Christopher Hector wrote the words
Eric Knoll and Rebecca Ashton took the photos
I was lucky enough to catch up with Andrew Hoy at Aachen, after he had recorded the fastest cross country round, to blast his way into second spot with Vassily de Lassos, against what was the classiest field I have ever seen at an event – ever.
Andrew as might be expected, is glowing…
“Vassily is not just a good horse, he is an exceptional horse.”
Thomas Carlile and Vassily at the World Young Event Horse Championships in 2016
And yet you bought him out of the stables of Thomas Carlile, a top competitor, and pretty smart operator – what did you see in the horse that perhaps Tom didn’t?
“Tom’s business is to produce and sell horses. I’m always very happy to buy from Tom because he’s very honest and straight forward.”
But Vassily had a few problems when you got him didn’t he?
“Vassily is a unique athlete, and any athlete – human or equine – has to be managed. The thing I’ve realised with Vassily, is that he is equally passionate about his job, as I am. As soon As I got on him yesterday, to ride towards the cross country warm-up area, I walked out of the stables and rode him through the warm-up area where I’ve been doing all my schooling over the last few days, and he just didn’t feel switched on, and I thought, I wonder if I’ve done something wrong. It was just a feeling that I got because he was very low key about the whole thing…”
“Then, as soon as I left the warm-up area, the light turned green! He definitely knew he was going cross country, he could hear the noise of the crowd, see the crowd. I called out to Clementine, my groom, come, you just need to walk alongside him, because Vassily is very much a person horse. He likes to have people there, not to enter his comfort zone but just be there. He’s quite a character in the stable, like he can be weaving the stable and you think he is unsettled, it’s not about coming to the door, it’s about you going in, and if you take a chair and sit inside the stable door, he totally settles.”
“But he doesn’t actually want you to touch him. You don’t enter his comfort zone, he just wants to know you are there. You are there in his space, but not in his comfort zone.”
In his space, but not his comfort zone
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Have you ever had such an eccentric horse before?
“I wouldn’t call it eccentric, I’d call it getting to know the horse. What I’ve learnt over the years is that every horse is a true individual. Every horses has its own personality and it is important to me, as an athlete and as a horse lover to be able to actually work with that personality – and that’s something that Vassily and I have got in a very unique way. I’m the only person that ever sits on him, no one else sits on him, no one else does anything with him other than to lead him to the field and grooming him.”
“But he doesn’t like to be brushed, he’s a very sensitive horse. As soon as you start touching him with a brush he becomes unsettled. It’s not about saying, you have to be brushed, this is what we are going to do – it’s about finding other ways to keep him clean and healthy and tidy. You only learn these things through experience, through spending time with animals. You can read about these things in a book but you have to understand the horse’s personality.”
The last couple of year’s have been wonderful for the partnership of Andrew Hoy and his French bred, Vassily de Lassos. A fourth (should have been third without one judge who was way out of line with the other two) at the WEG in Tryon, third at the Tokyo Games, the 2021 EquiRatings Horse of the Year…
Do you ever get scared that this roll you are on is going to finish, right now it’s just incredible…
“It’s always about enjoying the moment, because for sure throughout my career, I’ve had some very good moments, I’ve had some very bad moments. What I’ve learnt over the years is that to keep things going you have to have a wonderful support team. It’s not just about the individual rider and the individual horse, it’s about the entire performance of the whole team, starting with members of staff, the ones that travel to competition, the ones that stay at home, the support staff through the office and administration, the people who provide the hay, and the feed, the physiotherapy or the veterinary, or the farrier. It’s a complete team effort…
There might be a person called Steffi somewhere here…
“Steffi my wife, I’ve said this before, that has been my gold medal success, she is my gold medal, the way she is able to administrate, to coordinate, and keep everything flowing. The people I’ve missed out, are the owners of Vassily and they are also the owners of Creevagh Cooley, Paula and David Evans, they are just exceptional people, I’m just fortunate to have them and them believing in me, and in Vassily, I’m just incredibly lucky.”
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Were you much affected by Covid?
“It’s really interesting, during Covid when there was lock-down, and I was spending more time at home, then I realised that where I live in Britain, our house and our garden, how beautiful it is. So there were things that came out of Covid, that I actually enjoyed. Because we are so close to Europe, we could still travel, you just needed the correct paperwork. You needed to have the correct reasons for travel. If there was an event running and we wanted to get to it, we were able to. But for me to go to Luhmühlen twelve months ago, I needed to go to Belgium or Holland for ten days before entering Germany, so I went and spent time with Nelson Pessoa, in Belgium and did my training there. You only have to find one way to make something happen. That’s what I say to my staff, I don’t want to hear ten reasons why something can’t happen, I only want to hear one reason how it can happen. Positive thought processes are very important.”
You have always been selective about the events you go to…
“It’s about understanding the individual horse and selecting the event that is correct for the horse, and not what is correct for Andrew.”
What is your run-up to the World Championships in Pratoni going to look like?
“The World Championships are twelve weeks away, so I will have one more run in Normandy, in six weeks with Vassily, then it will be six weeks to the World Championships, should I be selected.”
You’ve had some rough deals in the past but I would think selection for the Worlds would be an absolute certainty…
“Like any athlete the horse’s well-being is a day-to-day thing. For sure there’s no question marks in any area but anything can happen.”
I’ve been thinking about Ros Canter’s loss of Allstar. Really this is probably the best designed, most horse friendly cross-country track in the world…
Ros Canter and Allstar B, the world has lost a great one…
“I didn’t see the incident, I did speak with Ros Canter, yesterday evening, following the incident. She said to me that the horse ran past the fence, somehow hit part of the fence. She said there was absolutely zero damage to the boot but directly underneath the boot there was an injury and the veterinarian said that whatever they did it was going to restrict the well-being of the horse, and Ros and the owner made the decision in the horse’s best interests.”
But I’m right aren’t I, Aachen is one of the best designed cross country courses in the world…
“For me, the ground was absolutely perfect, the fences I believe are incredibly well-designed. As you say, horse friendly, this is one of the priorities of Aachen and also one of the priorities of Rüdiger Schwarz the designer, to make it safe for horse and rider.”
Accidents happen…
“Accidents happen. We cannot determine when we come into this life, and many of us, cannot determine when we leave it. I grew up farming, and am still very passionate about farming, but while you have stock you have stock that will pass away as well.”
Thank you my friend, and congratulations once again, it is great to see you right at the top, enjoying wonderful horses and your wonderful family…
“Horses have given me a wonderful life. It’s a passion I’ve had to work with the horse and I’ve now travelled the world for forty three years, what a life, what horses…
And the horse that started it all – Andrew’s Pony Club mount – Davey
Andrew has this tribute on his facebook page:
Being bred for racing and having been raised on Texas cattle station in Southern Queensland Davey had the most extraordinary journey before being bought for me by my parents as my “Pony Club Horse” when I was 15.
Due to a drought in Queensland he travelled 1800 kilometers south to Wangaratta, Victoria with a trainload of horses to be sold through the Sales Ring. Bought by Dairy Farmer “Dave” – his name patron – to move dairy cattle on his farm he was sold on to local showjumper Helen Hanna before being purchased by my parents and moving to our home “Cornalla” near Albury, New South Wales. Davey took me to two Olympic Games, two World Championships and a Burghley Title!
A truly outstanding horse who I owe everything to!