John Vallance - A True Legend in Showjumping Course Design

Showjumping course design was not high on the career options for non-horsey kids from Ouyen in North West Victoria, and it was not until he was an adult that John Vallance understood what showjumping was all about. But despite what some would say was a slow start in the horse world, John rose through the ranks to become the showjumping Course Designer for the Sydney Olympic Games. Now based in Sydney, John is the only FEI Four Star Course Designer in Australia, an accreditation that has seen him officiate not only in Australia, but also in Canada, Mexico, Malaysia, Uzbekistan, New Zealand, Hong Kong, China, Singapore and Korea, and he has had many trips to further his education in Europe. Although still very much at the top of his game, John has nonetheless gained legend status.

“I was not into horses at all as a kid,” explains John, “but I was aware that people would jump horses at the farmers’ festivals about the country. I decided to become a teacher and went to Teacher’s College in Ballarat. From there, my first posting was to Dandenong, just out of Melbourne. It was at Dandenong that I met Tina, who became my girlfriend and then my wife. Tina was very involved with showjumping and had a number of successful horses. My introduction to horse shows was a matter of getting up at three am, driving for three hours and watching for three minutes. At the Agricultural Shows, you can only look at so many boiled fruit cakes, so I began to take more interest in the jumping. In those days, the Melbourne Showjumping Club used to deliver all the equipment and all the officials to the shows, so at each show I would see the same group of people picking up the coloured logs. Eventually I started picking up the logs and was consequently invited to morning tea for my efforts. There, I met Reg Cleland, Jenny (Brannigan) Muir, and Derek Beer, amongst others. They turned up every weekend to organise the showjumping.

“At that stage, these people and the MSJC were probably the most political group with Equestrian Australia jumping; they certainly had a major input into what was going on. I used to talk to Reg, the Course Designer, and the ring crew about why they put what where, and that got me interested. From there, I started going out to the Oaklands Hunt Club, the home of the MSJC, to help with the jumping days they held there. After about three or four years, they suggested I start to build the courses. Reg Cleland was my first and very influential mentor. He was the leading Course Designer in Victoria at that stage, and he and Derek Beer were very supportive and encouraging. Of course, I made a lot of mistakes, but I was very appreciative of the constructive criticism from the riders, such as Art Uytendaal, Rod Brown, John McMillan, Greg Smith, etc.

“In the early 1980s, Reg, Derek and showjumping enthusiast and owner David Boyle encouraged me to travel to Sydney to the new international jumping show at Wentworth Park that was part of the Festival of Sydney in January. It was, at that time, the biggest jumping show in the country. Reg and Co. must have said to the Wentworth Park organisers, ‘put him on the ring crew; he’ll work all day’. That was the first really big show I went to; they invited international teams over the years including Canada, the UK, USA, France and Ireland. That first year, I went, and the former UK Course Designer of the Year, Christopher Coldrey, designed the courses. I continued to go to Wentworth Park each year until it folded in 1987. Over those years, I worked with guest international designers Arno Gego (GER), Pamela Caruthers (UK) and Olaf Petersen (GER).

“Through Arno, I went to the World Championships in Aachen, Germany, in 1986, and that was just phenomenal. I met Frank Rothenberger there; we were the same age, and we became good friends. Then, in 1988, at the Seoul Olympics, Olaf was the Course Designer, Pamela was the Technical Delegate, and Frank was on the course designing and stewarding team. I learnt a lot from all of them, as they were all different. What I learnt from Olaf, in particular, was the importance and influence of the actual jumps themselves. The design of the jumps was an important part of the sport, part of the theatre of it all, and that stayed with me. I went as part of the showjumping crew to the Atlanta Games in ’96, where Linda Allen designed some of the most spectacular jumps. Linda was a wonderful course designer with the welfare of the horse in mind, and I enjoyed working with her in Atlanta.

“Before the Sydney Games, I was still living in Melbourne, and I used to travel up and work with Olympic Equestrian Competition Manager Franz Venhaus. For Sydney, the FEI put forward three names for the Course Designing job: John Doney (UK), Paul Weir (CHE) and Leopoldo Palacios (VEN). Leopoldo was ultimately appointed. I had met him when he came out to officiate at the Asian Games at Werribee in 1996, and when asked about his assistant for Sydney, he said, ‘I don’t want John Vallance as my assistant,’ to which Franz nearly fell off his chair. However, Leopoldo continued, ‘I want him as co-Course Designer.’ That is how we came to work together. He is wonderful, and we really enjoyed having him come out five or six times for the Summer Showjumping Classic at the SIEC venue.

When it came to the Sydney Olympics and working with Leopoldo, one of the biggest tasks for us was designing the jumps. Before the Games, a year 12 design student, Elaine Oxenham rang me wanting to design the jumps for Sydney, and ultimately, we used five of her jump designs, and I included her in the Course Design Team.

“I do not consider having not ridden myself as an impediment to my course designing. Some designers who have ridden can have preconceived ideas, likes and dislikes, that influence their designs for better or worse. I think about the technical challenges and the sport as entertainment, always based on a fair test. I think of it as similar to choreography, whatever the class is. You neither want to overdo it nor give it away. I think a lot about placement, distances, colour, etc, so many things come into play. I learned from Linda, Olaf and Leopoldo the importance of a variety of obstacles. I learn from the mistakes I make, and I listen to and learn from the riders I respect.

“I have been to China three times, twice for the Youth Olympics, and I designed obstacles for the Youth Olympics that were relevant to the cities hosting them. I have also built in Korea and Singapore. I was recently on my way to India but tested positive for Covid at Sydney airport. Wherever I go, I like to encourage the local aspiring course designers. I conduct course design courses in the region and have just returned from conducting a course in New Zealand.

“As well as designing the jumps, I actually enjoy physically constructing them. I do like to make something new for the major events that my partner, Jane (Frankum), and I run as Equestrian Sports Promotions. Each year for the Summer Classic, I like to have two or three new obstacles. I provide the equipment for five or six shows, and I do quite a lot of work for Eventing. I recently officiated at the National Interschool Championships at SIEC. Jane and I run a show in June for Amateurs and the FEI Children’s Classics Series, and I do quite a lot of work for Stonewall, and it is always great to build there.

The nice thing is I have a couple of good course design proteges, so the cycle continues.”

Article: Anna Sharpley.