‘I wanted to finish feeling good about how I was riding’: Olympic eventer retires from top-level competition
New Zealand’s Dan Jocelyn reflects on favourite memories as he steps down after a 30-year career
Dan Jocelyn has retired from top-level eventing after a career spanning more than 30 years.
The New Zealand rider is hanging up his boots after a career including one Olympics, two World Equestrian Games and multiple five-star completions.
“I’m 56, I’m riding around with my mates’ kids and I was the oldest rider at Badminton last year. All those things aren’t necessarily a reason to retire but I wanted to finish feeling good about how I was riding – not have people look at me and say, ‘That guy should retire,’” he told H&H.
“I feel like I’m starting to lose my competitiveness and sharpness. It’s a lot of work being at the top level of anything – mentally, in the gym, dealing with owners, keeping a horse at the top of its game – and I only wanted to do it at the highest level.
“I won’t be at the next Olympics in two years’ time or the next World Championships in four years, so why am I doing this? It was nice to ring our high performance manager Jock Paget and say I’d like to withdraw from the squad, not be thrown off.
“I felt like I was always carrying an injury, a bit of a pain somewhere and now all of a sudden I feel great – having taken that time to let myself get better.”
Dan has also retired his five-star horse, 17-year-old Blackthorn Cruise, who has been in the top 30 at Mars Badminton Horse Trials twice, saying: “In his mind he wanted to go to Burghley, but there were a few signs he’d lost his edge and with those horses we have to make the decision for them.
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“He’s still with us and his owner Panda Christie comes and has dressage training on him. He’s hacking out and quietly winding down from five-star work, which is all he’s known for a long time.”
Although he is retiring from top-level competition, Dan Jocelyn will still produce young horses and compete up to novice level, and join his wife Emma in doing more showjumping and coaching.
“We have just taken on our first team to coach – the 90cm team for the VWH branch of the Pony Club – so that’s an exciting thing for us,” he said. “I enjoy doing things like course walks at Burghley, telling a few stories on the way round – it’s something a bit different to bring the cash in.”
Dan Jocelyn retires: favourite memories
Dan first came to England in 1995. He lent Andrew Nicholson a horse for the event at Puhinui in New Zealand and Andrew invited him to come to see the sport here.
“I came over and stayed with him for a season – he sent me off to people who’ve become my best friends, David Green, Mark Todd, and I went to three-days with them to watch,” said Dan, recalling how he rang his mother, Beverley, in disbelief at the number of events, as in New Zealand it was a case of two events and a three-day each spring and autumn.
Dan described going to the Athens Olympics in 2004 with Silence as the realisation of a boyhood dream.
“That was something special – I didn’t have a great placing as my strength was the cross-country and it was the easiest cross-country an Olympics has ever had, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and it was a fabulous experience,” he said.
Another highlight of his career was finishing third at Burghley Horse Trials in 2001 behind Andrew Nicholson and Blyth Tait.
“I was the only person to finish on my dressage score and to be there with Andrew and Blyth who, alongside Mark Todd, were my team-mates and mentors was special,” he said. “I loved riding with them, copying them.”
Dan and Silence competing at Burghley, where they were in the top 15 four times
Dan also picked out some memorable Nations Cup wins at Boekelo and, more recently, finishing second in the CCI4*-L at Tattersalls in 2019 on Blackthorn Cruise.
“I enjoy competing in Ireland and it was nice to take him back to his roots as he came from Ireland,” he said.
“The last Badminton I did, I had a diverse group of people around me – friends, Panda Christie who’s owned Blackthorn Cruise through his whole career, the personal trainer who’s been helping me for the last few years – and I enjoyed every phase. The weather was beautiful, we took the competition seriously but did some socialising too and came out of it with a nice result. It was why we all started eventing.
“It felt very different to going round on Silence in the 1990s, when I was full of grit and determination, all I wanted to do was arrive there and then as soon as I was there, I wanted it done and to be home. I was full of nerves and hungry for it as a young rider. It’s amazing how my outlook has changed over 30 years.
“I have no regrets. Yes, there are parts of my career I’d do differently and parts I haven’t enjoyed, but that’s part of the whole thing.”
Dan Jocelyn’s biggest supporter
Dan said his mother Beverley has always been his biggest supporter and he was nervous about telling her he was retiring, but she completely understood.
“We reflected and told a few stories, going back to Pony Club,” he said, saying that she came over for a few events including the 2002 World Championships and increasingly, technology has allowed her to be part of Dan’s career, receiving videos and so on.
“She was never one of the mums that fuss around – she always let me and my brother and sister be independent and learn from doing the whole process. We’d do the early mornings and late nights around school and go off in the big lorry with three or four horses as young kids. Doing everything ourselves was a great way to understand horses and be horsemen,” he said.
“I loved Pony Club days, with bending races, popping balloons and jumping in a sack – perhaps it would have been better if I’d done the odd bit of dressage instead of flag races and bending, but then I might not have stayed on going into The Lake!”
Dan Jocelyn with his great horse Silence at Badminton
Andrew Nicholson paid tribute to Dan’s career and achievement in moving up the levels after he first came to the UK to be based with him.
“The horse of Dan’s that springs to mind is Silence, the wee thoroughbred he brought over as a youngster and brought up to five-star,” he said.
“Dan has always been very reliable at the big competitions – he knew what he and his horses could do on the cross-country and outside competition he was a good team-mate to be around – he still is, good fun and very easy going.”
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Pippa is a true eventing geek and has been H&H’s eventing editor since 2005. She has first-hand experience of competing up to British Eventing intermediate and international CCI2*-L level, and has worked in the industry on a top event yard. Pippa enjoys nothing more than immersing herself in the sport at the highest level, reporting from the five-stars and international championships, including the Olympics.