British Eventing chairman resigns

Mike Tucker has resigned his position as chairman of British Eventing. His resignation was offered and accepted at a BE board meeting on Tuesday 13 September. It is believed that the significant financial loss of this year’s Windsor Horse Trials was among the subjects discussed during the meeting.

British Eventing issued the following statement on behalf of Tucker: “After two wonderful weeks of competition, he currently does not want to undermine the tremendous publicity the sport is receiving and, as he has a busy week ahead in Ireland, does not wish to make further comment at this stage.”

Tucker was elected to the post at last year’s AGM for a two-year term, succeeding Jane Holderness-Roddam. Tucker stepped down from his position as director of Windsor Horse trials following his appointment as BE chairman. Jonathan Warr, the course designer at Windsor for the previous 10 years, was chosen to replace him at Windsor. Warr resigned from his position when Windsor’s financial loss first became apparent.

A former international competitor, Tucker has been involved in eventing for more than 30 years. He was a member of the Horse Trials Committee between 1972 and 1986, and a reserve at the Montreal Olympics in 1976. A year later, he and his wife Angela launched the first Tetbury Horse Trials, which they continued to run until 1992.

Tucker then joined the Senior Selection Committee for two terms and was Chairman of the Fixtures Committee. He also embarked on a successful career as an equestrian sports commentator for the BBC, but this didn’t prevent him from keeping an active role within BE. In 1999, he took over the Chairmanship of the Safety Committee from Hugh Thomas and was co-opted to the association’s Board.

• Read the full story in next week’s Horse & Hound (22 September, ’05)

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