USHJA On Course Episode 29

USHJA: We're back with episode 29 of USHJA On Course! I'm your host, Terise, and in this episode we're talking all things equitation with Archie Cox.

But first, here are your association updates. The USHJA Board of Directors have elected Britt McCormick for the position of President. After a 15-month transition period, McCormick will take office at the conclusion of the 2024 USHJA Annual Meeting.

Speaking of Annual Meeting, save the date for the 2023 event! The meeting takes place December 4-7 in Concord, North Carolina. Keep an eye on our website for more information and registration.

The September issue of In Stride magazine is here! Find the digital issue online at ushja.org/instride.

Now for our guest. Archie Cox is a rider, trainer and judge based out of his own Brookway Stables in California. In the judges box, he holds his Large R Hunter and Equitation cards, notably judging the 2021 ASPCA Maclay Finals. As a trainer, he has guided numerous riders to top placings in the country's most popular equitation finals, including the USHJA Gladstone Cup Equitation Classic, presented by Intermont Equestrian at Emory and Henry College, ASPCA Maclay Finals, USEF Show Jumping Talent Search, and USEF Hunter Seat Medal Final.

Tune in as we hear from him about what he looks for when judging equitation classes, his favorite test to ask, and how he likes to prepare a rider for Finals season.

USHJA: Well, we always start by rewinding all the way back. Tell me how you first got started into the industry.

Archie Cox: Rewinding back to my beginning, I was born into somewhat of a horse family. My grandmother, Phyllis Cox, did Morgan horses and saddle horses in Massachusetts, and was actually on the board of the AHSA, now the USEF, in 1977. So, I've been surrounded by riding, all different types of equestrians, and I grew up in Locust Valley, New York, and I, had the honor, I think, of living across the street from Susie Humes, down the street from Bunny French, And I lived, up the street from Tracy Topping, who is an avid supporter of the horse industry.

So, as a youngster, I was really surrounded by equestrians.

USHJA: Then the rest is history.

Archie Cox: Yeah, and then I did all the junior equitation. I had ribbons in the medal, in the Maclay and the USET finals back in '83 through '86. Back when the Maclay finals were at Madison Square Garden, I had the privilege of showing there. My mother and I did a lot of it together. She drove the horse trailer the majority of the time—station wagon, two-horse trailer and off we went competing around New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and I was fortunate enough to go to Florida in the winter for two different seasons. And I had what I say is the best childhood anyone can have. I would repeat it in a heartbeat.

USHJA: So, then what led you to becoming a judge?

Archie Cox: All right, well, again, my grandmother held many judge's cards, back in the '70s and early '80s. And I moved to California in 1992 and started working for Karen Healy, who was a judge. And I think that judging is one of the most important things a horseman can do. You really get the perspective—what the judge is looking for, you as a judge, you can help to shape the standards and maintain the standards of equestrians at the highest level.

USHJA: You do a lot of training too, so how do you separate your training mindset from when you're judging, or do they kind of run hand in hand?

Archie Cox: Training and judging run hand in hand in many ways. When I come home from judging, I'm always improving my training. I'm reminded of all of the details, whether it be efficiency in the ring—and I say that I want to see a rider come in the ring and show me what they got. If they come in the ring and they sort of wander around, already I think they're lost.

and I'm reminded when I'm training that I want my students to go in the ring and get right to work, and that makes me a better trainer. And I'm reminded of everything from the tack fitting correctly, the general turnout of the horse, the polish of the boots. The rider's helmet, every part of it goes into success—detail adds up to the big picture.

USHJA: So, it really benefits you as a trainer then to also be a judge, and then is also benefiting your students.

Archie Cox: Oh, judging and training is a great benefit, working those two things together. I always come home a better horseman having judged a horse show.

USHJA: I love that.

Archie Cox: yeah, I'm reminded of things I need to improve. Areas that I see that can be improved in the general horse industry. One thing that I do like to do if I'm judging a medal class and time permits and the position of the judge’s box is where this can happen as I ask the kids a question. It can be general horsemanship, can be about the bit, about the horse. And that is teaching and reminding the student and the student's trainer that they need to really impress upon the kids: know the temperature of the horse, know your tack, know the parts of the horse.

And if a student doesn't know that, I first look at the trainer and say, "are you teaching that?" So, asking a question is one way to help educate everyone and remind everyone that there's more to it than just eight distances and a blue ribbon.

USHJA: Definitely. You mentioned a medal class. I know you do a lot of judging, but Equitation specifically, why is it so important?

Archie Cox: Form follows function. It's quite simple. And when you're judging equitation, you are judging how the rider steers and navigates the horse around the course with a variety of distances, different turns, how that rider can navigate and communicate with their horse through a series of questions that the course designer has asked. That is done effortlessly and invisibly. the correct position and the correct use of your aids allow that invisible accuracy to happen.

USHJA: What do you really look for in the Equitation ring? You kind of just explained it to us. But you're judging a big class, what are you really looking for?

Archie Cox: I am looking for, number one, a beautifully turned out horse, horse and rider combination. It is called a horse show.

I am looking for a rider that can navigate the course in a variety of positions—you may have a light seat, you may have a deeper seat at specific times, to help make a seamless, effortless performance.

USHJA: You make it sound so simple.

Archie Cox: And the best riders and the winners make it look that way.

USHJA: Exactly. You judged Maclay Finals in 2021. So, in a class where you have hundreds of riders, how can a rider really make themselves stand out?

Archie Cox: Produce an effortless round, the horse and rider need to be together, working as one unit, however you want to call it. Horse and rider effortlessly navigate the course and they do it with style, they do it with elegance, and for me one of the largest tie breakers is who do I want to ride my horse? What rider can do all that with Empathy and sympathy for their horse.

USHJA: I like that. You mentioned being able to ask a horsemanship question. Of the tests that you can be asked, do you have a favorite to ask them?

Archie Cox: I'll ask about the bit, frequently I'll ask the normal temperature of a horse. And in today's world of veterinary care and awareness of different diseases viruses, things that go around, everyone should know that.

USHJA: Do you have a test that you don't like to ask as much?

Archie Cox: No, I try to make most of my tests very balanced. I try to make sure that if you jump four jumps, two would be on the left lead, two would be on the right lead so that it isn't weighted towards a left-leaded horse or a right-leaded horse.

I can tell you temperature question is something to avoid near the border of Canada.

USHJA: Oh

Archie Cox: Mike Jungherr and I judged. And we said, "what is the normal temperature of a horse?" And it has to be about 15 years ago, and that little girl with bright eyes looked right back at us and said, "Fahrenheit or Celsius?" And we looked at each other and I said," well, whatever you're comfortable with..." Needless to say, she was a very good horseman and very well versed in horsemanship. That threw us for a loop.

In the Maclay classes, I try to ask tests that are easily demonstrated in front of the judge. Turn on the forehand, turn on the haunch—it's very difficult to ask a group to do that, and I feel like I'm not able to judge that correctly. You can only watch a small number of riders doing that test. So, as a whole, in a large group of riders, I think it's not a very good test.

Individually, great test.

USHJA: So, as a trainer, what is your favorite way to prepare a rider for the Equitation final season?

Archie Cox: Really, I think we work all year long for the Equitation finals and throughout the year the rider is just simply getting prepared. Riding in a little bit of a smaller ring is often helpful where the jumps come up rather quickly as they do at the indoor horse shows. And really just having the horse rider combination answer the questions of go forward, shorten, turn right and turn left in a moment's notice and have the riders reacting. That's one of the biggest things is that the reaction time has to be rather quick.

USHJA: Are there any riders right now, maybe as a trainer or as a judge, that you think really showcase the epitome of great equitation?

Archie Cox: I think there's a group of riders. On any given day, any one of the Equitation finals could be won by 10 to 12 riders—10, 12, even up to 15. There is often a standout from each part of the country, and then they come together in a national finals.

The finals have been won by Canadians from British Columbia, down to Southern California, from New England down to Florida, the middle of the country to Oklahoma. So do I think there is one? No, there are many that could win that are standout horsemen.

And that's really what the finals are gearing people toward. It's a stop in their career. It's not a destination. And it certainly can advance a rider. The riders that represent the U.S., Most of them have done the equitation; many of them have won the finals. It's a test of pressure, to test a reaction, and it just develops good habits. Good horsemanship.

USHJA: Definitely. And USHJA has recently, in the past few years, expanded our adult Equitation offerings. A lot of people, they get to Equitation and once they're a junior, it's over. And if they're not going pro, now there's some amateur options. So, what do you think about all those?

Archie Cox: The amateur Equitation is very popular in California and has been for years. The Equitation division is a great place for the amateurs. They like the questions that are asked within the courses, and it is a little bit more of a riding contest than the Hunters where the horse you have can affect so much. The Gladstone Cup was highly successful, I think, on both coasts. I know that there were about 30 in California, and I think that there were quite a few in Saugerties. That tells you the success of it.

USHJA: Absolutely.

We've talked a lot about riders, but what do you think makes a great Equitation horse?

Archie Cox: Great Equitation horses need scope. They need to be able to easily jump the jumps that they're asked to. Really, the number one thing is desire to want to do their job—whether it's Hunters, Jumpers, Equitation. But in the Equitation ring, those are the soldiers.

To be well versed, right lead, left lead, well-schooled, and they are the horses that teach our young riders. And that's what we see with our veterans.

Equitation horses need to be scopey, they need to be well schooled, they need to be as brave as a lion, and they need to have the constitution and the discipline to be able to do it and do it again and repeat it and continue teaching young riders at all different levels.

USHJA: I like the thought that they really are teachers. You see so many veterans go along with riders for quite a few years and you come to recognize them and their name when they come in the ring.

Archie Cox: Yes, I think that the partnership and the bond between the horse and rider is so important. Ellie Yeager is a great example. She won the 12 and under finals in California on her horse. And when she was 17 years old, in her last junior year, she won the USET finals on the same horse. They stayed together the whole time. And that partnership is so important. They know each other. They think like each other.

USHJA: So, you mentioned you did your junior Equitation years back in the 80s. How have you seen Equitation change over the years?

Archie Cox: The horse world and the different disciplines have become a little bit more specific. Equitation horses in the past, you did the Hunters and the equitation. Now, with the introduction of so many classes and the courses being a little bit more Jumper oriented in many cases, you see less crossover of horses. It's very specific. You see people doing the Jumpers, they do the Hunters or they do the equitation. The horses themselves, with the number of classes, are really becoming what we call specialists. Back in the '80s, it was normal for a horse to be Champion in the Junior Hunters and get a ribbon in the Maclay finals. That rarely happens because of the difficulty of the courses, number of classes and what those specific horses have to do.

I mean, the countless number of horses that were Junior Hunter champion and won the Maclay finals or the medal finals was really a unique number and you don't see that today.

USHJA: That's an interesting note on how it's changed, but you're right, you've got an Equitation horse, you've got a Hunter, and you've got a Jumper, so, they are specialists.

Archie Cox: Yeah, they are specialists and just in my junior days, there was the medal and the Maclay. Washington wasn't around and the USET was, I want to say the finals were something relatively new. And those were the classes—the medal, the Maclay and occasionally the USET.

 I've had some very good horses that crossed over, but just the number of classes—it's great that they offer that many classes, but what it takes out of the horse is too much. A horse can only jump so much. They can't do everything, and you can really fine tune them as best you can. And the Equitation classes allow for a variety of courses, more interesting questions, different types of jumps, and the kids really like it.

USHJA: Mm hmm.

Well, my last little bit of our interview here, we call it the Victory Gallop. So, you have to pick: a bay, a gray, or a chestnut.

Archie Cox: Bay.

USHJA: Would you rather jump the long approach oxer or the trot jump?

Archie Cox: A long approach.

USHJA: That's been a common answer. No one likes the trot jump.

Archie Cox: No, it's very funny. The trot jump is the first jump. Catch the crossrail, grab the ma It is the least favorite jump of most professionals.

USHJA: It is. If you got to live a day in the life of any rider, who would you pick?

Archie Cox: Well, Laura Kraut is my first answer. she popped into my head. I think Laura does it all with a smile on her face. I've known her most of my life, back from her junior days and she does it all with a smile.

USHJA: What is the last TV show or movie you watched?

Archie Cox: NCIS New Orleans. Well, it was on the TV this morning.

USHJA: What are two things you can't get through a day at the barn without?

Archie Cox: Coffee and teaching.

USHJA: What horse would you love to ride?

Archie Cox: What horse would I love to ride? Well, that is a good question. Oh, I do know, Cannon Creek. The 4' is my favorite division and that horse has endless scope. He's beautiful and he's big. Yet quite gentle and light.

USHJA: what is the most used app on your phone?

Archie Cox: Instagram.

USHJA: Looking at your feed, that doesn't surprise me. Describe your dream horse in three words.

Archie Cox: Desire, ability and beauty.

USHJA: Oh, I think all of those are new ones for us.

Archie Cox: Someone at the USEF asked me the three most important qualities in a show horse and I answered that question must be 15, 20 years ago. In that order: desire, ability and beauty.

USHJA: Well, perfect. That is all I have for you. Thank you so much for taking time out of your early morning to record.

Archie Cox: Oh, you're very welcome.

USHJA: Thanks for tuning in to this episode of USHJA On Course. Subscribe so you don't miss the next episode and follow us on social to stay up-to-date on everything USHJA!