The owner and rider of Olympic eventer Welton Envoy have paid tribute to a “truly one in a million horse” after his death aged 34.

“Eddie”, who won the Kentucky Three-Day Event in 2000, and was selected to represent New Zealand at that year’s Olympics, with Blyth Tait, died peacefully at his home for many years, and that of his breeders, the Barrs’ Welton Stud.

The Welton Crackerjack gelding, who was out of Minerva, full sister to Ginny Elliot’s top-level ride Night Cap, started his eventing career with Leslie Law and finished with Blyth, amassing more than 600 points.

Linda Barr said: “Although a truly successful and consistent event horse, he also had the kindest and most genuine nature, and in his latter ridden years he looked after Sam Barr on many hacks.

“Since the passing of Sam, he retired at the starting ground of many successful eventers and was dearly looked after by Sam’s wife, Linda.

“He had the most idyllic life any horse could ever wish for and will leave a massive hole in the lives he touched. He was truly one in a million.”

Blyth told H&H the Kentucky win was his biggest achievement with Eddie.

“He was meant to be my team horse for Sydney, and Ready Teddy my individual horse, but he had a bit of a mishap travelling, and needed time off when we got there,” Blyth said.

“We took him out of the team competition and ran him in the individual, as that ran second, but the first day of the competition was the first day he’d had a saddle on since we’d got there so unfortunately, he was a bit fresh and didn’t really have his chance.”

Blyth enjoyed good placings at CCI3* level (now CCI4*), and “won some significant CICs”.

“He was pretty good in all three phases; he may not have been the fastest galloper but he was efficient so we didn’t waste much time,” he said.

Blyth and Eddie finished one second over the time on the Kentucky cross-country, jumping clear to secure the win on the last day.

“He was a real sweetheart,” Blyth said. “He didn’t have a mean bone in his body. He was really solid in temperament and focused; he was a bit strong cross-country and not the easiest to balance and steady up, but if the track, like at Kentucky, was bold and flowing, he was much nicer to ride.

“He was a flash mover for a event horse, with a massive trot, and he could score nines for his walk.”

Continues below…

Olympic legend calls time on his second eventing career

Blyth said he will still showjump for fun, adding: ‘If it rains, I’m going home!’

Pioneering breeder Sam Barr dies at the age of 90

Sam Barr, the founder of the famous Welton line of event horses and a flagbearer of British breeding, has died

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Eddie also competed in British Dressage competitions with Pammy Hutton, winning at up to advanced medium level.

“Pammy was a big help with him on the flat, and did a lot of work with him,” Blyth said.

“Then, when he went back to Sam and Linda’s for his fitness work, Sam would ride him on the roads; he was really trustworthy and sensible.

“He was always kind and interested and a very nice horse to have on the yard; you don’t win CCI5*s every day. I’ve got very fond memories of him; he was a nice chap.”

• Do you have any special memories of Welton Envoy you’d like to share with fellow readers? You can do so by writing to hhletters@futurenet.com, including your name and nearest town, for the chance to feature on the letters page in a future issue of H&H magazine

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A racing and showjumping background laid the foundations for one of the best eventing careers of the last century. Catherine Austen picks out the highlights with former Olympic and double world champion Blyth Tait

Being at the “pinnacle” of a sport is a well-worn expression. If there is an achievement, however, that places you at the very top, above all your peers, it must be to be Olympic and world champion simultaneously. In eventing, only two riders have done this. The most recent example is the German phenomenon that is Michael Jung, but Blyth Tait did it first.

The diminutive, quick-witted New Zealander had already finished in top spot in one World Championship – at Stockholm in 1990 on Messiah – when he came across the horse that would give him a second title eight years later and that sporting grail, an individual Olympic gold medal.

Blyth’s father, Bob, saw a chestnut thoroughbred with a white blaze at a Pony Club event in New Zealand. He bought him for NZ$5,000 (equivalent to £1,650 at the time), and sent him to Blyth in Britain. The horse, half-brother to a very successful steeplechaser, had run in trial races but hadn’t made it to the track itself. Bob named him Ready Teddy, dreaming that he’d go to the Olympics and the starter would say, “Ready, Teddy, go!”

Remarkably, Ready Teddy did go to the Olympics – three times – and at the first, Atlanta in 1996, when he was just eight, he and Blyth won gold.

“My overriding memory from Atlanta is how green Ted was,” says Blyth, speaking from his farm in New Zealand. “He never missed a beat on the cross-country, but when he came off the course after finishing he whinnied to his mates as if to say, ‘Oh my God, what was that? That wasn’t what I expected when I got up this morning!’

“I was in the lead overnight, but I didn’t have a fence in hand and Sally Clark [who won silver with Squirrel Hill] jumped clear. I had nothing to spare, but Ted gave me the confidence to ride as though I was training at home.”

The pair jumped clear and into the history books. “It all sounds the stuff of dreams, but really it was,” says Blyth. “I remember standing on the top of the podium with the medal round my neck and thinking, ‘I should be feeling all sorts of elation and highly charged emotions.’ But three-day eventing takes five days – it’s not like you run for 10 seconds and then you’re the Olympic champion – and I had been in the lead after cross-country. I was mightily relieved, because that medal had been mine to lose.

“I also remember wishing that the other people who had been such an influence on me and so supportive behind me could have been on the podium with me. So many people had contributed to it,” he adds.

The Olympic team gold medal is just about the only thing that eluded New Zealand riders in the 1980s and 1990s. Mark Todd and Blyth won three individual golds between them, the team won silver once and bronze twice, and they were team gold medallists at the World Equestrian Games in 1990 and 1998. Mark, Blyth and Andrew Nicholson were the core, with excellent support from the likes of Vaughn Jefferis – world champion in 1994 – Sally Clark, Vicky Latta, Tinks Pottinger and others.

“In our heyday, the talent and depth of the New Zealand riders was extraordinary for such a small country,” says Blyth. “We got on really well and we had a real mutual respect. We were very aware of everybody’s individual strengths and their ability to deliver under pressure.”

Blyth Tait’s love of competition

Blyth, now 59, grew up in Whangarei, north of Auckland. He says: “We were town kids until I turned 10 years old, when we moved to a 10-acre block and got a pony between me and my two older sisters.

“We joined the Pony Club, and I developed a liking for the competitive side of riding. Going to gymkhanas and winning ribbons motivated me more than riding around the farm. It was really Pony Club that got me started.”

That first pony was a grey Welsh Mountain mare called Flash. One day Blyth was trying to jump her at home, and she kept refusing.

“I was getting very frustrated, and my mother was trying to help by giving instructions out of the window,” he says.

“Eventually she told me to come in for lunch and to try again later. I tied Flash up and went into the house, furious. When I came back outside after lunch, Flash had had a foal!”

When his fellow competitors are asked how they thought Blyth had achieved so much in his career, nearly all mentioned his meticulous approach and his clear planning. There was early evidence of this; from the age of 11 he kept a detailed diary of every show he went to, his results, what the entry fee was and how much prize money he won.

He continues: “My father had a background in racehorses, but none of our family knew anything about eventing. When I left school I helped my father with his thoroughbred broodmares and in prepping horses for the track, and by the time I was in my teenage years I was showjumping properly in junior and young rider classes. My first horse was an ex-racehorse called Barbarossa, whom I took to grade A, and then I had an old grand prix horse, Speculate, that someone kindly lent me.

“I had lessons from the showjumper Kathy Kusner, and from George Morris, both of whom taught me to ride in a forward and rhythmic style, which stood me in good stead when I started eventing properly.”

Blyth did well on the national showjumping circuit in New Zealand and won a World Cup Pacific League qualifier. His first trip to England was to showjump, aged 21.

“I brought a young horse called Mainspring over and jumped him, sold him and went home again without setting the world on fire,” he says.

He set up a pre-training business, and his attention turned to eventing when the World Championships went to Gawler in Australia in 1986.

“It was the first time the World Championships had come anywhere near New Zealand, and that they were going to be able to send a team,” Blyth says. “I rode a horse [Rata] that someone made available to me; he was an experienced event horse and I was lucky enough to get selected in the six that travelled.”

Sadly Rata died of a heart attack while hacking out on the eve of competition at Gawler.

“I’d never experienced anything like that and it was a terrible shock – I felt like I’d never get over it,” Blyth says. “But in some ways, because I’d got that close and been exposed to that level when I was fairly inexperienced, it whetted my appetite.”

After Gawler, he discovered the horse that would really set him on the eventing path – or rather rediscovered him. Blyth had backed Messiah, who was bred by a family friend, Carole Byles, as a three-year-old. But Blyth then made his first trip to England to showjump, and therefore the “precocious, confident character” was sent to Penny Stevenson and Colin McIntosh to showjump. They produced him to grade B, but he was probably too forward-going to be a top showjumper and after Gawler it was suggested that he tried eventing with Blyth.

Messiah immediately took to the game in 1987, and by the end of 1988 he had achieved good enough results to make a crack at the World Equestrian Games in Stockholm in 1990 a realistic prospect.

Blyth, by then 28, “sold everything that wasn’t nailed down” and moved to Britain in May 1989 with the intention of staying only until after Stockholm. Very good placings at their first couple of international events meant that, in the spring of 1990, Badminton was the target.

To the surprise of pretty much everyone except Blyth, they finished second to Nicola McIrvine and Middle Road.

“I didn’t just go to England to learn, although I knew that would be part of the process – I went to win,” he says.

The pair were duly selected for the New Zealand team for Stockholm, alongside Mark Todd, Andrew Nicholson and Andrew Scott. They went, and they won – team and individual gold. Had Blyth really thought it was possible that he would become world champion as a one-horse rider barely three years after starting in the sport?

He replies: “Naivety is incredible when you’re inexperienced. My theory was, I’d been second at Badminton that spring, and Nicola had won, and she wasn’t selected on the British team – so in my mind, that meant I was going to win!

“I went in full of confidence. I had the utmost faith in Messiah; he was phenomenal across the country and the tougher the course, the better it was for him. He was really fast, being a full thoroughbred, and a real quality horse, although he was quite volatile. But he was capable of a good test, and I think at the World Games he was in the top 10 after the dressage. I thought I just had to do my job. After that, you lose a few competitions, then a few more, and you realise it doesn’t always quite go according to plan.”

That early showjumping experience meant that that phase, so often an event rider’s Achilles heel, held no fears for Blyth.

Mary King, many of whose career highlights happened at the same time as Blyth’s, says: “He was a beautiful showjumping rider, and that carried through to his cross-country riding. As well as being brave and fast, he was so accurate and gave his horses every confidence to jump well.”

‘Mind-blowing’

It is fascinating to realise how small a team of horses Blyth had at any one time. At first it was just Messiah, then, when Blyth made the decision after Stockholm to remain in the UK, he added Ricochet, who was 11 when Blyth bought him. Another New Zealand thoroughbred, he finished fifth at Burghley, second at Badminton and won Punchestown and two Scottish Open Championships at Thirlestane. As Messiah – who, despite a shockingly bad dressage test at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, managed to win the individual bronze medal as well as team silver – wound down, up came a mare called Delta.

“If I think of her ability now, it’s mind-blowing to think of a horse that can jump like that,” says Blyth. “She was like a pogo stick. There was nothing that she couldn’t do cross-country-wise. She was only little, but my God, she had scope. At the time, I didn’t know what I had, but if I had her now I’d just be so confident. She very rarely touched a rail – but having said that, I finished second at Burghley [in 1992] because I knocked the triple bar down.”

Delta also finished second at Badminton in 1994. Blyth was second three times at Badminton; it was one of very few major events to elude him. He took the Burghley title twice – first in 1998, with Chesterfield, and again in 2001 with Ready Teddy.

“I have a really soft spot for Chesterfield,” says Blyth. “He came to me in sad circumstances; his young rider, Melissa Bradley, was killed in a car accident, and her parents asked me to ride the horse. He probably lacked the brilliance or the technique of some of my better horses, but he was the most genuine and kind horse, and he just tried and tried and tried, and that took him a long way.

“The attitude of horses is just as important as the physical attributes, because if they don’t give you 110% you’re always left a bit short. But he always did.”

Blyth achieved something rare at Burghley in 1998; he finished first and second. His runner-up, Aspyring, also won Bramham, Boekelo and Luhmühlen, and was yet another New Zealand-bred thoroughbred.

“I have a background in racing, so I had access and experience with thoroughbreds and therefore I could source them,” he explains. “We didn’t have a breeding programme in New Zealand for sport horses. I clicked with thoroughbreds because they were suitable for my frame – I’m only small. They are athletic, light, quick-moving and quick-thinking, which really suited me.”

Andrew Nicholson says: “Blyth was very clear about the sort of horse he could win on and could have utmost confidence on. His horses were thoroughbreds and he could manage and play to their strengths. And he was very clever at reading the whole game plan. If Blyth told me to take a certain route through a fence, even if I’d walked it a different way and was down at the start, I would take his advice. His mind for detail and his understanding of eventing was unbelievable,” says Andrew.

“We never shied away from being competitive with each other, and that made each of us raise our game. That won us medals.”

A last major triumph

Chesterfield gave Blyth a team bronze at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 – the team medals then were a separate competition to the individual, which Ready Teddy won. In total, Ready Teddy competed at three Olympics – Atlanta, Sydney and Athens – and two World Equestrian Games, and his versatility was proved by wins as diverse in track and format as Punchestown, Chatsworth, Gatcombe, Pratoni and Scarvagh.

Other good horses included Welton Envoy, who won the CCI5* at Kentucky in 2000, and 2004 Punchestown winner Eze. That Punchestown success in the now-CCI4*-L class – Ready Teddy also took the CCI4*-S – was to be Blyth’s last major triumph.

He and his long-term partner Paul O’Brien retired back to New Zealand at the end of that season, where Blyth indulged a lifelong passion for racing by breeding racehorses – including dual Group One winner Nashville – and prepping yearlings for the sales. He kept an involvement with eventing, acting as manager of the national team for the 2008 Olympics, but didn’t compete.

However, one October morning in 2010, he was working on the farm when he received a phone call. It was a gang of his old eventing friends, including Zara Tindall and Dan Jocelyn, who were partying hard at Boekelo.

“They said, ‘We miss you, Blyth; it’s the Tuesday night party at Boekelo and you should be here,’” he remembers. “They kept passing the phone to other people, and I thought, ‘God, I really am missing that.’”

By the following spring, he was back in Gloucestershire and back in the game.

He says: “I only came back with the intention of a short-term foray, not really with any plans to make a career out of it again.”

Although the horse he brought with him from New Zealand, Santos, turned out to have kissing spines, a nice novice, Bear Necessity V, came along, and somehow he found himself staying for another eight years.

In 2018 he rode at the Tryon World Equestrian Games, 32 years after he was first selected for a championship, and then returned home. He intended to event a couple of horses back in New Zealand, but a head injury incurred in a fall last spring, and then a minor heart attack in winter, persuaded him it was time to hang up his boots.

He says: “One of my strengths in my career was my planning. I always produced my horses through in a progression so I had a couple of top horses and some coming through. Second time round I didn’t approach it like that; I didn’t have the same long-term plans nor the same strength of horse power. Bear Necessity was a lovely horse and finished in the top 15 at Badminton and Burghley, but he had originally been his owner’s hunter.

“I didn’t have the same type of horses I had had first time round, and it wasn’t the same as going in with the confidence that you have from knowing that your preparation is spot-on and that your horse is absolutely ready.

“But I enjoyed it, I had some good results and no regrets. I’ll never completely walk away from eventing, but it’s time to stop putting in the hard yards as a rider. I’m walking away healthy, happy and with fond memories.”

Another string to Blyth Tait’s eventing bow

In recent years Blyth has turned his hand to cross-country course-design, and has designed tracks at Burgham and Barbury in the UK. He is supposed to be designing the two-star and three-star tracks at the New Zealand national championships next year, and also at the same level at the Sydney Three-Day Event in Australia.

“I don’t really want to make a major career out of course-designing, but it’s a good way to supplement what I’m doing, to stay in the sport and to keep my eye in, and to keep current with the international scene and friends,” he says.

Blyth also has three horses to showjump – two of his ex- eventers, Havanna and Xanthus, and Billy Sparky, a mare bred by the Funnells.

“But that’s just for pleasure, and if it rains, I’m going home,” he jokes.

What’s Blyth Tait like?

Blyth is universally popular. His focused approach to his sport is balanced by kindness, a love of parties and a relentlessly positive attitude.

“Blyth is great,” says Mark Todd. “He was meticulous in his planning, a very good all-round horseman – his horses were always fit, sound and looked fantastic – and a natural lightweight in the saddle. Everything he does, he does thoroughly and well. He’s a really nice guy; easy-going, good to be on a team with and great at a party, where he loved climbing tent poles and getting his kit off!”

Mary King remarks on his intelligence. “I always thought he was almost too clever to be an event rider!” she says. “I remember going to Northern Ireland to do some teaching with him, and we were doing crosswords on the plane. I’ve always liked doing them, but he was so much better at them than me.”

Ready Teddy

Ready Teddy is one of the best event horses in history; he had both enormous talent and longevity in the sport.

“I was careful after Atlanta to consolidate what Ted had learnt and took him to Punchestown instead of Badminton,” says Blyth. “He was still very young and you can’t take them for granted, no matter how talented they are.

“Hindsight only magnifies the amount of talent Ted had. He was very careful, super-fast, very brave and keen, and could really move for a thoroughbred. Yes, his temperament was a little volatile on the big stage after Atlanta, but at home he was sweet and easy, snaffle-mouthed and lovely to hack. He was such an athlete and so trainable; you didn’t have to tell him anything twice and he never looked for a way out.

“He would be just as competitive if he was around now, without a doubt.”

Blyth Tait’s career in numbers

1 Olympic individual gold

4 world golds: 2 individual and 2 team

2Burghley wins

1 Kentucky win

3 runner-up prizes at Badminton

1st and 2nd at Burghley in 1998

8 the age of Ready Teddy when he was 1996 Olympic champion

Ref Horse & Hound; 27 August 2020

When Blyth Tait announced his retirement from eventing at the Land Rover Horse of the Year Show in his native New Zealand, where he was competing in showjumping classes (11 March), it marked the end of a truly remarkable career.

Now aged 58, Blyth has a huge list of accolades to his name.

Born in Whangarei, by the age of 29 in 1992 he held the world number one ranking, a position he maintained for a decade. He won individual gold on Ready Teddy at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, team silver at Barcelona in 1992, collecting two Olympic bronze medals along the way, and was also twice a winner of Burghley Horse Trials.

He also won team and individual gold at the 1990 World Equestrian Games in Stockholm, riding Messiah.

At the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona he won individual bronze and team silver and then topped those up at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta with a team bronze and individual gold.

Blyth once again won double gold at the World Equestrian Games in Rome in 1998.

Here is a look at just some of the highlights from his illustrious career…

Blyth and Messiah at the 1990 WEG

Blyth on Ready Teddy at Belton Horse Trials in 2000

Blyth and Ready Teddy

Blyth riding Chesterfield at the Atlanta Olympics

Blyth with his two gold medals after the 1990 WEg in Stockholm

With Ready Teddy

With Ready Teddy in the dressage at Badminton

Blyth and Chesterfield negotiate the water at the Atlanta Olympics

Blyth with his bronze medal-winning teammates in Atlanta — from left Vaughn Jefferis, Vicky Latta, Blyth and Andrew Nicholson

Silver medallist Sally Clark of New Zealand, compatriot, gold medalist Blyth Tait, and bronze medalist Kerry Millikin of the US pose on the podium after receiving their medals at Atlanta Olympics

Ready Teddy in full flight

Blyth was the New Zealand team flag bearer at the opening ceremony of the 2000 Olympics in Sydney

Blyth riding Santos II in 2011 — a horse he rode up to five-star level

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Following the news that former Olympic champion Blyth Tait had called time on his eventing career for a second time, H&H caught up with the eventing legend about his decision as well as speaking to his long-time teammate Mark Todd among others...

Blyth Tait told H&H his decision to call time on his eventing career for a second time, aged 58, was a “natural progression”, after some minor setbacks, such as hitting his head in a fall last spring and a longer than expected recovery.

“I think it’s time,” he said. “I’m very happy about the decision.”

The New Zealander announced his retirement at the Horse of the Year show in his home country, on 11 March. He had initally retired after the 2004 Olympics, serving as a coach and manager of the New Zealand eventing team, but returned to the sport in 2011.

Blyth said his individual gold medal on Ready Teddy at the 1996 Atlanta Games, at which he was also on the bronze medal-winning team with Chesterfield, was the highest point of his stellar career, which also included two more Olympic medals, two team and two individual world golds and two Burghley wins.

“Going to the Olympics is the pinnacle for most people and to come away with a gold – you have such limited opportunities and to have it all go so well is tremendously satisfying,” he said.

Blyth added that he has no doubt that without his first individual World Championship gold, in 1990 on Messiah, he would not have stayed in Europe and continued his success.

“It’s always good to have had good results, but the fact they were at a number of events, over a number of years and on a number of horses is something I look back on fondly,” he said.

Blyth said he did not think of himself “by any stretch of the imagination as the best rider in the world”, but that he thrived on the competition environment and under pressure.

But fellow New Zealander Mark Todd told H&H his former team-mate was an “exceptional rider”.

“He was always good to have on teams and you always knew he’d give 110% and was very reliable,” he said. “He was a great competitor, whether you were on a team or riding against him, and had a great temperament.

“He’s been a great mate for a long time, and he’ll be a big asset in New Zealand for the riders coming up.”

Equestrian Sport New Zealand high performance manager Warrick Allan said Blyth had been an inspiration and “fantastic ambassador” for the sport.

“We are extremely fortunate to have a man of Blyth’s experience and international recognition passing on his knowledge and skill,” he said. “He is a very good horseman and knows what it takes to get to the top.

“He was never one not to give 100% and always fought hard.”

Blyth said he may well compete in showjumping, for fun – “put it this way, if it’s raining I will be going home!” – and will continue course-designing, coming back to Britain for Alnwick Ford and Burgham this summer.

“I’ll be setting courses for others to ride rather than me – and I’ll be able to say, ‘I wouldn’t have jumped it like that!’” he said.

“I’ll definitely miss the great bunch of people in eventing; I’ve had the chance to travel globally but I’ve made lifetime friends. I’ll miss the pressure and excitement – but I probably won’t miss all the hard work.”

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Former Olympic and world champion Blyth Tait has retired from eventing for a second time, aged 58.

The New Zealander had had his eye on a fifth Olympic Games in Tokyo but announced he was calling time on his stellar career, at the Land Rover Horse of the Year Show in New Zealand, where he has been competing in showjumping classes, yesterday (11 March).

“The likelihood of me competing again overseas is unlikely,” Blyth said.

“I’m very happy to hand over the reins to the younger ones coming through and I support them fully. There is a bright future and still some serious young talent out there.”

Blyth’s major achievements include team and individual gold at the 1990 World Equestrian Games on Messiah, and individual gold at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics on the then-eight-year-old Ready Teddy, with whom he also won a second individual world title, and was on the gold medal-winning team, two years later. He was on the bronze medal-winning team in Atlanta, where there were two separate eventing competitions, on Chesterfield.

He was on the silver medal-winning team at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics on Messiah, also taking individual bronze. He won Burghley Horse Trials in 1998 on Chesterfield, and in 2001 on Ready Teddy.

“I’m not really one to reflect much on what’s been, I like to keep moving forward,” Blyth said.

“I’ve met some of the most fantastic people in the sport, and travelled to some of the most amazing places to compete, all born out of an original love of horses and the excitement of competition.

“To have been successful for so long, I can look back with satisfaction. But it does take an enormous amount of hard work and 110% commitment, and now that I’m older it’s hard to sustain.”

Continues below…

Blyth Tait walks the 2018 Burghley Horse Trials cross-country course

Former double Burghley winner Blyth Tait walks the cross-country course for this year's event, giving his views in videos of

‘A mix of sadness and relief’: eventing legend Mark Todd retires (again)

‘I won’t miss that sick feeling in the stomach on Badminton and Burghley cross-country morning!’

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Blyth, one of only four New Zealanders to have won at least four Olympic medals, retired after the 2004 Games, serving as a coach and team manager for the New Zealand eventing team at the 2006 World Championships and 2008 Olympics, but returned to the sport in 2011.

He said he remembers a number of highlights, such as winning his two world championships, but added: “The Olympic gold medal – that’s the pinnacle. Representing New Zealand on a bigger scale would have to be my biggest achievement.”

Blyth said he will still showjump, adding: “I’m out there to have a bit of fun… put it this way, if it’s raining I will be going home!”

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The New Zealand team exuded quiet confidence at a press conference this morning ahead of their participation in the Mars-sponsored eventing at the World Equestrian Games (WEG) in Tryon.

The squad combines the vast experience of Mark Todd — making his eighth WEG appearance — with support from comeback kings Blyth Tait and Dan Jocelyn (who both last rode at a championship at the 2004 Olympics) and the on-form eventing power couple Tim and Jonelle Price.

Jonelle said: “We’ve banked on Todd and [Andrew] Nicholson for the last 20 years and Blyth for the last 40, but over the past 15 years Mark and Andrew perhaps haven’t had the support from the team — they were leading the way, but they lacked support from the new generation. Certainly it’s taken Tim and myself a bit longer than some to get to the top end of things, but we’ve done that in the past couple of years. On paper it looks like we can be in with a fighting chance.”

Jonelle was upfront about the fact that her finishing position with the Badminton winner Classic Moet depends very much on how influential the cross-country proves as that is the mare’s strongest phase.

“We brought her here hoping the hill and speed is influential — if not, I’m in trouble. I hope we get 10 inches of rain, it’s hot as hell and the hill’s a minute longer than anyone realised!” she said.

Speaking about his return to the squad, Dan said: “It’s a bit of a thrill and I’m glad to be back here, it’s been a long time in between. I’ve loved all the training and build-up, it’s exciting to be riding with these guys and am looking forward to getting started.”

Blyth echoed his thoughts, adding: “I’m treating it like it’s my first championship as it’s so long since the last one!”

Asked whether his recent Burghley win means he comes into this with confidence, Tim said: “It’s a completely different situation, but I’m definitely trying to wear it as a bit of confidence. It’s only 10 days ago that I was under pressure and put in a good performance, so I keep reminding myself of that. It’s very much a team effort here, it’s not about one performance but about riding with each other in mind and creating a consistent result.”

Article continues below…

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Chef d’equipe Graeme Thom said the team’s “intense ability to flip from individual component of sport to team component” makes this group of athletes particularly special.

He added: “I think it’s probably the best group of people I’ve ever met in my whole life. I just sent them a video of cowboys running across the plains herding cats to remind them to be here on time!”

Horse & Hound has two journalists and a photographer in Tryon for WEG. Keep up to date with all the news on horseandhound.co.uk and in the magazine issues dated 20 and 27 September.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Blyth Tait, who has won Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials twice, is sharing his views on this year’s cross-country course exclusively with Horse & Hound readers in today’s magazine (23 August), and in our online videos.

Here are his thoughts on two of the key fences on course…

Land Rover Trout Hatchery (fence 11abcd, 12ab)

This, the main water complex, is going to take a lot of walking so that competitors can work out which of the several options suits them best. There are three pools of water to negotiate and a variety of options testing accuracy, bravery, line, focus and responsiveness to choose between.

There is one route that is obviously the shortest, and those who really want to win will take it. It’s high-risk, but if you want the winner’s cheque you have to accept that you’re going to be pushed out of your comfort zone. Once you have wasted five seconds, you’ve opened the door to someone else.

There will be plenty of mixing and matching of long and short routes here, I think. It’s a clear question, however — I don’t like surprises for horses and, although they need to be accurate, they can read this.

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Joules at the Maltings (fence 14abcd)

The straight route here consists of a massive white oxer on a bending five strides to a gigantic, nearly 90°, corner, then four forward strides to another corner. If riders lose momentum over the first corner and have to go on five, the second won’t come up so well. The ground falls away behind the oxer, which requires pace and power.

Horses will need to be very confident and true to their riders, and I can see less experienced combinations choosing the circuitous long route — although those who do need to understand the rules about crossing their tracks in combinations.

Read Blyth Tait’s thoughts on every fence on the cross-country course, plus ratings and his overall impressions, in today’s Horse & Hound magazine (dated 30 August). Full Burghley form guide also included in this issue, with vital stats and H&H’s expert assessment of every combination competing.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Olympic gold medallist Blyth Tait is heading to his first senior championship since “retiring” from eventing 14 years ago.

The 57-year-old Kiwi rider has been named as one of the five-strong New Zealand squad for this year’s World Equestrian Games (WEG).

He will ride the 14-year-old gelding Dassett Courage, with Havanna as his reserve horse.

“I am absolutely delighted,” said Blyth. “It has been a long time. I am very honoured to be part of such a strong team and plan to take the opportunity and give it my all.”

Blyth announced his retirement from the sport after the 2004 Athens Olympics following a glittering career, but returned to competition in 2011.

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He joins a host of other eventing legends on the seriously competitive New Zealand squad.

Double Olympic champion Mark Todd, 62, is named on the 11-year-old gelding McClaren, with his Rio 2016 ride Leonidas II and Kiltubrid Rhapsody, who finished sixth at Badminton 2018, as reserves. This will be his 16th senior championship.

Both Mark and Blyth were on the New Zealand squad at the first ever WEG at Stockholm in 1990, where they won team gold and Blyth also took the individual title.

“I am delighted to be on another WEG team and excited to be part of this great bunch of people,” said Mark. “Everything crossed now for the next four weeks to get there safely and in top form.”

World number five Jonelle Price, 37, is named with her 2018 Badminton winner Classic Moet. Her husband, fellow four-star winner and Tim Price, is named aboard the 11-year-old Cekatinka, with whom he finished third in Aachen, helping the NZ team to victory.

Tim, 39, who is currently the top-ranked New Zealand eventer in the world at number four, also has Ascona M and his Rio Olympic horse Ringwood Sky Boy as reserve rides.

Dan Jocelyn, 47, has been named aboard the 10-year-old Irish-bred gelding Grovine De Reve, with Dassett Cool Touch and Blackthorn Cruise in reserve.

The non-travelling reserves are Caroline Powell, 45, (Up Up And Away) and 28-year-old Jesse Campbell (Cleveland).

New Zealand has a successful history at WEG — the team won gold in 1990 and 1998 as well as bronze in 2010.

Individual gold medals have been won by Blyth Tait on Messiah and Ready Teddy in 1990 and 1998 respectively, and Vaughn Jefferis (Bounce) in 1994. Mark Todd and Broadcast News won silver in 1998, with Andrew Nicholson and Nereo claiming bronze in 2010.

This year’s Games take place in Tryon, North Carolina, from 11 to 23 September.

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

With many top riders away at the Rio Olympics this weekend, the time is ripe for a new British open champion to be crowned at the Festival of British Eventing at Gatcombe (5-7 August).

Only two riders who have previously taken the open title contest the class this year — Australia’s Andrew Hoy (1997 champion on Darien Powers) and New Zealand’s Blyth Tait (1998 winner on Ready Teddy). Andrew rides Cheeky Calimbo this time and Blyth pilots Bear Necessity V.

Two further riders come forward who have previously won the national title, but were beaten on that occasion by a foreign rider. They are Oliver Townend (2013 national champion on Armada) and Nicola Wilson (last year’s national winner on Beltane Queen).

Oliver pilots Cillnabradden Evo in this year’s event, a very competitive horse on his day although he will need to lay to rest the ghosts of his fall here last year with Andrew Nicholson. Nicola is entered with last year’s Boekelo winner, Bulana (pictured top at Gatcombe last year).

Other favourites for the title include Sarah Cohen (Treason), Laura Collett (Pamero 4), Izzy Taylor (Briarlands Matilda) and France’s Maxime Livio (Pica D’Or) and Tom Carlile (Upsilon). No French rider has ever won the British open, so a win from one of these two would be a landmark in Festival history.

The British open is combined with the fourth leg of the Event Rider Masters this year, so spectators on the ground will be treated to the popular rolling podium and those at home can watch the event live online.

• Watch the ERM dressage from Gatcombe
• Watch the ERM showjumping from Gatcombe
• Watch the ERM cross-country from Gatcombe

Up-and-coming stars

The Smith & Williamson intermediate championship and Dodson & Horrell novice championship often throw up stars of the future. Previous winners include Badminton and Burghley winner Tamarillo (intermediate, 2000), Badminton champion ODT Land Vision (intermediate 2007) and world silver medallist Cool Mountain (2007, novice).

Ones to watch in the intermediate this year include two offspring of the triple four-star winner Headley Britannia, Little Britannia and Britannia’s Mail, both ridden by Lucinda Fredericks.

Gatcombe also plays host to the TopSpec Corinthian Cup novice restricted championships, limited to riders who have not completed an intermediate class in the current or preceding five years or an advanced class in the current or preceding 10 years.

Full report of Gatcombe in H&H next week, out 12 August. H&H is published on a Friday next week to allow us to report the full Olympic evening competition, which finishes on Tuesday, 9 August.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Olympic gold medal-winning event rider Blyth Tait is making his debut as a course-designer this year.

The Kiwi rider, who has ridden at four Olympics, will be taking on the BE90 and BE100 tracks at Burgham.

This is the first time Blyth has been involved in course designing.

“I have ridden at Burgham a number of times,” said Blyth, who won the CIC2* at Burgham in 2014 with Bear Necessity. “I’m a big fan of the event and am excited to be working with the team as a cross-country designer for the first time.”

Blyth joins the Northumberland event’s current designer David Evans.

“It’s a great thing when new designers come through from riding at the very top level, they bring an exciting new dimension and perspective to design.” he said.

The first of Burgham’s two international events takes place next month (25-27 March), with the second in July (28-31).

Both events host classes from BE90 through to open intermediate, alongside CIC2* and CIC3* classes.

This year’s event joins the tri-star grand slam series, which offers a £50,000 prize for any rider who can win any three CIC3*s at Burnham Market, Belton, Houghton, Hopetoun or Burgham.

“This is a progressive concept and a move towards the modernisation of our sport,” said Burgham director Martyn Johnson. “It provides a well-deserved acknowledgement of the hard work and investment made by our professional riders and owners.”

Related articles:

• Mark Todd and Blyth Tait on Luhmühlen, alternative careers and eventing icons [VIDEO]
• Champion event rider Blyth Tait ‘downgraded’ by new rules
• Walk the 2015 Burghley cross-country course with Blyth Tait

British Showjumping will once again be running classes at the July event, including a speed class hosted in the main international arena and a new 1.05m amateur championship.

Plans are also in place to introduce a wider variety of trade stands and rural craft tent.

For more information visit: www.burghamhorsetrials.co.uk

Ref: H&H 25/02/16

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Double Burghley winner Blyth Tait — who took the title in 2001 with Ready Teddy and 1998 with Chesterfield — takes a look at three key fences on Mark Phillips' 2015 track

Fence 9 & 10: Capability’s Cutting

“There are two alternatives through this year. I don’t think either of them are faster than the other. On the right hand side we have a house on the way in which is a stride back from the bank. On the left hand side it’s a slightly smaller house but it’s right on the lip of the bank.

“And then Capability’s Cutting — very steep down and then up — and a difficult corner on either option out.

“To me this is a difficult fence. I think there’s going to be some really disappointed riders and plenty of 20s here.

“We have an alternative that they can take, I guess as a first option if they don’t want to tackle the corners, or certainly in preference to having a second attempt at the corners, which to me are pretty tough.”

Continued below…

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Fences 20abcd & 21: Land Rover Trout Hatchery

“This is a very busy complex. It’s a brush in which I don’t reckon you’d want to take it with too much pace because there’s a tight turn and a downhill approach to b. [B] is not too difficult in itself, but then there’s another tight turn on the opposite rein to quite an athletic exercise of a bounce, which is tall enough, under a roof, and then a commited three strides to a brush on the way out.

“Each element is very jumpable, but the whole thing put together I think is quite a test. You’ve got lines to consider, you’ve got control, you’ve got pace and you’ve got accuracy, so I don’t think it’s going to be an easy fence.”

Fence 24ab: Discovery Valley

“So the good news this year at Discovery Valley is that the ditch isn’t included in the fence, but the bad news is that it makes the approach to the fence very awkward. There’s really only one line through here, and it’s going to be a bit tricky to get on that line. We have two Land Rovers where we want to jump the bonnets and a very acute angle in between the two.

“For me at this late stage in the course, it’s asking a real question. I think there’s going to be a few disappointed riders and hopefully there’ll be some happy ones as well. But a difficult fence coming so late — awkward to get at and a very commited, tight line in between the two fences.”

Find out what Blyth thinks of the whole course in our 24-page pull out and keep guide to this year’s Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials, including a form guide and discount vouchers to spend in the shopping village, on sale Thursday 27 August

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Kiwi eventing legends Mark Todd and Blyth Tait caught up at Luhmühlen Horse Trials, which kicked off yesterday (18 June), to discuss how the event has changed, which eventers have inspired them and what it has been like coming back to the sport after a break

On Luhmühlen…

Mark Todd: It was very different back then [when I won in 1986 with Charisma]— we wouldn’t have been sitting in a marquee like this. But I remember there used to be a very good beer tent over there that everybody used to go to.

Blyth Tait: There probably still is — we’ll just have to check it out later…

MT: I also remember back then when you won they had the ceremony at the end of the day and you had to bury a bottle of Schnapps or something like that, and then you were supposed to come back the next year and dig it up but I never did, so mine could be still buried out there!

I think it was probably a bit more fun back then…

BT: Well it’s very competitive now and so you have to put 110% in. But it was good when we managed to win and have fun.

Continued below…

Walk the Luhmühlen CCI4* cross-country course [VIDEO AND PICS]

Take a virtual tour round the CCI4* cross-country course at Luhmühlen

On alternative sporting careers…

BT: So tell me, if you didn’t ride, what sport might you have persued?

MT: I was actually quite good at athletics. High jump was my speciality.

BT: I’ve no idea what I would have done. I could have been a jockey… except I ate too much.

MT: You should have been a jockey… you would have made a lot more money.

BT: I wouldn’t have had to do dressage if I’d been a jockey — that would have suited me!

On eventing icons…

BT: I know who sparked my interest in eventing and that was Lucinda Prior-Palmer. She was phenomenally successful and sitting at the otherside of the world it was really impressive to follow her. But all joking aside you definitely inspired me because you made it possible for a kiwi to come over here and be successful.There was no excuse for us not giving it a go.

MT: Definitely for me it was Lucinda. When I first came over she was the golden girl of the sport. But of course Lucinda is now a good friend of both of ours.

Don’t miss the full report from Luhmühlen in the 25 June issue of Horse & Hound magazine

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Enjoy pictures from Eventing magazine's photoshoot with former world and Olympic champion, Blyth Tait.

Four years on from his comeback, former world and Olympic champion Blyth Tait is back in the Gloucestershire yard that for a decade witnessed the highs of his eventing career and housed his most influential horses, including Ready Teddy, Chesterfield, Aspyring and Welton Envoy.

The quaint Cotswold surroundings foster many happy memories for the New Zealand rider — it is from here that he won the individual Olympic gold medal at Atlanta in 1996.

The yard is owned by an old friend, Suzanne Van Heyningen, and was purpose-built as an event yard.

“I know the place well, it has great turnout and I love it because it has a Kiwi-feel to it — it’s very relaxed, which suits me well,” he adds.

Over the past two decades the yard has changed very little.

“It is virtually the same as it was before, apart from the sand school has been resurfaced,” he says. “The horses are stabled in an American-style barn and each one has a window at the back to look out of 24/7 — they can all see each other and seem really happy here.”

The yard doesn’t have an indoor school or a horsewalker, but neither has ever hindered Blyth’s ability to get horses competition-fit.

For Blyth the hacking is one of the reasons he loves the yard so much.

“We have private permission to exercise the horses on a nearby estate — we’re very spoilt to have access to it,” he says.

Blyth heads home when the curtain closes on the British eventing season — residing at the property he owns with his long-term partner Paul O’Brien in Karaka, south of Auckland.

While back on British soil, Blyth and Paul live in a pretty Cotswold cottage on the yard’s estate along with their dog, Scrumpy, having decided there is little point buying a house over here, as it would sit empty for half the year.

“It is separate from the yard, which I like; it means we have some space,” he says.

Blyth says he “doesn’t have a large number of horses at the moment” — with six to compete this season — but it is a quantity he is happy with, as he is not planning to expand and doesn’t intend to have any in to buy and sell. It therefore only requires a small team for the yard to function, resulting in plenty of one-to-one attention for the horses.

“There are only three of us on the yard — me, Paul and my head groom Tess, who is also Kiwi and works for [New Zealand eventer] Dannie Lodder when back in New Zealand,” says Blyth.

“Paul helps me with the schooling and hacking out of the horses — both he and Tess hold the fort if I am away,” he adds.

The 40 acres of land, which sits on good-draining Cotswold stone, provides Blyth with enviable turnout.

“All the paddocks have field shelters in them and electric fences,” says Blyth.

It is unsure how long Blyth will stay on the British eventing scene — he talks fondly of returning to New Zealand eventually — but for now he seems to have his perfect haven from which to compete.

Read the full ‘through the keyhole’ article in the June 2015 issue of Eventing magazine out on 22 May.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Former world and Olympic champion Blyth Tait is among eventers who have been downgraded by new eligibility rules that came in this season.

Equestrian Sports New Zealand chief executive Jim Ellis told H&H that Blyth — who has been reassessed from four-star rider to the bottom tier, “national rider” — is being treated “like a 16-year-old leaving Pony Club”.

The Event Riders’ Association (ERA) has launched a petition calling for the rules to be reviewed. It will be handed to the eventing committee of the FEI (international horse sport’s governing body), which was due to meet this week.

Under the new rules, riders are graded on their results of the past eight years.

Blyth — who took seven years out of the sport after the 2004 Athens Olympics— has not had enough finishes at any level.

This demotion means any new horse the Kiwi rider takes on, even if it has competed at four-star, must go back to BE100 (pre-novice) and regain its qualifications with him.

Blyth told H&H: “The FEI said no one would be unduly affected by the new rules. They implied that eventers would be in a similar position to where they were before [the changes] and that the new rules might be beneficial for some riders.

“But many riders have been affected detrimentally.”

Mr Ellis is taking up Blyth’s case and that of other New Zealand riders with the FEI.

And British Eventing said it was working with the FEI regarding some British riders’ qualifications and would “continue to monitor the situation”.

This news story was first published in Horse & Hound magazine (7 March 2013)

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

New Zealand eventer Blyth Tait has told H&H that his comeback has not gone according to plan – and he has readjusted his goals to focus on the 2016 Olympics.

Blyth, who returned to the sport last spring after seven years “in retirement”, originally had London 2012 in his sights, but now says Rio 2016 is a more “realistic goal”.

The 50-year-old, a former Olympic and dual world champion, told H&H his season had been “frustrating”.

“I haven’t given up hope, but my chances [of Olympic selection] are slim,” he said. “I feel I still have the knack across country, but I’ve spent too little time at competitions.”

He hoped to campaign two horses at top level, but after both suffered setbacks, he has revised his strategy and plans to run “six to eight horses”.

“I thought I’d have just two horses and a jolly time, but horses are horses,” he said.

Sonate V chipped a bone in her patella in an accident at home, while his other advanced ride, Santos II, has had back problems.

Both horses are expected to be fit for Badminton.

“I now want to extend my string to get back to how I was at my peak. I need to run more horses at all levels- so I’m looking for owners,” he added.

New Zealand chef d’equipe Erik Duvander said Blyth was a great asset to the team.

“I’m thrilled he’s staying,” he said. “New Zealand has few riders, so one of his calibre is very exciting. His results might not show it yet, but he’s a great rider and once he has the horsepower again we’ll start to see that.”

Blyth is based at Eddy Stibbe’s Lavender Hill Stud, near Naunton, Glos. He is currently scouting for eventing prospects in New Zealand until January.

This news story was first published in the current issue of Horse & Hound (27 October, 2011)

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Mary King, Blyth Tait and Mark Todd are just a few of the famous faces posing near-naked in a “riders revealed” 2012 calendar to raise money for injured eventer Claire Lomas.

The calendar will be launched at Burghley Horse Trials’ Celebrity Talk Area on 1 September. There will also be opportunities for you to have the calendar signed.

Claire, who was paralysed in a cross-country accident in 2007, is hoping to raise £35,000. It will go towards a new robotic suit, which she will wear to walk the London Marathon. Any other profits will go to spinal research.

“The suit will be the first in the UK — it’s really exciting to able to do the marathon and be able to stand at normal height again,” said Claire.

Others featured in the calendar include Francis Whittington, Geoff Billington, Piggy French, Lauren Shannon and jockeys Andrew Thornton and Jimmy McCarthy.

“It is brilliant — the riders were all so brave,” said Claire. “Some were really keen to take part and others pretended they hadn’t received my email. And we have such a range — old, young, short, tall, gay, straight, thin, not so thin…”

The process started in April and riders have been photographed across the country. Blyth Tait is photographed on a course-walk, while Lauren Shannon is lungeing her horse.

Photographer Nico Morgan said: “What can I say? It was a tough job!”

The calendars cost £10. For more information visit www.riders revealed.co.uk or follow Burghley Horse Trials Celebrity Talk Area on facebook.

This news story was first published in Horse & Hound (18 August, 2011)

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

In a new summer series on the Horse Radio Network‘s sport shows, top riders are invited to select four horses and three people, plus their favourite books and music, to take on a ‘dream vacation’. Then show host Chris Stafford tells them where they will be going.

In this episode former eventing world champion Blyth Tait is in the hot seat,but who and what will he choose, and where will Chris be sending him? Find out below.

Blyth Tait’s dream vacation

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Blyth Tait’s former Olympic gold medallist Ready Teddy has died of complications resulting from a bout of colic, aged 23.

“It’s very sad, but he had seven great years of retirement,” said Blyth. “He was chirpy up to the last and still sound. He meant so much to me because he gave so much, and was such a great character.”

Ready Teddy is the only eventer to have won both an Olympic individual gold medal — at Atlanta in 1996 as an eight-year-old — and the individual world championships, in Pratoni Del Vivaro in 1998.

Blyth’s father spotted Ready Teady, who was by the thoroughbred Brilliant Invader and raced as a youngster under the name Striking Back, at a Pony Club training event in New Zealand. He bought him for NZ$5,000 (about £1,800 then) and sent him over to England to Blyth in the autumn of 1994.

As well as his two championship wins, Ready Teddy took top spot at Burghley in 2001. He was also Blyth’s mount at his last Olympics before his retirement, Athens in 2004, where they finished 18th.

Blyth has recently announced a comeback to eventing targeted at the 2012 Olympics. Read our interview with him in H&H next week, 5 May issue.

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Blyth Tait made a modest return to British Eventing (BE) last weekend (9 April) with two novice rounds at Larkhill Horse Trials in Wiltshire.

Both rides, Aloha and Ringwood Sky Boy, posted competitive dressage marks — 31.4 for Aloha and 30 for Ringwood Sky Boy — but blotted their copybooks showjumping, with 8 and 20 penalties respectively.

This was the first time the individual Olympic gold medallist (Atlanta 1996) had competed in the UK following his 2004 retirement.

He is currently aiming for London 2012 with new horse Santos but is looking for more top-level rides to add to his string.

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Olympic gold medal-winning New Zealand event rider Blyth Tait has a new four-star ride and is back on the UK eventing circuit. His sights are set on selection for 2012.

Blyth, 49, returns to England this week and will be based at fellow eventer Eddy Stibbe’s Lavender Hill Stud, Glos.

He retired after the 2004 Athens Olympics and returned to New Zealand to breed racehorses, after a 15-year career in the UK.

Blyth told H&H he’d been thinking about a comeback for a “number of years”.

“It is now or never,” he added. “The Olympics being in London is a huge draw. I’ve also had a nice break, so I am starting again, fresh and keen.”

Blyth, who won individual gold at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta with Ready Teddy, plus team silver and individual bronze at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics with Messiah, will be riding 12-year-old gelding Santos, formerly ridden by Jenna Mahoney.

Santos was eighth in the four-star at Adelaide in 2009 and has been placed regularly at three-star level in Australia.

“He is proven at four-star level,’’ Blyth said. “I didn’t want anything high-risk as I haven’t got time to waste. I need to get back into full swing quickly.”

Santos will arrive in the UK on 27 March and the pair may make their debut at Withington Manor (30 April-1 May).

“I would like to head towards Burghley, but will have to take it one step at a time. I want to have a couple of horses capable of campaigning for London 2012,” he added.

Since his retirement, Blyth has remained involved in the sport — as a coach and as team manager for the New Zealand eventing team at the 2006 World Championships and 2008 Olympics.

Blyth appreciates there have been changes — when he last competed three-day events they generally included roads and tracks — but he’s looking forward to competing again.

“I’m confident I can adapt. I have to be really committed for 16 months. If things go horribly wrong, I would then review whether I carry on or go home.”

Find out what fellow Kiwi Mark Todd thinks of Blyth Tait’s decision to come out of retirement in the current issue of Horse & Hound (10 March, 2011)

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Read the latest Blyth Tait news

Blyth Tait gained his eventing superstar status by winning both World and Olympic titles in the 1990s. Throughout his career Blyth won four Olympic medals for New Zealand including one gold, as well as four World Championship gold medals.

Blyth first came under the public eye after qualifying Rata for the 1986 World Championships in Australia; unfortunately Rata died of a heart attack on the eve of the competition. But he really made an impact with his next horse, Messiah, a former showjumper with whom he finished second at Badminton in 1990 – the first of his three runner-up placings at the event, which he never won (he was also second in 1993 on Ricochet and 1994 on Delta III).

Blyth and Messiah won team and individual gold at the 1990 World Championships in Stockholm. Having moved to Britain in 1989 to prepare for the championships, this success persuaded Blyth to make the move permanent and make a career out of eventing. Messiah went on to win individual bronze and team silver at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.

Four years later, Blyth won individual gold at the Olympics in Atlanta on Ready Teddy. He also took team bronze that year with Chesterfield (at that time the Olympic team and individual competitions were run as separate events). Ready Teddy also won individual and team golds at the 1998 World Championships.

After a successful eventing career in Britain, including two Burghley wins (2001 on Ready Teddy and 1998 on Chesterfield), Blyth retired after the Athens Olympics in 2004 and returned to New Zealand to train racehorses after living in the UK for 15 years while eventing. Despite the move Blyth remained involved with the sport, conducting coaching clinics and also filling the role of team manager for the New Zealand eventing team at the 2006 World Equestrian Games and in the 2008 Olympics.

In early 2011, Blyth was lured out of retirement by the opportunity to compete in the 2012 London Olympics and moved back to Britain with a four-star horse called Santos.

Blyth Tait was born in 1961 on the Northern Island of New Zealand. His father bred racehorses.

Blyth Tait pictures

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Former eventing world champion and Olympic gold medalist Blyth Tait is to leave his position as Equestrian Sports New Zealand (ESNZ) eventing high performance director.

Mr Tait’s contract ends on 31 December 2008 and will not be renewed.

A spokesman for ESNZ said: “Unfortunately with Blyth’s increasingly busy personal and business life he no longer has the time to dedicate to the position.

“Blyth has performed an excellent job over the last four years working hard to bring the eventing high performance programme together and has been a pleasure to work with him.

“It is hoped that ESNZ and eventing will be able to retain Blyth’s knowledge and expertise in some capacity into the future.

“ESNZ would like to record its thanks to Blyth for the dedication he has shown to Eventing High Performance over the last four years.”

National eventing coach Erik Duvander will continue his involvement in the high performance programme and specific details on his appointment will be announced early in 2009, he added.

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