{"id":26272,"date":"2016-03-22T16:32:48","date_gmt":"2016-03-22T05:32:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/?p=26272"},"modified":"2017-02-09T16:38:53","modified_gmt":"2017-02-09T05:38:53","slug":"getting-it-right-with-jamie-coman-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/2016\/03\/getting-it-right-with-jamie-coman-part-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting it right with Jamie Coman – Part 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"WendyWalk\"Working with Wendy Schaeffer<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Story by Chris Hector and photos by Roz Neave & archives<\/h3>\n

One of Jamie\u2019s star pupils is Wendy Schaeffer. In the lead up to the World Cup final qualifier at the ISS Classic, Wendy based her mare Koyuna Sunset at Jamie\u2019s and then Jamie flew up to Sydney to work the pair in\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

But it was a warm up unlike any warm up, you\u2019ve seen before. Walk, more walk, and more walk again. Even walk over some little jumps, but as Jamie explains, he felt the situation needed more cooling down than heating up:<\/p>\n

\u201c I did a lot of walk to start with to chill Wendy and her mare out. We\u2019ve really worked on the idea that we don\u2019t want them over-jumping and just getting the job done. I want a more professional picture, a steadier horse, a more educated horse that is trained so it can be ridden over the more technical tracks at 375-400 metres a minute.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got away with it for the past two seasons but now we have to attack it, and make it a better picture, we want to be very professional and classical in the job we do. With Wendy, you have to really slow her down, she is a very busy person in her mind\u2026 so I always start with a lot of walking with her, just chilling her out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen we work on getting the softness, bending lines, curving lines, holding the lines. She sometimes rides showjumps like she rides cross country \u2013 cross country you just have to get from A to B and not necessarily classically ridden on a curve. Sometimes Wendy goes a little too direct, or a little too wide and square, she has to learn just as we walk them on a curve, she has to ride them on a curve. You need that curve to get them under themselves, over the back, the inside hind leg is good\u2026 top course builders build lines the way they want you to ride them. Watch the course builder walk the course, and they walk curving lines not right angles.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLeopoldo Palacios, the course designer at the ISS show in Sydney, did a wonderful job, he got our riders riding again. We get caught out here with time faults and he got our riders freed up again and you see the better horses, the more educated horses, have no problems with his courses.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAt that ISS show, you could see the improvement with Wendy\u2019s horse on the flat, that\u2019s been a big break through. The mare has been difficult, she is not a patient mare but she is starting to know her job really well, she is becoming very mature in herself and we are making a big break through on the flat. There is a lot of trust involved in this process because with the work we are doing on the flat we are getting her a lot softer, so we are losing the over-jumping she had in the past, so Wendy is feeling maybe she hasn\u2019t got as much jump in the horse, but give it another three or four months, when the mare trusts that she can travel soft and steady, she\u2019ll be able to produce the very best jump that she can do and what we have seen her do. We want to take the frantic ride out of her.\u201d<\/p>\n

You feel that when you are training a horse sometimes you have to come back a little on your way to a higher level?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYou will, because you focus on one area and you want that area to become better, you will lose something else for a little while, but you\u2019ve just got to trust that eventually it will come together and the whole thing will work better than ever. You\u2019ve got to put away the doubts, and believe that what you are doing will get you to the end you are aiming for.\u201d\"DSC_1292\"<\/p>\n

After you\u2019d done your walking work with Wendy, what did you do in the warm up?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe started to work on the curving lines, cantering over the poles, nothing too big because the mare had had two starts already at that show, and the temperature was high \u2013 we didn\u2019t want to do too much. It\u2019s all about keeping Wendy at a level in her mind, very relaxed and focused. You allow her to ride the horse in the warm up because she feels she has to ride something, but you have to police how much she does and what she does, because we need enough horse for those big tracks. Our result in the class was three down. Two because we have been changing our ways, and Wendy got there a little too quiet and soft, and maybe she didn\u2019t ride her turns well enough, which resulted in one time fault\u2026 the last fence, she just allowed herself to get a little pushy and over-ride to the last. But she has made such a big dramatic step in what she is doing \u2013 she will take a little step back for a while, but then the end result will be great, she\u2019ll come back and be a really good showjumping rider.\u201d<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve worked with most of our top eventing riders, is it different working with established elite athletes, it\u2019s not the fresh faced kid from down the road turning up for lessons\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is – I have been very fortunate to be able to work with pretty well every elite rider in this country, it\u2019s an honor that they trust you to be able to help them and they believe in what you are doing. To work with a total professional, it\u2019s easier but harder because you have to be always thinking, you\u2019ve got to be very focused for them because they\u2019ve got their job, and they rely on you, they want you to support them and help them ride a track, and be there to make sure the warm up is perfect or as good as we can make it.\u201d\"JamieAdelaide\"<\/p>\n

Do eventers all have the same sorts of difficulties with the showjumping phase?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThey do I suppose. In our training during the week, we are working with a horse with energy but by the last day of an event, when I get my chance to work them in, it\u2019s a different horse. That\u2019s why I have been going to quite a lot of these big events, so I can see the horses on that last day. I try to make sure they become very correct in their riding, I don\u2019t allow them to warm up too much. We change the frame of the horse, we take it from the dressage arena, from the rectangle to the oval. I do a lot of training of courses with them, we do a lot of jumping different lines, riding inside turns.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we are working with the horses on the final day of an event, they are jumping from memory of what we did during the week. When we start our warm ups for the eventers on the last day, we go back to the exercises we did during the week to get the horse to log in to, this is your program for today: we are showjumping. We are not cross country, so you have to change your ways. You\u2019re to travel not as quick, but still in a good shape, and the riders have to get on the program too, they\u2019ve got to get their eye back from jumping cross country where they need to be open and bold to closing up and getting deeper and up into the air again. It\u2019s been great working with the eventers because it really makes you think, how do you get this horse prepared? With a lot of the eventers we do very little jumping on the last morning before the showjumping. We do a lot of walking, poles, just small exercises that we\u2019ve done during the week, to remind them, that\u2019s what we want \u2013 it\u2019s time to showjump today.\u201d\"DSC_1424\"<\/p>\n

\n

Wendy Schaeffer \u2013 working with Jamie Coman\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe most important thing about working with Jamie is that attention to detail. It\u2019s just re-iterating basic principles \u2013 it\u2019s got to be rounder, deeper, more collection, it\u2019s getting to that next level I suppose. It\u2019s really stressing what you already know, but reminding you that you have to be better. Have the reins a bit shorter, she needs to be rounder, no you actually need your reins here, and hold your fingers here, so you have a real connection with the hand. There is nothing startling, or out of left field, it is just attention to detail, being much more pedantic about getting it right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jamie says that he thought it required quite a lot of trust from you, because in slightly remaking the mare \u2013 softer, looser \u2013 that you were losing some of that extravagant jump that comes out of tension\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cOr just a result of her being a bit wild\u2026 I think it is more a matter of me being confident to get the same sort of jump but give her a more classical ride but that then involves me having the confidence not to have so much in my hand. I guess that is what went wrong a little bit at the ISS show, and I didn\u2019t quite have enough canter, particularly in the first round. I watched the video afterwards, and she didn\u2019t do a whole lot wrong, touched three fences behind, it wasn\u2019t the disaster that it felt like at the time. It\u2019s just a matter of being able to ride that connection a bit better, doing in the ring what we do in training.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jamie says that one of his major jobs is slowing you down \u2013 he had you walking over little rails\u2026 is it hard to do that when your instinct is to go jump, jump, jump?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m much more relaxed about doing that sort of thing, and I really understand the value of getting her tuned over the really little fences. It\u2019s much better to have a bump over a tiny pole than scare her over a big fence. I\u2019m relatively cool when I am in Jamie\u2019s hands in a warm up situation prior to the class, it\u2019s really good before a big class to have the responsibility taken out of your hands.\u201d<\/p>\n

I guess you first started working with Jamie with your eventers\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYes, it would have been about August 05, when he was the National Showjumping Coach, and he helped the eventers.\u201d\"DSC_1515\"<\/p>\n

Does he work differently with the\u00a0eventers?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cNo, no, basically it is all about training them to be classical jumpers \u2013 at the time I was riding Magic who was jumping B grade, and Megan was riding Jester, we were jumping bigger fences than the state showjumping squad was.\u201d<\/p>\n

Has that been part of your success, that you have combined your eventing with your showjumping\u2026 when the Kiwis were great they always did that?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI suppose so, it just trains you to be a better jumping rider. If you are only jumping cross country and event sized showjumping, that is limiting how much you progress the horse as a jump horse \u2013 so showjumping has really got its place. I\u2019ve perhaps done a little too much showjumping in the past twelve months, and maybe I haven\u2019t done enough with the event horses, not even enough schooling on the arena on those really tight lines of corners and turns. I got a little caught out in Adelaide. We\u2019d been doing really well in our jump classes but perhaps I didn\u2019t have the steering I needed there \u2013 we certainly hadn\u2019t practiced any angles as severe as those ducks! But then, Dancer jumped them great, so who knows? I guess the more jumping you do, the better you get and perfect practice makes perfect\u2026 eventers need jumping but they also need dressage as well, it\u2019s a balance between the three phases.\u201d\"DSC_1435\"<\/p>\n

So have you made the big decision yet \u2013 are you going to try for the WEG Eventing Team or the Showjumping Team?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll basically do what I have to and try to make the decision as late as I can. Ultimately, and it is a bit manic and crazy, but I\u2019d like to do both. Obviously it would be a bit difficult, but technically it is possible. At the WEG, the first week is eventing and the second week is showjumping\u2026 I\u2019ll just see. At this stage the plan is to do the showjumping selection trials on the mare, in New Zealand, in March, and the Sydney Royal \u2013 then do the eventing selection trials at Sydney and Werribee with the event horses. After that I will have a better idea of where I stand\u2026 but who knows? Anything can happen so quickly!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Jamie goes to the Games\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jamie\u2019s biggest competition moment came on the SIEC arena, representing his country at the 2000 Olympic Games, and the horse he rode was an Australian Thoroughred, JJ Zazu bred at the well-known Shipton Lodge, owned by Bruce McHugh.<\/p>\n

Jamie recalls the horse with affection: \u201cHe was bred in the purple but he didn\u2019t even look like a Thoroughbred. He couldn\u2019t run at all, he was so slow. I think they tried to get one barrier trial out of him and then gave up, which was great because it kept his legs really good. He was a late three year old when I got him. He rode so beautifully right from the start, snaffle mouthed \u2013 and you knew he couldn\u2019t run away from you because he was so slow. He was so nicely trained you could pretty well do a Prix St Georges test on him \u2013 he was such a naturally balanced horse.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was very lucky that Roy Davis, who showed the McHugh Show horses, had ridden him, and Roy said he\u2019s not very pretty looking, but he is a beautiful ride. I guess if he\u2019d been pretty I would never have seen him, Roy would have kept him for the Show Ring.\u201d\"ZAZU<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we took him home we thought, we better try this horse but I couldn\u2019t get him to go anywhere near a pole! I had to lead him to get him over a pole. Anything that was new \u2013 he was very very careful. Once he calmed down, we gave him a little free jump and he looked okay\u2026 but I think that \u2018spook\u2019 goes with a top horse, you need them to have that, they\u2019ve got to be bright, at the end of the day that will get you carefulness. At the start it can be a pain because they spook and look into things and knock jumps down. Once they get over that, they are very aware.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe first took him out jumping early in his four year old year. He rode so well, and he hadn\u2019t raced, so he had a very good mind, but we took him quite slowly that first year. At the first show we took him to, we jumped him in the Maiden D Grade, and he broke three rails. Not because he cantered through them, he just tried to jump too high and landed on the back rail of oxers \u2013 he just wanted to get up in the air so high that he forgot he had to jump out as well. We just did a few more classes and then rested him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a late four year old, five year old, he won every D grade Championship he went to, then he won all his C grade Championships through to B grade. He became a very very good horse. \u201c<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had half a season of Mini-Prix and we stepped him up to his first World Cup, he had three fences down but he jumped very well. That was back in 1998, just two years before he went to the Games. We didn\u2019t do a lot of shows with him, he was just such a good horse.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was amazing to ride on to the arena at the Sydney Games. All I ever wanted to do is the right thing by my horse and give it the best ride I could, but to ride out there, last horse to go on the first day\u2026 we\u2019d been waiting all day, and it was so hard, feeling that special atmosphere, and to ride in knowing that a lot of people had stayed just to watch me ride. I felt I really had a job to do. And he did it, he really performed that day\u2026 he was wonderful, wonderful. It was the best feeling ever \u2013 that, and having our daughter, Hayley.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the Games, we wanted to take him to Europe, we had a COC out of the Games, so we took him to a World Cup at Penrith, to get another qualifier, and he won it by 16\u2026 20 faults! He had six months rest after that, chilling out, he was only a nine year old and he needed the break. We brought him back in for Melbourne Royal, then Tonimbuk\u2026 I\u2019d got a call from Hank Noren in Holland, asking if I wanted to take him over and train with him, and ride some of his horses as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a great opportunity, so I said, yes we will go. We knew then, yeah, one day the horse will be sold, whether it be then, or after the 2002 WEG. We put the horse into quarantine, and I went across and we started our campaign leading up to the World\u2019s, the following year. But then came the opportunity to sell the horse \u2013 we had partners in him that we had to look after, and we decided to sell him. It was a good home, a Brazilian family bought him, so he was sold, and that was pretty much the end of my international riding career.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat still hurts\u2026 Once it seemed so easy to find a good horse, now it has become so hard to find that horse. I don\u2019t know if we\u2019ve become more fussy, we\u2019re more educated in our riding and we don\u2019t accept the way some horses go \u2013 horses that could be very good horses.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow we are breeding these beautiful purpose bred horses, and perhaps we have to change our ways. They can jump, we have to change our ways, to have a plan, and be patient. With the Thoroughbred, you could just go, you expected it to be hot, so you rode it hot \u2013 but with the purpose bred horses, they are a lot colder, they\u2019ve got enough blood about them but it is different blood, it\u2019s not a tense, sensitive blood, it\u2019s an energy in the purpose bred ones. We need to learn patience and it doesn\u2019t matter if they turn six or seven or even eight, before they are ready to be out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day you train or ride, you think, I would love to go back there\u2026 to go to a Games, to take a team to a Worlds, it\u2019s another world you go to \u2013 the adrenalin is amazing, I love it. It\u2019s the greatest feeling you can ever have.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article first appeared in the March 2010 issue of THM.<\/em><\/p>\n

For more training articles with Jamie, go to:<\/p>\n

Coman, Jamie<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n