Mark Todd--it's a household name for most people in the equestrian world. For twenty-one years, Mark Todd has been riding competitively, and he has won practically everything in that time span. He has two Olympic gold individual medals, five Burghley wins, three Badminton titles, and much more! He was also named "Event Rider of the Century" by Horse and Hound magazine. The only thing he hasn't won is the World Championships, but Mark isn't hung up on that. At fourty-four years old, he has had quite a background. He was a talented kid with a good horse, and he worked multiple jobs and eventually sold his car just to get to the United States for the 1978 World Championship in Kentucky. There he was eliminated on the cross-country. But Mark refused to give up. Heads turned when he won Britain's Badminton CCI**** on his first attempt. Four years later, he won his first gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics aboard an extraordinary little horse named Charisma, who stands 15.3 hands high. Last year he won the UK's Burghley CCI**** (for the fifth time) with newcomer Diamond Hall Red--and placed third with Word For Word. He was in the lead in the Husky/PERA (Proffesional Event Rider's Association) by a comfortable margin of over 100 points. Mark Todd recalls the roots of eventing, when Lucinda Green was the best of the best. He called her a "trailblazer" and one of the first proffessionals. What's his definition of proffesional? "You have to take it seriously, to be proffessional; if not in terms of money...then in terms of behavior--your approach to the whole thing." Mark Todd has not had it easy. At Badminton in 1992, his horse, "Face The Music," fell at a jump and had to be destroyed. He still had another horse to ride named Alfred The Great, and he recalls his trip on Alfred "a long, lonely ride." Of course, there are a few high-points--he thought winning the Badminton on Horton Point in 1994 was a very sweet victory. But his favorite, without hesitation, was winning the gold in LA on Charisma.
Now Mark Todd is hanging up his show coat and saying good-bye to the competition. He is retiring back to New Zealand, where he will ride and train his horses on his farm. He has two children, Lauren and James, and a wife named Carolyn. Charisma will be waiting for him. The Thoroughbred is now 27 years old, still as grand and mighty as he has always been.
One thing is for sure: Mark Todd will not leave this sport without the dignity he deserves and has well earned. He will leave with pride. He will have left his mark. |
