An Evening with Yogi Breisner at WVS November 2018
Meeting Yogi for the first time, straight away you feel that big circle of charisma which surrounds him. Next, you experience his neat, kind, assured, always in-control, highly organised manner.
On 23 November 2017, Yogi was our guest at WVS and he delivered a wonderful, inspiring talk at our local venue, the library in the Dog & Fox.
As he started to speak, it was clear Yogi’s empathy for riders and horses combines with a clarity of thought and attention to detail that are striking; so obviously very special. How did our lively, chatty, energy-packed WVS audience receive Yogi? – the answer, “Wow! – that was one great evening and a huge treat”.
Looking with Yogi through his pictures of eventers, dressage riders, show jumping and racing, he showed us “all the angles” – literally. All the time, the depth and precision of his thinking stood out, like fine art. Combined with the practicality and sensitivity of his advice, this showed why Yogi has had one of the most successful careers of any coach in British sport.
Yogi explained the horse’s balance with the rider on board, the mechanics of the horse’s back – the suspension bridge, spoke about contact, how the horse looks at jumps and how positive experiences impact upon performance. Yogi’s lists of factors for performance for riders and horses covered willingness, co-operation, psychology, wellbeing and technical skill. He explained about: what “seeing the stride” really is; and controlling emotion, so that the rider is in control. It showed how much science supports the public theatre of exceptional sporting achievements. Yogi recounted a question when asked to advise a team – “why is their aim only to get to the Olympics and not to win medals?” Team members had to focus on achieving their personal bests and in that way the team would reach the ranks of the medals.
We were fascinated as he explained the challenges of training Victoria Pendleton from scratch to ride at Cheltenham. There were of course setbacks, there were risks, the press were baying like hounds should anything go wrong – yet she triumphed – and Yogi triumphed. He explained how critical the attention to the horses had been and we all loved the way that Victoria, like Yogi and ourselves absolutely loves the horses.
Yogi took questions and answers in his stride. Standing out was the intense commitment and care he has for his competing riders and the horses. He was asked about competition frustrations? – time penalties. Yogi spoke movingly how he wanted to bring people on from all parts of the sport. Particularly satisfying is seeing young riders enjoying the sport, progressing their skills and getting the very best from their horses. Love for the horse shone through at all times.
What a fantastic WVS evening. If anyone asks you the definition of world class performance management – it is two words, “Yogi Breisner”. Thank you Yogi.