PrintIn this monthly series leading up to the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in September and October, we watch a different competitor prepare for competition each month.
Tucker Johnson competed in his first international competition in 1987, and now he’s preparing for what he said will be his last—the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.
After the WEG, in October, Johnson, a 46-year-old from Hobe Sound, Fla., will be retiring from international four-in-hand competition.
Johnson has started preparing for the WEG in much the same manner as he has prepared for previous international competitions, with careful planning.
“The trick is trying to strike a balance that will have the horses sound, fit and ready in September but will keep me in enough practice to be successful,” Johnson said.
In order to keep himself and his horses in top form, Johnson has sent a team to Europe as well as keeping a team at home. His team in Europe competed in Donaueschingen (Germany) in September 2009; two weeks before he took his U.S.-based team to the Lexington Combined Driving Classic (Ky.) in October, which also served as a test event for the WEG. He took third in both competitions.
His long-time coach, Michael Freund, also competed a couple of Johnson’s horses, along with a few of fellow driver Chester Weber’s horses, at Little Everglades International (Fla.) in January to complete their qualifications—and won. “It was good preparation to see where the horses were and which horses could do which jobs,” Johnson said.
Foremost on Johnson’s mind is the fact that the WEG is still seven months away. “One of the challenges is how much work do you want to be doing over the winter for a World Equestrian Games in October?” he said.
Most of his horses are in light work now, working on the treadmill and continuing to train during the winter months.
The competition phase of his preparation will start in spring. “The horses that we think will best work for the WEG will go over to join the horses in Germany in enough time in late spring to prepare for Windsor [England],” he said. “We have great international events here in the spring and fall but not very many during the summer.”
Johnson isn’t sure if he’ll compete the horses in June, but he does plan to compete in Aachen (Germany) in the middle of July and Reisenbeck (Germany) at the end of the month.
Directly after, the horses will return to his family farm in Oldwick, N.J. There he has a large property with miles of marathon trails and obstacles, and the weather in New Jersey is more similar to Kentucky than the weather in Florida.
“They will have a little break with light work for a couple weeks, then we’ll start building back up to the peak of soundness and preparation,” he said.
Even with the WEG being in the United States, Johnson doubts that they will have much of a home-field advantage. “I think you’ll find the top American drivers will be competing in Europe over the summer,” he said. “The international group of equestrian competitors is pretty sophisticated. No matter where you throw them, the best rise to the top.”
Team Preparations
For the past two years, Johnson’s focus has not only been on his own preparation for the WEG. As chairman of the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s High Performance Driving Committee, he has had a hand developing the team as a whole.
