Jeff Rundle, the London, Ontario-born rider and trainer, admits it wasn’t love at first ride, however. “The first few days at camp, I hated it because I was terrible,” he recalls. But he developed a fondness for a medium pony named Guy, even though he never got to ride him at camp. His affection for Guy motivated him to keep taking lessons so he could become good enough to ride the little grey. Eventually, he became the pony’s owner.
Since then, Jeff, 32, has built an excellent reputation in the hunter world. For more than a dozen years he worked for Wayne McLellan, one of Canada’s most successful hunter trainers.
Now he works for Eastwood Equine Inc. at Pépinière Stables in St. Lazare, QC, owned by grand prix show jumper Angela Covert-Lawrence and her husband Mike Lawrence.
Jeff’s riding career started like many other kids’ – doing local hunter and jumper shows before moving on to the Trillium circuit and occasionally an ‘A’ show. His first teacher was local coach Laurie Taylor, then Janet Dwyer. He moved from Guy on to a couple of other ponies, to a children’s hunter owned by Dwyer, and then leased a jumper from her. Since then, he hasn’t owned a horse of his own, exclusively riding horses owned by clients.
When he was 16, the family moved to Mardon Farm, owned by Dr. and Mrs. Margaret Adams, and Jeff and his family ended up managing it. The Adams owned show and hunt horses, including many that went to the Cup classes at the Royal Winter Fair, and were active in the London horse show scene. Through the Adams, Jeff met rider and coach Anne McKay (two-time Canadian Equitation Champion at the Royal) who trained with McLellan and introduced him to the renowned hunter trainer.
Along with Jeff’s parents, the Adams were his staunchest supporters, and although Dr. Adams has since passed away, Jeff and his parents remain close friends with Mrs. Adams.
Although he was an excellent student, after high school Jeff decided to concentrate on a career in the horse business and at 18, turned professional. He began taking clients to shows in the area and he and Dwyer became representatives for the Southwest Trillium Circuit. “I stuck to Trillium for a while, because I was basically running our area horse shows,” says Jeff.
Jeff started taking occasional lessons with McLellan, who asked him if he was interested in a riding job. He seized the opportunity and moved to Gimcrack Stables in 1997, operated by McLellan and his business partner Robert Meilsoe, who passed away in 2007. “While I was at Wayne’s, I had the opportunity to become better educated, both from a riding and a training perspective, on quality hunters. I learned a lot about attention to detail,” says Jeff. “I’m very structured and I enjoy learning the fine points. I’m a bit of a perfectionist. I enjoy that there is a system to it and to keeping the horses happy and healthy with it.”
In the winter of 2010, Jeff started working for Eastwood Equine Inc. while showing a couple of horses for McLellan at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, FL. “I thought I’d try something different,” he explains. “I was introduced to the jumper side of the industry and working with Angela’s grand prix horses, as well as riding some of the hunters in the barn. I’ve been exposed to the FEI and grand prix level levels and learned what’s entailed in getting those horses to the ring. Angela does a fair bit of buying and selling. This is kind of business development in terms of my education.”
One of Jeff’s all-time favourite mounts is Nadine Greenberg’s Hazelton, a horse at McLellan’s that originally came from Covert-Lawrence’s barn on which he won the 3’ Pre-Green Circuit Championship at WEF in 2010. He also has high praise for Pure Abundance, owned by Weslands Farm, a gelding he successfully showed in the combined hunters. “Certainly, the hunters are my preference,” says Jeff. “And I love coaching adult hunter riders. I really get a pleasure out of watching them develop, and they work hard.”
Jeff is fond of horses “that have really great balance and a big, light canter. Attitude is key. I like anything that enjoys doing their job with their owner. I’m definitely a fan of warmbloods. Big, slow movers are my preference. I’d much rather have to kick them forward than pull them back.”
He has been pleased to see how the hunter world has expanded, with many more divisions and classes than when he first started showing. “Not everyone wants to start off jumping three foot fences and moving to three-six. There are now smaller steps to educate people and it’s not so much of a rush. You can develop horses slower and they are ultimately better for it,” he says. “The numbers of people competing now are insane. In Ontario, it’s so competitive trying to qualify for the Royal. Even with the recession, hunter classes have grown steadily and the numbers are getting bigger.”
While Jeff’s involvement with horses is all-consuming, he does try to make time for one other interest. “Probably the only thing I enjoy beyond horses is movies. I am a fan of foreign films and I love to see independent films any chance I can get.”
Now Jeff is contemplating where his ‘education’ will take him next. “I had my own barn at an early age, so I’ve done that,” he says. “I’d really love to get into judging and I’m exploring that avenue. I’d like to still have the opportunity to teach comfortably. I don’t want the factory atmosphere of a lesson barn, but I enjoy having a small group I can develop. That’s probably the next step.”
