Equestrian: Olympian puts skills to good use

Ex-Olympian and equestrian coach Vaughn Jefferis rates the annual Hoy Show in Hastings as the pinnacle equestrian event in New Zealand. Photo/Warren Buckland

Because he was a top rider, Vaughn Jefferis believes he has the credentials to get the job done as a coach nowadays.

That is not to say Jefferis, of Matangi, is trying to sell the concept that elite riders should automatically make that transition.

"I know a lot of people who are good riders but they can't train at all," says the former Olympian and world champion who has brought a posse of riders to the annual Horse of the Year Show which starts today and ends on Sunday in Hastings.

The Huntly-born 55-year-old always dabbled in coaching throughout his illustrious riding career but when he retired in 2000 it became a fulltime occupation alongside producing and training horses.

He started as a showjumper but in 1990 switched to three-day eventing to instantaneously find traction at international level before going on to specialise in showjumping.

"The passion for me was showjumping really," says Jefferis whose only Olympic medal, a team bronze, came in 1996 in Atlanta while he clinched two World Championship golds in individual eventing (1994 The Hague) and team (1998 Rome).

For Jefferis combining the reservoir of knowledge with the ability to climb into a saddle to put that understanding into motion is crucial to the portfolio of coach.

"Some people are visual so they need to see things a lot of the time."

He advises his subjects to master the basics and be perceptive to what classical teachers impart if they have a desire to grace the global elite arenas.

Does a budding rider need to acquire a level of quality to be able to cross an almost mythical boundary to attain such reverence?

"I think it's like anything in life. I think some people are naturally more talented than others so, therefore, you have to utilise what you have."

Jefferis says while he possessed that natural ability he also had to put in the hard yards and hours to become one of the best in the world.

It was, he believes, having the talent and embracing a work ethic that proved to be the difference between him and "others who didn't quite get there".

He regards the Hoy Show as the pinnacle of equestrian riding in the country, something children and students look forward to.

"It's the highlight of the calendar for majority of the people so it's competition that you build towards."

Last year the highlight for Jefferis was luring Australian rider James Arkins. But this week it's Olivia Dalton, 14, of Auckland, daughter of Grant Dalton, of the Team NZ fame, competing in the Pony of the Year class and Laura Inkster, of Karakara, in the Young Rider of the Year class.

Having met Hoy Show officials last week, the four-time winner of the Show Hunter of the Year crown here (1991, 1992, 2002, 2003) got the impression they were passionate and dedicated in making it a riveting event.

Making the transition from mentoring teenagers to someone as adept as Olympian Clarke Johnstone isn't a qualm for him and he enjoys the challenge.

"Clarke and I do a little bit together but we do train and he has trained with me from the time he was a young boy," he says before helping Johnstone with his workout last Sunday.

"We're still very good friends and we had lunch today [Friday], for example."

Jefferis grew up in a farm in Huntly where his grandfather, the late Alex Gilmore, was a racehorse trainer.

"I rode tracks as a kid," he says, revealing a growth burst at 15 ruled him out as an aspiring jockey as ponies beckoned.