[Ag-eq] Kiwi success

[Jewel]

Andrew Nicholson, one of our senior riders won the Kentucky 3-day Event last weekend.
Another New Zealander whose name might be known to you is Mark Todd.  He and his horse of the late 
80s and 90s,
Charisma:  stable name Podge: won 2 Olympic Gold medals, 1 of them: I can't remember if it was medal
1 or 2, was at Los angeles.
Charisma was 16 years of age when he won his first gold and 20 at his second.
As we all know, the difference between a good, bad, or worse, horrific performance in the equestrian
sports depends, not only on a highly-skilled and superbly fit human being, but equally, if not more 
so ,
on a highly-skilled and superbly fit horse, who, on that very day when perfection is asked of 
him/her, and though everything is done to keep the horse, mentally, as well as physically fit, may 
feel that it just can't put its whole heart and soul into skipping, jumping and running.
Such a day, a day that will never be forgotten by Andrew and by the thousands of Kiwis sitting up in
the early hours of the morning to watch the Olympic show-jumping with New Zealand in a good position
to win another gold medal at the Barcelona games , came into the ring riding his horse Spinning 
Rhombus.
Thus began a nightmare as SpinningRhombus reduced  the course to a pile of kindling as he knocked
down NINE rails.
Now, Spinning Rhombus was no slouch as is obvious for if he had been, he would never have been
competing in the Olympics, but that day just happened to be one on which he didn't feel like trying!
Even the legendary Charisma [Podge], a supreme show jumper though not all that stylish, was said to 
have used * braille to get over the
jumps:  that is:  he would * feel his way over them!
I don't rememaber his age when Charisma retired, but when he did, he retired to a life of luxury and 
one of Auckland's spectacular Waitemata Harbour islands.  He died at  the age of 36.
Shortly before his death and the last time he had a saddle on his back was to lead the field out at 
a neeting of the Auckland Racing Club where Queen Elizabeth II was the guest of honour.
As for his owner and rider, Mark Todd, he did retire from competitive riding and established a 
thoroughbred stud in Waikato and did a bit of training too at which game he had some successes, but, 
eventually, the call back to the sport of competitive riding became too strong to deny, so he was 
riding again in London.  He won no individual medals, but I think, though I may be wrong, that New 
Zealand took out  the bronze for the combined events of dressage, cross country and show jumping.
The equestrian events are the one discipline in the Olympic games where age is no barrier: and it 
is, confidently, hoped that both Mark and Andrew will be riding for New Zealand at Rio in 2016.

      Jewel