‘There was a massive gulf between the people who could ride and the people who couldn’t,’ warns William Funnell
Top British showjumper, coach and breeder William Funnell calls for riders to go back to basics to halt a worrying trend
Things have never been busier, but I’m trying to find time to get back in the saddle ahead of the UAE winter showjumping season, while also sorting out logistics for our latest Billy Stud auction on 31 October.
After the World Championships in Aachen, I headed to Tokyo for the Asian Games with the UAE showjumping team and co-trainer Duncan Inglis.
Having trained a lot of Japanese riders but not made it to Tokyo for the 2021 Olympics, it was good to see the venue and enjoy a taste of the country, even if it did involve a lot of aeroplanes!
Standards are increasing across the board in these countries, but a gap remains between the lesser equestrian nations who don’t compete in Europe, and those who jump overseas on a regular basis like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE. This is reflected in the Asian Games having two separate individual championships at 1.45m and 1.55m, which really worked and there was some excellent jumping.
We were delighted to come away with team and individual silver medals, although it was disappointing that we were pipped to gold by our key rival, Saudi Arabia. It was close though – hopefully we can turn that around next time! Duncan and I were very proud that our UAE riders really stood out – the improvement in riding and horsemanship is clear and makes the hard work worthwhile.
We’ve started to get a bit more depth in our team riders and, having now got more experience in high-pressure Nations Cups and championships, they are going into the ring to jump clear rounds. The next goal is to try to secure Olympic qualification for LA28.
We’re also trying to find the most talented young UAE riders, give them team opportunities and to teach them the correct way of riding and horsemanship early on, because it’s hard to change bad habits.
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“The standard at HOYS was disappointing”
Which leads me to a worrying trend I noticed at this year’s Horse of the Year Show (HOYS). The winners were extremely worthy and several, like the Foxhunter champion (pictured top), really stood out. But I saw a massive gulf between the people who could ride and the people who couldn’t, which meant the standard on the whole was disappointing.
A lot of riders would be better off spending less time at shows trying to qualify their young horses and more time going back to basics with a few lessons on the flat. If you want to succeed, you need proper training. I can still learn – I still have flatwork lessons and if I remembered half of what I’d forgotten over the years I’d be quite good by now!
I heard a lot of people complaining that the courses were too difficult or the time was too tight, but I saw well-built courses, especially for the young horses. Perhaps they need to look at their own basic riding skills. I’ve said all along that we need a better system of producing young horses, but you can’t blame the system either.
Holly Smith always stands out as one of the few riders in the UK who has the skill to successfully produce grand prix horses. She does a very good job and rode some lovely youngsters at HOYS.
HOYS puissance: a real head scratcher
Having watched the puissance class at HOYS, I still can’t really understand how we ended up with two riders finishing equal first. Both Andrew Hodgins (Shanaclough Luichew) and Rachel Proudley (Easy Boy De Laubry Z) toppled bricks in the final round for four faults, but the latter also fell off having jumped the wall, seemingly before crossing the finish line.
My perception is that there are clear rules surrounding situations like this and you have to cross the finish line on your horse or you’re eliminated. I even remember at Dublin Horse Show one year, Peter Charles hanging on round his horse’s neck so that his feet didn’t touch the ground before he crossed the finish line.
So have the rules changed? Did someone make a mistake?
The way I see it, Andrew should have been judged the clear winner. I’m sure the public were sitting there scratching their heads too - I thought it made us all look a bit stupid.
An important part of the calendar
I can also see both sides of the argument regarding British Showjumping’s recent ruling regarding the 128cm finals no longer being held in front of a paying audience. The situation probably wants managing better but we don’t want to take the dreams away from those young riders.
HOYS is still an important part of our calendar. It’s a great goal for people to have and a brilliant shop window, so we need to support it as an asset.
But we have to be very careful that we don’t end up dumbing down everything, because at the moment it feels like that’s where we’re heading.
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The British international showjumper is the only rider to have won the Hickstead Derby five times. A British showjumping team regular, William won team gold at the 2013 European championships on his home-bred stallion Billy Congo. He has been chef d’equipe and team trainer for UAE showjumping since November 2023. He and his wife, five-star eventer Pippa Funnell, run the successful Billy Stud in Surrey.