All in a day’s work
Olympic course-builder and designer David Evans
My team and I are building the cross-country track at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, and I have made nine trips to the site in Japan since it was announced that we had won the bid last June. The first winter involved getting the ditches, banks, steps and water jumps sorted out, and building relationships with the team there: the designer Derek di Grazia, the project manager and the Olympic eventing committee. This winter, we will build the jumps for the test event, which takes place in August 2019, and do any extra groundwork. During the winter of 2019/2020, we will build the Olympic cross-country fences.
The logistical difficulties are immense and I spend a lot of time negotiating. They want the best — but you need to explain what the best is, and how to get it. We were the course-builders for the 2008 Olympics in Hong Kong and I learnt a great deal: how to negotiate, and Asian factors, such as an extraordinary amount of rainfall in a short time. It means extra drains need to be put in, and the ground before fences needs to be raised to minimise the effect of very heavy rainfall. We had 16 inches of rain in an hour in Hong Kong and struggled to keep the water jump at the correct level.
Seventy percent of the jumps will be constructed in the UK and shipped over, as it is much cheaper than building on-site. And as I have become known for my decorative fence carvings — the dragons on the Hong Kong track became an icon of the event — it is better that I devote my time to them rather than rushing the work. Of my team, Mike Pope will be in charge of making sure the portable fences we ship over are built correctly. Carl Fletcher and Jay Hambly will spend the most time in Tokyo on site.
We build the cross-country courses at Chatsworth, Bramham, Luhmühlen, Upton House, Somerford Park, Burgham, Gatcombe and Blenheim. I also design the tracks for Blenheim, Burgham, Somerford, Brecken borough, Dalkeith and the novice and CCI* courses at Chatsworth. Blenheim is my local event — I live in Oxfordshire.
A good course-builder is someone who understands how to make a fence readable for horses, and how to prepare footing before and after an event. Those are the things that matter most. The best bit of the course designer’s job is when you have a course ready and it looks superb. As a designer, it’s seeing your combination fences ride as you intended; the good riders should make them look easy, and the less good ones should learn from their experiences. Both sides of the job are nerve-racking; as every rider sets off, it’s like watching your own child go out on their pony.
I get frustrated by riders who don’t understand the work that goes into preparing a track — especially the footing, which is discussed more than anything else these days — and that we are all on the same side. We all want everything to be perfect. It can be forgotten that budget is a consideration; we work in contingencies for wet or dry weather, which adds between £3,000 to £5,000 in either case. In extremes of weather, that can spiral to £14,000.
It’s a pretty intense life with very long hours, and I exist on a lot of caffeine and cigarettes. At the moment, I am spending only four to six weeks at home throughout the year, which is tough on my wife and children. But we work with amazing people, who have incredible depth of understanding and knowledge of this sport that we are all passionate about.
NEXT WEEK
Harness maker Kate Hetherington
‘As every rider sets off, it’s like watching your own child go out on their pony’