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Interview with Arran Topham Best Over All Surfer X-fest 2008.
So tell what you had to do to win best over all surfer 2008?
Well, the event was in two stages, the first on land and the second on water. I was paired with a horse and rider and stayed with them through the event. I managed to be the most consistent rider over the two stages. A lot of the guys were struggling on the beach as the sand was quite soft for the mountain boards and the pick up from the horse is pretty harsh! I just tried to pick a good line and my horse rider Paul Allison was trying to make my pick up as forgiving as possible!! In the water the surf was rough and again is was more about consistency to win the overall.
What is your previous boarding experience?
I'm an experienced snowboarder so that's my main sport but I've recentley been getting more into wakeboarding so am doing a fair bit of that at the moment. Also, I love kiteboarding and want to do a lot more of that but as I live miles from the coast it's difficult finding the time for that one.
How did you end up at X-fest being towed by a horse?
I've been a friend of Dans for years (the inventor of Horse Boarding). We'd both worked together in a stunt show and he knows that I am always on the look out for new sports and challenges. I'd done a few test days and a photo shoot with him and then he called me and asked if I'd like to compete at the X-fest.
How would you say horse boarding compares with other extreme and boarding sports?
It doesn't!!! It's totally unique. Board riding definitely plays a big part and the actual way you ride the board is familiar, but the fact that you're being towed by a live animal with a brain of it's own makes it a very different experience. The pick up is harsh and the actual tow isn't consistent, it's always changing depending on how the horse runs. It's also a team effort between you, the horse and it's rider which is something you don't get in other board sports, they're more of a solo thing, so it's unusual to be part of a team.
On the day you were credited with having the most spectacular Spank. Can you talk us through what happened?
It's soooo easy to fall off the mountain boards!!! Too many wheels for me! I'd gotten a good, fast pick up from the horse and was feeling like we could make a fast time. But the galloping of the horse makes the tow so unpredictable that i lost my line and hit some of the softer sand. My board dug in and flipped me out down the track just as we were getting to top speed. So I hit pretty hard and did a few rolls down the beach. It did look quite spectacular, I think the spectators enjoyed it more than me.
You won over all surfer by coming 2nd in two classes earning 6 points and being undoubtedly the most consistent performer of the day. In your opinion as a boarder whats the most important tactic when competing in speed over land and speed over water?
Just hanging on when the horse starts galloping, they really fly. If you can get through the transition from starting to galloping, that's when your boardriding comes into play. A lot of the guys were really struggling to get started. It's that team thing again, it's a fine balance between the speed that the horse picks you up and then gets into a full gallop. It's got to be quick but also smooth so I guess a lot of it is down to the horse rider. The boarder just needs the determination to hang on.
At the moment 2009 is looking to be the first National Horse Boarding Championship over four events. With only one possibly containing Horse Surfing. What do you think about the apparent move towards Horse Boarding or Speed over land and away from the surfing? I think, practically, it's a lot easier to organise the land events so I guess that has to have some bearing on it. The surfing events need people in the water to help with the launch as well as with the horses and tow rope so it's a major operation. The horses can also run directly in front of the boarders on land rather than off to the side in the surf. I don't know, I love the surfing side of it but the land probably feels quicker and has more potential to develop.
How would you like to see the sport develop and what advise would you give to anyone who was looking to get involved with Horse Boarding? I think there's lots of ways for the sport to go but it's so young at the moment who knows? It will be interesting to see how the horse riding community take to it. I think if they embrace it on a large scale then different avenues could open up. At the moment, I think it needs the horse people to get interested because I'm sure that if you have the horses and riders, you will always find the guys who want to hang off the back on their boards. It's probably easier to cross-over from a board sport then to go from regular horse-riding to extreme. If anyone wants to get involved, I would say contact Dan through his websites www.britishhorsesurfingassociation.com and www.extremehorseriding.com and take it from there
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