Hello Sam, and thank you for taking the time to chat with Irish Sport Horse Magazine. We want to congratulate you on your Super Performance at the WEG 2018 and the unbelievably successful season you had this year! We would love to ask you a few questions about your career with horses to this point.
We know eventing is in your blood, because of your father John, but when did you start to ride and who was that first special Pony that you remember?
I was on a pony before my memory started to kick-in but I wasn’t too keen. I got one gem of a pony called Thunder that I did Under 12s on. She got me keen and brave – but I didn’t do too much before or after her of any note.
Who was your greatest inspiration, and who did you train with through the years?
I was never inspired to event. I was just going through the motions. About three years ago I started to truly understand what Michael Jung has achieved, mainly through data analysis with EquiRatings. His achievements and the way he respects and trains his horses has inspired me for sure.
At what point did you think you could make it to international competition, or was that a firmly held belief from day one?
I was at the Young Rider European Championships with my sister Rozzie at Waregem in 2001. They had a poster up advertising the Junior Europeans the following year. There was a young horse at home that my Dad was riding at the time, but it had a tendency to buck him off and he was getting a bit old for that. I had never jumped higher than a metre in competition but that day in Belgium I said I would come back next year for the Europeans. It was a laughable statement in hindsight, but I did it. I got a last-minute individual spot and finished up as best Irish competitor.
Which Horse for you has been that special horse in your career so far and why?
Horseware Bushman. I led him around as a foal and he still looks out at me over the stable 20 years later. He was 4th at the Young Rider Europeans in deep mud and he was the only 7-year-old in the field. I needed that, it was my only Young Rider appearance and it put a podium within my grasp. If I hadn’t got a taste at that point I wouldn’t have kicked-on. A year later he was one of 4 horses to make the time at Boekelo in our first CCI3 star.
Then there were four Badmintons, three Europeans and two WEGs amongst many other big events. He’s been Eventing Ireland’s top horse for over five years and he’s incredibly special to us. I’ll always owe my career to him, and that includes meeting my incredible wife Sparkles!!
Well we know this has been your third World Equestrian Games, what did you have to do to qualify for Tryon 2018?
I ended up with three horses qualified in the end, but Horseware Ardagh Highlight was always likely to be the candidate.
We went from Camphire CIC1 star to CCI3 star in 12 months and that was him qualified. To get selected we add a top 6 finish at his first four-star 11 months on from that. He’s had an incredible two seasons and could be one of the best I’ll sit on.
Well it certainly was 3rd time lucky in the medal department for WEG 2018. Can you tell us about how Tryon differed for you from previous Games and how it felt to get that Silver Medal on Horseware Ardagh Highlight?
It was good but it actually felt very formulaic and textbook all week. We had such a strong team and myself and Cathal said we’d put two decent scores on the board and leave the heroics to Sarah and Padraig. It went according to plan which is great – experience tells me that it doesn’t always work out that way.
Ben (Horseware Ardagh Highlight) means an awful lot to Sparks and my favourite thing in life is to either make her laugh or make her proud of her horses. I was delighted for Belinda who owns Ben as she took a leap of faith to send him back to us. There were tears in Tryon from my team, and I was incredibly proud of the entire Irish team on and off the horses, but my overriding emotion was just satisfaction. Ireland deserved it. We’re good at this sport and we’ll do this more often.
Well continuing on with your Success from the World Equestrian Games, you and your team mates finished just outside the medals in the Eventing Nations Cup 2018 in Boekelo, with you finishing in 10th Place overall. Can you tell us a bit about how Boekelo went for you and Tullabeg Flamenco?
I was never so gutted as when I saw my dressage score in Boekelo. Flamenco was super and whatever notion the judges took it just wasn’t a fair reflection on him, with one judge in particular way off-line. Thankfully, being the team anchorman, I couldn’t pack up and go home which is exactly what I wanted to do. I think I was one of four to finish on my dressage score at WEG and one of four to do the same again at Boekelo. They were big fields against the best in the world. Flamenco is top class and will be a serious championship horse.
What did it feel like to discover that all your hard work has seen you rise to the top 10 in world eventing rankings?
I’m fortunate to have good horsepower and my training system is working at the moment. I’ll have setbacks, everyone does, but I’m prepared for that and can weather most storms that come my way. The top 10 is nice for the CV, same as the WEG silver medal, but really I just love training horses and doing a great sport alongside Sparks. She manages everything to do with our eventing – I’m literally just her work rider!
What are your plans for next year and the future? You must be Tokyo Bound?
The spring will be quiet enough. We’ve been busy and if ever there was a time to re-fill the lungs before Tokyo it is now. I think I’ll take the three big horses (Horseware Ardagh Highlight, Tullabeg Flamenco and Imperial Sky) back to Chatsworth at the beginning of May. Flamenco is likely to go to Luhmuhlen five-star, and I’d like Imperial Sky to join him, but we haven’t ruled out Badminton for him either. Ben could go out there for the short four-star as our aim is to prepare him for the Europeans off short format classes with a view to doing the same process in 2020 pre-Tokyo. Right now it feels like the biggest threat to each horse going to Tokyo is their stablemate next door, but it’s likely that won’t last. It would be great to get one of them there but if doesn’t happen it’s no big deal. I enjoy the journey just as much as the destination, and I’ll contribute to that squad in every way I can. It was great to be on the podium in Tryon but I’d support my teammates up there too.
Are there any rising stars in your stable yard that you are excited about?
I bought a very nice horse from Chris and Sue Ryan at the Goresbridge Go For Gold – he’ll be called something with ‘Rocket’ in the name. He’s the nicest youngster I’ve sat on but there’s a long way to go. Eventing is about heart, body and mind – not flash movement or explosive jumping. It’s hard to judge the real attributes until you’re about eight minutes into the cross-country at your second five-star. The real ones come to life at about that point.
What do you look for in a young event horse, and what qualities in your opinion make a top class horse.
I avoid a big in-hand trot – those horses have a slow hind leg and I need a quick hind leg. A good trot is produced rather than from nature. Active, loose and sound would be the trot I look for.
A balanced canter is very important. I don’t like horses that jump too big, they’re either too careful, too slow or they breakdown. Around 80% thoroughbred or more if I can and the rest would be proper Irish breeding – there is so much chance in this game but the Irish horses stay thinking come hell or high water. We put our lives on the line in this game so I need a quick mind and even quicker footwork.
If there is one piece of advice that you could offer to any young equestrian athlete what would it be?
Fail well. If you haven’t failed yet, then you haven’t pushed yourself. Don’t take the easy route and get depressed when you fail, appreciate the information and the experience – failure is how you learn and learning is how you improve.
Record things, work out the game, develop a system, find an edge. Talent is less important than training, but train smart. Effort is great but it needs to be efficient and effective if you’re to get ahead.
Finally, no medal and no title will make you happy or make everything worthwhile – enjoy what you do and who you do it with. Respect your team and your competitors; they will pick you up off the floor one day. And look around you, because you need to pick people up off the floor too.
Once again Thank You for giving us you time Sam, and from all of us at Irish Sport Horse Magazine, we wish you a Happy Christmas and Successful New Year!!
This Interview was originally published in the Second Issue of Irish Sport Horse Magazine in December 2018.