Olympic eventer Matt Ryan begins new chapter following sale of yard
Olympic triple gold medallist Matt Ryan has told H&H he aims to train Australian teams in the future.
Matt, 51, retired from eventing in 2013, but has continued to ride and train from his base near Abergavenny in Monmouthshire, Wales.
He is moving to Ross-on-Wye at the end of this week (30 October) and will no longer be running a yard.
“I am going to be much freer to travel to do clinics,” he said.
“I was limited to how much teaching time I could free up.”
He added that he also plans on doing much more media work in the future.
This season he commentated at Houghton Hall and hopes to be heard over the loud speaker at some of Anna and Stuart Buntine’s British Eventing fixtures next season.
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Matt also plans to continue with his Radio Badminton presenter role and as well as his slot interviewing the riders as they come out of the dressage at Burghley.
“I love being part of the scene,” he said.
Matt’s career highlights include individual and team gold at the Atlanta 1992 Olympics on Kibah Tic Toc and team gold at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
He also has numerous top 10 placings at three- and four-star level.
Matt first arrived in the UK as a working pupil to the late Richard Meade and moved here permanently in 1989.
In 2009 Matt looked into changing his nationality to British, but was still competing for his native Australia up until his retirement two years ago.
He has now said that his “big aim” would be to help Australia win more medals.
“I would love to be part of the team training system for an Australian team,” he said.
“I think I have to earn my stripes before I get there though.”
Matt sold his last horse (not pictured) on Monday (26 October) and has also been having an equipment sale, including tack, clippers, horse boots and jumps.
“The fact that I don’t have a yard means that I do not have a use for it all,” he said.
He added that he will be keeping hold of his Olympic memorabilia.
Matt is also looking for a retirement home for his Sydney 2000 Olympic team gold medal-winning ride Kibah Sandstone.
The 31-year-old gelding was retired at the age of 18, but returned to grassroots competition with one of Matt’s working pupils for a few events in 2012.
“He was fantastic. I would like to keep him quite close to home and I am hoping somebody might be interested in taking him on as a companion,” said Matt.
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Lucy is an experienced news journalist, reporter and presenter. Since joining the Horse & Hound team in 2015, Lucy has reported from major global sporting events including the Tokyo Paralympic Games and multiple European Championships, as well as Badminton, Burghley and London, to name a few. She has covered current affairs and sports news across the full spectrum of equestrian disciplines and racing, as well as human and equine welfare, industry news and court cases.