{"id":14874,"date":"2014-12-03T11:38:22","date_gmt":"2014-12-03T00:38:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/?p=14874"},"modified":"2015-01-22T07:12:14","modified_gmt":"2015-01-21T20:12:14","slug":"getting-it-right-with-jamie-coman-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/2014\/12\/getting-it-right-with-jamie-coman-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting it right with Jamie Coman – Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DSC_4644\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Part 2 with leading Australian jumping coach, Jamie Coman<\/strong><\/p>\n

We are back at Coolart Farm on Victoria\u2019s Mornington Peninsula, where Jamie Coman and his wife, Sue and daughter, Hayley have set up their showjumping centre. Jamie is in a familiar role, standing in the middle of the arena coaching: this time it is Sue riding Laura Santry and her mother, Sue Darvall\u2019s handsome bay Warmblood, Marine, while Hayley is mounted on her front-liner, Just Lately.<\/p>\n

They are two very different horses. Hayley\u2019s grey part Connemara pony is never going to be described as elegant, but he is one of those rarest of creatures, a true schoolmaster. Slightly too feral on the flat to make it as an eventer with his owner, Scott Keach, Just Lately has taken Hayley through the ranks of Young Riders and all the way to her first two World Cup starts last season. Sue\u2019s Marine was quite a star in Young Horse classes, but now at the age of eight is showing real talent as a jumper and has just had his first 1.25 start the previous weekend.<\/p>\n

As usual, Jamie is a stickler for getting the flatwork right first. \u201cGet him working on the bending lines, with that snaffle you can really take him and work him, work him on the left and get the bend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jamie usually rides the horse himself, and he is being cheeky: \u201cHe makes you look good that horse, Susie, I tell you\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMarine is going to be a nice horse, Jamie comments. \u201cHe is good on the flat, he works well and he always looks a good picture. He\u2019s a bit uptight in himself, but he\u2019s really learning his trade well. He is quite a careful jumper, a little on the looky side, but also very brave as well which is good because you always want that fine line between looky and also brave.\u201d<\/p>\n

He has that tendency to lock into a \u201cdressage\u201d frame when things get confusing\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, what they do is they come into the rectangle frame \u2013 the \u201cdressage\u201d frame \u2013 and I want the oval frame. It is just a matter of teaching him to reach into the bit. He\u2019s starting to do it, but as I commented when Sue was riding him around, it was great he was reaching but he can\u2019t do it on a loose rein. He has to have a connection so he learns to hold your hand deep and work over the back. With another six months of training, and more time in the ring, he\u2019ll learn to let go, and travel deeper, then we\u2019ll see the best of the horse.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Comna2-2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"coman2-1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He\u2019s a horse that has done a lot of work at home, now he has to get some competition miles\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cMost definitely. He\u2019s done a lot of work at home over the last three years and has had limited outings, now we\u2019ve got to fast track the competition and get him exposed to every arena we can find.\u201d<\/p>\n

And surprise, surprise, we move on to a little pole work. Gee Jamie, can\u2019t you come up with a few amazing gimmicks to make my story more interesting\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t vary much from the basics, it\u2019s just making the basics very good.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the end of the pole lines, Jamie still wants Sue working on that flexibility: \u201cAt the end of the line, work him on a ten metre circle so he really accepts working around your leg.\u201d<\/p>\n

Time to jump:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI like this exercise: ten feet from a rail on the ground to a nice little vertical, two strides to the next rail on the ground. You can jump that either way \u2013 jump the canter pole to the fence balanced and make the two strides happen, then come back the other way, do the two strides slowly, then still keep the shape in the horse\u2019s jump without letting him jump out the back because you\u2019ve still got the rail on the ground ten feet away. I find that a good exercise.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSlower Sue, you always want to be a bit quick on the two away\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Coman2-10\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Now it was Hayley\u2019s turn, and Jamie wanted her sitting deeper on the grey: \u201cNot so strong in your thigh, sit into him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hayley gets Just Lately a little hurried in front of the vertical, and stops the horse: \u201cKeep the reins a little shorter, and come again. Stay very tall, stay very soft.\u201d<\/p>\n

And they take the rail nicely, but the perfectionist is not satisfied: \u201cDo it again, and keep your thumbs on top of the reins. Take the reins up nicely, don\u2019t kill the canter, nice and direct, stay soft, stay soft, stay soft. That\u2019s good when he\u2019s slow \u2013 you don\u2019t get quick with your shoulder.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the old story, if the horse is quick, you stay slow and try and even out the picture. If you get quick with that horse, you end up getting in front of it, shooting away, and then the horse runs away after the jump and then you end up with an argument between horse and rider. Patience\u2026 if they want to be quick, you have to learn to slow yourself down, and allow the horse to learn that it can be steady.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Coman2-3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You and Sue are both serious students of jumping bloodlines, so what do you get for your daughter to ride\u2026 a Connemara cross!<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was unusual how that came to be. Scott Keach is a friend, and he didn\u2019t want to sell the horse, so we leased him for Hales. He\u2019s got a few little quirky issues but he looks after my daughter. He\u2019s brave and he\u2019s been a wonderful young rider horse and now we are getting the bonus of moving up to small Grand Prix. We have even been able to get two World Cup rounds out of him, which is a real bonus. I certainly didn\u2019t expect that, I thought he\u2019d make a good Mini-Prix horse. I think we\u2019ll always have to be careful about what World Cups we start him in because we don\u2019t want to break his heart. If we can find the right World Cups, just to give Hayley exposure at that level because when you for a \u2018WC\u201d in front of a class, riders ride them differently \u2013 and they have to get used to those different pressures. So far Hayley has coped really well, I was impressed in Adelaide and Gawler, the two World Cups, she rode them very well. Really mature and focused\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

What were you concentrating on with Hayley and her horse in the lesson?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe horse has to learn to slow up, and stay straight. He has always had a left slide, a left drift, so we are forever working on that: just reminding him, be straight, be centred, stay in the air, don\u2019t be too quick off the ground. Let him learn to land and canter away, he likes to land and run away. It\u2019s a matter of getting Hayley into a frame of mind that she starts to trust him, not straight away grab him and say \u2018don\u2019t run away\u2019 \u2013 some horses you do that with them and they get more scared. You are better just to let them chill out a little\u2026 I got her to hop into a light seat for a while, stop the work for a while and have a think about things, and then when we came back inthe second session, he was great, much softer, and you have a smiling rider and a happier horse.\u201d<\/p>\n

On to the next exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a the triple combination of oxer, nine feet rail on the ground, nine feet to a vertical, nine feet to a rail on the ground, nine feet to another oxer. This exercise is very good at teaching them to stay slow in the air and learn to hold their shape because they know there is a pole on the ground, but also be in the air and be careful, and hold it all the way through. Sue\u2019s horse gets a little quick doing that by the last part, only because he doesn\u2019t trust himself that he can stay soft and actually sit on his hocks. He\u2019d rather just try and shorten his neck and still keep the same length of stride forward which makes his jumps always a bit quick and crampy. We\u2019ve been working on it, and last weekend at the show, he had quite a big treble, and he jumped it beautifully. What we are doing at home is working when we take him out\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Slow\u2019 was seemingly your message of the day \u2013 to both the horses and the riders\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to be slow, you want hang-time in the air, not just getting the job done \u2013 I don\u2019t want them just to shift their legs, I want them to be classical and slow in the air\u2026 a beautiful picture. The horses today were a little quick I thought. Hayley\u2019s horse is just back in work, he is always more like a pony, he just wants to get the job done, but by the time we finished our session today, he was getting back to where I like him.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hayley Coman \u2013 Born to Jump<\/h2>\n

\"comanLast\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Your Dad is a showjumper, your mother is a showjumper, were you ever tempted to run away and become a super model or a real estate agent\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cNot really. I suppose people looking from the outside, might imagine I\u2019ve been forced into the showjumping, but I\u2019ve been riding since I was young, and I love it with a passion. I did take twelve months off after I finished my HSC and went to France and worked in a ski resort in the Alps, and\u2026 it killed me to be away from the horses. No \u2013 riding is wonderful, I wouldn\u2019t choose to do anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n

You basically manage the operation here at Coolart Farm?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cSince we\u2019ve moved down here to Victoria, I\u2019ve got quite serious about the riding and training, and got into working with the ones we\u2019ve bred. Mum and dad are so busy teaching that I\u2019ve taken over the management of the horses and the young ones, clients\u2019 horses that are coming in. I\u2019m starting to get my own clients, I\u2019m trying to branch out so I am not so attached to mum and dad, so I\u2019m separate. It works well, my parents travel and are away a lot, I\u2019m based here seven days a week, and take care of the property.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is it difficult at times with your trainer is also your father?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cDad and I train really well together, we are both very similar and have the same frame of mind. We both want it to happen so we can be quite tough on ourselves and each other. I don\u2019t actually train with Dad that much, no-where near as much as everyone thinks. I have the occasional lesson before we go to shows\u2026 most of the training I do with Dad is in the clinics I got to as a member of the State Squad\u2026 I had to get on the State Squad and pay for the clinics to have lessons with my dad!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we don\u2019t have a lot of one-on-one sessions, but when we do, it is usually quite productive, we both have the same thoughts on how we want things to happen. There\u2019s always that good factor, I guess there is always the tension of father and daughter\u2026 but it works well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Your grey horse, Just Lately looks a cheeky little customer?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cHe is a Connemara \/ Thoroughbred cross. He is very hot and very sensitive, very sensitive to anyone on the ground, to noise, anything different. He is very tricky. He is quite strong, he\u2019s had a lot of bit changes and he can go through three or four bits in a show but he\u2019s a little star, he\u2019s a gem. He has a heart the size of himself, he\u2019s had his first couple of World Cup starts, and he was just fantastic. He was an eventer originally, but he was too hot for eventing, his dressage wasn\u2019t good enough. His owner Scott Keach moved to America and asked me if I wanted to take him on. Together we\u2019ve gone through Young Riders to Mini-Prix to Grand Prix\u2026 he\u2019s a great horse, and my best friend.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sue Coman \u2013 Sharing the Passion<\/h2>\n

\"Comans2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cFor us, showjumping is such a passion\u2026 we work all day together. Sometimes you need time off, and you\u2019ve got your coaching and your pupils, but we do rely a lot on each other with the training \u2013 and on Hayley too, it\u2019s great…\u201d<\/p>\n

Was it a big challenge moving down from NSW to Victoria?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was, and I was probably the doubter, because being from Queensland I love the warmth. I always loved doing the Victorian shows but I thought living down here might be a bit harder. Jamie was doing clinics at Marine Park and he said, come and have a look around and see if you like it, and I loved it. I love teaching the young riders, juniors and amateurs, they are great to teach, they want to learn, and there\u2019s lots around here who are really keen. The shows are great for us at this stage because we\u2019ve got a lot of young horses coming through, neither of us have Grand Prix horses at the moment, but there\u2019s a lot of variety. Within an hour you can have a choice of several competitions, most weekends.\u201d<\/p>\n

But you still have the ambition to get out on the Grand Prix circuit again?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be great to have a horse at that level, love it. It\u2019s a long way to go, but a couple of the youngsters that we\u2019ve bred, we\u2019ve got big hopes for them. That\u2019s my aim at the moment, to produce a horse for the Grand Prix and the World Cups, because I love that end of it \u2013 like anyone who rides all the time \u2013 but at the moment I have to be happy with the baby classes. It\u2019s nice to think you can get on and actually jump something bigger than one metre twenty for a change, I\u2019m really looking forward to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was a sweet horse you rode today?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cA very nice horse. Laura has done a really good job with him. Jamie has taken over the ride for the last three or four months and he has come a long way in that time \u2013 he\u2019s gone from D to C. He wants to do the right thing and he\u2019s a lovely horse to sit on. Scope-wise, he needs to learn to be a little softer but that will come with time. We\u2019ve got big hopes for him too.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jamie Coman \u2013 Off to Europe<\/h2>\n

\"Modra\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe were very fortunate to meet Mary and George Reed when we moved to Camden. Mary was like a mother to Sue, and a grand-mother to Hayley. She had a fantastic eye for a horse \u2013 Thoroughbreds, Ponies, Hacks, she had a great eye, and you just had to listen to her because she had such knowledge and experience. She would tell you something and you might not take it in at the time, and three months later, yes, she was right, that is a good horse\u2026 she was not very often wrong. The Reeds owned a number of good horses that we rode.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe moved to Camden in 1988 and in 1997 I made my first trip to Europe. I had the opportunity to try for the World Championships with Modra (photo), owned by Cheryl Hunter. At my own expense, I was able to go over and train with our then National Coach, Albert Voorn. I was looking for that sort of opportunity, it would have been nice if the whole family had been able to go, but it wasn\u2019t possible. I just loved being over there. Modra carried me around Europe \u2013 everywhere \u2013 he was always there in the placings. I don\u2019t think I realized at the time just how good he was.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs it turned out, he was sold two weeks before they named the WEG team, but still I\u2019d had that experience of riding in Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Albert Voorn was a bit unusual in his coaching\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cHis coaching was pretty much here it is, this is the way \u2013 there was no left or right, that was it, there was one program and that was that. His way was great for my riding, I loved his classical riding style, I thought he could have brought a lot to Australia in that way, teaching our riders to be super classical, but he was dealing with a lot of Thoroughbreds in Australia, and he just didn\u2019t have the feel for Thoroughbreds. He could ride them but he couldn\u2019t explain what he was doing to make this horse go. You\u2019d get on and try to ride the horse the same, and it wouldn\u2019t happen. But he was such a talented rider\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHis system was pretty well that you left the horse to its own devices. You left them where their nose wanted to be, if they were fresh you lunged them until they tired \u2013 there was no real flat or dressage work. I expected to go there and train dressage and have the horses very round and all that, but he wanted to keep it very natural, where the horse was, that was how it was, stay in the one rhythm with your canter stride\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t do any lateral work did he?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cVery little but then again, every horse that he had, he\u2019d taken on, they\u2019d been trained as young ones and obviously knew that work. But I think our riders here in Australia, needed to do more flat work. The jumping side was fantastic, we just needed to do more dressage with him. He needed to show us more dressage riding but that wasn\u2019t his thinking \u2013 he said, just ride the horse naturally.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI stayed at Albert\u2019s for eleven months, then when the horse was sold, I came home. I met so many coaches and trainers while I was over there, and I kept in touch, not only with Albert, but with the other trainers I\u2019d met. I came home and we had another horse that we thought could go to the Games, so I came home very focused and worked very hard \u2013 and made it, that was the Sydney Games with JJ Zazu.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jamie is a stickler for getting the flatwork right first. \u201cGet him working on the bending lines, with that snaffle you can really take him and work him, work him on the left and get the bend…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19206,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[694,453,77,693],"class_list":["post-14874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-show-jumping","tag-hayley-coman","tag-jamie-coman","tag-showjumping-training","tag-sue-coman"],"acf":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14874"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14874\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18665,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14874\/revisions\/18665"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}