One of the biggest misconceptions about showing – and equestrian sport in general – is that it’s easy. What makes our sport unique is that we’re not simply training ourselves; we’re producing another athlete at the same time.
To add to the challenge, a show horse doesn’t just perform for us but is also expected to carry a stranger.
A horse will truly perform only when a connection is established. It’s difficult to explain a partnership you have forged to a non-horsey person – it’s often unseen and can only be described as a feeling.
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But first, you must find the horse. Often, they’re young, inexperienced or completely unbroken. You become the trainer, teacher, psychologist, fitness coach and full-time carer, all while trying to improve yourself as a rider. And whoever coined the phrase “never work with children or animals” clearly never met a pony producer.
A producer’s story with a horse usually ends when he retires, is sold or moves on, and you’re back to square one.
“A different breed”
I learnt the lesson of resilience very early. Riding ponies for Dad, one week I could be riding a pony that had jumped for England, the next I’d be lying across a breaker fresh from the sales.
I’m not alone in sustaining serious injury – including breaking my back. No wonder horsey people are described as “a different breed”.
I remember coming home from one of my most successful trips to Horse of the Year Show with a string of wins. However, it was time for my top horses to retire, and one was sold.
I went on holiday, came home and walked into the empty yard, and I remember thinking, “What now?”
I didn’t have the next generation waiting in the wings.
Finding another top horse isn’t like popping to the supermarket. It takes years. One minute I’d been on top of the world; the next I genuinely wondered whether I’d ever win another class.
The challenge of starting over
It struck me that I can’t think of many other sports where you can reach the pinnacle of your profession and then, almost overnight, find yourself starting all over again.
Athletes in most sports spend years conditioning the same body and refining their own skills. While riders improve with experience, every success comes with a different horse.
After decades of producing horses across different disciplines, I’ve come to realise that while every horse is absolutely an individual, there is the occasional moment of thinking, “I’ve seen this horse before.”
Not the horse itself, of course, but the personality. Somewhere over the years, I’ve worked with another horse just like it. I know what worked, what didn’t and, perhaps more importantly, the mistakes I made.
The horses that taught me the most weren’t always the champions. Quite often, they were the ones that had me scratching my head, questioning myself and occasionally wondering why I ever thought this was a sensible career!
Perhaps that’s why the sport is so often misunderstood.
I still remember Gary Lineker’s tweet after Nick Skelton’s comeback in 2016 from a broken neck to win Olympic gold in Rio, describing the moment as “an old bloke on a horse jumping It’s a Knockout-style obstacles”.
It was hopefully meant as humour, but it was a reminder of how invisible the skill in our sport can be to those who have never experienced it.
The culture we create
It's disappointing when I see horse people turning on one another online. Spend a day at a show, and you’ll see competitors applauding each other and congratulating the winners. A few hours later, social media can paint a very different picture.
I’ve noticed the same thing during the FIFA World Cup. Supporters cheer their team from the pub, then go home and criticise the very players they’ve just been singing about. It’s a mentality I’ll never understand. We all have a responsibility for the culture we create.
● Have you experienced the “empty yard” feeling after a top horse retired or moved on – and how did you find your way back? Let us know your thoughts at hhletters@futurenet.com, including your name, nearest town and county, for the chance to have your thoughts published in a future issue of Horse & Hound magazine
