Oliver Townend

One of Britain’s leading event riders, Oliver Townend has represented his country on a number of occasions and won both British five-star events as well as the premier US event at Kentucky.

Nearly always in the money at the big events, Oliver is the world number one and is frequently the leading British rider on points at the end of the year.

Hailing from Yorkshire, but now based in Shropshire, Oliver started riding as a child and rode on the pony European eventing team with Cool Mule, who he also competed at Horse of the Year Show.

Oliver gained experience during three years as stable jockey to Kenneth Clawson, the late British eventing team showjumping trainer, before he set up his own yard in Leicestershire.

He bought his farm near Ellesmere when he was 25 years old, working his way up in the sport and owning a property at a young at largely through successfully dealing horses – for example, he sold Land Vision who went on to win Badminton in 2011 with Mark Todd.

Oliver Townend’s career highlights

• Won Badminton in 2009 on Flint Curtis
• Won Burghley in 2009 on Flint Curtis and 2017 on Ballaghmor Class
• Won Kentucky in 2018 and 2019 on Cooley Master Class
• Won team gold at the 2017 European Championships in Strzegom, Poland, on Cooley SRS and team silver at the 2019 European Championships in Luhmühlen on Cooley Master Class
• Current world number one
• Top British Eventing points winners in six of the nine years 2011-2020