{"id":7214,"date":"2012-02-24T00:50:15","date_gmt":"2012-02-24T00:50:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/?p=7214"},"modified":"2015-01-22T07:34:52","modified_gmt":"2015-01-21T20:34:52","slug":"blyth-tait-the-horsemans-horseman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/2012\/02\/blyth-tait-the-horsemans-horseman\/","title":{"rendered":"Blyth Tait – The Horseman’s Horseman"},"content":{"rendered":"

Blyth Tait is really a no-nonsense old-fashioned horseman. No fancy theories, no wonder cures, just straightforward practical advice from a guy who has several times proven himself the best in the world, and who has recently decided to return for a second crack at the international scene.<\/p>\n

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Photo: Libby Law\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

We caught up with him at the Tonimbuk Equestrian Centre, at one of the regular clinics organized by Ebony Tucker. He has three keen students in the arena \u2013 Shannon Cattlin, Jodi Clayton and Chris Height, and they are gradually working their way through a series of jumps leading up to a little course.<\/p>\n

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Jodi and Ildiko are on the track: \u201cJust let the fence come to you, make every stride the same, get your shoulders up so the horse gets into the air over the jump, you don\u2019t want the horse to dive at the jump.\u201d<\/p>\n

The advice is similar for Chris and Blackall Park Dartagnan: \u201cDon\u2019t wait to see a stride, make one come. Don\u2019t be in a hurry, wait so the horse is together\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

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Shannon and Jaybee Carillion tackle the oxer, vertical, vertical: \u201cCircle, look over your shoulder to the first jump, soften your hand, close your leg \u2013 the more we press to the oxer, the harder the verticals will be, just soften to the oxer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow this time canter to the fence and two strides out, halt. She can\u2019t drag you, just because there is a fence in front of her, it doesn\u2019t mean accelerate.\u201d With a little persuasion, the mare stops. \u201cNow go again, go through all the preparations for the halt, and then pop over. She has a very bad habit of cross firing as she leaves the jump, I don\u2019t have a magic wand, I can\u2019t fix the problem over-night, you have to do it by landing and focusing on the first couple of strides\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

What strikes you immediately is that Blyth Tait is a natural teacher, he doesn\u2019t just know what he is talking about, he is warm, funny and encouraging. It\u2019s no wonder that his pupils keep coming back for more every time he makes it to Australia for a clinic.<\/p>\n

He is also\u00a0 ready to let his pupils jump, even if their work on the flat is still something of a work in progress:<\/p>\n

Looking at your group lesson, I can imagine that some instructors might say, until you get that canter perfect I am not going to let you near a jump\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI understand that basic principle as well, but at the other end of the scale, your horse might be sixteen before he gets to go to a competition. For goodness sake, it\u2019s a learning curve and I say to them, that if they make a little mistake because they are on the wrong lead or something, they should think about that correct lead the next time and they won\u2019t make that unbalanced turn. By avoiding the problem, and by stopping, they are never going to work through the problem, and that\u2019s definitely the case with the little mare. She just lands and expects to be allowed to go away from the fence unbalanced, then stopped and the situation repaired, rather than, come on let\u2019s train it and let\u2019s go round the corner and jump a fence, and fall through it if need be, but learn from the experience. I just want to keep them progressing and I don\u2019t want them to take forever to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chris is one of Blyth\u2019s regular students, and he is singled out for praise: \u201cI like you, you want perfection, you analyse and you achieve\u2026\u201d But Blyth sent every rider out of the arena with a smile on the face and a determination to keep trying, keep looking for perfection.<\/p>\n

The next student was Ebony Tucker who is responsible for Blyth\u2019s trips to Australia. Her ride was the mare Bao Luck, and Blyth also proves that he is a cool, no nonsense trainer when it comes to flat work.<\/p>\n

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\u201cTake her deeper, rounder, she\u2019s just a bit sharp. Either take her more through, or more long and low until she softens, if you need to do a bit of sideways for control. Don\u2019t keep chucking the rein away, you must be secure in the contact, but soft.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eventually the mare started listening to Ebony and it was time for some jumping exercises. Three little fences on a serpentine: \u201cAll we want is consistency from start to finish. Don\u2019t make the turns too sharp, she\u2019s wound up enough. Create and allow, you are not going to force anything. Sometimes the hardest thing in the world is to do nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSoftly travel to the first and then you won\u2019t have to do as much in the line. You are falling into the trap, you want to dominate \u2013 allow. That\u2019s the hardest thing, do nothing, relax and enjoy\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Certainly, Blyth seems to be enjoying his return to eventing \u2013 and his on-going teaching program:<\/p>\n

\u201cI do blocks of teaching, I didn\u2019t teach this year when I was trying to compete, but I\u2019ve done a series of clinics since the season finished, I\u2019ve got two more after this, then I am having a little holiday, then back to England. I don\u2019t mind teaching, it\u2019s quite rewarding and it is a good learning tool as well. You have to be thinking, how can I explain something to this one, then it re-affirms what you are trying to achieve with your own horses.\u201d<\/p>\n

You have a fairly specific teaching style, you are working on that horse, that problem rather than getting carried away with theory\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI do try and teach them a system of training, and I do try and expose riders to the basic principles, but I think they want to come and hear how to improve their own horses, so I do try and be specific with them. They can read the theory in a book, but with a set of eyes on their particular horse, I can highlight a weakness or a strength for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI try and just talk like a human, I try not to make it rocket science. I say things like \u2018don\u2019t push on the accelerator and the brake at the same time\u2019\u00a0 because they can understand what they are doing. I shy away from the \u2018I am the master\u2019 military approach, I don\u2019t think younger riders relate to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

You have never really left the sport, you were involved with the team after you stopped competition riding, but that is not quite the same as fronting a big four star, was it different coming back the second time?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u00a0 Not at all. When I finished, the big change to short format had already been introduced. There is no doubt in my mind that there is a much much stronger basic quality of horse and rider eventing now. The riders are educated right from the start so they understand all the basic principles of rhythm and engagement and control, so the gaps are very much filled up. When I used to go to a big four star competition, you used to pretty much be able to guess the winner out of half a dozen, maybe ten people \u2013 now any one of 25 could be the winner because they have the ability and the form. But really it is all still the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dressage not tougher?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe dressage is tougher and the dressage standard is better, but all the riders who won when I was riding are still winning. You move with the times, you keep improving, you work out what is required and when the tests become more demanding, you realize that you need more engagement or more collection, or whatever \u2013 but at the end of the day we are still only doing pretty much Medium standard.\u201d<\/p>\n

The extraordinary one is Mary King who when the flying change came in spent a whole season doing simple changes \u2013 she just keeps getting better and better, she is a wonder\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cShe is an example to all of us. Her showjumping riding has come on incredibly as well. She used to perhaps not have the quality jumpers she\u2019s got now, but now she rides her showjumping in a really nice rhythm, she rides nice and light, she\u2019s got a little bit more modern in her approach to everything \u2013 she\u2019s been a classic example of keeping up with the pace, and she still keeps winning her fair share of everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the showjumping has got better, the cross country has got better, the dressage has certainly got better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Are the courses much different?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cNot really. Looking at the courses in England this year, I think they\u2019ve got better because they have got over the skinny, yank them round, carry on. Bramham was a fantastically bold course, Ian Stark is a real talent for course design, he is going to be great for the sport. He produced some really positive riding, he rewarded forward riding. Burghley this year was pretty much back to the same sort of thing, it still had a degree of technicality, it was clearly too technical for me\u2026 I think the cross country courses are about where they should be.\u201d<\/p>\n

What is the future for you?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve decided to stay in England indefinitely. I am really enjoying it, even though I had a really frustrating season. I had only two horses at the upper level, and one was off the road completely and the other might as well have been. The mare had a little accident at the swimming pool and chipped the bone in her stifle and had to have that removed. Santos, the horse I took over, has had on-going back problems that we couldn\u2019t really get to the bottom of, I believe we have now. At the very end of the season, when it was all over, he was back to how he was when I bought him. Hopefully next year \u2013 I\u2019m just taking it step-by-step, but if you are asking me do I think I\u2019ve got any chance of being on the New Zealand team for London, I\u2019d say very slim, but stranger things have happened. So if I come out and have a good spring, who knows\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Where will you go in the Spring?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know for sure. I am going back to England at the beginning of January and I will get out and showjump the horse, and if that is going well, there are a couple of three star events very early, really before the season gets going, in Italy and Ireland, because neither of them are qualified and they want to try and get more ranking points for their riders. There are a whole bunch of us \u2013 like Pippa Funnell and Tina Cook \u2013 who aim to go, we all need to get the qualification situation out of the way. I would ideally still like to go to Badminton because I think if the horse is right, he is a four star horse, no doubt about it, but I would need to have a good number of runs under my belt before I did that. I\u2019ll just take it as it comes, but I am really looking much longer term.\u201d<\/p>\n

What is the kick, why are you back on the competition scene?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI think I am getting the right kicks out of it, it\u2019s fun, it\u2019s a challenge, and you want to improve, so you want to be successful, blahdy blahdy blah. I think the freshness again is a real plus. I\u2019m eager, keen to get better. The one thing from having not gone cross country for so long, is that I am full of confidence cross country. I haven\u2019t fallen off for a while, and I am touching wood as I say it. I\u2019m frustrated because last season I didn\u2019t get much competition. I\u2019m just going to try and build up, produce some young ones to sell later on, just enjoy it again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Photo: Libby Law<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chris Hector sat in on a lesson with Blyth Tait and caught up with the New Zealand Eventer to chat about his plans for the future…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7215,"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":[461,1244],"class_list":["post-7214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-eventing","tag-bylth-tait","tag-eventing"],"acf":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7214","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=7214"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20773,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7214\/revisions\/20773"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}