With around 200 members in our cowork space, it’s no surprise that a whole of load of extra-curricular activities take place. From marathon running to cake-baking, singing to skateboarding, we are a varied and interesting lot. In Confessions of a Cowork Space, we ask members to give us a sneak peak into how they spend their downtime.
Rob Adshead is the business development and marketing manager for Simply Learning Tuition, a private tuition company. In his spare time, he is a stunt rider and polo player. He talks fillies, fights and filming with Jude Law’…
Stunt riding is definitely different – how did you get into it?
I have ridden all my life and evented until I was in my late teens so I signed up for the polo team when I went to Reading University. Before I knew it, I was running the club. I happened to meet the president of the Oxford Brooks team and through him I was introduced to a company called The Devil’s Horsemen. They are one of the leading stunt riding companies and supply riders for movie and TV filming around the world. I got on well with the owner and ended up working for the company throughout university.
Life when you’re filming is a lot of fun – the whole thing is a bit like the modern-day circus. The pay is great for what you do, although the hours are crazy. But crazy hours fitted in well with being a student!
What does stunt riding involve?
The reality is a lot less glamorous than it sounds. You do everything and anything the horses need – so that can mean standing around holding them in the background, or you might not even get on set, so you’re just hanging around, wearing full chainmail.
When you’ve got 70, 80 horses to manage, the whole team has to help out. The horses still have to be exercised if you’re not filming, then you have to do general cleaning and take part in rehearsals. On those days, ‘stunt riding’ is actually quite a loose term.
There is lots of awesome stuff involved too, like fighting with real metal swords, night shoots, working with the extras and the actors. You might prep the horses for actors to ride or double for them, which I did a bit of. Don’t ask me who for – no one particularly fascinating! You might be asked to double for someone and never find out who it was. Although I was in a film with Jude Law, so you never know…
Will we have seen you in anything?
I did a series called ‘The Bastard Executioner’, an American series for HBO. Before that I started filming for ‘The Crown’ which carried on after ‘Executioner’ wrapped. It’s a Netflix series that will be out soon. I rode in King Arthur and something for Disney too… sometimes you don’t get told what you’re doing, you just turn up and get on a horse!
Then the opportunity came up for a little known TV series called ‘Game of Thrones’….
That must have been pretty awesome.
It was surreal. I was already completely hooked on ‘Game of Thrones’ when the offer came through, and a friend of mine was asked too so we knew it would be fun to go out together.
We were based in Northern Ireland, filming a huge battle scene (the Battle of the Bastards). 76 riders went over, some from Ireland, some from the UK, America, Lithuania and Spain – there were quite a few riders from Spain as stunt riding is really big over there. I was there for about 6 weeks then came back to film other things before I was asked to go back. I went to the wrap party. That was good [laughs].
Have you tried to spot yourself on screen?
I could tell who I was on ‘Game of Thrones’ because I knew where to look and I was on a horse with distinctive markings, but if you didn’t know I was on the show you wouldn’t be able to spot me.
What makes a good stunt horse?
Spanish horses are often used because they have a lot of movement so they look great on camera. They are also relatively stable in the head so during fight scenes, which are quite traumatic, they stay calm. They are very easy to train, too.
If you’re just tasked with looking after a horse during filming, you want the opposite: a horse that’s quiet and comfortable, because it can be a long day. For ‘Thrones’, you could be in the saddle for up to 12 hours. In fight scenes, where there’s fire, and loud noises, and cameras and people everywhere, you want a horse that isn’t going to rear up and hurt someone.
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What was the highlight of your GofT experience?
I was very lucky with the horse that I had. He was a very striking Portuguese horse called Cartaz who was really fun to ride. Don’t get me wrong – there were some horrendous days and when we were doing night shoots, you would be there in the freezing cold rain and the mud, wearing a flimsy costume. That was hard. But on other days, there was no pressure, no stress – you were just there to do your job, have fun and enjoy it all.
So tell us: who’s the most famous person you’ve met?
Probably someone like Kit Harrington [Jon Snow in Game of Thrones]. And I saw Sophie [Turner, Sansa Stark in the series] in Camden the other night. I wasn’t sure whether she would remember me but she insisted that I come to the wrap party at the end of the whole show.
Oh, and Ed Sheeran. He did a cameo in ‘The Bastard Executioner’. He’s on my speed dial [laughs]*.
So what’s next for Le Bureau’s very own stunt rider extraordinaire?
At the moment I’m focusing more on polo again. I’m part of a group called London Alumni, so if anyone in Le Bureau wants to have a go they can come along to a taster day. Come and ask me about it!
*[Ed: to clarify, Ed Sheeran has never given his number to Rob. Rob only wishes he was friends with Ed Sheeran.]
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