Spur mastery Why choosing spurs needs careful consideration

John Kyle on endless flights, never being lost for words, and the day the music died

My job is truly global, as I commentate on dressage, eventing and showjumping competitions for FEI TV and take to the microphone for horse trials, county shows and other major events. I work 48 weekends a year, but the schedule is always varied — particularly with non-core sports such as vaulting, carriage driving and reining thrown in.

I concentrated on school more

than on horses. My brother,

Irish Olympic eventer Mark Kyle, was competing in juniors and young riders, but I was looking for another role. I began assisting the event controller and making announcements in my teens, before my first commentary for the international ponies at Blarney Castle. I tried other things, becoming an army officer and then deputy governor of the Tower of London, before taking up commentary full-time in 2011.

I’ve always had a foot in the

camp with the eventers, because I grew up with a lot of them. I’ve never been scared of the riders. To me, Toddy [Mark Todd] is just a friend of my parents — I’ve known him since I was 10.

I’m never lost for words. I did drama classes and debating at

school, and every teacher I ever had would probably remember my yapping. But you settle into a commentating rhythm, learning when to speak and when to let the sport breathe. On TV it’s important to provide context — people can see that a horse has had a pole down, but, if you’re talking, tell them why. I work with analysts and experts to learn about my sport, repackaging that info to make it more accessible.

Sitting in a commentary box is not the healthiest of

lifestyles. The diet is often better overseas, like in Spain with tapas, but in the UK it’s beige food all the way.

I’ve taken up running to counter the effects; I did my second half-marathon this spring while working in Florida. The idea that men can’t multitask is false. There’s a surprising amount going on beneath the surface! I always do my research, turning up with full biographies and information to fall back on, but I’ve had some difficult situations. When the music died on a World Cup dressage freestyle competitor I kept talking into the microphone, while flicking frantically through the FEI rule book, thinking: “What the heck happens next?” A big inspiration as I was growing up was Aga Khan day at the Dublin Horse Show. Tony Kelly’s commentary was superb — it wasn’t sport, it was theatre. Hamish Lochore, who gave me my first international event at Burgie, has an inimitable style and a lighter touch that I try to emulate. And Mike Tucker, one of the great broadcasters, was always very kind. It was a privilege to work in a nearby booth at the Rio Olympics and see the sheer effort he put in.

A commentator needs a general

interest in minutiae. It helps to know what’s in the zeitgeist, which means being moderately well read, watching a bit of telly and having some knowledge of languages. It’s good to realise, for example, that the horse name Diagon Alley comes from Harry Potter, and that Copernicus is not pronounced “Copper Knickers”…

I make time to see the places

I travel to, taking in museums or tours. There’s no remote commentary at top level — in 2016, I took 76 flights for work.

It’s about being there to walk the showjumping and eventing tracks, rather than just looking at the dimensions. Even in dressage, the camera angle can foreshorten the horse if you can’t look down into the ring to see for yourself. As for arena commentary, we’ll never be doing that from the comfort of our living rooms.