The Scoop with Andrew Cooper

This article is from the October 2019 Horse Deals magazine.

Age: 26

Lives: Balnarring, Victoria

Occupation: Full-Time Rider

Family history with horses? Both my parents aren’t horsey at all, I’m not really sure how I got into it. My grandfather used to train some trotters, so he had a bit of an interest, but my parents certainly weren’t interested and my mum still won’t catch a horse!

What age did you start riding? I was probably about five. We had seven acres where I grew up in Wagga and friends kept their horses on our property. They had a little 14.3hh pinto mare called CJ that I used to jump on and ride and after that, I just kept begging mum to let me join pony club. My pop also had a Welsh pony called Sam that I sat on growing up as well.

What role did pony club play in the early days? Pony club played a huge role. Initially, my mum wouldn’t let me go but when I was nine she eventually gave in. I was at a great club, Lake Albert Pony Club in Wagga. It was a really fun time and we did lots of different things; we did troop drill in the morning, sporting and games or cross country in the afternoon.
I used to ride CJ to pony club because Dad would always work on Sundays. He would drop off some buckets and a biscuit of hay at the club and I’d ride there. I would ride all day and then ride home and after work he’d pick up the buckets and meet me back at home. It was easy for my parents because I could get there by myself.

Tell us about your first horse. Mum and dad didn’t buy me a horse until I was about 10 or 11, which was Ghitza who I showjumped. I don’t know where that name came from, she was actually called Misty when we bought her. We bought her for $2,000 off a dodgy horse dealer but she ended up turning out alright. She wouldn’t go round, I probably didn’t know how to get her round but I ended up jumping her around 1m to 1.05m. When I was 12 my parents bought me an 18-year-old schoolmaster and his name was Davey (Sweet Rain). He was probably where I first fell in love with eventing. He had previously won at Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne Royal in the show ring and showjumped around 1.30m. I started eventing on him and he took me to 1 star but unfortunately he broke a leg at a pony club event which was quite tough to deal with as a 13-year-old.

Which has been your most influential horse? Six months to a year after we lost Davey, we bought Reuben (Guest of Honour), a Gymnastik Star gelding, who ended up being my first 5 star horse. When we purchased him he was five years old and a dressage horse training elementary/medium. We introduced him to jumping but he hated cross country. He wouldn’t go down a drop, into water or over a ditch. My first event on Reuben was at Harden and we only made it to like, fence four. But the next year we came back and were in the 2 star and he won that. So he went up the levels pretty quickly once he learnt what to do. In 2012 at the age of 21, I rode my first 5 star on him at Adelaide. I still have Reuben in the paddock at Balnarring, retired.

When you left school was there ever a plan B or was it straight into horses full time? I did do a TAFE course at Wangaratta in 2010 on Stud Management and Performance Management. I always knew I really wanted to ride full time, so once I finished that course it was straight into it.

What are your career highlights so far? The biggest highlight was in 2017 when I was in the Oceania Trans Tasman Team and represented Australia at the Melbourne Three Day riding Evergem Perfection. It was my first time in a team environment and being alongside Stuart Tinney, who was one of my idols growing up, was cool. I’d competed against Stuart but I’d never been in a team environment with him. Being able to represent Australia in itself was a highlight too. And then probably coming third in the 5 star with Evergem Perfection at Adelaide in 2016.

Incredibly you’ve had four horses in the last couple of months competing at CCI4 star level, Oaks Onyx, Hunter’s Hill, Riverbreeze and Reduction. Who is your favourite and why? My favourite is probably Hunter’s Hill, who I’ve actually just passed over the ride to my girlfriend, Maddie Wilson. He’s very naughty, with a lot of character but he seems to get along well with Maddie. Oaks Onyx is also pretty cool, he’s just a bit of a dude.

How many horses do you have in work? At any one time, we probably have around 20 to 25. There is a fair bit happening every day. Maddie pretty much rides full time as well and we also have two girls that work for me that will ride, lunge, or do general exercise and canter work. Most afternoons during the week I’ll teach four to six lessons too.

What’s your best piece of advice for managing multiple rides at an event? Organisation is number one. Have a whiteboard and a good system with it. Communication through the whiteboard is good too, you can always write if a horse has a temperature and so on. Of course, you need to have communication within the team. Also, having good people around you, that aren’t cranky or upset. It can get a little stressful with so much going on, but if the team works together and keeps a level head, it works well.

With Adelaide on the horizon, how are you preparing and how many are you planning to take along? I haven’t started galloping yet, but our first hit out for them is Spring Horse Trials. Then after that, we will start our fitness program which is to canter/cross country school once or twice a week, usually every four or five days. It can be hard because I have two teams of horses, the high-level horses who will go out and compete one week and then the low-level horses which will go out and compete at a different event the following weekend. The preparation is going to be about trying to organise every horse, so that they are all getting the right fitness and the right amount of cross country schooling.

For Adelaide, hopefully, I’ll have Tasman Park Ovation, Reduction and Riverbreeze in the 5 star. Omega Star who’s just about to step up to 3 star, will hopefully be in the 3 star too. Then Maddie has her team of horses, so we’ll have a fair few.

What are the qualities that you look for in a horse? I really love a Thoroughbred. I don’t think you can beat a good one, one that moves well enough and has a good brain, although they are hard to find. I look for a very good jumper. I think they need to be careful at the end of the day, especially the way that the scoring has gone. You used to be able to get away with having a rail and still win, but now that will drop you from first to fifth. I think they also have to be quick to make time. The jumping is so influential these days with the scoring. Lastly, you’ve got to have a good brain, but I mean, half of mine don’t.

Mares or geldings? I don’t really have a preference, I think if you can get a good mare they are hard to beat. Geldings can generally be easier, but I think it’s up to the individual horse. If it wants to do the job, it’ll do the job, regardless of whether it’s a mare or gelding, or what colour it is. I think you can find crazy horses of any sex, breed or colour.

In an interview back when you were 18, you said: “it’s just a case of trying to work out how to make a good living out of it”. What have you learnt about running an equine business since then? I guess I’ve learnt that you can’t make a hell of a lot of money out of it. It is hard, you can only ride so many horses in a day, you’re limited there. I guess I am still working out how to best make money out of an equine business. Come 2020, we are actually moving to Queensland. We’ve bought a Thoroughbred spelling business up there, to try and better our income while still being able to focus on riding and competing. It is hard work, you flog yourself all day and in the end you don’t have much to prove because horses cost so much bloody money.

How do you manage when it comes to selling your high-level horses? It is hard, people only want your good ones and you’ve got to sell your good ones to try and get ahead a bit. I can’t afford to keep them all, so when someone comes along with money, regardless of whether the rider is going to continue high level with that horse or not, I need to be realistic and keep getting by. I did get a bit upset when Oaks Onyx left recently, but he’s going to a good home. You get used to it, you can’t make a living by keeping every horse.

What is the best part of a career with horses? For me, I love being outside every day. I don’t think I could sit in an office all day, every day. That’s probably the best part, just being outside with the horses. Horses are also a pretty humbling animal, you can have a good day one day and the next day, they are terrible or you get bucked off. You can go really well at a show and the next show you’re at the bottom of the leaderboard.

What is the first thing you have to pack to take away to a competition? Maddie does pack the truck a lot of the time, she likes to do that, but I usually pack the horse feed - you’ve gotta look after the horse!

What do you like to do outside of horses? It’s hard with horses being a seven day a week job. There’s not really much spare time. Maddie and I try to go out for dinner or lunch on our day off and it’s pretty easy being down on the Peninsular, there are lots of wineries to go to. We probably do that more than we should, but seeing we don’t get away that often, that is our treat I guess. There’s not much time to go do anything else and you are usually pretty buggered, you have a little sleep when you have a spare second.

What would your career choice be if you weren’t working with horses? No idea, that’s why I’m still riding!

What are your long term goals? To represent Australia again, whether that is the Olympic Games or WEG, is the next step for me. I don’t know when that would be. Hopefully, my current team can start performing well and who knows.

3 things we don’t know about Andrew Cooper?
1. Maddie and I just got engaged.
2. I have to clean the horses’ bit after each horse.
3. I’m terrible at snow skiing but I love it.

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