PrintA story of special connection between three of the greatest coaches of all time that can help us all today.
In the early 1970’s Bertalan de Némethy came to Ireland to coach at Iris Kellett’s show jumping mecca at Kill in Co. Kildare. Iris was very proud of her young star pupil Eddie Macken, and at the end of the course could not resist asking Bert what he thought of Eddie.
“He is good,” said Bert, “but I think I would put him on the longe for three months.”
Iris was shocked. How had she got it so wrong? Trying to retrieve the situation she asked him about Michael Hickey, whom she had placed No. 2 in the talent pecking order at that time. Possibly he was the future superstar, she thought.
“Michael,” replied Bert with a huge smile, “should go on the longe for six months!”
Achieve Happily
De Némethy, Jack Le Goff and Herbert Rehbein all had a renowned sense of humor and the wisdom to keep a sense of perspective about their work. Their human and humane qualities shone through everything they did with both riders and horses.
When thinking of this I often say to my students something that few find easy to take on board initially but usually becomes a core of their success: ‘You must achieve happily not achieve in order to be happy.” This is a philosophy that gives meaning to our journey with horses whatever the results on the scoreboard.
It’s About More Than Just Horses
“While Bert was a believer in discipline and very much a gentleman of the old school, if you were ever in trouble, he'd go to bat for you," said Frank Chapot, who was a mainstay of U.S. teams in the Bert era, along with Kathy Kusner, Hugh Wiley, Joe Fargis, Conrad Homfeld and so many others. “He improved everyone's character, along with their riding.”
That thought was echoed by Mike Huber (a member of the 1980 Olympic Event Team, individual Gold Medalist at the 1987 Pan American Games, and now the new chairman of the USEF Olympic selectors) when talking about Le Goff. "I thought he taught most of us as much about being human beings as being horsemen. He taught us outside the ring as well. He really helped to shape us in a lot of ways."
Mike recalled being invited to Jack's house for the first time with the other riders in his group, all of whom worried about being quizzed on who won the 1948 Olympics and similar equestrian trivia.
"But he greeted us at the door, as gracious as he could be. He said, ‘By the way boys, I only have one rule—you're not allowed to speak about horses.' That was who he was; there was a time that you were in the ring and a time you weren't. There are a lot of people who live and breathe horses 24/7, and I don't think that's healthy.
"Another time,” continued Mike, “I was being schooled heavily in the arena. The session was over and I was fuming because I thought I'd been picked on. We walked out of the indoor, and I wasn't done yet; I wanted to continue the conversation. Jack turned to me and said, ‘We'll continue this tomorrow. Would you like to go fishing with me this afternoon?' He taught me you're a better horseman if you step back, at least for a few hours."
