In the competitive world of eventing, Andrew Hoy stands out not only for his numerous Olympic medals but also for his unwavering passion for equestrian sports. In our exclusive interview, Andrew shares his inspiring journey and deep love for his horses, while offering insights into his experience with the Cambox.
This innovative camera not only captures precious moments during competitions but also gives owners a fascinating glimpse into the dynamic relationship between rider and horse.
How have you heard about our company and our products?
I first was introduced to the Cambox at a show, I believe it was Haras du
Pin, when I was competing in France.
We looked at the product very much, and liked it.
I thought this device is going to be something that’s really good for me to actually send videos to my owners and give them an insight as to what I’m actually experiencing with the horse.
And also, I felt it was something interesting for me to look back at, should I have some challenges on the cross-country course, how can I improve.
How long ago was it?
I would say it has been four years that I am working with the product now.
How did you make contact with us to become an ambassador?
Stefanie (ndlr Andrew’s wife) is the best one for communication and I’m the best one for sitting on the horse.
I feel that it was more Stefanie that made the contact through the lady that had the store there.
You have quite an impressive career with a lot of great achievements. What would be your best emotions in everything that you have lived since you began horse riding?
The best emotions ? I think that’s a very interesting question. I have never been asked this before.
I would say my best emotion is to be able to work with the horse in what I described, to use the English word, harmony and to be able to gallop cross country, run and jump.
It would be to work with the horse, the horse, thoroughly enjoying the performance and thoroughly enjoying running and jumping, whether it’d be in the dressage or whether it would be in the show jumping phase.
That direct association with the horses is really what inspires me in working with the horses and in the equine industry.
It is important for me when working with the horses that they’re comfortable and they’re having a wonderful experience as well. But, I have not done that alone, I’ve done that through the support of a lot of people and it’s something that we all can get tied up in what we’re doing on the day of competition, but I never forget the people that have given me support throughout the years.
Today you've been using the Cambox for four years, so you have quite a good idea about its advantages. How do youuse it in your day-to-day practice. How do our cameras integrate in your daily routine?
I think I wouldn’t be using it on a daily routine as in at home and in training. I
predominantly use it in competition.
In competition, the thing that I feel Cambox is absolutely excellent in is how small the product is and how good the product is.
I believe that the stabilization of the camera is becoming more secure all the time and steadier and this is something that is critical in today’s world of how we use footages and how we can put out our performances onto whether it’d be social media or whether to our owners and followers.
I think the benefits for me is the fact that it gives the owners of my horses, who cannot always be at a competition, an insight as to what the weather conditions were like, how the jumps were designed, how we were galloping across on the cross-country course.
Also, every person who’ is watching the Cambox footage for the first time, say « oh wow, this is just happening so fast, we didn’t realize it was happening as
quickly as it does ». So it really gives them that live feeling that they’re actually
being there.
Is Cambox bringing the most immersive, the most realistic experience according to you?
Yes, when the people is viewing the footage, they get the feeling of how quickly it’s happening. They also hear the communication that I have with the horse.
Many people who view the rides, they will never have the opportunity of riding a cross-country course and this is the closest thing that it can get to.
For me, one of the other things that is so valuable is the fact that it’s so small, it just fits onto the peak of my helmet and it doesn’t interfere with my vision at all.
If I were to pull, it’s not going to impact through pulling on the top of my helmet or anything like that. Many people don’t even know that I’m wearing a camera.
As a sum-up, firstly, the Cambox is very easy to install, secondly it is safe, and the third advantage is that it brings the closest emotion from reality?
Yes, because it’s so close to where my eyes are, that is what I’m actually seeing. I think that is the thing that’s really special, where it is mounted. It is mounted so easily just with velcro onto the underneath of the peak of my helmet.
The viewing the camera shot is what I’m actually viewing. It’s close to my mouth, so we hear the communication and the stabilization of the camera is improving all the time, so very good.
You are training people, do you use the image to train them on the right approach to have ? Do you use the videos for training ?
At this point in time, I think you can use it for training if you have the two images. If you have the image and the vision of where I’m sitting on the horse and where I’m actually riding, and then if you have the side view as well, that is the ultimate.
Often you can have the side view without the image of what’s on the riding perspective from where you’re sitting on the horse. And then the side view can be a benefit, but it’s much greater you can combine the two.
We have some customers who are trainers that actually use the Cambox as a coaching tool, either mounted on the helmet of the rider or also below the visor of the cap of the trainer. So for example if you would combine two Cambox, one under your hat and one under the helmet of the rider, would it be a solution to improve the training?
That would be very good. If you’re looking for the ultimate,
you need something from where you’re standing to be able to zoom in, and one camera when you’re mobile on a horse. You’ve just got to make sure that you would be close enough for it, but if you’re doing it in an arena, yes, that would be a great benefit.
And it would be very good with students that have worked with me all the time,
to place the camera onto those students, so that I could hear how they’re communicating with their horse and see the way they’re sitting on their horse. Yes, that could be great.
Just to get back to what you explained before. There are two objectives for the videos. One is to give an insight to the owner who have their horses at your structure. Second goal is to share the videos on the social medias. Is that correct?
Yes. Obviously, with some shows, you have to be very careful what you say or share on the social media channels.
If I’m speaking at an event, at a function, and I can give the audience an insight into what I actually do, they are just in awe of what they actually see. When I show them the visions of either riding around a championship course or a major competition, they just cannot believe how quickly it’s happening.
I see behind you the photograph of a racing driver with his helmet and what is in Formula One these days is just exceptional. I think that everyone, when they’re viewing something, they always see different things. For me, if I’m watching Formula One or motor racing, I can watch the entire race but I am not necessarily interested by who won the race because I’m so focused on the technical side and the technical elements. This is where I just love the Cambox because it gives this insight in the technical side. I see how happy the horse is, and it helps me with what I need to do and how I need to ride in that respect as well to make it a good environment for the horse.
So you use the image also for your own performance improvement?
Yes and the Cambox also gives you the opportunity to go back and look at something again. It can all happen so quickly and I haven’t it all stored in my brain
By replaying it you can think, « oh, okay, yes, like that it was interesting ».
And so, the ultimate is that side vision as well.
I would say that for me it’s been one of the greatest tools of communication with my owners and the people that support me because you cannot hide what you do in competitions. It is the reality of what happens. So you can always tell a story about your own ride but as soon as they can see it, this, they get so much more feeling for it.
True reality. I love this expression. I think we’re in the right with the promise of the most immersive videos ?
Yes. I think in today’s world, this is what people are looking for.
They’re looking for the closest thing to what the athlete is going through.
In this aspect, the Cambox is really important for me to communicate that to my followers.
We try to understand if another usage of the camera is possible. For example, imagine that you use a motorbike or a bicycle for day-to-day commuting, do you think a Cambox used as a dashcam would be interesting ?
Yes, absolutely, as you say, like a dash cam. When I finish here (ndlr at his stable),
I’m then going cross-country schooling to a place that’s very close.
It’s a 15-minute hack, so to be able to hack there and have the Cambox on in case of an incident, then there would be proof of that.
Everyone in today’s world, they’re either taking a video or they’re taking a photograph or proof of something. So yeah, for sure, the Cambox can be a benefit in such situation.
To come back to the use of the Cambox in the sports, how long do you keep the videos ? Are they used immediately on social network or at a later time for other purposes ?
Initially when they are downloaded, they are sent out to the owners who haven’t been there, or even if they have been there and they’ve only seen part of the cross-country course, they then see the whole thing.
Then if there’s been a championship where I’ve had the Cambox, I will then show the videos at a function that I’m speaking at within the next two years.
Obviously as each championship comes along, the footage becomes more relevant in the moment. There’s going to be a time when it will be really interesting for historic purposes to be able to look back and maybe show how things were like four years ago.
I would say I’ve been using the Cambox for longer than four years because I used it, I think in 2018 at World Championships in America.
As you know perhaps, Andrew, we are developing ourselves in UK through a joint-venture. Do you know about one or two key events in the equestrian universe in the UK that we should attend as part of our development ?
Well, that’s interesting, because I’m surprised that there are not more riders using the Cambox, because it’s really a great benefit for so many aspects that I’ve spoken about.
I know that I’ve been a regular user of it, like in every competition, I always use it.
There’s an event that’s just run recently called Cornbury Horse Trials that was the last weekend. I think that would be an interesting one for next year.
Burghley has obviously just finished. The next five stars is going to be Badminton, and so I would say those are very good events. Then there’s also Bramham, which is another very strong competition in the middle of the year.
I have one question I want to ask by pure curiosity. How come an Australian man has decided to move to UK and stay in UK for 30 years ?
When I first rode my first World Championship, that was in 1978, so well back in the last century and I was farming in Australia.
The sport was very strong in the United Kingdom and I feel that it was only following the Barcelona Olympics, where the Australian team, which I was part of, had success with the gold medal team there, that I decided to ride horses full time.
I studied agriculture to be a farmer and was farming in Australia, and that’s how I was making my money, so that I could do the sport.
And then, following 1992, I was physically and mentally exhausted because of the hours that I was keeping, starting at 4 o’clock in the morning and finishing at 7-11 in the evening.
I thought I need to do one thing properly, whether the farming or the horse and that I’m going to do the horses, I need to move to the hub of the sport. At that point of time it was the United Kingdom, and obviously because of English speaking, it was easy for me to do that. I’d been in and out of the United Kingdom a lot, due to quarantine regulations of getting the horse back to Australia.
So the logical process of that time was to move to the United Kingdom.
Compared to all other cameras on the market, is the Cambox the safest for practicing your sport?
For me, it’s definitely the safest, because for instance, our head is supported by a very small structure, and both are very critical for our well-being. I never want to be in the situation where the camera gets caught and pulls the helmet back, causing the helmet to push against the head, which in turn strains the neck. Cambox is, undoubtedly, the safest form.
Whether it's on a sport or personal level, what are your short and mid-term projects ?
Next weekend, I’m in Lignières in France the first time, for competition.
Then I go to Strzegom in Poland, competition wise, and following that, I then fly to Australia, I’m doing a lecture demonstration in New Zealand in the middle of October, and then I go to Australia, straight after that, and then back to the United Kingdom in November.
Interview conducted on 18/09/2024
