Chris Burton

Chris Burton – full name Christopher Burton – is a leading Australian rider who has won at five-star and competed at the top level in both eventing and showjumping.

Born on 22 November 1981, Chris grew up on a grain farm near Toowoomba in Queensland, Australia.

His mother taught Chris and his older brother Karl to ride. Karl liked herding the cattle, but Chris showed where his skills would lie early on by spending his spend his time looking for logs to jump on his pony.

Chris’ first serious event horse was the thoroughbred Deo Juvante, who he took with him when he left school and became a working pupil with Kevin McNab. Deo Juvante took Chris from junior level right through to four-star (now five-star).

Chris first visited Britain to compete in 2004, a trip he says went “pretty dismally – I fell off at Badminton and Burghley”. He moved to the UK permanently in 2011 to prepare for the London 2012 Olympics and was initially based with fellow Australian rider Sam Griffiths.

How many five-stars has Chris Burton won?

Chris has won three five-stars. His first win at the top level was at Adelaide in 2009, on Newsprint. He won the title again in 2013 on TS Jamaimo, a horse he was competing as a catch ride as his usual jockey, Will Enzinger, was injured. He subsequently gained the ride on TS Jamaimo permanently and the pair won the British open championships at Gatcombe in 2015 and finished third at Burghley the same year.

Chris’ first British five-star win was in 2016 at Burghley Horse Trials, riding Nobilis 16.

Chris is also the first person to twice top the series leaderboard in the Event Rider Masters, the prestigious CCI4*-S series, taking the honours in 2018 and 2019.

How many Olympics has Chris competed at?

Three. Chris made his Olympic debut at London 2012, finishing 16th individually, riding Holstein Park Leilani. He then rode at Rio 2016, where he was fifth individually and collected team bronze on Santano II, having led individually after the cross-country but knocked two showjumps in each round on the final day.

Chris was selected for the Tokyo Olympics, but withdrew as his ride Quality Purdey sustained a minor injury during the build-up.

After the Tokyo Olympics, Chris focused on showjumping, but in the spring of 2024, he moved back into eventing, and in July of that year, he claimed the individual silver medal at Paris 2024 riding Shadow Man. He was also long-listed for the Games in showjumping.

Where is Chris based?

Chris is based at Chedington Equestrian in Dorset.

Does Chris Burton have a wife? Does he have any children?

Chris married Rebekah (Bek) Thompson in her parents’ garden in New South Wales on 12 December 2014. The couple have two sons, Harry (born 2017) and Jack (born 2019).

Isn’t Chris Burton a singer?

The event rider does share his name with a Danish singer songwriter, who is best known for his songs Love Letters and Little Sister.