Warmblood By Boyd Martin It’s a Wise Man’s Game T
here are so many different ways to become a top professional rider—there is no one set formula for all to follow. But in my experience, the most suc-
cessful path is for a younger person to take to the top is to find a coach or mentor to work with very, very closely. It simply provides invaluable benefits! Age matters. Take a look at the
Olympics. In the equine sports, certainly in dressage and even in eventing, the top athletes are usu- ally a lot older than those in the other sports at the games. In my opinion, that’s because these dis- ciplines are a wise man’s game. It takes so long to learn all the many skills needed if you’re to become a great trainer and competitor. That’s why a mentor is so criti-
cal. If you look at a lot of the suc- cessful riders and trainers out there today, their journeys to success almost always collided (in a good way) with a person who guided them along the way and put them on the right path. For me, Heath Ryan in Australia was the ultimate mentor. Over the past seven years, I’ve been lucky enough to be guided by Phillip Dutton here in the United States. Putting in the hard work and having all the talent in
the world just isn’t enough. You also need guidance to work through issues in training. You need help finding horses to ride, as well as advice in setting up a business that will pay for your journey. You need to land sponsors and develop a support system to surround you at the big competitions. There are so many small details in this busi- ness to learn. To be honest, it’s not so much the riding lessons that
make you learn from your mentor; instead it’s “monkey see, monkey do.” I benefited most by watching and learn- ing as Phillip produced horses: the system he uses to cre- ate confidence, the amount of work he puts in and how he deals with his owners and sponsors have taught me some of the biggest lessons in life.
A good mentor is there to offer information and guid-
ance as you struggle over all the various hurdles and speed bumps you encounter along the way. In exchange for your hard work, a mentor (usually a coach) will often go out of his or her way to give you more opportunities to ride more hors- es, or offer help in your warm ups or perhaps walk the course with you—these are the types of ben- efits you receive along the way. At our farm, the way my wife
Silva and I have structured it, people usually come on board as a working student—either in Silva’s dressage program or in my eventing barn, or some- times in a combination of the two. The work is rigorous, physi- cally demanding and draining. People soon figure out whether this lifestyle is for them—they either leave fairly quickly or stick around for the long haul. Not ev- eryone who comes our way turns out to be a champion but those who stay for a long time usually
evolve into a success story. We are very proud to see them go on to be big players in the horse sport of their choos- ing. A few of these “success stories” include four-star event riders Lillian Heard and Caitlin Silliman, as well as newly minted dressage professional Kymmy Pullen. The majority of working students fizzle out after a
couple months. We start paying the ones who really hang in there a salary fairly soon—it puts them in a position where they can base their life around horses and stick with us. It’s not a huge amount of money but it’s enough to keep them afloat. It comes to a point where we can’t afford to lose them, because they have become an es- sential part of our program. Caitlin, for example, started with Silva and me eight years ago and still works as my assistant rider and trainer. She has become an invaluable part of my team. The system I use is very similar to what I saw working with Heath Ryan and Phillip Dutton and my students now
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