Synopsis
With an astounding eighteen medals in eight international championships and team gold medals at the Olympic Games in 1976 and 1984, Jack Le Goff created the standard by which modern–day equestrian teams are measured. But Le Goff's techniques could be unforgiving–tough, brutal, and abrasive–earning him critics as well as converts. In this, his autobiography, Le Goff tells the whole story, from impoverished beginnings in Morocco, to the tragic death of his father, to his successes as a competitive equestrian. Readers will enjoy a behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of high–level international equestrian sport, as well as an entire section devoted to Le Goff's much admired and extremely successful training philosophy.
About the Author
Born in France in 1931, Jack Le Goff was best known as the coach of the American three-day eventing team from 1970 to 1984, where he led the US team to multiple championships winning 18 international medals, including several in the Olympics, most notably team gold and individual silver medals in Los Angeles in 1984. Jack was the son of a cavalry officer and started out as a steeplechase jockey. At the age of seventeen, after the death of his father, Le Goff joined the military and began riding at the French national riding academy, the Cadre Noir. Le Goff competed in two Olympic Games, 1960 and 1964 winning a team bronze in Rome in 1960. He went on to fight in the Algerian War and upon his return he competed in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Shortly after, Le Goff became the first civilian coach of the French eventing team where he led them to an individual gold medal at the 1968 Summer Olympics and the 1967 and 1968 European Junior Championships. After retiring as coach in 1984, he served as a consultant to the United States Equestrian Team (USET) for new rider development, director of the USET Training Center and coached the Canadian national team. He was also an FEI judge, committee member and Olympic appeals judge. He is survived by his three children with Pauline Kralicek, two children with Marie-Madeleine Giraud, five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren along with his long-time companion Susan Smith. Jo Whitehouse held the position of CEO of the United States Eventing Association for over twenty years, before retiring in 2015. Jo was introduced to Eventing in England by her local Pony Club. She rode in her first Pony Club event at age 13 and became addicted to the sport. She met Jack Le Goff in 1987 when she began working for the then USCTA in South Hamilton, Massachusetts and was lucky to be in a position to audit many of the clinics he held at the USET training center there. Jo was surprised and honored when Jack asked her to work with him on writing his book and spent many happy hours with him as he told the story of his life as a horseman, the title he felt described him and his passion for horses better than any other and the one of which he was most proud. David John O'Connor (born January 18, 1962) is a retired equestrian who represented the United States in the sport of three-day eventing. He competed in two Olympic Games, winning a team silver at the 1996 Summer Olympics and an individual gold and team bronze at the 2000 Summer Olympics. At the 1999 Pan American Games, O'Connor took an individual silver and team gold and at the 2002 World Equestrian Games he assisted the US team to gold. After his retirement from competition in 2004, he became involved in the administrative side of international eventing. O'Connor has held top coaching roles for the US and Canadian national eventing teams, and was president of the United States Equestrian Federation from 2004 to 2012. During his career, O'Connor and his horses were awarded many honors, including equestrian and horse of the year awards from several organizations. In 2009, he was inducted to the United States Eventing Association's Hall of Fame, and two of his horses have been granted the same honor. O'Connor is married to fellow international event rider Karen O'Connor, and the pair operate two equestrian training facilities in the eastern United States. Florence LeGoff is author Jack LeGoff's daughter. She resides in San Francisco, CA.
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