United States Eventing Association

Interview with Phillip Dutton

Think you know the real Phillip Dutton? Think again. Courtney Young, of Three Days Three Ways blog, asks the acclaimed Aussie thought-provoking questions about his horses (past and present), safety issues in the sport, and how he’s managed the nearly-impossible feat of being the top USEA rider for the past eleven years (“Consistency is the name of the game.”)

Read on!

Part 1: Phillip talks about his family—of both the two-and four-footed variety—how he spends his “free time”, and his personal values in both riders and horses.

- “Woodburn is probably not the friendliest horse you’ve ever seen, he’s a bit on edge. Tru Luck is a real happy go lucky kind of guy, he enjoys life. Kheops Du Quesnay is changing: he’s mellowing out and enjoying the training, he’s pleasant around the barn. Foreman is meek and a little shy but once you’re on he’s pretty forward. Connaught is a pretty strange character and pretty opinionated about what he wants to do and what worries him, but he means well.""

Part 2: Reflecting on a decade of success, sharing his secret, and anticipating changes in the future

- “I went to the USEA Hall of Fame dinner and they had footage of the sports in the early days. It was horrendous, some of the stuff that happened. It’s a sport where you gallop over fixed obstacles; it started out as training for military. It was not some easy sport. We’ve come such a long way in terms of safety. The sport does need to get safer, there’s no question. So we need to make some hard decisions.”