The Greenhorn Chronicles 36: Hyde Moffatt on the Meaning of Success (2)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Publisher: In-Sight Publishing

Publisher Founding: January 1, 2014

Web Domain: http://www.in-sightpublishing.com 

Location: Fort Langley, Township of Langley, British Columbia, Canada

Journal: In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal

Journal Founding: August 2, 2012

Frequency: Three (3) Times Per Year

Review Status: Non-Peer-Reviewed

Access: Electronic/Digital & Open Access

Fees: None (Free)

Volume Numbering: 11

Issue Numbering: 2

Section: E

Theme Type: Idea

Theme Premise: “Outliers and Outsiders”

Theme Part: 27

Formal Sub-Theme: “The Greenhorn Chronicles”

Individual Publication Date: January 8, 2023

Issue Publication Date: May 1, 2023

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Interviewer(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Interviewee(s): Hyde Moffatt

Word Count: 1,601

Image Credits: Cealy Tetley

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN): 2369-6885

*Please see the footnotes, bibliography, and citations, after the interview.*

*Interview conducted December 13, 2022.*

Abstract

Hyde Moffatt, according to Starting Gate Communications, can be described as follows: “Andrew Hyde Moffatt had an unusual introduction to horses. When he was five years old, a girl at school brought in her horse for show-and-tell and Hyde was hooked! His top horse is Ting Tin, a son of the well-known sire Chin Chin, purchased in Belgium as a six-year-old. Hyde describes Ting Tin as a brave, intelligent and energetic horse who loves to play with people, but gets bored easily. Starting their Grand Prix career together in 2004, Hyde and Ting Tin have steadily improved with each outing, enjoying top ten finishes at several of the biggest horse shows in Canada including the Capital Classic Show Jumping Tournament, the Collingwood Horse Show, Tournament of Champions, and the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. When he is not showing in the Grand Prix ring, Hyde competes with several horses in the Young Horse Development Series including Baron, who was crowned the 2006 Ontario Six-Year-Old Champion. In addition to his equestrian pursuits, Hyde also enjoys running. Although he is currently a middle distance runner at 10 to 15 km, he would like to work towards doing his first marathon.” Moffatt discusses: Canada produces some of the best women riders in the world; only 90 riders listed; most significant career win; injuries; a love of horses; and grit.

Keywords: 1.60m, Canada, CSIO, Erynn Ballard, Hyde Moffatt, Longines, Mac Cone, Nations Cup, oxer, rider, show jumping, Wellington.

The Greenhorn Chronicles 36: Hyde Moffatt on the Meaning of Success (2)

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: One thing I noticed that is relatively distinct in Canada. I haven’t done a systematic review of this, yet. Although, preliminarily, Canada produces some of the best women riders in the world.

Hyde Moffatt: Because we’re tough.

Jacobsen: [Laughing].

Moffatt: I, actually, think that is the answer. I think it is because we’re tough. Maybe, that Canadian mentality that we’re always a little bit of an underdog. It is always a little bit harder. I do think it is because we’re tough.

Jacobsen: When I went through the Longines rankings for Canada, there were only 90 riders listed. This has been a very consistent thing in conversing with people. Everyone knows everyone or, at least, knows of everyone, it is a small world. Is it the frequency of the travel, being at the events for several days, seeing the names? Things of this nature.

Moffatt: Yes, there are only so many events in which ranking points are available. Invariably, you end up running into everyone from your country somewhere along the line. Certainly, we do become familiar. Those shows, there are only 50 or 60 riders at some of the bigger shows. You might have 90 riders down in Wellington, but you are not talking about a group that is hard to keep track of. We definitely know each other.

Jacobsen: What would you consider your most significant career win, so far?

Moffatt: Jeez, that’s a good question. Honestly, I try not to quantify things with the wins. A lot of the wins that you end up with, from a non-competitive standpoint, are from learning and discovering on the journey to the wins in the ring; I think that that time that you struggle with teaching a horse something and, suddenly, feel all the parts come together. That is the kind of win that I do this for. I still remember jumping in Wellington. It was the first time I jumped a big CSIO. Nations Cup week down there. I was on a very green horse. They filled this course of jumps, still when Wellington had a grass field. There was a line. You jumped a vertical over the open water. It was unique in and of itself. You don’t see that anymore. You did a number of strides. Then there was a vertical at 1.60m. Then there were 3 and a half strides. I don’t know how else to say it. It was too long for 4 and too short for 3 into a huge oxer. One of the biggest jumps I had ever jumped in the ring in my life at that point.

I know how in theory how I am going to get this done. I am going to need to jump the vertical over the water with some rhythm. I am going to have to balance and curl over the vertical and land and make room in the 4 strides and put my leg up. In my head, I thought, “Is this even possible?” I went so late in the class. I got to sit and watch. This is before we were as limited in the number of courses that you could ride in, or the number of entries in the grand prix. I am watching these horses go. You see them do it. “Well, I know my plan. They seem to have the same plan. I am going to do that.” I did it. When I got it done and put my leg on, and the horse jumped across the oxer, I remember being in the air, to this day, thinking, “I learned something.” Because, theoretically, you knew it was possible, but you never felt it. All of the sudden, you felt it. You’re like, “Man, horses can do things I did not know they can even do.” It is wins like that that stick out rather than the actual win. For me, the win is the reward that comes at the end. But it is the journey that is, maybe, more important.

Jacobsen: As you were noting or alluding to earlier, injuries are a major part of risk in the sport. It is one of the myths, for those looking outside of the industry, which is, probably, similar to cheerleading. Where cheerleading has an extraordinarily high injury rate, same with show jumping. It has this reputation of being a gallivanting, gentle sport. It can be graceful when done at a really high level, as yourself, but it’s extremely dangerous. Have there been deaths on competition grounds before?

Moffatt: Absolutely, by statistics, it is one of the most dangerous sports in the world. Concussion rates as high or higher than the NFL because you are always falling from speed. There is serious risk of spinal cord injuries, paralysis and death from that as well – for the same reasons. Not to mention, you are on something that weighs 1,200 lbs. and can, sometimes, fall down. Sometimes, when it falls down, it can fall on top of you. Yes, there have, definitely, been some terrible accidents and have been some deaths. Personally, I know a number of people who have had that happen to them. Both who have died and who have suffered lifechanging injury. We do not do this without risk. It is best to always remind ourselves of that.

Jacobsen: Back in January (2022), Erynn Ballard cautioned me. She said something to the effect, ‘If you are going to do this series, you have to have a love for horses, or you have to develop that, because, if you don’t, then you won’t understand where these riders and trainers, and so on, are coming from.’ After about 14 months into it now, I completely understand what she is getting at now. The riders are here for the sport, to compete. They have competitive blood. However, at the end of the day, they are here for just a love of horses.

Moffatt: If it was for a love of anything else, it is not worth doing. The number of overtime hours, the amount of work you put into this; you’d be better to work McDonald’s or retail. Because, by the time you average out what we make hourly, it is, probably, not a great decision from a financial point of view.

Jacobsen: [Laughing].

Moffatt: It becomes a lifestyle. It is the way we live. It’s what we do; it’s who we are. All of it is centered around the horses. Certainly, I hope anyone pursuing this as a career is in it because of a love of horses. Because if you love the horses, then you will still like this on a bad day. You will always lose more classes than you win. It doesn’t how good or are or how good you get. If you are only liking it when you’re winning, then it is the wrong sport and the wrong career for you. If you love the horses and like doing things with the horses, then it becomes the right career.

Jacobsen: As things have developed over the last 50 years, individuals in the prior generations had a sport, show jumping, that was not necessarily quite figured out. Mac Cone recalls, basically, in Tennessee building jumps out of random boards and branches in his backyard!

Moffatt: [Laughing].

Jacobsen: The horse was bought for his sister. He ended up seeing her jumping. He said, “I want to jump 4’ with that thing.” So, he set a goal with these home-made jumps to get this thing jumping 4’. He succeeded. But he said, “It was stupid. It was dangerous.” But he didn’t know any better. Those things mark, in my mind, a much more rough-and-tumble, trial-and-error era of show jumping. When I am talking to people in the modern period, more aspects of it are figured out: How to ride properly, how to have proper form, how to develop a horse along, where to get your horses, what kind of horses to have. On the one hand, things are a lot more figured out. So, there is a lot less trial-and-error to do. Yet, there are other things to figure out. However, if you are looking at those trends over time, which again takes many, many decades, do you think that the loss of that trial-and-error can create softening of younger individuals who are coming into the sport to not have the continual battering with reality to really get that grit, so they can become those next great riders?

Moffatt: Absolutely, I think the struggle is necessary. I think that we are a product of our experiences. Those struggles that, sometimes, can be viewed as negative because they are hard, are difficult, are hard work. They hurt. Whatever the case may be, those struggles are what makes people, what makes individuals. I think that some hardship is necessary in order to achieve success. If it all comes for nothing, it comes with no work, no hardship, no discomfort, then did you really, truly get the experience? Did you really win it? I think that those things are what make you appreciate what you do have and do achieve. I, definitely, think that we have to allow people to make mistakes. We have to allow people to think their way through things, sometimes. I think that it is fantastic what previous generations have done in terms of being able to figure these things out. I am not saying necessarily that we have to take steps back. I think people need to not be afraid of failing, making mistakes. It is through failure that we get better.

Bibliography

None

Footnotes

None

Citations

American Medical Association (AMA 11^th Edition): Jacobsen S. The Greenhorn Chronicles 36: Hyde Moffatt on the Meaning of Success (2). January 2023; 11(2). http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/moffatt-2

American Psychological Association (APA 7^th Edition): Jacobsen, S. (2023, January 8). The Greenhorn Chronicles 36: Hyde Moffatt on the Meaning of Success (2). In-Sight Publishing. 11(2). http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/moffatt-2.

Brazilian National Standards (ABNT): JACOBSEN, S. D. The Greenhorn Chronicles 36: Hyde Moffatt on the Meaning of Success (2). In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, Fort Langley, v. 11, n. 2, 2023.

Chicago/Turabian, Author-Date (17^th Edition): Jacobsen, Scott. 2023. “The Greenhorn Chronicles 36: Hyde Moffatt on the Meaning of Success (2).” In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal 11, no. 2 (Spring). http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/moffatt-2.

Chicago/Turabian, Notes & Bibliography (17^th Edition): Jacobsen, Scott “The Greenhorn Chronicles 36: Hyde Moffatt on the Meaning of Success (2).” In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal 11, no. 2 (January 2023). http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/moffatt-2.

Harvard: Jacobsen, S. (2023) ‘The Greenhorn Chronicles 36: Hyde Moffatt on the Meaning of Success (2)’, In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, 11(2). <http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/moffatt-2>.

Harvard (Australian): Jacobsen, S 2023, ‘The Greenhorn Chronicles 36: Hyde Moffatt on the Meaning of Success (2)’, In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, vol. 11, no. 2, <http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/moffatt-2>.

Modern Language Association (MLA, 9^th Edition): Jacobsen, Scott. “The Greenhorn Chronicles 36: Hyde Moffatt on the Meaning of Success (2).” In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, vo.11, no. 2, 2023, http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/moffatt-2.

Vancouver/ICMJE: Jacobsen S. The Greenhorn Chronicles 36: Hyde Moffatt on the Meaning of Success (2) [Internet]. 2023 Jan; 11(2). Available from: http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/moffatt-2

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