10 Training Tips From the Top of the Sport

Olympic riders at the Kentucky Three-Day Event share their secrets to success with some of their training advice.

What’s the best training advice you’ve been given? If you’re anything like the 10 Olympic eventers we posed this question to at the 2024 Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event, you may need to think about it for moment. Whether an amateur or Olympian, we’ve all learned lessons and had help from other horsepeople along the way. For many, riding is a lifelong pursuit, which means you’re bound to accumulate a lot of great advice over the years. So what’s helped these riders make it to the top? Here are their training tips.  

Doug Payne

Doug Payne, riding Quantum Leap. | ©Amy K. Dragoo

“In life and sport, you’re going to miss more than you’re going to make it, so learn from every mistake you make and hopefully don’t repeat the same ones.” 

2019 Pan American Games team gold, 2021 Olympic Games

Will Coleman

Will Coleman, riding Off the Record, his 2024 Olympic Games mount. | ©Amy K. Dragoo

“You can never ask a horse to do more than he’s capable of at any given point in his trajectory. Just to be patient.”

2012 & 2024 Olympic Games, 2022 FEI Eventing World Championships team silver  

Liz Halliday

Liz Halliday, riding Cooley Nutcracker, her 2024 Olympic Games traveling reserve mount. | ©Amy K. Dragoo

“Treat every horse as an individual. Each time you get on your horse just think, this is what this horse needs today. It’s not a cookie-cutter way. You just have to think your way through it. The more you can focus on that, the better the horses go.”

2022 FEI Eventing Nations Cup Bromont individual/team gold, 2023 Pan American Games team silver, 2024 Olympic Games traveling reserve

Yasmin Ingham

Yasmin Ingham (GBR), riding Banzai du Loir, her 2024 Olympic Games traveling reserve mount. | ©Amy K. Dragoo

“Always work on the basics. Everything is built from that. So you have good foundations, then you can always build and produce. As I have [with] Banzai, we always make sure that the basics are always correct, then we can ask for more expression and he then always produces such beautiful movements in the tests.”

2022 FEI Eventing World Championships individual gold, 2024 Olympic Games traveling reserve 

Tamie Smith

Tamie Smith, riding Danito. | ©Amy K. Dragoo

“Always think about your horse and putting him first. They get nervous, too. In the warm-up today, Danito got a little nervous and [I] just patted him and [took] a minute. The horsemanship of it—once you get that, you can take a deep breath and not make it so serious.” 

2019 Pan American Games team gold, 2021 Olympic Games traveling reserve, 2022 FEI Eventing World Championships team silver, 2023 Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event CCI5* winner

Colleen Loach

Colleen Loach (CAN), riding FE Golden Eye, her 2024 Olympic Games traveling reserve mount. | ©Amy K. Dragoo

“Riding is a forward sport. Whatever you’re doing, you should be riding forward not backward.”

2016, 2021, 2024 (traveling reserve) Olympic Games, 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games, 2015 (team bronze), 2019 (team bronze), 2023 (team gold) Pan American Games 

Phillip Dutton

Phillip Dutton, riding Jewelent | ©Amy K. Dragoo

“Surround yourself with the best people possible. The best coaches, the best farriers, the best vets. Try to emulate the best. It gives you pretty high goals to aim for.” 

1996 (team gold), 2000 (team gold), 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 (individual bronze), 2021 Olympic Games; 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games; 2003 (individual/team gold), 2007 (individual silver/team gold), 2015 (team gold) Pan American Games

Karl Slezak

Karl Slezak (CAN), riding Chevalier. | ©Amy K. Dragoo

“Stay focused and stay cool, and just do what you do at home and don’t try to make it better. I think that’s when it all goes wrong—you try too hard and typically make a mess of it.”

2019 Pan American Games team bronze, 2022 FEI Eventing World Championships, 2023 Pan American Games team gold, 2024 Olympic Games

Caroline Pamukcu

Caroline Pamukcu, riding HSH Blake, her 2024 Olympic Games mount. | ©Amy K. Dragoo

“My dad gave me the best advice which is never give up. Even on your lows, just keep working, keep getting up, keep going after your dreams—just don’t give up.” 

2023 Pan American Games individual gold/team silver, 2024 Olympic Games

Boyd Martin

Boyd Martin, riding Commando 3. | ©Amy K. Dragoo

“Stick-to-it-ness. People who seem to be successful just stick at it and stick at it and grind away and keep doing it over and over and over again.” 

2012, 2016, 2021, 2024 Olympic Games; 2010, 2014, 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games; 2015 (team gold), 2019 (individual and team gold) Pan American Games; 2022 FEI Eventing World Championships team silver

Check out more 2024 Paris Olympics and Kentucky Three-Day Event coverage.

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