“Introducing” Taizo Sugitani
WEG Veteran Leads Japanese Show Jumpers

by Erin Gilmore | Sidelines Magazine, December, 2010

In early October, Japanese show jumper Taizo Sugitani competed in Kentucky at the World Equestrian Games, posting his best WEG finish ever when he tied for 5th in the individual final. By the following Monday, he was in Belgium at a show near Antwerp, and a week later he landed in Japan to compete in a World Cup class.

Competing on three continents in three weeks is an unusual show schedule for most riders (at least he wasn’t riding the same horse!) But for Taizo, who has competed in every Olympics since Atlanta in 1996, and every World Equestrian Games since The Hague in 1994, show jumping is truly a worldwide sport.

The “New” Veterans
At WEG, Taizo led the Japanese team as its highest ranked rider and its most experienced veteran. His persistence is exemplary of riders from nations where show jumping is still a fringe sport, and he wasn’t the only rider from a nation deemed “small” on the show jumping scale that came into the Games an Olympic and past WEG veteran.

These WEGs were notable for the number of high results by riders from countries who usually escape the attention of American show jumping fans. In addition to Japan, riders from Saudi Arabia, Hungary and The United Arab Emirates posted stronger WEG finishes than then ever before.
“Japan is such a small island country, so isolated from high level sports. If you want to be at the top you have to be based in Europe or America. And even in Europe, you can count the Japanese riders on two hands,” says the 34-year-old rider.

Taizo has lived in Europe since he was a teenager. He trained with Henk Nooren in The Netherlands for over ten years while learning how to develop horses of his own. In Germany, where his current stable is based, Taizo is widely admired for his horsemanship and training skills.
The jumpers Lamalushi, Mania Joly and Hurricane were all started and brought to the Grand Prix level by Taizo before going on to successful careers in the U.S. One talented jumper that Taizo plans to keep for a while is his WEG mount, the11-year-old gelding Avenzio 3, which he brought up from the amateur jumper ranks.

An American Mentor
Earlier this summer, Taizo sought out American Olympian Peter Wylde to help him prepare Avenzio for Kentucky. A gold medalist from the 2004 Athens Olympics, Peter’s Olympic partner Fein Cera was the same type of hot, light jumper that Taizo’s Avenzio is. Peter, who rode with Taizo in Holland ten years ago, is based year-round in Europe but traveled to Kentucky to coach Taizo during the Games.

“At WEG, we were able to discuss the course he was about to ride in great detail and he could execute the plan precisely,” says Peter. “Quite often that's possible for most riders at most shows, but few riders can do that at a championship.

“The degree of difficulty of a championship course, combined with the added intensity of pressure to perform makes it very difficult for even the best riders to ride perfectly, according to plan,” added Peter. “I felt that Taizo rode flawlessly throughout.”

Same Goals, Different Focus
Riding for a small country brings its own sets of unique experiences and possibilities. Without rigorous selection procedures to find the best competitors in a large population of riders, Taizo points out that “the Japanese don’t need to think about making the team, since show jumping is so limited in our country. Bigger countries have to fight and fight every show, but we can really focus on doing well and really prepare ourselves and the horses.”

However, as show jumping grows in Japan, national selection trials may not be so far off in the future. Taizo is a popular coach among Japanese riders who travel to his stable in Europe. In Japan, show jumping is the most popular of the three Olympic disciplines, and at press time Taizo was preparing to represent Japan at the 2010 Asian Games.

While his extreme travel schedule may be tiring, Taizo’s drive to keep competing and improving never wavers. After all, he hasn’t won a championship, yet.

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