In Ireland’s ancient legends exceptional prowess was attributed to the magic of gods and goddesses. Today the Irish equestrian world has what might be termed ‘super human’ qualities, as we have three teams qualified for three disciplines for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. However, we can credit this to pure natural talent combined with the magic of good coaching.

Hence the need for our national coaching programme and events such as the Horse Sport Ireland Coaching Conference due to take place at Cavan Equestrian Centre on December 3rd.

I recall an interview I did with the great Army rider Major Ged O’Dwyer. He vividly described how Russian coach Paul Rodzianko turned the novice squad from McKee Barracks into world beaters of legendary proportions.

“He literally turned us inside out – heals down, toes out, knees in, hollow back and light hands for hours on end and it worked, ” he explained. Previous to this transformation when the Army side came up against seasoned opposition from abroad one French commentator of the time noted rather condescendingly: “How fine the courage of the Irish Army thus flinging itself boldly into the water in order to learn how to swim.” Some five years later that same commentator was moved to declare: “Ireland has indeed begun to swim and its swimming master Colonel Rodzianko has chosen the proper methods.”

STAR COACHES AT CAVAN

The choice of speakers at this year’s Coaching Conference is superb. They include our own dressage star Judy Reynolds, British Olympic and World Championship coach Richard Waygood and German master of correct riding methods Dr. Gerd Heuschmann.

Judy Reynolds is now ranked 12th in the world and is a driving force behind our Olympic dressage team. Richard Waygood is currently Britain’s Eventing High Performance Manager. According to conference organiser John Ledingham he will be concentrating not just on the jumps but on what goes on between them on the cross country course. Dr. Gerd Heuschmann is a widely recognised expert on the functional anatomy of the riding horse and has written and lectured extensively on the subject.

Tickets for the conference are €50 including lunch, visit the Horse Sport Ireland website or call their coaching department on 045 854533 for more information.