'I'd love to compete at the Olympics with my brother'

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31: Raishun Burch may not be as famous as his older brother Roy, but he’s beginning to carve out his own sporting niche across the globe.

Raishun, 22, is seeing a level of success with a variety of horses, most recently with Carneval, which finished 11th in first normal 1.40 Class at CSI 2* Level.

The younger Burch is based out of Weert, Holland where he trains with Yves Houtackers.

Don Burgess asked Raishun about his Olympic dreams, his famous brother and how Bermuda’s equestrian community has helped him.

How did you feel by having Carneval do so well?

It’s a great step up for him towards my goal of competing him at Grand Prix Level. He is my second horse and only 7 years old. He is too young to compete at Pan Am this year but I believe he will be the one for the next games in Canada

How much of a progression is this for the horse?

This is a huge progression as he jumped around like it was a walk in the park for him. This gives me great confidence that we will have no problem moving up to the next level which will be required of him to compete at the next Pan American Games.

What help has Patrick Nisbett been to you?

I have been working with Patrick Nisbett since I was 13 years old and he has raised me as a sportsman on and off the horse. The level of discipline and professionalism he requires of me is high and he constantly reiterates how important it is that to reach the top I must be disciplined, work hard and to “pay attention to all the details”

I have had Carneval since he was 4 and now he is 7, and Nisbett has helped me consistently the whole way to produce this horse to this level and he continues to help me every day whether it is a training session, feedback from a competition video, or just some friendly advice, to help me to produce this horse up to the next level.

How much help have Michel and Jillian Terceira been for you?

They have been extremely supportive and helpful to compete  at top level competitions and train with experienced, competitive level trainers (Yves Houtackers) With them I have developed a lot and received an invaluable amount of support.

I also want to thank them for their continued sponsorship. Competing at this level is hard work and without them many things would not have been possible. Although I did not reach the qualification this time around they have expressed their willingness to work with me in the future and with more time and preparation competing at the next Games.

What do you think your chances are for the Pan Am Games?

This Pan Am (2011) Games has just been slightly out of reach for me. I started my training quite late in the year and I did not have much time to reach the qualification, as well as horse injuries in between made time shorter and things more difficult with my horses that I wanted to qualify for these Pan Am Games with. (Brandy 165 & Trump)

How much of a step forward would it be for Bermuda to field a team for the Games?

It would be a huge step for a team to go but it would be better to send a team to the next games and be competitive. Rather than having a team just to be there.

A team realistically needs four riders because of the format in which the competition is run. The three best scores are taken and the fourth is a drop score.  It would be also a big step because to send a team is a great cost.

It would have been great if we could have fielded a team and Bermuda Equestrian Federation could come together to even in these difficult times to find a title sponsor for a Bermuda team.

We have people working hard to get us (riders) in the shows but to fund a team is quite expensive. The international riders and BEF are coming together more with people like McKeisha Smith organizing a “Welcome Home” competition for the international riders to compete in Bermuda.

They would compete with the younger riders to fundraise and inspire the talent Bermuda has to work up to the next level.

And Heidi Mello also working hard trying to be at some competitions in Europe and she is also constantly trying to pull funds together.

What was the turning point for you to decide to do equestrian rather than some other sport?

I was balancing playing golf and show jumping at the same time and slowly the horses took over. When I was 13-years-old I put golf in my rear view mirror when Patrick Nisbett came to Bermuda. He told me he would like me to stay with him for one month to train and compete that was the decider.

Roy isn’t an equestrian, but what sort of inspiration or advice does he provide as someone who’s out there competing at the world level?

My brother is a big inspiration to me to reach the top. He has competed at two world championships and hard work and training put him at this latest championship within half a second of the winner and he reached his official Olympic qualifying time. He constantly tells me “work hard and if you want it you will get it, but you have to fight for it”. We talk regularly and he helps me through those difficult days of sporting.

What would it mean for you to be able to compete at an Olympics with him? How realistic is that?

It would mean the world to me to be able to walk alongside him in opening ceremony of London Olympics, but I think I will have to wait and hope that can happen at the next Games. Because I won’t be going to Pan Am Games, going to London as a first championship is totally unrealistic.

I will be training hard over the next years for the next Pan Am Games. I am only 22 years old now and for this sport it is very very young.

At the next Pan Am Games I will be only 26 and when I go I want to be competitive.

I want to come back with a piece of the pie.