988 to his “Range Rover” team, which includes a contingent of young riders he is bringing along.
Like all top competitors, Phillips often yearns for someone to give him a few pointers, just as he helps others.
Though he has had some dressage coaching, there is little time for him to get assistance. During his stay here, he worked on jumping techniques with retired USET Show Jumping Coach Bertlan de Nemethy of Far Hills.
At home, Princess Anne occasionally lends a hand, if asked. A top eventer herself, she rode on the 1976 British Olympic team, while Phillips was the reserve member there.
Since the birth of the Phillips’ children, Peter, 7, and Zara, 4, Princess Anne has been concentrating primarily on events for novice horses.
But the mutual eventing aid comes only “as and when required,” Phillips said, noting, “It’s like a husband and wife can’t teach each other to drive. There’s nothing worse than help from a husband or wife when you don’t want it.”
Phillips added he and Princess Anne “interchange a bit” and occasionally swap horses. “Sometimes the feminine touch works better with a horse, and sometimes the male strength is better. Different horses react differently,” he commented.
Phillips doesn’t feel that being married to Princess Anne has affected his position in eventing.
“Sport doesn’t do anybody any favors. It’s no respecter of rank or anything else,” said Phillips. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a poor boy or a rich boy once you get in the arena.”
Besides, he noted, before he was married he had won Badminton, the biggest annual event on the Three-Day calendar, several times and ridden in the Olympics.
“Within the sport, I was already a name,” he pointed out. “Once you’ve got to the top, you’re always a name.”
