Preparing for the Royal Horse Show
Guido Louis’s life story is the stuff that movies are made of. When he was a teenager, he joined a circus, then trained with the famous Cossack trick riders. Today, he is top trick riding instructor for His Majesty’s Royal Cavalry. To watch Guido lead his team at the Royal Cavalry Horse Shows is exciting, entertaining and heart-stopping. Guido’s understanding of horses, and his skill and charisma as a performer are extraordinary. But although admitting to a certain love of the limelight, Guido insists that he is nobody special, and when not on show, is perfectly content to be at home watching TV just like anybody else.
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
- Could you please introduce yourself to KnowledgeOman.com
My name is Guido Louis. I’m Dutch by nationality. My father is from Indonesia and my mother is Dutch, and I was born and grew up in Holland. I’m a trick and stunt rider instructor for the Royal Cavalry Oman, as well as a show choreographer and producer. I have my own company , Rockin’ Horse Productions, in the UK.
- How old were you when you first sat on a horse?
I first sat in a saddle at the age of five, in front of my mum. . . but I didn’t start riding lessons until I was 8. Although my family all love horses and have sat on a horse at some point in their lives, none of them has ever been professionally involved with horses.
Guido and Cyrano
- How did you get into trick riding?
By the age of 12, I was doing whatever jobs I could, such as distributing potatoes, delivering newspapers, working at local equestrian schools, mucking out stables – always hoping that someone would let me ride his horse, of course! Then when I was 15, I joined a circus. I spent a whole year doing anything and everything – assisting with acts, performing whenever I could, doing a somersault here, a back flip there – and all the time learning as much as possible. Experience wise it was a very rich year, but I was always hungry because I had very little money. We performed in Holland, and then went to Belgium, and there I saw a Christmas show. That show changed my life because for the first time I saw Cossack riders performing tricks. I was 16 years old and absolutely spellbound by those Cossacks and their equestrian skills such as going under the belly of a horse.
- How did you get trained?
I approached one of the Cossacks in his caravan and asked if they needed any new recruits. The guy had a file and he said , “OK, look, I’ll put you down under R for rider, but if I don’t contact you within a month, don’t expect to hear from me.” A whole month went by and I waited and waited, but I didn’t hear anything from him, so finally I decided to call him, and he said, “Oh, I’m glad you called, I was trying to get in touch with you all day yesterday.” I don’t know if that was true or not, but he invited me to go to Germany to train at the Cossack school there. I received training under the guidance of George Golgojew and his wife, Monica. That was a turning point for me, and from that time I’ve never looked back.
Guido and Xiado
- Where’s the most exciting place you’ve performed?
Well, it’s certainly very exciting when you’re in Wattayah in Muscat with almost 2000 horses and 900 camels all around, and HM is there with his international royal guests – you can’t get much more exciting than that. It’s an amazing thing to be part of. But strangely enough, it’s also exciting when you’re doing a local show back home where you know everyone in the crowd – they’re all your friends and acquaintances from your village and you’ve had coffee or dinner with most of them. The guy who organizes that local show puts the same kind of passion into it as the guys who organise the big show in Wattayah. And that makes me want to put the same amount of effort intomy performance, and get it right, and entertain people the best I can.
- Where would you like to perform?
Everywhere! I’d particularly love to explore countries like Japan and China and produce shows there. It’s really not about money for me, but it is important for me to have different places I can go to and keep my options open. I really love coming here to Oman. I love Oman because there’s so much variety of places to go, not just shopping malls. The people make me feel very welcome; they are so friendly and kind – there’s a lot to be learned from the Omani hospitality.
Hat pick ups
- What’s the worst thing that can happen during a show?
The worst moments are when things don’t go as planned, especially if you end up actually breaking something and having to be carried out of the arena, or the horse gets hurt – that’s not good at all!
- What do you do to have fun?
I love music, especially drums – if I wasn’t a trick rider, I guess I’d like to have been a drummer. And I really enjoy salsa dancing, and doing a bit of salsa teaching. Apart from that, I relax by just sitting at home watching TV and DVDs. I love travel too; I’m very keen to get an impression of what a country is about.
Rockin'Horse The Show! Roman Ride fire jump
- How do you keep yourself in shape?
Eating sensibly – I love fish and have fish a few times a week. Regular exercise is also important, and means I’m in far less pain after a show. But although it’s good to go the gym, you really don’t need to do exercises involving expensive gym equipment and high skills – you can just do simple stretching and bending and warm-up exercises in the morning.
- Who’s the most inspirational person in your life?
The French equestrian, Jean Francois Pignon. He’s amazing. I met him when we were doing the big Wattayah show in 2010. He’s not only a top equestrian, but he’s also a very spiritual kind of person. He’s both “horse wise” and “people wise” – a rare combination.
Omani Pyramid at Sultan Qaboos 40th Anniversary Show
- How can the equestrian scene in Oman be improved?
By improving riders’ awareness of what they expect from their horse – of what they are asking their horse to do. There’s too much aggression and too many misunderstandings between horses and riders, and not enough mutual trust, confidence and respect. A rider should be able to understand what a horse is feeling and what it’s going through. If a horse isn’t responding to a command, it’s no good shouting at it – that’s not going to make it want to do something better. Sometimes I jump onto riders’ backs so they can experience what it’s like for the horse. I’ve even on occasion put a bridle round a rider’s neck and jerked it to give the rider a better understanding of how the horse feels when they’re being rough on its mouth. Since I started coming to Oman in 2004, I’ve seen riders develop a much better understanding of how to get a horse to do what they want
- Any final word for KnowledgeOman.com?
With anything you want to do in life, not only trick riding, make sure you do it properly. Don’t take short cuts; do things in the proper way, even though you may get bored and impatient. Believe me, the only way to benefit in the long run is by taking things slowly and doing them thoroughly. You can’t be a trick rider immediately. You have to first learn how to look after a horse and clean it before you can ride it. That’s the only way to develop a true understanding. Also, don’t put things off – you can always find an excuse for not doing something, but that’s not the way to succeed!
You can find out more about Guido Louis through his website http://www.rockinghorseproductions.co.uk Email: info@rockinghorseproductions.co.uk
Interview by Anne Collins
Photography by Paul Henocq & Alan Fairhust
