Mark Todd looks forward to UK move
Legendary New Zealand eventer Mark Todd will be basing himself in the UK from March for a full return to the sport after his comeback last year.
Initially, Mark will be based with his friend Belgian Olympic eventer Bruno Goyens de Heusch, in Swindon.
Mark told H&H. “For this year there is going to be a lot of toing and froing as our children are at school in New Zealand.
“I plan to be here until June, then will go back to New Zealand for a month. I will return to the UK until the end of the season and be in New Zealand for Christmas.”
Mark, who will be 53 on 1 March, aims to have a string of around eight horses, including his Olympic mount Gandalf.
He revealed that he hopes to take Gandalf to Badminton, but plans a quiet year for his return.
“The Olympics was only my eighth competition in eight years, but it got me motivated to have another go,” he said.
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But there is no chance of his changing nationality.
“I’m a New Zealander through and through,” he added.
This article was first published in Horse & Hound (19 February, ’09)
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A self-confessed newshound, farmer’s daughter and journalist of many years' experience, Charlotte worked on regional papers before joining H&H in 2007. A regular rider, she visited Ireland in 2010 to investigate the fate of Irish horses through the recession, to much acclaim, and reported from the FEI General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro in 2011. She left Horse & Hound in March 2013.