#62 Talking Horse Sport with Steven Wilde

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:00:02-00:00:11]
On this episode, we're talking with Steven Wilde, an equestrian commentator and presenter covering everything from the Olympics and Paralympics, World Championships and more.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:00:11-00:00:24]
And I just like the sport. I mean, you know, I grew up in it. It still thrills you every time. We watched a fantastic jump off last week for the World Cup in Traverse City. And it gives you a buzz and you keep living for that moment.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:00:25-00:01:13]
Welcome to the Equestrian Connection podcast from Wehorse. My name is Danielle Crowell, and I'm your host. Steven Wilde travels the world to talk about horse sport. He grew up in the sport of show jumping with his mother, who was an international rider, and began equestrian sports commentating in 2001. Stephen has had great success organizing shows as well, and with a long list of events on his resume, Stephen has commentated at many shows, including multiple Olympic Games, European Championships, World Championships, over 100 World Cup qualifiers, the Longines, Global Champion Store, and the Rolex Series. His voice is a staple at WEF and other shows in the US and abroad. So, let's get started. Steven, welcome to the WeHorse podcast. I'm so excited to chat with you today. How are you?

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:01:13-00:01:18]
I'm very well, thank you. Yes, living the life in Traverse City this week.

[SPEAKER 2]
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Yes, yes, that's very exciting. So you've had a week there and another week, is that correct?

[SPEAKER 1]
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Yes, we were just on the World Cup there last week. We're on the American Gold Cup this week. And then we're currently on tour, if you like. Then we head to Greenwich. And then I'm off back to Barcelona for the Nations Cup final.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:01:40-00:02:07]
So busy. I mean, COVID aside, I don't remember the last time I've traveled. So I'm like, wow. So I would love to know, you are, you know, as I've read the bio, I had a time for everybody listening. And I mentioned that you were a writer yourself. How did you go from being a writer to now being a commentator?

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:02:09-00:04:26]
Well, I actually didn't write much. My mother was really the writer. She wrote on squads in Aachen on the British lineup and all those things. She won lots of classes at Hickstead and things in the early 70s. So I sort of grew up with it. I never went into it seriously by any stretch of the imagination. and but i loved doing everything else on the showgrounds my father was involved we were involved in running events all sorts of things like that as well so i grew up around the david brooms and john whittaker's and all of those were my um people around me um so i sort of very luckily grew up with all these people that everybody was idolizing and to me they were just you know your parents friends um but then you realized all that came with it which was great so you absorbed a lot of that um i spent a lot of time uh sleeping in the groom's quarters at david brooms over the stables etc and things like that so um yeah no we were involved for a long time and then it just yeah i was involved in shows behind the scenes and and i sort of ended up getting involved in when i say stewarding these days it's not the same as what it is now we were doing a lot of what you'd call in tv probably floor managing we were involved in the big indoor events in Europe and some of the UK ones so that you were really sort of floor managing the events in terms of timings, how it was all working. So I did that, understood that, ran horse shows. I ran two different venues on a permanent basis and then involved in some family horse shows and everything else to start with. So I involved a lot. running events um and i was sitting on various committees and things at the age of 20 something um so i got involved very early on and was judging and all the other things and yeah somebody just said to me one day when we're at one of the events i was doing this well you've got your voice is all right why don't you go and do some commentating and i sort of you know half ignored it and then uh probably the following season i thought about it over the winter and found a mate up and said Yeah, sure. You know, kind of go at it. And they dropped me straight into a winter championships, a big national show. Because, you know, why not start, you know, big? And yeah, and I was helped a lot by a lot of very good people. And off we went. And then, yeah, I'm where we are today. Still with a long way to go.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:04:27-00:04:40]
Yeah. Wow. Did you... Did you feel like, OK, I want to be involved with the horse shows beyond like behind the scenes or was it just a natural progression? I'm here. I'm helping. I may as well, you know, do something.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:04:40-00:06:58]
Yeah, it was it was definitely a natural progression. I went off and played golf and things. I was at one point a half decent golfer. So that's where I sort of saw myself, you know, in my teens. I thought that was the route I was going to go down. And I always sort of wanted to go into event management because I think that's sort of what I'd grown up with in a sort of natural progression. And I came, I went off to university. I studied economics. I did different things. And then I came out of uni and was trying to find a job and a job came up running an equestrian center and running horse shows. And I went, well, that's something I do know how to do. So at the age of 21, 20, no, probably 22, 23, I was off running horse shows for the first time and going, well, you're the event director, get on with it. Okay. Yeah. and then I went back to it had a break went off into the real world for a while working in PR in horse racing and with sports PR sports sponsorship for five or six years and then sort of that came to a natural end I wanted to move on to something else and I had a phone call saying would I come and run some other horse shows which were much bigger and we started to run some international shows and all that sort of stuff So, yeah, I mean, it's just been a series of, I won't say flukes because that's a bit, but it's just been a natural sort of progression. Now, you know, I'm getting into more TV production. We've got two different production companies we run in and in PR in the US and in the UK now. And, again, it's just been, you know, companies that we've started based on, well, should we have a go at this? Well, sure, let's have a go at this. We've got lots of people with expertise around us. Why are we all sitting here? Let's form a company and get out there. So, yeah, everything I've sort of done is natural progression. I've worked with a great friend of mine. We created a security company around event management, again, just – based on sitting there going, well, let's give it a go. So a lot of my life has been based on that. Let's give it a go. And all that thing is you spend all that time planning your life going, let's do this and let's do that. And you realize you've done none of what you actually plan to do. You've done what came up along the road.

[SPEAKER 2]
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That's a good life motto. Let's give it a go.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:07:02-00:07:05]
Just give it a go. Very good. Whatever. Let's just give it a go.

[SPEAKER 2]
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So I have a question relating to like the skills of basically event management, but more so, you know, commentating and that sort of thing. But I have a little bit of an anecdote beforehand. So I was asked a year or two ago. if I would be like the commentator, the moderator, you know, of a horse show here locally. And I say it's a few years ago because, as you'll hear by the end of this story, I've never done it since. And... So it was a hunter show and I was sitting with the judge and I'm looking at all the paperwork and I'm watching what's going on. And, you know, there's so many, as you know, there's so many different aspects to stuff that you have to be paying attention to. And we had finished the first round of, you know, the one course and they just switched it over to the next course. So I'm, you know, flipping through everything. Mine's going in a million different places. And the rider and the horse comes around the corner. And on the previous course, that was the last jump.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:08:22-00:08:22]
Right. Yeah.

[SPEAKER 2]
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And my completely forgetting it was now in the middle of the course. And so I flicked on my mic and I went and I started to say something and I stopped myself. And that sound, I'm going to blame it on myself. The horse refused to jump.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:08:39-00:08:42]
And I thought, oh, my gosh, my charisma was my fault.

[SPEAKER 2]
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I'll never do this again. With that in mind, what are some skills? So you've got attention to detail. Can you list some of the different skills you have to have to be a good commentator?

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:08:57-00:13:12]
I think there's, yeah, I mean, I'm not saying I haven't done similar to you in different ways and tried to extract myself. I think the skill set, I mean, I alluded to it a little bit earlier on in that I grew up in the sport. I spent a lot of time running horse shows. So I would say without sounding, I don't want to sound the wrong way, I've done every job on the show brand at some point. um that the experience is the key and i think that's the thing you have to understand what everybody else is trying to do and and how it fits in to to make it all work it's very easy to sit in your role get across with someone going why isn't that happening and you go well have you tried that other role you do you understand the problems you've got down there I think the skill set is having a very good team around you, which I've been lucky enough to have, and especially when you get to the large events to give you more experience. Every event you do, and the ones I do now, I learn new things every time I do an event. And the good thing is you get to work with lots of different skill sets, which is great. But also when I do the If you're doing, say, a big championship like with just Olympics and all those sort of things, you actually get to work with people out of other sports as well. So you start to steal a few of their, you see how they work, you try and see how what they do, how they lay things out. If you're talking about my role specifically, and as you say, skill set for doing that, I think, yes, one is being organized. Two is doing the work beforehand. People don't see that you do the work beforehand. Three is not skipping on the work beforehand. And I can say that from experience as well, because you think it's all right. I can drift through and I'll be fine. And then you suddenly find yourself in a deep hole because you haven't done your homework. Most of my role is done pre pre the event. uh with then added talking to everybody and so forth during the event to to add more color to what you're doing um it's about being very aware and if you're doing television you have to contend with the fact that you're going to be talking and probably have a director talking in your at the same time you're talking and hearing the gallery so I got very used to it because I've got experience. You see someone else that's never done it before and suddenly you don't realize that your own mouth is not working because it's trying to listen and talk at the same time and you just can't do it. That's practice. So you get very used to a lot of outside noise around you. Yeah, it's being very disciplined in what you do. And I've seen people do it well and I've seen people struggle to do it. And a lot of it is practice. lack of preparation and and just staying focused on what you're doing exactly as you said there it's very easy uh to get distracted or it's very easy to get very lost and and i've done it as well we will do it at some point to suddenly sit there and go where are we up to it's just you drift off into your own mind for 10 seconds and suddenly going where where were we um So focus is one of the key things there. But it's listening to people more than it is telling everybody what you can do and how you can do it. Absorb as much information from as many people as you can. And in terms of preparation for everything, you've just got to be looking all the time. You keep up with what the news is, what people are doing, talking to different people, staying in touch with everybody in the industry to try and keep vaguely on top of it um we don't it's almost impossible but you try to keep as much as you can and it's it's for someone like whatever you're doing i think whatever whatever level is is is listen to everybody around you prep um and also have fun with it you know relax you know that's the thing you can you can you you've got to be able to find your own style and do it in a way that people will enjoy listening to. So don't think about what entertains you. Think about what's going to entertain people in the arena around you. And you do have to switch your styles depending on what you're doing and where you're doing it.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:13:13-00:13:44]
Yeah. Speaking of preparation, when you're following people, you know, both on things like social media or walking around, getting to know people before the show, researching all of those things, are there specific aspects of riders or horses that you try to focus in on remembering? Like maybe breeding or... you know, prior training, things like that?

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:13:45-00:16:02]
I think key for me, and this is just me, I like to put it in context. So if it's a case of, and we were doing the World Cup last week, you had several horses and riders that were doing it. you know, maybe a rider doing it for the first time or a horse that was doing it the first time. So you've got an eight and a nine-year-old coming in that's never jumped that big before. Put it all in perspective. So again, it's better for the people listening and it's better for the crowd following it. So if you see a nine-year-old come in that you're going, this is the biggest track they've ever jumped in their life and they come out with four faults and you just go, oh, well, you know, four faults, that was a bit, you know, that wasn't great. The reality is, no, that was a really good result. So put it in perspective for everybody that's watching. Um, so that actually they're able to follow it properly without just going. And then the other end of the scale going, well, this, these pair of one 15 world cups, the horse is 15. It's perfect age. Everything's right. Um, They've jumped clear. We expect them to do that. That's great. That's one you can really follow. And again, putting it in like last week, we were we were in the World Cup. Ken Farrington goes first, trying to put in perspective for a crowd that didn't know what a lot of what they were seeing, because we had a lot of people come in that I've never seen the sport before. So, again, put it in context. Kent's first. You don't know who Kent Farrington is. I expect him, and this is what I would say in my commentary, and I was doing arena commentary at that point, I expect him to go first, set the standard, and the rest have got to chase it so that the crowd is then getting into the storytelling of what's going on. And so it's not just a case of here's this one, here's this one, here's this one, here's this one. you know, make, make your own conclusions. This is the story I want to try and tell around the six people we've got in the jump off. This is how I expect it to come out. And again, I would try and do the same in television in that if you're sitting there, it's to look at the, look at the list and go, This horse has never done it before. I wouldn't, I don't know. You know, this one's been done it 24 times. I would expect them to be in the frame. And this one's coming into, you know, is a rider that's never been in this situation before. I don't know how they're going to handle the pressure. And suddenly you've got a different story to it. And it's a bit more interesting, I hope, than just going, here's rider A, B, C, D, E, and F. You know, enjoy it. See what you like.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:16:04-00:16:49]
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. And like you said, that's a really good point for just the inclusivity of people coming from all over. I think the Olympics, for example, where like I watch so many sports of the Olympics, like, for example, gymnastics, but I don't follow gymnastics anymore. All year round. And so there's a lot of people, I'm sure, coming into the equestrian events, watching the Olympics that have no idea anything to do with horses or anything within the sport, but they're following it for the Olympics. And so, yeah, creating that story for people that don't know the riders, don't know the horses, don't know the sport. Yeah, it's a good way to keep people engaged.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:16:49-00:20:06]
That's really interesting. And that's what we've just done. I mean, I did... the the olympics as an announcer and then i did the paralympics for channel 4 television in the uk and and our brief very much for channel 4 was we were going on mate on the main channel so um and we would be dropped in and we'd be literally dropped in probably with a couple of the dressage tests to go so the the the briefing is people most of the people watching this are the general viewer you've got x million viewers and 99% of them don't know one end of the horse from what this is all about. So you've got to explain it, but you've got four minutes also to do the test, explain it, put it all together, and for them to walk away and go, okay, I enjoyed that. For exactly as you're saying with the gymnastics, I would have tuned into that and gone, okay, how did we score this? What does this work out? So I try and watch other sports as well and look at it in the same way. In the same way, I would look at, I'd turn on, american football or i'll turn on the cricket or whatever it is and go and and if i'm sitting there a little bit lost in the middle of it i'm starting to get um lose my patience with the commentary to say well hang on a minute you're you're you're pushing yeah cricket i'm afraid is a prime example um not that it's a big american sport although it's great but there's so many um so many different phrases they use in the sport and those in the sport are using them all the time and okay I play cricket a bit when I was at school and things but I sit there listening to it going if I didn't know about cricket I wouldn't have a clue what you're talking about you're not growing an audience by doing that you've got to balance it up and the same way when I work for BBC doing programs it's all about qualifying what you're doing so I'll sit there with the rider and they'll say okay well they're a bit deep there or whatever it is or it's a scopey horse and I go well that's great but what does that mean For those at home, what does that mean? So you've got to find a balance between those that are tuning in that know the sport inside out and those that are tuning in that you want to grow the audience, the sport, but also tuning in going, I just like watching sport. Can I follow this? And if in five minutes they can't follow it, then I've failed. Very simply. But yes, Olympics especially. olympics and paralympics especially are a huge audience tuning in as you say never seen those sports so we very much have that in mind and we actually scale back a lot of what we're going to say in the sense that we will just be concentrating on big championships and whether they've won medals i'm not going to be going like i would be At a World Cup game, they won the World Cup here or they did that. That's not really relevant to when we're doing a championship like that. And the crowd is not going to understand that. They won the Grand Prix of Traverse City six weeks ago. The first thing they're going to go is, where is that? Why is that important? What do I understand? To us it is, but to anyone outside the sport, they don't. So cut all of that out and keep it simple. All you need to know is they won a medal at a World Championship or something. playing ball comes in and he's won two gold medals previously, or Ben Mayer comes in and he's the reigning Olympic champion. That's what they want to understand. And it was great. I went off to, um, athletics and again, similar stuff they did there that I felt at least when I was watching whatever event it was.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:20:06-00:21:49]
And we watched everything from shot put to the women's 100, et cetera, that within a few minutes, I understood he, here are the players and, in this race or here are the players in this in this event so that i was able to go okay i'm either rooting for you or i'm not rooting for you or i understand who might win this and you've got to get that in a really short um condensed version so that people can can follow it quickly do you wish you could have a better partnership with your horse but aren't sure where to start Do you want to advance your riding or horsemanship but don't have access to the ideal resources in your area? Does the idea of learning about horse training whenever and wherever and at a price that won't break your horse bank sound appealing to you? Check out WeHorse.com to access over 175 online courses with top trainers from around the world. We have courses on everything from dressage to groundwork to show jumping to bodywork and and as a member, you get access to everything in our WeHorse library to watch whenever you want. Oh, and we also have an app, which means you can download a course or video to watch without Wi-Fi, which is perfect for those days of the program when you want a quick dose of training inspiration before your ride. So what are you waiting for? Go to WeHorse.com and check out our free seven-day trial to access our WeHorse library and see if it's a good fit for you. We can't wait to see you in there. And now, back to the episode. Yeah, it's one of those things where I think from the outside looking in, it seems a lot easier than it actually is.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:21:49-00:21:50]
Yeah.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:21:50-00:21:56]
You're like, oh, yeah, I could do that. And it's like, well, it's actually quite complex.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:21:56-00:22:54]
We've had lots of people over the years. And when I started, like I say, I was very, very lucky. I was able to sit with people that I knew because I was in the sport. So I had... a number of people around me that had been involved in it and people like Mike Tucker that were BBC commentators and Tom Hudson, not names that you would necessarily know, but back in the UK there were big names doing it, and Philip Bennett and various others that were all able to help me and sit alongside me, and the list goes on, Nick Brookswood, et cetera, that would sit and spend the time with me to help me do it. Because when you started, you were clueless. But we also spent a lot of time And I do it with people now and say, come and sit with me and you can see the process we're going through. Because, yes, you get lots of people that go, it's OK, I can pick up a mic, I'm fine. And the amount of people I've seen do that start and completely dry up or get completely lost knowing it. And then you do occasionally come, which is great.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:22:54-00:23:34]
You do come across as an absolute natural at it. um who's been across it but they've probably been in the sport for a long time and probably knowingly or unknowing you've been observing what you're doing so they've got an idea of what they're doing but yeah it's it's like all things it's like watching a rider and you watch watch ben or mclean ride a horse and you go well this sport's easy well i don't know why i don't know why it's complicated it's like yeah you're also looking at 40 years of experience sitting there yeah So speaking of which, you've been and correct me if I'm wrong, you've been now doing this for over 20 years. What keeps you motivated to, you know, to want to keep doing this and to keep learning more?

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:23:34-00:25:12]
I think I think. Various things. I think there's a sport addiction. I think you like being involved in that. I thrive on the idea, also the actual fact of commentating in front of crowds. That really, you know, in the same way that people write competing in front of them, it gives you that same and similar buzz from that point of view. You strangely thrive on the pressure of it. You know, the bigger the better. And again, that comes down to being comfortable in what you do. If you ask me to do that in sport, if you ask me to go and ride it or hit a golf ball, I don't like that pressure. But if you ask me to go and pick up a bike and do it, the bigger the better because you just feel that you can do that. And I just like the sport. I mean, you know, I grew up in it. It still thrills you every time. We watched a fantastic jump off last week for the World Cup in Traverse City and it gives you a buzz and you keep living for that that was doing it as well so you know we all have we all have big days where we're going that's exciting we all have lots of days in between when we go that was okay that was fine um and yeah and i'm very very lucky the way i've done it in that i've managed to be traveling as we talked a little bit about earlier i've been to lots of places around the globe met lots of amazing people And I've been able to call it a job while I've been doing it as well, which is which is all a bit of a mystery. But, you know, I've been getting away with it up to this point. So don't tell anyone.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:25:12-00:25:46]
But yeah, I feel the same way. I'm like, how is it that I'm just sitting here talking to people like you and calling it a job? Like it's there's there's certain things you're like, this is really cool. So you had mentioned like the thrill of the live audience. Yeah. And also, I'm sure there's a little bit of an anxiety of the live audience because it's live. How do you handle unexpected blips or things that come up when it's a live commentation?

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:25:47-00:29:03]
I think there's two things in there. I think the live is part of a little what you talk to the writers about as well, in that you enjoy the pressure. And strangely, you enjoy the pressure. And like I say, there are certain things in life that you enjoy the pressure doing and certain things you don't. And I always say, if you don't get nervous doing it, it's time to stop doing it. And the good thing is I still get nervous doing it. How you deal with things that happen. You've got to have a natural attitude. um, relaxed way about you. I mean, we've had all sorts of things that come up over the years. I mean, from, from minor things like people are very good at walking up, especially when you're doing a commentary where you're sitting there with a, with, um, you know, you're doing commentary sitting in the grandstand somewhere. I have people come up and start asking me where the toilets are and things like that. When you're doing a live broadcast and you're trying to sort of tell them that it's, it's that be polite and it's that way, but, but you can't talk to me right now that the headphones and the microphone should have given you a clue, but it's, They still persist. I've had it. We had I was on BBC and we had protesters at stripped off protesters and at the European Championships in 2019. But again, you sort of had an inkling something was going on, but you couldn't really see what it was. And because you were watching the screens, you're trying not to watch the reading, you're trying to sort of keep it, but you sort of have that sense, because you've done this enough, that you can hear things in the crowd, you can hear things going on, going... something's not right right yeah and so you're instantly on a um you're on you're on edge to go okay what are we about to deal with but instantly your brain you're going what what are the scenarios that could be coming up here so again i think so much of it is just staying calm and not making a a bigger thing i mean and we've had you know we're in a sport where things can happen with horses things that can happen riders i've seen Um, I've been involved in some very difficult situations before now. And the key in all of them has been say is, is to keep calm. You know, you, you are the voice that people are listening to, to keep calm. It's no good if it goes wrong for me to be the one jumping up going, Oh my goodness. You know, the world is ending. The sky is falling, et cetera, et cetera. That is not what people want to hear. People want to see, hear completely opposite. And you want to be reassuring them that it's, it's okay. Um, Or that there is a potential good outcome to this. So it's it's it's yeah, it's it's it's doing it's sort of doing the opposite of what everybody's possibly doing at that point is is. And again, I think a little bit again comes from experience. My years of working PR, you know, I work in PR, I work in crisis management, all that sort of thing. And I see the best people doing it. I've been very lucky to see the best people in action when things have gone wrong. And the key for them all the time is that you are the person that needs to stay relaxed, not be the person in the front making a song and dance of it and actually quiet leadership on that. That's what you've got to do.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:29:04-00:29:05]
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:29:06-00:29:09]
But, yeah, we've had a little bit of everything thrown at us through the years.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:29:10-00:29:37]
So with that in mind, I mean, we're talking about, like you had said, protesting, unexpected things happening. We also see just a change in the industry in general over the past few years. And I personally feel as though it's going to continue to shift and change. What are some of the changes or trends that you've experienced and maybe expect to experience over the coming years?

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:29:38-00:32:58]
I mean, if we're talking social licensing from that point of view, I think there's, I mean, we are also very conscious of our language now. There are probably things that you used to say that you didn't think twice about, that when you think about the sentence now and you, again, interpret, this goes back to the discussion we have, if you're sitting on the outside and you've never seen the sport before, how you interpret that language. Yeah. And so we've probably changed a lot of those things. I'm very conscious, try to be very conscious of what we say. Now that, again, it doesn't get misinterpreted or you don't be offhand about something that you're. And we've always tried to be compassionate about sport. You know, again, if, you know, horses compete and sometimes it goes right and sometimes it goes wrong. You know, nobody ever wants to see horses get injured or anything like that. But but just occasionally things happen. so again you've got to be very conscious of that and how you deal with that and as i say it's it you're right it is going to keep changing but i think that's not such a bad thing i think i think sport is developing it understands what the modern world is and i think the sport is doing a lot of good work and the fei is doing a lot of good work in those outside of it as well to keep up with the modern world and again all sports are like that it doesn't matter whether it's gymnastics behind the scenes or it's it's Whatever it is, we all have the sports to keep up with the modern world. So I think language and how you use language and how you present the sport to people has evolved. I think it will continue to evolve. But I think the good thing is we have... You know, we have a very good base in terms of when people really understand how people get involved in the sport and why they do this sport. They do it because they love doing it, but they do it because they love doing it with their horses and the horses like doing it. you know that's that's what people need to to to follow through all the time and i they've experienced a lot of changes in racing horse racing as well and actually they took a lot of people with the yards and and so forth that were involved and to see the trainers and from people that that that protested the sport etc and they took them and actually realized how well they were looked after and and actually what happened behind the scenes was actually fantastic for the horses and again As everything, if a horse doesn't want to do something, it's not going to do it. And we're not in that industry. You know, we do it because the horses want to do it and it's good sport together. So, yeah, there's a lot of things that we've changed language wise and how we present it. And I think that will continue. And I'm involved in dialogues with FEI and various others, especially with the FEI and how we continue to develop that um and that's only a good thing i think that's a good thing we have to modernize with our audiences and we we also have to explain to everyone in a more simple way that horses are at the center of this and the people do this they do it because they love horses that that that's that's the center of it you know as i say you can go and see how well they're looked after and everything that goes into it um it's actually a huge benefit Hmm.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:32:59-00:33:08]
What advice would you give someone if they were interested in looking at commentating or just working behind the scenes of horse shows in general as a career?

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:33:09-00:34:47]
Oh, absolutely. What advice? I mean... contact the horse shows I mean when I started out I was writing to all sorts of events trying to just get involved see if I could break down that door etc etc yes I was very lucky I had a few doors open for me but then I had to go and deliver on it and one thing rolled into another but I mean I get people contact me on a regular basis saying you know I'd like to commentate etc and I'm like come along come and sit with me at a show if you can or I can put you in touch with somebody that's local to you to go and sit with them and understand it. Yeah. And, and, and the good thing is, is start out. I mean, I started out doing what you call the back rings. I didn't start in the main ring. Um, you know, you, you have to do years of working, uh, and doing the smaller jobs to understand the bigger jobs. And again, I've helped touch what I hope I've helped quite a few people along the way as well. Cause I was helped a lot in getting to where I got to. And I still get a lot of help now to, cause there's still so much more to do. Um, but yeah, if you want to get involved, contact the shows and you'd actually probably be surprised at the responses. I mean, okay, we're here in the U S right now. I mean, a lot of them are big hall shows. They need a lot of stuff. They need a lot of people involved. They're always looking for people. Yeah. You know, you want to get involved. Great. Um, and, and I say, don't be afraid to, to contact, you know, other people, if you're commentating me or any of the other people involved directly and said, I'd like to do this or the show managers or whatever it is and say, I'd like to do this. Um, cause you might be surprised that actually you get a very, very warm response.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:34:47-00:35:10]
That's awesome. I feel as though so many people, um, they don't reach out out of fear. Oh, well, he probably doesn't have time. He probably won't, you know, hear or read this or something like that. And so that's really nice to hear that, you know, just the offer of like, yeah, come shadow me.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:35:11-00:35:36]
Yeah, absolutely. And lots of people have. And I was lucky enough to say, I have to, I always remember that I was lucky enough to get that when I started and I went off with it. TV crews in racing. I did lots of things behind the scenes in the sport to learn how to do it. And people were generous to do that with me. And I think we're still in an industry where people are generous to do that on the other side as well. Whether it's stewarding, it's judging, whatever, you actually find a lot of people are pretty receptive.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:35:37-00:36:03]
Yeah. Yeah. I have one final question. Well, we have our rapid fire questions we always wrap up with, but I have one final question just to kind of close up this discussion here. And that is if you could share like a memorable event or just some sort of memory that you have of something that stands out to you from your career, whether it's commentating or working at a horse show.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:36:04-00:39:33]
The one I always go back to was Rio in 2016 where Nick Skelton won the gold medal because I'd grown up around Nick because he was competing at the same shows my mother was competing at back then, etc. Live not too far away. So that was pretty... um, literally emotional to do in the end, knowing everything he'd been through and knowing the story. And actually there's, there's, you know, there's a backstory coming out on that, which is great, which I've been involved in. Um, you know, so that was to crown a career like they did. That was, that was pretty special, um, from that point to you. But again, actually, I think you get little snippets all the time in that I love seeing people, um, do well and it's not always the top top person that's done well it's the person that's coming through and love seeing people coming through and and i know i've talked about it when i've been lucky enough to do we do the the round tables and the desks you know work at at wellington when we do that and we're predicting who's going to win what and i try and pick through people on my my picks and I try to pick people that I think are going to come through and actually when they do and they deliver and they it's not necessarily winning the class, but, you know, they're top five and you just see them progressing and progressing. And I think I think that's quite exciting. And I like seeing the next generation coming, coming and giving it all a shake. So that's always fun. And there's lists of those I can think of in the last 10 years, etc. Yes. I mean, usually for me, it's been a lot of home stuff. Yeah, I was, you know, being British, I was there. I was able to commentate on Ben Mayer winning his gold medal in Tokyo. Again, British team won the gold medal in Paris this time around. London was incredible to do in 2012 because that was obviously a home Olympic Games and you don't get to do that. So that was that was a massive tick in the box quite early on, really. um or as we put it that's the biggest gig you're ever going to do that's it you know we might as well pack it up now um but yeah stadium was 20 23 24 000 every day yeah in front of that that was that was tremendous fun um yeah and doing it again in paris this time around gives you a burst but again it's it's nice seeing the ones that came through in paris that did well that that i won't say surprise them because everybody's qualified to be there and done brilliantly to be there but just you know to see people do well at that and achieve that that you knowing the work they've put into it um to see them do well gives you gives strangely gives you a buzz so yeah there's probably yeah there's probably a lot of olympic ones in there um because that's just tends to what what comes out but yeah Some amazing jump-offs. London jumping off. There was Ben Mayer on Cella. Nick Skelton on Big Star. There was Christian Almond. I don't know if it was Talibé, which one he was riding. But one of the best jump-offs you'll see. Marcus Ainey in Madrid in the indoor. The World Cup when he won. I think it was. you won't see anyone jump a better jump off. I mean, those are the things you just sit there and go, wow, that was, that was the experience brilliance all at once.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:39:35-00:40:04]
The thing I'm hearing, too, with that is because you've listed quite a few different things. And so the nice thing about that is it's like, oh, well, this like once in a lifetime thing and this all once in a lifetime thing. And when you really look at it, it's like, no, they're not once in a lifetime. Like they could literally happen every year, every event, all of these things. Yeah. Every single time you're like, oh, that was so cool. Oh, I'm so happy for this person. Oh, look at this person go. Like there's just there's always something that's exciting and changing and evolving that's happening.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:40:05-00:40:22]
And exactly say it's the story around it. That's the thing. Every week there's a story to what it is and how it plays out. So, yes, it doesn't matter whether it's the person coming through for the first time or the person that you think, yeah, come on, nail this this week. And they do. And you go, yeah. Yeah. That's satisfying.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:40:23-00:40:32]
Yeah. Awesome. Stephen, I have four rapid fire questions for you. It's the first thing that comes to mind. The first one is, do you have a motto or favorite thing?

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:40:32-00:40:35]
The short answer is no.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:40:38-00:40:41]
Is that you're saying or is that you don't have one?

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:40:41-00:40:43]
I don't have one. Work hard. That's it.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:40:45-00:40:56]
I also like the short answer is no as a favorite thing, though, too. The second one, who has been the most influential person in your equestrian journey?

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:40:57-00:41:16]
Uh, that's hard cause I could name about 20 people. Um, I wouldn't be doing it if my mother hadn't done what she did and open the doors for me. Uh, David Broome, Nick Brooks. I could go on for ages, which is, which is very lucky of me. Um, I'm going to put David Broome to start with cause he gave me my first job.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:41:16-00:41:21]
Yeah. If you could give equestrians one piece of advice, what would it be?

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:41:23-00:41:31]
Oh, good question. I think that goes back to the same same thing as the hard work. There's no in any sport. There's no shortcut.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:41:33-00:41:37]
The final one, please complete the sentence for me. Horses are.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:41:37-00:42:23]
Oh, they are. Me horses are. Oh, gosh, that's difficult to put into a sentence. Quick five questions, she said. Gosh, you've stumped me on language for once. For me, the horses are what makes the sport of equestrian so much better and so much different to every other sport. Two athletes together, two brains together, and everybody's in the same melting pot. So, yeah.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:42:24-00:42:45]
what's the reason for doing this sport yeah absolutely so not to put you on the spot here but if anybody wanted to reach out to you um about like how to get into the industry or anything like that um where do you recommend that they follow you um find you all of the things Yeah, it could be the usual stuff.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:42:45-00:43:13]
I mean, you can find me on Instagram probably more than anywhere. Just send me a message if you can. I know I have a website. I'm very bad at looking at it, but I'm sure my contact details are on there. Contact me there. Same on Facebook, et cetera. So any of the social media platforms do or just through, you know, if I'm being really difficult, I try not to be difficult, but just through if you know I'm doing an event, contact the event and they'll Put us all in touch. I've had that before as well.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:43:14-00:43:27]
Awesome. We'll put your social handles on the show notes if anybody wants to reach out, they can. Thank you so much for coming on here. It was an absolute pleasure speaking with you. And I really, really enjoyed our conversation. So thank you.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:43:27-00:43:28]
Excellent. Thank you.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:43:30-00:44:03]
Thank you for listening to this episode of the Equestrian Connection podcast by WeHorse. If you enjoyed this episode, it would mean the world to us if you could leave us a rating and review as well as share us on social media. You can find us on Instagram at WeHorse underscore USA and check out our free seven day trial on WeHorse.com where you can access over 175 courses with top trainers from around the world in a variety of topics and disciplines. Until next time, be kind to yourself, your horses and others.

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