Ahead of this year's Badminton Horse Trials, the new Land Rover ambassador and four-time Badminton winner shared his thoughts on his chances this week — and why he won't be giving up eventing any time soon
Eventing legend Mark Todd, 61, is at the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials this week (3-7 May 2017) with his two top horses — the 16.3hh geldings Leonidas II and NZB Campino — vying for his fifth title.
He was second to go in the dressage arena this morning with Leonidas II, finishing with a score of 42.9, and his test on NZB Campino is tomorrow (Friday 5 May) at 3.46pm.
“A fifth title at Badminton would be great. I have already got five Burghleys so if I can match that and win Badminton for a fifth time, that would be amazing,” says the newly-appointed Land Rover ambassador.
“At this stage I am not really thinking about how much longer I am going to keep going. I still really enjoy it, I feel fit and well and I have a team of nice horses, so at the moment I don’t have any plans to stop.”
The Wiltshire-based eventer has had one of the most celebrated careers in the history of equestrian sport. He burst onto the international scene in the 80s by winning back-to-back gold medals aboard Charisma in 1984 and 1988. Since then, he has competed at five more Olympic Games and won a further individual bronze, a team silver and two team bronze medals.
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Mark joins the line-up of Land Rover ambassadors which includes eventers Zara Tindall and Harry Meade, Olympic showjumping gold-medallist Nick Skelton and gold medal-winning Paralympian Lee Pearson.
“Sir Mark Todd is a true sporting icon, whose achievements in the saddle are outstanding. He is a great fit for Land Rover values of going ‘Above and Beyond’,” says Scott Dicken, marketing director for Jaguar Land Rover UK. “We are excited to work with him and look forward to him meeting our customers throughout the season.”
