Words by Alexandra Bruggisser & Photos by Kit Houghton
It’s no surprise that the person Sam Griffiths would most like to meet is Don Bradman, or that his most admired sportsperson is Steve Waugh because Sam was actually touring the world on cricket teams before he turned his hand to eventing! These days, the dream of winning the Ashes has been replaced with the aim to win Badminton.
Sam was last seen on the world stage back in 2010 at the WEG in Kentucky where he was eliminated during the cross country after a fall. Having been in England virtually ever since (or at least out of CH’s gaze) he’s been a bit out of sight and out of mind. From the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Sam started out in the Pony Club ranks. After finishing uni he went backpacking around Europe for a while until he ran out of money… We’ve all heard fellow eventer, Gill Rolton’s stories of polishing off half-finished meals from cafes after she was robbed in Europe (page 49 of Free Rein if you’re curious). Sam didn’t go to quite such nauseating lengths and opted for a job with Kiwi eventer, Blyth Tait. Once on the eventing scene in England, Sam linked up with Matt Ryan about fifteen years ago and started catching rides under Matt’s watchful eye. With plenty of reasons to stay in England (including his lovely Pommy wife Lucy), Sam set up his own yard with fifteen eventers on the Dorset-Somerset border in April 2009.
I was goaded into finding out just what went down in Kentucky and managed to catch him during a few autograph-signing-free minutes on the Horse Quest stand at Equitana.
Talk us through Kentucky…
“Well sometimes you get to events and it goes your way, and other times, it doesn’t. It was a big learning curve. In hindsight I came in a bit under-prepared and under-run. Usually I would run my horses more prior to the event, but I had wrapped him up a bit too much for that competition and had a round that just didn’t quite happen for me out there. He’s generally very reliable but it just didn’t happen on that day.”
It was your first time on a big team too?
“It’s the first time I’ve been on what I would call a proper team, meaning a team for the Olympics or World Championships. So it was the first time I had experienced that sort of pressure. It wasn’t really the best experience, but I think I’ll come back better for it. And Australia already has a record for going badly at the World Championships and then going really well at the Olympics. So fingers crossed, we’re going to keep that tradition going!”
After Kentucky, how did you regroup for your next competition?
“Whenever you have a bad performance you’ve got to look at it and work out where you went wrong – so I had some soul searching to do! Then you just have to knuckle down and bounce back from it. So I tried to work out where I’d gone wrong and what I would do next time. I think I was too conservative and should have run him harder. It was tricky though because at the time we, as Australians, were short of horses so I’d been encouraged not to over do it. I’ve just tried to focus on doing as well as I could from there on and have put Kentucky behind me. That’s the way it is with horses – so many ups and downs.”
Have you got any strategies for helping yourself bounce back?
“Yeah, well I’ve been in the sport for quite a while now and I think sometimes you realise that you need luck, which didn’t really happen for me at WEG. So I just knuckle down and work harder to get the results. Sonja Johnson gave me some useful advice, Sam, you’ve just got to concentrate on what you’re doing and try and pay Australia back and go well at your next Olympics.”
And how has your season been since then?
“I was really pleased that at the first big show after Kentucky I ended up coming fourth. That was Badminton. So to bounce back from the disappointment at Kentucky to prove that the horse and I could still perform at a high level was really pleasing. I then went on and did Aachen and then did Burghley, where again, we did very well. I was first to go so that makes things tough and you won’t win it from first, but he put in a really solid performance.”
I saw you in Aachen, in 2011, were you on the team there too?
“Yes, I think we had a solid team performance at Aachen. It was the first time under new management, with Prue Barrett. I came away from that feeling really positive and thinking the team was going in a good direction. I think we’re only going to get better!”
You mention team management, what’s it like being based in the UK?
“We still feel very supported. It’s unavoidable that the distance makes things tricky but Prue is implementing some things to keep an eye on us and I think that side of things is working well. As a group, all of the Australian riders tend to stick together over there. So we do feel like we’ve got Aussie support. The EA give us good funding and stay in constant contact.”
Who do you get help from in the various phases?
“Well, we’ve had a few different coaches in recent times. Seeing that I’m here at Equitana now, I’m hoping to run into Brett Parbery and convince him to come into the UK a bit more! Where he bases himself in Holland is so close to the UK. I’ve also done training with British rider, Carl Hester, the current European Dressage Champion, who’s fantastic. This year I’m planning on heading over to Germany to go to Gilbert Böckmann’s place for some showjump training. Again, through EA funding, we’re able to take a group of horses from the UK to go and do some training and some shows.”
At the mention of Carl, I’ve gone all green eyed!! It’s lucky I’m sitting down because Uthopia makes me weak at the knees… It’s sad to think that after London this special partnership is likely to split.
Nice choice of coaches!! Wow!
“Yeah, they’re World Class aren’t they!”
How were the lessons with Carl?
“Great. I’ve been lucky enough to train with some great trainers and I think the common thread is that they keep things really simple. Carl keeps things really straightforward, but pays attention to detail and has a great knack of explaining things. He’s a pleasure to work with and really good fun! I could always have a laugh with him.”
You say attention to detail, what sorts of things does he pick up on?
“Things like your halts. Sometimes you think it’s pretty good but he wants them to be perfect. Just little things like that. The other great thing about Carl is that he’s an out-and-out horseman; he trains very much with the horse being first and at the forefront. The only trouble with Carl is that he gets booked up and doesn’t often train us eventers. I got in through the back door,
one of the ladies who owns my good horse, Happy Times, is great friends with one of Carl’s owners, so my connections helped me out. I would like to try and do some more with him, but because Carl is so difficult to get a hold of, I’ve done a bit with Charlotte Dujardin [Carl’s star pupil, rider of Valegro and fellow gold medal team member at the Europeans]. She comes and trains us, and she’s quite tough! Oh yeah!! She whips us into line! She makes you very disciplined as a rider.”
The 2011 season has drawn to a close, you were saying you’re pretty happy with how the year progressed…
“Yeah, Happy Times is back! I’ve got another lovely eight-year-old mare who did her first three star out at Boekelo in Holland and I think she’s a super horse. I just need to get her a little bit better on the flat but she’s a great jumper and one for the future.”
Tell us a bit about the atmosphere in England at the moment leading up to the Games…
“There’s real enthusiasm! Like out here when we had the Sydney Olympics, there’s a real buzz. The British riders are feeling pretty confident on home soil and they will be hard to beat, but hopefully we’ll give them a run for their money… I’m sure we will actually!”
Have you seen Greenwich Park?
“Yes I rode in the test event there. It’s surreal because you’re right in the middle of the city. You walk out of the stables and there are pubs and shops and restaurants. You really feel like you’re right in the city. I think it will be an iconic event. There will be photos of people jumping with the London skyline in the background. That will be pretty cool!”