How do you react to the failures – because, be assured, there will be many. Ultimately it will be a test of character, and that is something that champions have in common. There isn’t a single, clear path to Olympic success. Nothing in sport trumps the Olympic Games. There have been fewer Eventing Individual gold medallists than US presidents.įor me the appeal – then and now – was this idea of the entire international community coming together on the field of sport. The Olympian commits their whole existence to a goal while recognising that the chance of achieving it is pretty darn small. “That transcendent ideal of setting your goals that high and dedicating yourself to the achievement. “Even at that age I was cognisant of the idealism of the Games,” he says. While expertly tutored to control his thoughts and focus on preparation, the 21-year-old was affected by the gravitas of the Olympic Games as he arrived in Canada. You would not find a horse like her today with a major rider - she was beautifully coached and trained and I gave her a good ride.”Ĭoffin and Bally Cor made good progress and won the Team and Individual titles at the 1975 Pan American Games. She never impressed with the way she did it but she just kept going up! You’d try a 3ft fence and she’d jump that, then a 4ft fence and she’d jump that and so on. They would generally be horses that were good but not great, and initially she was seen as a good practise horse rather than one for competition. “Owners could donate horses to the US programme, and that’s what happened with Bally Cor.

It’s fair to say that when the two first teamed up in 1973, Bally Cor was not considered to be an Olympic champion. It was at Gladstone that Tad first began working with Bally Cor, the horse that would carry him to success in Montreal. “Every day we had the chance to learn from this great master, Jack le Goff, and absorb his wealth of knowledge. “The first to come through was Bruce Davidson, then me and then David O’Connor – all three of whom would become Olympic gold medallists. “It was a remarkable programme that produced remarkable success,” Tad recalls. Ultimately, only one would be taken forward for the US Olympic team. Perhaps more than 20 athletes would initially be chosen and then train together at Gladstone, New Jersey before being whittled down to just four. There was a push for international success which would be controlled centrally with Jack at the helm.”Ĭompetition was fierce. “Jack had complete control over US Eventing and had developed a programme whereby he would scout the country for talent after each Games with the idea of starting a new cycle towards the next Olympics. They were rooted in great classical ideas of riding. “With Jack and Bert we had access to two extraordinary individuals. It was the national cavalry schools that had traditionally created the riders and teachers of the day, and developed very different styles in countries such as France, Austria and Germany. As well as Jack there was also Bert de Némethy, a former Hungarian cavalry officer who was the US Jumping coach. “Jack had been a young prodigy in France and was part of the last generation of those who had graduated through the great cavalry schools. That appreciation became important when his talents were recognised by Jack le Goff, the legendary coach of the US Eventing team, in the months following the 1972 Games. A keen rider from a young age, he grew up under the tutelage of a Cuban immigrant, Rul De Leon, who himself had been schooled in clubs in Havana run by former German army officers in the years before the revolution.įrom a young age he became interested in the culture and history of the cavalry schools that had influenced the development of riding and equestrian sport.

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