John Nicholson at home amongst some XC fences, photo thanks to Eventing NZ
John Nicholson is the course designer of the famous Kiwi Event Kihikihi. Before I spoke to John I knew two things about him, firstly he has a brother a few of you may know, Andrew. Secondly when it comes to his courses most people who have seen them or ridden them tell you they are BIG! Surprisingly when I 'googled' John I found there was little to go on from a research point of view, so I called the man in New Zealand who has no email or mobile phone and chatted about the upcoming Kihikihi competition.
John is a softly spoken and contemplative Kiwi, his farm which currently has a maize crop almost ready for harvest and hosts part of the cross country course is adjacent to the Kihikihi Domain. The Domain is a sporting complex that plays host to Soccer, Cricket, Polo and many other sports for the bulk of the year except when it becomes the venue for the Eventing. On reasonably flat ground, John makes use of the terracing between the various playing surfaces to build as much terrain as possible into his course.
As a designer John sees his challenge as being able to test the horses and riders without tricking the horses, while making sure that EVERY rider goes home to their family at the end of the weekend. As a brother John still gets nervous and hopes he doesn't get a late night phone call when the big events like Badminton are on. He worries about his brother Andrew, though not as much as he used to, but that principle that everyone has family and must come home is what drives his design.
The other thing driving John and the thing that those that have seen his courses feel is that they are big. Everything fits the FEI dimensions and rules but locating a fence in the right spot can mean the difference between looking OK and looking huge even though they may be the same height or width physically. John believe that a horse must be able to clearly understand the question but the horses and riders must respect every fence, think about how they will tackle the combinations and just plain think while on XC.
If riders are thinking about a combination and not just giving it a cursory glance then he has achieved the right balance. Big fences or at least fences that feel big when being walked require respect and that is argued as one of the things that has changed in recent years. I remember having a similar conversation with Lucinda Green at Blenheim last year, riders and horses have lost respect for many fences in recent times and the proliferation of brush has had the opposite effect than intended. Lucinda believes that too much brush has made but horse and riders sloppy and this is the perfect environment for more accidents rather than less.
There is currently a move back to building fences similarly to the way they did in days gone by with small timber and lots of air rather than solid fill. John told me he has used Silver Birch poles on fences for the upcoming event and doesn't believe he has done anything like that in 20 years. He is hopeful that these subtle changes will bring about more respect for the fences and the course as a whole.
This year Kihikihi is hosting the Trans-Tasman Aussie vs Kiwi competition and the Aussie team of Shane, Christine, Natalie and Katja will get a big bold course that is both perfect preparation for the Sydney Three day and also perhaps a chance to put in a last minute claim for a spot on the Aussie Team for London.
I haven't seen a Kiwi team announced as yet but I do know that almost everyone who has a chance of being on the Kiwi team for London has relocated to the UK in the lead up to the games so it will be a real chance for some young and up and coming riders to stake their claim as a potential Kiwi contender in the future. As for the Aussies, they all have a chance to snag a spot on the London squad by pulling off a great event in Kihikihi and then backing up three weeks later on Mike ES's Sydney course. It will be fascinating and I will be covering the Kihikihi event live for An Eventful Life so will be able to bring all the action and drama to you every day.
Yours in Eventing
John Lechner (ESJ)
