Reaching new heights
On another level it is a performance, a thing of beauty for aficionados.
Regardless of whether you take the esoteric or prosaic view, it is fair to assume riders at the zenith possess a slightly more inflated ego than others.
Take Billy Twomey, ranked number seven in the world, a regular grand prix winner on the European scene, hailed by his peers as one of the most stylish riders. He’d be forgiven, if he had an exalted opinion of himself?
But you’d be very wrong and, pausing briefly to consider the question, he firmly puts that theory to rest.
“I wouldn’t say I’m egotistical. I think it’s more about being confident in your own ability. There are people who are egotistical, but not me. I believe in myself, but I do not disrespect people,” says the Corkman.
Underpinning this is the fact that show jumping is what Twomey has spent all his life doing... that he happens to be brilliant at it is no reason for self-importance. A life with equines was ordained from an early age, his mother Jill and aunt Avril Hitchmough, a respected trainer, ran a riding school near Cork, while his uncle Kelvin (Hitchmough) was a leading national hunt trainer, sending out Irish Grand National winner Brittany Boy.
Plaudits came early, taking the Dublin Horse Show 128cmschampionship on a pony that, on his first outing in Ballincollig, had bolted with the then nine-year-old Twomey.
“Winning motivates me. I am very competitive. I think it comes from the family roots. I want to achieve. On that note: I came out of Cork Airport this morning and there was that big statue of Christy Ring and I said: ‘One day, It would be nice to be remembered like him in your native city,’ says Twomey, who is on a rare foray to his home city to receive the Boardwalk Bar and Grill Sports Star Award for the month of January, following grands prix wins in Basel and Zurich.
He’s been based in Britain since his late teens, a stint with Albert Voorn in the Netherlands followed by time with British show jumping icon Michael Whitaker. He subsequently moved into the Cheshire yard of Sue and Eddie Davies — owner of Bolton FC — who come in for huge praise for their support, particularly after the loss in 2008 of the highly promising Pikap, who broke his leg during practice at a show in Belgium, fell on Twomey and left him unconscious for 30 minutes.
“I’ve been with Sue and Eddie for nine years and they’ve taken the good with the bad. When they lost Pikap, it would have been very easy for them to say: ‘Listen, Billy, we want to take a back seat,’ but straight away they reinvested in a new horses. They are realistic enough to know that, if you have one or two fences down in a competition, to allow things to get better and progress. They let me get on with it,” says Twomey, who has relocated to a 17-stable, state-of-the art facility in Southwell, home of his wife Joanne, in Nottinghamshire.
Another key person for Twomey is Waterford rider Anthony Condon.
“Anthony has a massive role in my set-up. As I’m on the road so much, I need someone at home bringing on the horses in the correct way. He is a very talented rider in his own right, has a good head and his part in my success cannot be underestimated.”
Such success almost reached a career high last year, when Twomey was on the cusp of rescuing Ireland from a disappointing team performance in the World Equestrian Games, only for the Corkman’s bid for individual glory to fall short on the final day in Kentucky.
He gets another chance at glory next month, having qualified with ease for the Rolex World Cup final, the crown in the indoor season, in Leipzig, Germany. He has a twin strike force in Tinka’s Serenade and the mercurial stallion Je t’Aime Flamenco.
“It’s my first time in the World Cup finals and I think I have a good chance. The horses are in good form. I’m not sure if I will use both or just Serenade but Plan A is to use Serenade. On his day, Je t’Aime can be the best in the world, but he can also be a little bit inconsistent. I’m always trying to work on this and he’s getting a little bit better, but he’s a stallion and their minds can wander.
“I also have a good horse, Romanov II, that has just been purchased for me. I have some good horses coming through, so I’m planning for the future. I bought Je t’Aime as a five-year-old and I believe it’s the best way to operate, buy a good young horse, develop them and reap the benefits when they’re older. If you tried to buy a ready-made horse today, somebody could ask you €2m.”
He rejects any perception the sport remains tainted with drugs, but feels that, for all the success week-in, week-out, only Olympic glory will ultimately demonstrate Irish show jumping as a world force. However, the chance of achieving qualification at last year’s World Equestrian Games was spurned and now August’s European Championships in Madrid remain the last opportunity to qualify a team for London 2012.
Twomey can book his place in the Olympics as an individual if he remains the leading Irish rider in the world rankings, but says the priority must be team qualification.
“Being in the top 10 means I am probably in line to get a place as an individual in the Olympics, but it is not in the forefront of my mind. The first thing is to get a team qualified and we can do it. It is realistic. It means we will have to have different priorities in the run up to Madrid. We cannot go all guns blazing in the Meydan Nations Cup Series, for instance, sacrificing our horses.
“Everything has to be secondary to the European Championships,” says Twomey, reflecting the thinking of Irish team manager Robert Splaine.
Twomey is also happy to hear world number eight rider Denis Lynch and Splaine had gone some way to resolving their differences, after the former earlier this year declared he was opting out of the Irish set-up for 2011.
“Hopefully, Denis will come back on board,” says Twomey.
“He has three or four really strong horses and we are not in a situation where, like Germany, we can field five our six teams.
“We need all shoulders to the wheel.”
Recently, Twomey joined three of his compatriots at the opening in Doha of the Global Champions Tour, but the proverbial “unlucky” four faults put him out in round one. The tour, conceived by Dutchman Jan Tops, has shaken up the sport, primarily with its massive prize money. The competition in Qatar boasted just short of €½m euro, riches that can cause a rider’s team commitments to take a back seat.
“I know, personally, that I’m enthusiastic about the Irish team. There is a draw with the Global Champions Tour, where there is so much money available that a rider’s priorities switch a little. This is understandable, when you have mouths to feed and bills to pay. But I am where I am today because of riding for the Irish team.
Tommy Wade (then Irish chef d’equipe) gave me a chance in Modena in Italy in 2001 and we won the nations cup and that opened the door for me.
“I will never forget that and some people do. The team was what pushed me in the right direction.”
As for Twomey’s take on his progress in the past year.
“I don’t know if I’m at my peak; you look at veterans such as Michael Whitaker and Ludger Beerbaum and they’re still at the top. It all depends on what horse you’re riding at the time.
“Am I at my highest peak to date? All I know is that I’ve never been in the world top 10 and... I’m where I want to be, anyway.”
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