Bertalan de Némethy (February 24, 1911 – January 16, 2002) Frank Litsky. "Bertalan de Nemethy, 90, Equestrian Coach." New York Times ew YorkJanuary 26, 2002. was a cavalry officer in
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croa ...
and later became the show jumping coach for the United States Equestrian Team. He was influential in developing riding and training methods used by show jumpers today.Bryant, Jennifer O. ''Olympic Equestrian, A Century of International Horse Sport''. Lexington, KY: Blood-Horse Publications, 2008
Biography
Years in Europe
De Némethy began riding as a child in
Győr
Győr ( , ; german: Raab, links=no; names in other languages) is the main city of northwest Hungary, the capital of Győr-Moson-Sopron County and Western Transdanubia region, and – halfway between Budapest and Vienna – situated on one of t ...
,
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croa ...
,Horsemagazine.com. "Four Showjumping Masters." Accessed June 28, 2008. <> the son of a governor who controlled three of the 19 states. He began competing in show jumping in his teens. Due to his uncle's employment as a cavalry officer, de Némethy attended the
Ludovica Military Academy
The Royal Hungarian Ludovica Defense Academy ( hu, Magyar Királyi Honvéd Ludovika Akadémia, la, Ludoviceum, german: Ludovika-Akademie), shortened to Ludovica or Ludovica Academy, was Hungary's officer cadets training institute prior to ...
, in
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
, and graduated in 1932 with the rank of lieutenant. He then entered the cavalry, riding six horses each day at the school, beginning with dressage horses, before having a lesson on the longe without stirrups, and then riding young horses cross-country. In 1937 he became an instructor.
De Némethy's skill as a rider was exceptional, but he lost his opportunity for competition at the Olympics due to the cancellation of the 1940 Games. Instead, de Némethy was sent to train at the German cavalry school in Hanover, the first Hungarian officer to do so. There he was taught by the likes of Otto Lörke, Fritz Stecken, and Bubi Günther. He also learned the German system of training horses.
World War II forced de Némethy to return to Hungary, but as the Russian Army approached Budapest, he and his fellow cadets decided to flee yet again, this time, they went to Denmark. De Némethy remained in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
for six years, employed as a riding instructor.
Move to the United States
In 1952, the U. S. Embassy permitted de Némethy to immigrate and he became a citizen in 1958. He moved to
Far Hills, New Jersey
Far Hills is a borough in Somerset County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, the population was 919, and began teaching at Sleepy Hollow Country Club in
Briarcliff Manor, New York
Briarcliff Manor () is a suburban village in Westchester County, New York, north of New York City. It is on of land on the east bank of the Hudson River, geographically shared by the towns of Mount Pleasant and Ossining. Briarcliff Manor ...
. He later designed jumping courses for
horse show
A horse show is a judged exhibition of horses and ponies. Many different horse breeds and equestrian disciplines hold competitions worldwide, from local to the international levels. Most horse shows run from one to three days, sometimes longe ...
s held in the region.
Coaching the US Show Jumping Team
In 1955, on the advice of
William Steinkraus
William Clark "Bill" Steinkraus (October 12, 1925 – November 29, 2017) was an American show jumping champion.
Steinkraus participated in five Olympic Games. At the 1968 Summer Olympics, held in Mexico City, he won a gold medal in individual ju ...
and
Arthur McCashin
Arthur John McCashin (5 May 1909 – 24 September 1988) was an American equestrian
The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse".
Horseback riding (or Riding in British English)
...
jumping
Jumping or leaping is a form of locomotion or movement in which an organism or non-living (e.g., robotic) mechanical system propels itself through the air along a ballistic trajectory. Jumping can be distinguished from running, galloping and ...
team. De Némethy accepted the position, holding it until 1980. During this time he trained famous competitors in the sport, including George H. Morris, Joe Fargis, Frank Chapot,
Kathy Kusner
Kathryn Hallowell "Kathy" Kusner (born March 21, 1940) is an American equestrian and Olympic medalist in show jumping. She was one of the first woman who rode for the United States Equestrian Team (USET), the first licensed female jockey, and th ...
,
Leslie Burr
Leslie Burr-Howard (born October 1, 1956) is an American equestrian and an Olympic champion in showjumping. She won team gold at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and team silver at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, as well as team silver at the 1999 Winni ...
Michael Matz
Michael may refer to:
People
* Michael (given name), a given name
* Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael
Given name "Michael"
* Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...
Neal Shapiro
Neal B. Shapiro (born March 9, 1958) is the President and CEO of WNET. He worked previously as the President of NBC News and the executive producer for ''Dateline NBC''. Prior to this Shapiro spent 13 years as a news producer at ABC News.
Early ...
, and
William Steinkraus
William Clark "Bill" Steinkraus (October 12, 1925 – November 29, 2017) was an American show jumping champion.
Steinkraus participated in five Olympic Games. At the 1968 Summer Olympics, held in Mexico City, he won a gold medal in individual ju ...
.
He based his training on dressage work, jumping grids, and
longeing
Longeing (US English, classical spelling) or lungeing (UK English, informal US) is a technique for training and exercising horses. It is also a critical component of the sport of equestrian vaulting.
The horse is asked to work at the end of a ...
, all of which was published in his classic book ''The de Némethy Method''. While he was their coach, the US Show Jumping Team won the team silver at the 1960 and 1972 Olympics, the 1968 individual gold, and the 1972 individual bronze. Additionally, all four riders on the 1984 gold medal-winning team had been trained by de Némethy.
His teams won the team gold medal at the
Pan American Games
The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is hel ...
in 1959, 1963, 1975, and 1979. His teams won 71 out of the 144 Nations Cups in which they competed, as well as the FEI President's Trophy in 1966 and 1968. His riders individually won 72 International Grand Prixs and more than 400 international classes.
After coaching the US Team, de Némethy was sought-after as a course designer. He was inducted into the Show Jumping Hall of Fame in 1987.