IF event horses are the consummate all-rounder of equestrian sports, then Sam Watson is a human equivalent with his ability to combine sport and business.
Since EquiRatings took the eventing world by storm following its launch in 2015 by Sam and his “school friend, best man and business partner” Diarmuid Byrne, his gift for analytics had found not just an outlet but built up a financially successful business.
Classic left-brain thinking, you might think. Analytical, detail-oriented, logical.
And then there was Watson’s beautifully penned eulogy to the late Irish Sport Horse stallion Puissance, which appeared in The Irish Field in October. Creative, ‘big picture thinkers’, eloquent – the hallmarks of supposed right-brain thinking.
As useful as such labels are, the popular theory of left-brain/right-brain personality traits has been pretty much debunked by scientists. You find that just as quickly, Sam Watson debunks any notions of him counting down to Tokyo 2021 or fixated on winning a five-star event. It’s all about the cast members, the journey and the quest for him.
“I know that some people like to hear about the destinations. Bushman, the home-bred hero; Highlight, the boomerang that won a medal; Lukeswell, who got away and Imperial Sky, who never stopped trying.
“But for me, the journey is intriguing. I didn’t dream about this career, even though it’s in the family.
“I don’t look back on achievements and I don’t aim for more wins or medals. I enjoy the horses, the people and the daily quest,” says this veteran of three World Equestrian Games and five senior European championships. Eight championships in total if you include three more championships at junior and young rider level.
Reality bites
Seven years before Sam was born, his father John had won an individual silver medal at the 1978 world championships on Cambridge Blue. A not particularly successful racehorse, the thoroughbred found his true vocation in eventing and the pair recorded three European championship appearances, including being on the victorious Irish gold medal team at Burghley the following year.
Big boots for a young Sam to fill, however as he explains, he took his own line to top-level eventing.
“Having two older sisters, [Suzannah and Rozzie] not to mention a parenting duo that excelled in the top flight of eventing, ponies were unavoidable in my childhood. I kicked a football around the yard, spooking horses and causing trouble, but inevitably I spent time in the saddle.
“I was braver on two legs rather than four, there’s no doubt there. I never really had a massive appetite for competing and, to an extent, that has stayed with me. That might sound odd for the first Irish rider to break into the FEI top-10 in eventing, but that’s just reality.”
You could wonder about the odds of coincidences but coincidentally, it’s Stephen Lanigan-O’Keeffe, Puissance’s owner, who also played a significant part in igniting Sam’s career. He bred the Quidam de Revel-sired Demi Tasse, the horse that bucked off all the Watson family members.
Sam took the horse over from his sister Rozzie, who herself added two more European young rider championship appearances to the family’s record with the Cruising mare, Floating.
After his boarding school years at Clongowes Wood College, Sam went on to study Management Science and Information Systems at Trinity College. As with ‘Diarm’ Byrne, who himself studied Law, Sam’s career could then have followed a more conventional path. Instead he commuted to Carlow to compete a team of home-breds, including the great Horseware Bushman.
All that sparkles
Bred by his parents and by Puissance, naturally, the 1999-foaled bay had amassed 1,474 Eventing Ireland points by the 2017 Ballindenisk International, where he was officially retired. His career spanned from the 2006 WBFSH young horse championships at Le Lion d’Angers to his last international championship appearance, also on French turf, eight years later at the FEI Alltech World Equestrian Games in Normandy in 2014.
Sandwiched in between those highlights, was Sam and Bushman’s European level debut. That took place at the young riders championships in Pardubice (2006) where they placed fourth that year. Incidentally, the field included several other riders that went on to compete at senior international level, including Gemma Tattersall (GB), Tim Lips (NED) and Sandra Auffarth (GER).
Young rider years were followed by three more European team caps at Fontainebleau (2009), Luhmuehlen (2011) and Malmo (2013). Plus, back-to-back World Equestrian Games appearances at Lexington (2010) and Haras du Pin (2014). And there’s five Badminton (2009, 2010, 2013, 2015) and Burghley (2014) completions – plenty of statistics fuel to drive the EquiRatings cogs.
Before the enterprise award-winning EquiRatings took off on its meteoric rise to a six-figure annual turnover, Sam had tacked back and forth across the Irish Sea after leaving college. Renting a yard in the UK for the competition season, he returned to Carlow for the winter before finally settling back home in Ballybolger with wife Hannah, or ‘Sparkles’.
One reason for her other name is her renowned stable management and turnout skills, including the trademark shamrock quarter markings on the Ballybolger horses.
“I get plaudits from time to time, but ‘Sparks’ is not only my hero, she is the hero. Her days start before 5am.
"Every day since Archie, (our eldest of two boys, Toby is our second) was born back in 2013. That’s so that she can get the horses done before all her boys crawl out of bed – bedraggled, bleary-eyed, hungry and incoherent!”
Puissance power
Apart from that four-legged constant, the evergreen Bushman, horses came and went from their yard as the reality of running an eventing yard, no different from others, often depended on sales.
Sam has said he has no preference for traditional or warmblood crosses, however a high percentage of Puissance horses have found their way to him. The full-brothers Lukeswell, (his 2015 European championships horse, now competing in the States with Hannah Sue Burnett) and Ardagh Highlight, his team silver horse at the World Equestrian Games at Tryon two years ago, are both by Puissance and both bred by Teresa Walsh.
Sam Watson and Horseware Ardagh Highlight on cross-country at the 2018 World Equestrian Games \ Tomas Holcbecher
Then there’s Imperial Sky, the second-highest ranked Irish-bred event horse this year, owned by Sam and Hannah in partnership with Tom and Cathy Byrne. Another by Puissance, he was fittingly bred at the Kilkenny brand of Coolmore Stud by Carolyn Lanigan-O’Keeffe.
Completing his fleet of championship horses is the non-Puissance amongst them; Vahe Bogossian’s eye-catching dun Tullabeg Flamenco, bred by Nicholas Cousins and by the Irish Sport Horse stallion, Tullabeg Fusion, a blend of Rimilis, Clover Hill and Errigal Flight bloodlines. This was the horse Sam competed at the European championships last year at Luhmuehlen where the Irish team placed sixth.
“I love the horses, from foals to top performers, and I’m obsessed with their training and development. Everything from nutrition, to mental well-being, to fitness, to the intricate details of a cross-country course.
"I have a relentless passion for progress when it comes to training. But I’m not fussed about ‘achievements’.”
Monetise-wise
Sometimes sporting legends become household names. Last week the football world mourned the genius that was the Argentinian legend, Diego Maradona, a name millions knew of. If a pub or Zoom quiz sports round included a question to name the Aga Khan ‘dream team’ of Paul Darragh, James Kernan, Eddie Macken and Capt. Con Power, most could correctly answer it.
Gaining that mainstream level of recognition for other teams, including eventing, can be difficult as Sam acknowledges.
“Not many people can name the 2008 eventing Olympic medallists or the 2008 Badminton winner. Ten years later, in 2018, we won our WEG medal, but 10 years on from that again and I suspect that most people won’t recall who achieved what without quizzing their phone,” he says matter-of-factly, remarking on how transient fame can be.
Planning in tandem and beyond his career in the saddle was always on the cards and EquiRatings, which now supplies the bulk of the eventing world’s data, is an example of how to tap into the wealth of knowledge in the Watson brains.
“If you rocked up to Ballybolger for a cup of tea with John and myself, you could spend days caught in the cross-fire of theories on just about anything – most of them ridiculous. We’re both thinkers and we both married incredible girls. Mum [Julia] and Sparks both bring positivity and warmth to the table.”
Having a great idea and bank of data is one thing, it’s another to monetise it to the level EquiRatings has. Clients include the FEI and the company has rolled out a range of products, from the game-changing EquiRatings Quality Index (ERQI), the EquiRatings Eventing Podcast to a coaching app. Fantasy Eventing is another concept which will get into its stride once the eventing calendar resumes.
Midnight oil
Getting any start-up enterprise off the ground is time-consuming as Sam found out.
“There was one period in my life where I feel I worked too hard. When we started EquiRatings back around 2014/2015 I used be at a screen, deep in code until 3am. In fact, Diarm and I would have a regular meeting well after midnight, just to check-in with how things were progressing.
“If I hadn’t done that spell, then either EquiRatings wouldn’t have started or eventing would have stopped. But it comes with a health warning,” he said, adding in a caveat about burning the candle at both ends.
However, the hard work has paid off now with their successful company. Although even with their analytic minds, it’s difficult to see how many could have forecast how the year 2020 was to unravel.
With the eventing season semi-derailed this year, Sam, who is also a Riding for the Disabled Ireland (RDAI) ambassador, felt his lack of match practice showed at Ballindenisk.
Sam Watson with his best friend and EquiRatings business partner Diarmuid Byrne \ Barry Cronin
“In horse sports, a lack of emotion for the outcome but a ruthless obsession for the process is quite effective. I see young riders who really ‘want it’. They get so nervous, like their life depends on it. Obviously their life doesn’t depend on winning, but the belief that it matters is detrimental to performance.
“It’s great for running, cycling, swimming, weightlifting – breaking through a pain barrier and convincing your body to push itself to extremities can be aided by a ‘try or die’ mindset. But not for riding a horse.
“I can’t jump the fence, my horse is the one faced with the effort. I need to be calm, still, focussed, receptive to what the horse is thinking and reassuring to them in their moments of doubt.
“It took me over a month to get over the last four show jumping fences at the Ballindenisk CCI4*-L, 2020. I rode them terribly, the worst I’ve ridden since WEG 2010.
“The explanation is simple, my process suffered from the unusual year and I was rusty. The rails stayed up and we won, but I doubt many people have ever been so disappointed after a result like that. The outcome didn’t matter, but the process showed a weakness and that eats away at me.”
Work smart
“I think that this is one of the biggest differences between myself and Dad,” he remarked on their family dynamic. “He’s so passionate about the game and very emotional too. Sometimes I’m jealous of that. I don’t get the highs. Dad sacrificed a lot to give me a chance in this game. He taught me so much too, more than anyone else ever will.
“Back in the day, Dad would push me to breaking point and then Mum would fix me and put me back together. But that is the formula for growth. Stress plus recovery. Muscles, brain cells, mental health. Stress isn’t bad, in fact it’s necessary. You just need to counter it with recovery occasionally. Now I push myself to the edge and Sparks picks up the pieces.”
He believes that eventing is a very skills-based sport and that the skills can be learned. His thoughts come faster than fences on a Pierre Michelet cross-country course as he offers advice on how to learn.
“My advice to others is work smart. Learn every day. Seek to understand, not just to do. Ask ‘why’ a lot. Many succeed working hard. Finding a formula that works and then just making hay from that. I crave a better way and I believe that there is always one available somewhere below the surface.
“We make progress from the foundation of others so you must learn as much as possible. But not mindlessly, not like a college exam where you recite the words without understanding and then quickly forget. As a husband, father, rider and business founder, I believe that I can infinitely improve through relentless daily progress built on better understanding.
“Sparks and the boys are my ‘why’. If they asked me to become a fisherman I would. The ‘what’ would remain the same – that daily quest for the next 1%. The ‘how’ is also the same formula. I try (the effort), I fail (the inevitability), I accept (the humility), I understand (the quest) and I learn (the result). Keep trying. Embrace failure. Always learn.”
Sam Watson’s brain is constantly one step ahead.
Next week: John Watson