[Ag-eq] Kiwi success

[nfoster at extremezone.com]

I think there were several older riders in the last olympics.

Nella
Quoting Jewel <jewelblanch at kinect.co.nz>:

> 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
>
>
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