Who are the 50 greatest horsemen of all time?
In today’s issue of Horse & Hound magazine (12 January 2016), we reveal our 50 greatest horsemen of all time.
Across seven pages we round up those men and women from all walks of equestrian life with the kind of horsemanship we wish you could package up and buy — but only a lucky few are graced with.
“It took quite some time, effort, and maybe just a few differences of opinion, for the Horse & Hound team to come up with our definitive list of equestrian greats,” said Horse & Hound‘s content director Sarah Jenkins. “Fifty really isn’t many and all time is a very long time!”
“We are left with a seven-page celebration of the 50 most significant and extraordinary horsemen of all time — and many of them are women — which makes for joyful reading. There will be those who feel an individual has been unfairly excluded — greatness is rather subjective after all — to whom I can only say… They were number 51,” added Sarah.
The list features horsemen from across the generations — from those who have dominated equestrian headlines this year, like Olympic showjumping gold-medallist Nick Skelton, to riders who were the national heroes of their age, like two-time Olympic medallist David Broome.
Horsemen and women with no medals to their name have also been recognised. The Queen features for her commitment, passion and success in all areas of equestrianism, while Ada Cole, who founded the International League for the Protection of Horses, now World Horse Welfare (H&H’s charity of the year for 2017), is recognised for her contribution to horse welfare.
A total of 11 equestrian sports are represented, ranging from hunting, driving and showjumping to polo, racing and endurance.
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A graduate from Durham University, Madeleine joined H&H in 2011 and became Features Editor — producing content across the magazine and website, including the popular inside back cover article ‘The horse that made me’ and the weekly ‘The best of my fun…’ interview. She has written on topics as diverse as hay making and headcams, to hot totty in the horse world and circus horses. Madeleine now works as a freelance feature writer for Country Life, The Telegraph, Horse & Hound, cntraveller.com, The Spectator and The Field, as well as writing obituaries for The Times.