The news of the training alliance between Matthias Alexander Rath and Dutch team coach Sjef Janssen sparked tremendous amounts of controversy in the biggest dressage nations of the world, Germany and The Netherlands. Within a few hours after the publication that Team Totilas hired Sjef Janssen as official trainer for Rath's upcoming FEI horses, the Dutch Equestrian Federation (KNHS) issued a statement that Janssen will only start training Rath after the 2012 Olympic Games.
The 61-year old Dutch team coach is not allowed to train direct competition of the Dutch team and Rath would be a conflict of interest. The Dutch Federation does not seem to have any issues with Swedish Patrik Kittel, who won Kur bronze and placed fourth with the Swedish team at the 2011 European Championships.
In an interview with the Dutch equestrian website Horses.nl, Janssen denies he was tapped on the fingers by the Dutch Equestrian Federation for accepting this new coaching job. "The media is a weird phenomenon and I read that I was whistled back by the KNHS. I can tell you straight away that it's not true. I just don't start with it (the training of Rath) because it's not worth all the fuss," Janssen told Horses.nl.
In a statement on his official website Matthias Rath said that "after the newest developments Sjef Janssen will only train me after the Olympic Games. This was decided by the Dutch federation. It's a pity because we were both looking forward to working together with my young horses," Rath explained.
Janssen stated that the Linsenhoff family already contacted him right after the 2011 European Championships in August and that it was clear from the start that Totilas would not be trained by him. Rath has already been coached by Janssen for a while with several young horses being stabled in Erp, The Netherlands, before the news of the coaching alliance was announced. Due to the recent developments all horses, including Bretton Woods and Furst Romancier, were loaded on the truck and moved back to Germany.
Dressage Direct published that Rath lived in one of the appartments of Anky's equestrian centre and commuted between Erp, The Netherlands, and Paul Schockemohle's station in Muhlen, Germany, riding nine horses in total.
Even though the official co-operation with Janssen has been delayed until after the Games, Rath keeps a positive view on the future. "It's all about my long term development and the possibility of learning from him," Rath motivated his decision to go Dutch. "We're now postponing the co-operation with Janssen for six months and look forward to that time after the Olympics. Until then we're not burying our heads in the sand. I haven't learnt nothing in the past 25 years."
The German Equestrian Federation was only notified of the training switch last weekend. German team coach Holger Schmezer told St. Georg that he has no problems that a team coach of another nation training a German combination as long as it "does not interfere with the welfare of the horse and leads to success."
Schmezer can fully understand that Team Totilas falls back on the Dutch system. "The horse is Dutch bred, Dutch trained and won for The Netherlands," he said. "The judges are used to this look: no true bending, the essence is that the neck has to be somewhat round."
Photos © Dirk Caremans - Astrid Appels
Related Links
Janssen Not to Train Matthias Rath Until after 2012 London Olympics
Matthias Rath to Train with Sjef Janssen