May to Dec 2006: Training with World Champion Jos Lansink.
After much planning, Carly and I eventually decided that May would be the time we officially left Australia in search of knowledge and skill from the best trainers in the world. We hadn’t organized with any particular trainer before we left Australia, however we did have plans to meet with Belgium based Australian Showjumper James Patterson- Robinson. We spent a week with James in the Netherlands we he is based with dealer Neil Jones. After going to a couple of shows and gauging how the system works in Europe, James suggested we contact Jos Lansink. I have always been a follower of Jos’s success and his incredible style as a rider, and of course I couldn’t believe my luck when after meeting him at his training facility he offered me a job. Carly was not yet ready to jump into the fire so she decided to meet her brother in Spain for a month before looking for a job.
Jos rents a training complex in Ellikom in south west Belgium near the border of Netherlands and Germany. The facilities are pristine including indoor arena, sparkling stables, massive sand working arena, grass jumping field, exercise track, and outworking tracks.
Previously, I had never worked in a professional stable. I also had not been on a horse in a number of months, so when Jos put 8 horses up on the board for me to work on the first day, I was a little intimidated. All in all my first month of riding up to 10 horses a day plus cleaning and stable duties culminated in a lot of blood sweat and tears. But it was probably the best thing that could of happened and really indicated to me what it takes to consistently be at the top level. I had never worked my own horses as much or as intensily.
While Carly was away, I spoke to Michel Spaas, of Berkenbroeke Stud about 15 minutes away. Berkenbroeke is renouned worldwide for breeding great showjumpers and has the famous Non Stop (previously ridden by Nelson Pessoa) standing at stud. Arguably the most famous horse that has been through the stable was the 1996 Olympic Champion Jus De Pomme. Michel was looking for a rider and stable worker and Carly began working with him shortly after arriving from her Spain jaunt.
During the eight months I worked with Jos, I learnt more than I had over the 8 years previous. Halfway during this time, Carly was also offered a job by Jos and his business partner to work at their young horse stable, an experience I’m sure she will never forget.
Without doubt the highlight of the time spent there was Jos winning the World Showjumping Championship at Achaen. It was amazing to watch him train and school the mighty stallion Cavalor Cumano leading up to the games. The most surreal part was watching him win it on TV (yes, we still had to work during the games), and then Cumano arriving back at the stables in the lorry about 3 hours later, full of beans, as if he hadn’t completed the grueling task over the past week.
