ACCIDENTALLY finding something good’ is the usual definition of serendipity. Although whether the three gentlemen, who accidentally found themselves in a lawnmower race in Colonel Roger ‘Babe’ Moseley’s garden, felt good about their impromptu trial is unknown.
Ex-amateur jockey Moseley, who won the 1931 Welsh Grand National on Wise Don, was the chief selector during William Micklem’s bid to make the British junior team. “He was extremely competitive in everything he was involved in. Later he ran Badminton Horse Trials and in 1967 also started the Junior European championships.”
Described by William as a “wonderfully generous man, he lived life to the full, gradually becoming more like a Toby jug with dodgy legs than a National Hunt jockey.”
Moseley’s terraced house in Tetbury had a long garden that ran down to the River Avon. “It was a burden to mow, however the advent of ride-on mowers provided a solution. So he invited the three local agents to bring their best ride-on mowers to his garden. ‘Go down to the bottom of the garden,’ he said, ‘I will shout Go! The first to reach me is the mower I will buy!’”
The moral of this story to Micklem is that Babe Moseley’s combination of effort and delight is “so important in training and performance and too often, the delight is forgotten.
“In a very early edition of the Pony Club manual they had this line… ‘the one who smiles is the one worthwhile’. As my father said, “you need to see the rider’s teeth as well as the horses!’
“This may seem juvenile, but it is very much part of building the resilience through adversity that life requires, and very much part of keeping perspective.”
Micklem Multibridle Models: William with son Leo, wife Sarah, daughter Holly and son Sam at Ballinamona. All the horses, Arrow Flight, Bazinga, Sunny Girl and Hi Heaven, are wearing Micklem bridles \ Donal O'Beirne/www.hoofprints.ie
A director of the Festina Lente charity in Co Wicklow, William sees at first hand the valuable work done by the charity, “which has now been working for over 30 years, with horses helping those who have very serious challenges in their lives. To see so many at Festina Lente smiling in the face of huge adversity is probably the most inspiring thing in my life and offers real perspective. The secret for us all is to ride our own race and seek a personal best.”
It was this same advice he offered to Irish team rider and Rio Olympian Jonty Evans. “I wrote this to Jonty after his traumatic brain injury and being in a coma for over a month in 2018. He says that it is the main thing that has kept him going as he returns to riding, and last week he completed a British Eventing 1m class on his team horse Cooley Rorkes Drift.”
Smoke trail
According to William, the added risk of the cross-country phase places extra responsibility on eventing coaches. “For several years I coached the Irish junior and young rider teams, with the support and leadership of the phenomenal Jean Pim of Anngrove Stud.
“It was a privilege to do this but team training needs a long-term approach and close involvement of all coaches to reduce risks - something that we did not have at that time. It is part of what I often talk about, the need to have a Team Ireland approach.
“We all have to work together towards common goals and to achieve this, we need to work at our team building skills. I am not just talking about coaches, but all sections of equestrian sport. Everyone! It is a core part of people skills and would be a game changer for the longterm success of Irish equestrianism. Therefore I believe national governing bodies should focus on this.”
Two of his longterm students from junior days; Mark Barry, from Co Limerick and Sonya Duke from Co Down, went on to compete at Badminton. “Both completed with distinction, despite being only 19. Mark had huge potential because he was one of the few riders who could be very good in all three phases.
“Sonya was an extraordinary worker, a totally committed student who developed wonderful relationships with her horses and was a great team player. She took her junior team horse Carbrooke Charles round Badminton. He was just 15.3hh and 18 years old!
“It was in the days of steeplechase, roads and tracks and minimum weights of 11st 11lbs, but the class of their performance across country and the following day in show jumping was an immense achievement,” recalled their proud coach.
Another Micklem link to Badminton’s long format era is through his brother. “In 1980, my outstanding brother Charlie also rode round Badminton. He rode Lucinda Green’s Village Gossip, formerly the ride of Ireland’s Katie O’Hara.
“Afterwards Lucinda wrote this masterful sentence about their performance; ‘Gossip had been put on the European short list with me, thanks to Charlie giving him the sort of ride that left the word ‘brilliant’ visibly clinging to the smoke their combined trail left as they fired round Badminton for the best round of the day, save that of Lincoln (Mark Phillips) by 0.4 of a mark.’”
His brother’s experiences copper fastened William’s belief in a multifaceted approach. “Charlie was always super talented but was not lucky enough to meet the right coach and situation to fulfil his potential. It emphasised to me how much more good coaching is than just the technical side.
“It was the genesis of what I think is my major achievement to date, The GO! Rules. They are a simple structure for getting the right attitude of mind based on the five Olympic rings.
“Neither Charlie nor I respond well to rules, so I wanted to produce some positive rather than negative rules. ‘Go’ rather than ‘Stop’. Rule number one is ‘Have A GO!’ and ‘Have Another GO!’ is rule number two.
“Rule five is ‘Be Your GO-vernor’, which is all about gradually taking your own decisions and riding your own race. As I mentioned earlier, a hugely powerful concept for Jonty Evans, and a major reason why I am usually able to work with my students over several years, as it increasingly becomes a collaborative and advisory relationship rather than a dictatorial one.
“But this is not a soft option, as it only works if the coach maintains full involvement and is always looking for a better way. I think Cian O’Connor is currently a very good example of this philosophy, as he coaches the Wachman family with great success in show jumping.”
Hello Dolly
“Looking at coaching more holistically in this way made me a much better coach and led me to passing the Fellowship of the British Horse Society.”
A FBHS by 1981, this must have been another highlight? “Well, it was important to me and the journey to the Fellowship taught me a great deal, but in hindsight, the best day of my equine life would be the day I arrived at the West Clare Hotel in Ennis to give a presentation to the Ennis show committee.
“After a chance meeting in the bar, I ended up seeing High Dolly for the first time in the headlights of a car on a very dark night! She had won four point-to-points and three days later, she arrived in Wicklow.
“She went on to produce the two Olympic and WEG horses, Mandiba and High Kingdom, as well as my stallion, their full-brother, Jackaroo, all by Master Imp. The power of serendipity!”
Bred by William McDonnell, and by Chair Lift out of a Prefairy dam, High Dolly bred seven foals for the Micklems.
“Her first foal was by Sea Crest, the sire of Cruising, called Tredstep Boa. A very special horse with a jumper’s jump who went to three-star level with Aidan Keogh.
“She also had two geldings by Grange Bouncer; Arrow Flight and Smart Spirit, who became the rides of my two sons Leo and Sam, and a mare by Kings Master we called Hi Duchess, the beloved mount of my daughter Holly. They all represented Ireland; Sam going to the Junior European Championships in Poland, and Leo and Holly on numerous Irish Tetrathlon teams. So High Dolly gave the family a significant leg up in the horse world.”
Nuff Kisses was High Dolly’s sole Master Imp filly. “She was wonderfully talented but I kept her as a broodmare. Sadly, she died of colitis but not before giving us two outstanding mares by Puissance; Hi Heaven and Hi Haven. Both competed successfully at three-star level and are now breeding themselves.”
Hi Haven (Puissance - Nuff Kisses) competing with Ireland's WEG silver medalist Padraig McCarthy
Wonderful moments
High Dolly is also responsible for giving William what he ranks as “two of the most wonderful moments of my equine life. Firstly, in 2010 at the World Equestrian Games in Lexington, with Mandiba on the USA team ridden by Karen O’Connor. The fact that [wife] Sarah and I had bred Mandiba and Karen was my former student made it extra special.
“Karen described her cross-country round as ‘the best in my life.’ It was super-fluent and beautiful. It made me so emotional I hugged Karen’s husband David, which probably surprised both of us equally!”
The second highlight was High Kingdom’s cross-country performance with Zara Phillips at the London Olympics in 2012. “It was a twisty undulating course that needed real attack and High Kingdom did just that. Fast and fearless, it was totally exhilarating.
“Then there was my Desi cross-country moment. Desi was Sarah’s wonderful, opinionated, and courageous 15.3 gelding with the biggest heart and biggest front feet. He was another found by my brother John, this time in Tipperary.”
The moment happened at the European young riders championships held cross-channel at Rotherfield. “It was a very big track that produced only four clear rounds inside the time and Desi was one of those four.
“Sarah produced some outstanding advanced cross-country rounds inside the time in the UK on her next horse, a thoroughbred called Glen Shira. That was when the required speed in those days was 600m/min rather than the 570m/min of today. As a result they were longlisted for the Barcelona Olympics.
“But Desi’s run at Rotherfield Park was so bursting with courage and determination from both horse and rider that it is still the one that gives me tingles.”
No William Micklem anecdote is complete without delving into his store of pedigree snippets. “By coincidence, Desi was by Belgrave, by Hugh Lupus, the sire of Imperius who was the sire of Master Imp!
“There was yet another very special Imperius connection in my career,” he said recalling the ex-racehorse sourced from Con Collins yard by the O’Neills to stand at Slyguff Stud.
“In his yard in Borris, Co Carlow John had an Imperius four-year-old gelding, bred by Ita Brennan, called Bright Imp. He had a huge step and reminded me of Cornishman V, the event horse ridden by Mary Gordon-Watson to win individual gold at the 1970 world championships at Punchestown, as well as two Olympic team golds, first with Richard Meade [Mexico] and then with Mary [Munich].”
By the thoroughbred Golden Surprise, whose pedigree went back to one of William’s favourite stallions Hyperion, there’s a Micklem link too in his sale.
“I can confirm that my father played a small but vital part in the success of this great horse. The day before Mary’s father bought him in Cornwall, for £500 as an unbroken, wild four-year-old, his owner David Moore had enlisted my father to come and catch him and put a headcollar on! Otherwise, he could never have been led round the sale ring and sold to the Gordon-Watsons.”
William advised Sonya Duke to buy Bright Imp. “He progressed to Advanced, going on to win a team silver medal at the legendary European championships held at Punchestown in 1991, when record crowds and Tommy Brennan’s design genius produced a competition that still stands out in the memory of those who were there. Once again huge credit to Sonya, who was just 22.”
Sonya, Rachael Blackmore, Charlotte Dujardin, Liz Edgar and Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum are five top women competitors William rates highly. “I would also add Tim Price, Peder Fredricson, Michael Matz, William Fox-Pitt and Seamus Hayes. It shows you the sort of riders I like; all elegant and all makers of partnerships.”
Showcase
One of the standout moments at those 2003 European championships at Punchestown was the Ride On pageant, conceived and directed by William, who recalls this “celebration of the Irish horse that was hugely important to me.
“It was wildly ambitious. We had over 130 horses and ponies, over 100 dancers, a huge video screen, the Number One Army Band, poetry and prose, the Black and Tans Foxhounds of the Scarteen Hunt, and an audience of over 4,000 with An Taoiseach [Bertie Ahern] as guest of honour.”
The four-legged cast also included Kerry Bog ponies, coloured horses and “National Hunt racing legends, Papillon, Risk of Thunder, Moscow Flyer and Istabraq.
“We had Cruising, Sea Crest and Kilbaha and the Dublin supreme hunter champion Hochmagandy, with Frances Cash. We had the Aga Khan Cup triple winners, Con Power, Eddie Macken, Paul Darragh and James Kernan; and Eric Smiley, Heike Holstein, Marion Hughes, Capt Brian Cournane and Aidan Keogh all rode.
“It was often chaos but without doubt entertaining chaos. At one point, eight dancers became locked into a traditional horse-drawn caravan in the centre of the ring, unable to perform, and a donkey stallion tried to cover an Irish Draught gelding!
“The climax was the Taoiseach giving awards to 20 of the world’s best horses, ponies and people from Ireland. It included Stroller, whose award was accepted by Vincent Burke from Ballycar, Co Clare as Stroller was first produced by their family.
“It also honoured Tommy Brennan. Not only was he the course designer for two outstanding European championship courses at Punchestown in 1991 and 2003, but also the rider who took the eventer Kilkenny and show jumper Ambassador to the highest level, before they went on to win gold medals with Jimmy Wofford and Graziano Mancinelli respectively.”
The showcase of the Irish horse and humans was a massive undertaking. Why? “In the Punchestown programme, I wrote these words that sum up why I took on Ride On and why I have been involved with horses for so long:
“Ride On is not only about Irish horses: It also reflects the inspirational aspects of riding and the spirit and special nature of both horses and the international family of riders.
“Although these ingredients are hugely important and timeless, they are rarely counted on the scoreboard. We can all be proud of our extraordinary equestrian sports and equestrian community, as contact with horses can truly act as a catalyst for doing more with our lives.”
“Even after adversity, we all have to move on and ride on. Our central message is that we can all ride on together.”
One of the serendipitous photos taken at the Rolex Kentucky four years ago is of Paddy Hughes of Carlingford Horses and Horse First supplements, pictured with two top coaches from both sides of the Atlantic; William and Jimmy Wofford.
Incidentally, Wofford’s autobiography “Still Horse Crazy After All These Years” will be published shortly. The good news continues for Micklem - the young Cornish schoolboy with the patched jeans who later became a renowned author, breeder, coach and inventor – as recent Newmarket 1,000 Guineas runner-up Saffron Beach wore a Micklem Multibridle - and with another book in the pipeline.
No doubt another filled with more sage advice. As US team gold medallist and another successful author, Denny Emerson, spells it out: “In the proverbial 101 ways, William Micklem has made huge contributions to the manner in which we ride, train, equip, breed, and think about horses.
His positive impact spans oceans, disciplines and breeds of horses. If William speaks or writes about it, go listen or read it.”
Next week: Paddy Hughes