Team Millar rides 'In Style' ? Weirview's Blog

Ian Millar says he couldn?t be more proud of his offspring who are not only following in his footsteps, but are excelling in the sport of show jumping.

The accomplished international rider grins with pride as he talks about Jonathon, 36, and Amy, 34, who all comprise Team Millar.

?If I were to leave here tomorrow, I would be satisfied knowing that Jonathon and Amy could run this place just fine,? Millar said during an informal interview at Millar Brooke Farm, just south of Perth.

It?s home for all three Millars; each has his or her own place on the 650-acre farm that Ian and his late wife Lynn founded in 1972? about the same time Ian began his Olympic quest.

Next year in London will be his world record breaking 10th appearance in the Olympics, where he is still chasing that elusive gold medal. He will be 65 when that happens. He says he may possibly be the oldest athlete in the competition.

?I don?t see too many 65-year-old sprinters? or swimmers,? he says with a laugh.

This veteran showman is far from retirement.

They recently returned home from a successful competition at Spruce Meadows in Calgary, Alberta.

His list of accomplishments is staggering. Medals, photos, trophies and other memorabilia from national and international competitions cover his office walls, shelves, desk and tables.

He sits behind his desk in a big, fat comfy leather chair; leans back, stretches his? towering frame into even longer lengths, and clasps his hands behind his head. He?s thoughtful for a moment.

He talks about the variables at play during competitions like the Pan American Games or the Olympics? even the more local events, like the National Capital Show Jumping Tournament in Nepean, August 10 to 14 and 17 to 21, 2011, at the Nepean National Equestrian Park. He is the honourary chair as one of the founding members of the tournament.

?You have to have three things to be successful,? he says. ?You have to be a student; you have to persevere and you have to work hard.?

He has been a student of the sport since he first sat on a horse more than a half-century ago at age 10. There is always something to learn, he says. He has persevered ? nine Olympics is testament to that ?? and he works hard.

?It doesn?t matter what the competition is,? Ian says. ?You have to make sure you have done your homework.?

He gives a little insight as to what that homework is all about. It?s like preparing for a high school exam. ?You have to study all the chapters, not just one or two, and pray the questions will be asked from either one or the other chapters that you have studied.?

The biggest part of his homework is to watch the course designer and how that architecture evolves. It?s about the height of the bars, the width of the jump, the decorations around it, and how the horse sees those changes.

?I have to be able to perceive where that course designer is going in the design of the jumps and how it will evolve. I have to be about five steps ahead of him.?

Will the liverpool have a flowered edge ? something that can make the horse hesitate or prance around it; will the depth perception be wider than the actual jump itself?

?It?s all about how the horse sees these jumps,? Ian explains. It?s about eye exercises and training both himself and his horse to see things that may or may not be there. The jumps are all about optical illusions and each course designer has his or her own signature snafu that they want to be known for, Ian explains? to stump a horse and rider.

How did his horses do at the latest Spruce Meadows? competition?

?Oh they sailed right through it,? he beams.

For next year?s Olympics, or even the fall?s Pan AM Games, he says he?s even more prepared. And this time, he has more options in terms of mounts.

During Big Ben days there was just Big Ben and three consecutive Olympic showings: fourth in L.A. in 1984; fourth in Seoul in ?88 and ninth in Barcelona in ?92.

?We?re deeper in top horses now,? he says. ?And any one is capable (of winning gold).?

His mounts include In Style, Star Power and Dryden. It was aboard In Style, the chestnut beauty, that he earned a team silver in Beijing in 2008. This year?s Pan American Games Oct. 25 to 29 will be held at the Guadalajara Country Club in Guadalajara, Mexico. Amy will be aboard on Costa Rica Z, a 16-year-old Holsteiner mare owned by Matthews and Millar Brooke Farm Inc. and Jonathon will have Contino, a 14-year-old Holsteiner gelding owned by Millar Brooke Farm. Star Power is a 10-year-old Dutch-bred gelding owned by Team Works, while Dryden is a 10-year-old Belgian Warmblood stallion owned by Susan and Ariel Grange.

Gearing up for Nepean, Ian says it?s a great opportunity for Team Millar to perform locally in Ottawa at the National Capital Show Jumping Tournament, taking place from Aug. 10 to 14 and 17-21,? at the Nepean National Equestrian Park, located at the Moodie Drive exit of the 417 Queensway.

The first week of competition is highlighted by Sunday?s $25,000 Hayes Co. Grand Prix. Other featured events include the $10,000 Open Welcome, the $10,000 Peel Maryborough Mutual Insurance Company/Henry Equestrian Insurance Brokers Ltd. Modified Grand Prix on Saturday, Aug.13, and the $5,000 Broccoli Hill Hunter Derby.

AMY

The blond curls poke out of the back of her pink Grand Prix ball cap. She?s hidden behind her MacBook and has the phone cradled on her shoulder. It?s the administration efforts at Millar Brooke Farm that keeps her busy inside the barn, tucked away in her office overlooking the arena. With a business degree in administration from Ryerson University in Toronto, Amy Millar says she wouldn?t want to be anywhere else. She tried that for a while, like most young women who experimented with other things, and a variety of sports, but she found her way home.

She says she loves the competition and has her sights set on becoming an international competitor.

?I love to ride, but I really love the competition,? she said. ?That?s the means to the end? I enjoy the horses and the process and each day I learn to understand them more and more. Each one is an individual. X plus Y does not always equal Z, and it?s never boring here.?

Life on the farm is really ?all encompassing? and she and her partner, Brad, and their one-year-old daughter Lily complete her.

?I always knew this place was a part of my life. It?s a big commitment, a lot of luck and a lot of travel,? she says.

Growing up, Amy says she was given every opportunity to ride and to train. Travelling as a family was something that brought them all closer together.

What?s it like being Ian?s daughter?

?He?s a hard worker and he expects everyone around him to work just as hard,? she says. ?He?s a worker? he cares and he gives the utmost attention to detail. He expects nothing less than everything.?

Amy says Ian ? which is what she and her brother call him at work and not ?Dad? ? encourages them and is supportive every step of the way. When competing, the three are a team and not individuals, but there is a little pride when she one-ups her father in competition.

JONATHON

Working with the horses, building stock, doing research? that?s what Jonathon enjoys about life on Miller Brooke Farm. He too came back to his roots after a few years in Europe, the United States and various points between. He describes his life as ?a lot of fun? and working as a family very rewarding.

?We all share a common goal and that is for each of us to be successful, and for our students to be successful. It?s a fun business to be in right now.?

He says the family travels up to 30 weeks a year and there is never a dull moment.

?Having Ian?s strength and knowledge to draw on is very valuable,? Jonathon says.

Ian says that having his children?s input is also important in the business. ?All the great ideas of the future will come from young people,? Ian says. ?And you better accept, embrace, utilize and adjust to it or you will make yourself irrelevant.?

Ian says his son and daughter have surprised him with their input in the past, ?but now I expect it.?

LYNN

Ian?s eyes swim with memories of pain and passion when he speaks about his late wife, Lynn, who died in March, 2008, after battling two bouts of cancer.

They were married almost 40 years. Ian remembers their courting days.

?I?d just hop on a horse and trot on over and see her,? he says with a smile. ?She was a lot of fun.?

And she was an integral part of this family. She was an accomplished horsewoman who rode right up until she was pregnant with Jonathon then she stopped riding. She became the barn manager and worked the business side and raised the children.

Together, Ian and Lynn built their business, which began in 1972 and now hosts a first-rate training facility.? The property features three barns, an indoor arena, a grass ring, a sand ring, a walker, trails and many paddocks.

Ian thanks a Perth physician, Dr. Ross McLean, for giving him extra time with Lynn. She was diagnosed with fourth-stage cancer, but that wasn?t her demise, Ian says. It was a second cancer that took her life. But it was thanks to a trip to the Mayo Clinic in Florida that extended her life by a few years. It was on the suggestion of an oilman friend, whose selfless offer to pay for an expensive cocktail of medicines to treat Lynn?s condition ? and some alternative medicinal methods ? that extended Lynn?s life by a few years.

?It was unbelievable,? Ian says. ?For someone to offer to pay for something like that? it just goes to show you that there are people who give so selflessly of themselves. Lynn?s life was extended because of his kindness and because of Dr. McLean in Perth, who helped make it happen.?

BIG BEN

No one horse will replace the gentle giant that helped give Ian his nickname, ?Captain Canada.? It was aboard Ben that he became Canada?s most decorated horseman.

Ian and Ben?s contribution to the sport is unparalleled: back-to-back World Cup Champion, Nations Cup victories, Pan American double gold medalist, du Maurier International Champion, and more than 50 major Grand Prix titles? not to mention the bronze statue in Stewart Park in Perth.

Ben was 23 when he developed colic for the third time. He had been retired since 1994 and ridden by Ian for 10 years. Ben survived two previous fights with colic and a traffic accident before colic hit him again in 1999 and took his life.

Jonathon says Ben and Ian?s farewell tour was one that will be remembered by many fans around the world. ?It was a chance for the public to say goodbye to Ben before he was retired,? Jonathon says. ?He was ridden all the time after retirement ? he wasn?t just put out to pasture ? and that was great for Ben because he was used to that lifestyle.?

Jonathon says he was in Europe that fatal day, December 16, 1999.

?It was a sad day for sure? for a lot of people.?

But like rebuilding a sports team, Jonathon says the horse stock at Millar Brooke Farm has never been better and Team Millar has never been more prepared to rock? and jump.

Source: http://weirviewphotography.wordpress.com/2011/07/29/team-millar-rides-in-style/

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