Who is your ultimate horsey hero? (indulgent, as it's Christmas!)

Champion the Wonder Horse..........

Oh you meant horsey 'person' hero (he he he!)

in that case its Rodrigo Pessoa or Beezie Madden!

Also a big fan of Mark Todd, Ginny Elliot and Tim Stockdale!!

oooooooo and Frankie Dettori!!!
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Mark Todd as mentioned many times! Brilliant horseman, great instructor and very nice guy. Unfortunately he was also indirectly responsible for me trashing my ankle as we came home from a clinic with him all inspired and decided to school a young horse that same evening. We all had our "eyes up" but the horse, alas, did not and when my boss jacked a jump up as I was circling neither the horse nor I had time to adjust. I just felt him turn the corner, take a stride and go "WHAT THE &*£$!!!" and then it went very, very wrong. Hard lesson learned!

Of course not his fault at all but I always came away from his clinics having done things I would never have thought possible going in. Such a great technician and judge of horses, which is not always all that common in natural talents!

Same for Lucinda, although perhaps for slightly different reasons. I jumped things in her clinic because I was more scared of her than them!
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Actually she was great to me when I was fussing about a very good horse I thought I was messing up - she just told me not to be so silly and it was all perfectly normal so just to get on with it.

George Morris - he doesn't always have the best rep with people who don't rate honesty but I've always liked him and he was great when I worked for him at a symposium. Probably the most educated and thorough trainer I've ever seen and still, at 66, a fantastic rider.

Anne Kursinski. Has gone her own way with fanatical attention to detail and drive to succeed but always puts the horses first.

And all sorts of people you've never heard of. A jumper trainer I worked for who succeeded (trained horses to Pan Am and Olympic level, has built one of the few truly profitable horse businesses I've even been associated with) when it was still pretty much a man's game. The first eventing trainer I had who could be extremely difficult but taught me an unbelievable amount about horses and riding. He was a true classicist and constantly disillusioned but did it all for the love of the horses and the sport. The woman who took me on as a working student when I was a teenager and in a bad place in my life. She was tough on me, to be sure, but I only really realised after the fact how much she gave me.

And, although he's not really human, my first REALLY good horse. He taught me how good a good horse could be but at the same time didn't take any crap from me. I learned so many lessons from him and he forgave me every time. And since I included him, all the other horses. I've learned as much or more from them as from any human teacher.
 
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