{"id":5600,"date":"2011-06-21T03:29:16","date_gmt":"2011-06-21T03:29:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/?p=5600"},"modified":"2015-01-22T07:36:56","modified_gmt":"2015-01-21T20:36:56","slug":"blyth-spirit-world-champion-eventer-makes-a-come-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/2011\/06\/blyth-spirit-world-champion-eventer-makes-a-come-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Blyth Spirit – World Champion Eventer makes a come-back"},"content":{"rendered":"


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

Rowan Dixon finds out what\u2019s behind former World and Olympic Champion Blyth Tait\u2019s comeback plans<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018Why? Well why not!\u201d smiles Blyth Tait. It\u2019s the question that every-body\u2019s been asking since the former World and Olympic eventing champion announced he was coming out of retirement for a tilt at the London Olympics.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s a question he\u2019s not entirely sure he can answer. He\u2019s been thinking about it for a number of years, missing the sport he lived and breathed. At the age of 49, he is acutely aware that it is now or never. With his racehorse breeding and pre-training operation scaling back, the timing was right. Another drawcard was the fact the Games will be held in London, as Blyth has a large network of contacts and support, including former owners and sponsors, in the UK. The final kick in the pants was the success of the New Zealand eventers at the Kentucky WEG, where after many years in the doldrums Kiwi riders were back on the podium, bagging team and individual bronze medals.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt WEG, it was clear the New Zealand team had a depth that has been missing for a good decade \u2013 and that was a big part of my final decision. I want to be involved with a strong team\u2026 if I\u2019m lucky enough to be in the team, of course!\u201d<\/p>\n

Blyth is a gentle, smiling, genial type of guy. That\u2019s one of the reasons he has such a soft and empathetic way with horses \u2013 he\u2019s a persuader, a negotiator, not a dictator. But the amiable persona doesn\u2019t ever quite mask his utterly single-minded, almost merciless competitive streak. Blyth doesn\u2019t do it to make up the numbers. He\u2019s not there for the experience. He wants to win, and specifically, he wants to win a team Olympic gold medal \u2013 a prize that has so far eluded New Zealand eventing, even in the glory days.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I\u2019d like to think I could contribute to that possibility, not hinder it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

He is well aware of the negative comments made in some quarters when Mark Todd famously made his comeback, in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, along the lines that the old guard had \u201chad their day and should step aside to let the young ones have a go.\u201d<\/p>\n

And so he\u2019s prepared for the fact that his news might provoke a similar reaction.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I just can\u2019t get my head around that thinking. I simply don\u2019t understand it. Whoever deserves to be in the team will be in the team. Jock Paget and Clarke Johnstone are doing so well, and I don\u2019t think people in New Zealand realise how successful riders like Tim Price and Jonelle Richards and Lucy Jackson are in England. And of course, Andrew Nicholson has an extraordinary string of good horses and new focus on championships. There\u2019s Mark, and Caroline Powell has learned how to be a winner. It\u2019s a great time for New Zealand eventing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are a small nation, with a small population, and we need to be as strong as we can be.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, he hastens to add, it\u2019s \u201ca bit ridiculous\u201d to be talking about Olympic selection, let alone a gold medal performance, when he hasn\u2019t as much as ridden around an Intermediate track on his new horse, Santos.<\/p>\n

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

The come-back horse, Santos\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Ah, Santos. Blyth can\u2019t wipe the grin off his face when the conversation turns to his brand new equine partner.<\/p>\n

Getting the right horse was \u2013 obviously \u2013 a major. Blyth went shopping in Australia, and in the UK, but in the end found what he wanted lot closer to home. Santos, who is better known as \u2018Ace\u2019, was produced and ridden to four-star level by Auckland\u2019s Jenna Mahoney, who in a lovely serendipity, was Blyth\u2019s working pupil for a year when he was in the UK, and who has retained a quarter share.<\/p>\n

What was it about the slightly unassuming, 16.1hh former racehorse, who is by well-known NZ eventing sire Grosvenor, that did it for Blyth?<\/p>\n

\u201cHe just suits me. I like small, nimble horses; I\u2019ve never ridden a 17hh horse successfully. He reminds me a lot of Chesterfield, who I just adored, and shares his wonderful, willing attitude.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been beautifully produced. He\u2019s solid in all three phases. He\u2019s a well put-together, neat horse with a deep girth, good limbs and a great topline. He\u2019s got a wise head and he never puts his ears back. And with Jenna, he successfully went around Adelaide, so he\u2019s made the step up to four-star. I don\u2019t have to wonder if he will \u2013 because I don\u2019t have time for that!\u201d<\/p>\n

So Santos had the right mileage, and at 12 was the right age. Blyth has privately admired the horse for years, recalling with pleasure seeing his first cross-
\ncountry round at two-star level at Taupo.<\/p>\n

The slight snag is that he wasn\u2019t really for sale. But Blyth and Jenna go way back, \u201cand her arm was able to be twisted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jenna has a successful thoroughbred racehorse training business, and knew she wasn\u2019t really in a position to travel to Europe to take the horse any further.<\/p>\n

And best of all, Blyth knew that the horse had been produced in a way he can quickly connect with.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s sound, he goes in a snaffle, he doesn\u2019t need a martingale… look, I just trust Jenna completely and this horse is just so solid in all three disciplines. He\u2019s not a complex character to ride. There were plenty of horses I tried in the UK especially who were nice, but who had some difficulty in one phase or another, and there was a high risk I\u2019d spend lots of money and find that six months later there would be a quirk I couldn\u2019t iron out.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is just the right horse for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Santos is also \u2013 at least Blyth fervently hopes so \u2013 the right horse for the London Games. The word is that the cross-country track at Greenwich will be twisty, surprisingly undulating and massively influential \u2013 the opposite of the big, bold course at the Kentucky WEG \u2013 and a winning horse will be one who handles on a dime.<\/p>\n

Though he hasn\u2019t competed in eventing for six and a half years, having bowed out at Burghley 2004, Blyth hasn\u2019t been far from horses.<\/p>\n

He was Eventing NZ\u2019s high performance manager for four years, and has conducted coaching clinics around the country, as well as running his racehorse breeding and pre-training farm.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s ridden most days, and has even jumped the odd horse, and while he lacks matchplay he\u2019s still as fit, lean and hungry as the Blyth of old.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also acutely aware of the major changes the sport has undergone over the last decade.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe short format was well established when I was last competing, and I don\u2019t think that has taken the skill of cross-country riding away, though it has taken some of the endurance side of the sport away.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main difference is in the dressage \u2013 it has evolved significantly and has become more of an influence on the overall result.\u201d<\/p>\n

The show jumping phase, he believes, has suffered as a direct consequence.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I was being critical \u2013 and this is not direct criticism of any one rider \u2013 when I watch international events I am always very impressed with the dressage, and very unimpressed with the show jumping, and I think it\u2019s because the accent on collection means horses have lost some of the soft forwardness they used to have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blyth and Ace leave for England at the end of March, while partner Paul O\u2019Brien will remain in New Zealand for the short term at least until the couple\u2019s Chesterfields farm south of Auckland is \u2013 hopefully \u2013 sold. The aim is to make it to Burghley in September.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not nervous at all, though clearly I will be rusty. But I can\u2019t wait!\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps surprisingly, Blyth doesn\u2019t consider himself a natural, even though he is still the only eventer to hold both World and Olympic titles, and was the FEI\u2019s top-ranked rider for almost a decade.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not saying I\u2019m not talented; obviously you choose a sport you are good at. I\u2019ve got a decent eye for a fence, but I don\u2019t find dressage natural.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut my success was nothing to do with luck. I cope really well with pressure \u2013 whenever I\u2019d go into show jumping without a fence in hand I\u2019d invariably jump clear. I thrive in that kind of situation, and I think I can help foster that winning attitude in a team environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

What is not in the plans is building a big string of horses again, a l\u00e0 Mark Todd and Andrew Nicholson.<\/p>\n

Blyth knows what hard slog that is, riding from dawn till dusk, and it doesn\u2019t appeal. He\u2019d like to find at least one back-up horse, but doesn\u2019t want to have more than two or three in work. He\u2019ll be based at Eddy Stibbe\u2019s yard in Gloucester, which he describes as horse heaven, with a massive indoor arena and even a horse jacuzzi.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t consider this as going back to my riding career. It\u2019s going to be 16 months of my life of challenge, fun, and hopefully success. I don\u2019t plan to run an eventing yard again \u2013 I want to come back to New Zealand to live after the Games.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my last hurrah!\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Blyth\u2019s brilliant bounty<\/strong><\/p>\n

1990:<\/strong> Individual and team gold (Messiah) at Stockholm WEG, second at Badminton (Messiah), fifth at Burghley (Ricochet).<\/p>\n

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

Blyth and Messiah<\/em><\/p>\n

1992:<\/strong> World ranked number one, individual bronze and team silver (Messiah) at Barcelona Olympics, second at Burghley (Delta).<\/p>\n

1993:<\/strong> Second at Badminton (Ricochet).<\/p>\n

1994:<\/strong> World ranked number one, won Bramham (Aspyring), second Badminton (Delta).<\/p>\n

1996:<\/strong> Individual gold (Ready Teddy) and team bronze (Chesterfield) at Atlanta Olympics<\/p>\n

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

Ready Teddy and Blyth in action<\/em><\/p>\n

1998:<\/strong> Individual and team gold (Ready Teddy) at Rome WEG, won Burghley (Chesterfield).<\/p>\n

2000:<\/strong> Won Kentucky (Welton Envoy)<\/p>\n

2001:<\/strong> Won Burghley (Ready Teddy)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Santos fact file<\/strong><\/p>\n

Breed:<\/strong> Thoroughbred<\/p>\n

Breeder:<\/strong> Fayette Park Stud<\/p>\n

Height:<\/strong> 162.5cm<\/p>\n

Sire:<\/strong> Grosvenor<\/p>\n

Dam:<\/strong> Lady Emily (Auction Ring)<\/p>\n

Career highlights:<\/strong> Second in Advanced at Puhinui in 2009, second at Taupo CCI3* in 2009, eighth at Adelaide CCI4*in 2009, second at Horse of the Year Show CIC3* in 2010, fifth in CIC3* World Cup at Kihikihi in 2010.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former World Eventing Champion, Blyth Tait is on the come-back trail, and the aim is the London Olympic Games…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18500,"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":[5],"tags":[426,1244,424],"class_list":["post-5600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-eventing","tag-blyth-tait","tag-eventing","tag-olympic-games"],"acf":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5600","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=5600"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5600\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20787,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5600\/revisions\/20787"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}