While the equestrian sport has been around for, literally, centuries, very few famous horse riders have become household names. But those that have, are famous for their exceptional skill and devotion to their sport.
We have identified five famous horse riders who are at the top of their game, perhaps they have Olympic experience or are World Champions. These riders have changed their sport and made history in doing so.
So, let’s take a look at 5 of the most famous horse riders and their accomplishments.
5 of the most famous horse riders
Charlotte Dujardin
Birth Name: Charlotte Dujardin
Discipline: Dressage
Birthplace: London
Date of Birth: July 13th, 1985
Age: 35 years old
Nationality: British
Charlotte is known for being one of the world’s best dressage riders. After she stopped school at sixteen years old, she started her training at the Carl Hester stables. Charlotte is an Olympic dressage champion who won several individual events during the London games in 2012.
She started riding when she was only 2 years of age with a horse that was bought thanks to an inheritance from her grandmother.
She has won all of the world records and the major titles and is considered one of the best dressage riders in the world.
The Olympics in 2012 was a beautiful record-breaking day for Charlotte and her horse, Valegro. The audience was completely amazed by the performance that they gave.
Charlotte’s parents were not wealthy by any means, so they ended up sacrificing quite a bit to make sure she had all the opportunities she needed. To be able to focus on her riding she quit school at sixteen and has become one of the most famous horse riders ever.
Michael Jung
Birth Name: Michael Jung
Discipline: Eventing
Birthplace: Germany
Date of Birth: July 31st, 1982
Age: 38 years old
Nationality: German
The famous horse rider, Michael Jung, started riding at the age of 6 years old and started competing in 2009. In 2012 he managed to win the teams events and the individual events at the Olympic Games in London. He is the only one to win the Olympic, European, and the World titles, at the very same time.
In 2009, Michael won the European Eventing Championships, it was the first medal he won.
In 2012 at the Olympics, Michael won gold medals in the individual and the team events, and in 2016 he won silver in both. He is also a member of the “Event Rider Association Hall of Fame”.
In the year 2016, Michael became just the second male horse rider to win the Grand Slam of eventing, the Burghley Horse Trials, the Kentucky Three Day Event, and the Badminton Horse Trials.
Frankie Dettori
Birth Name: Lanfranco Dettori
Career: Racing Jockey
Birthplace: Milan, Italy
Date of Birth: December 15th, 1970
Age: 50 years old
Nationality: Italian
Frankie was born in 1970 and has achieved more than he ever dreamed. His riding started when he was twelve years old. He was showing promise early on and started jockeying when he was fifteen years old.
In his second year of being a stable jockey, in 1990, Frankie rode over 100 winners, and he earned the “Order of The British Empire”.
At the British Champions Day at Ascot, Frankie rode all seven winners in 1996. After being accused and found positive of using a substance that was banned in 2012, Frankie went on to take part in Celebrity Big Brother in 2013 and was housemates with Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag.
He has since left Godolphin Racing and is now operating freelance as a jockey and in 2015 won the title of “World’s Best Jockey”. Frankie has ridden over three thousand winners in the United Kingdom.
Mark Todd
Birth Name: Mark James Todd
Discipline: Eventing
Birthplace: New Zealand
Date of Birth: March 1st, 1956
Age: 65 years old
Nationality: New Zealander
Mark Todd was born in 1956 on March 1st in New Zealand.
Beginning his career in racing, jockeying was something that he really loved – but reaching a height of six feet two inches, this became an impossibility for him. Instead, he decided to become an eventer. This turned out to be the best decision as he became a famous horse rider.
Mark won at the Badminton Horse Trials, the very first time he tried, while riding Southern Comfort in 1980.
He went on to win gold in the ’84 & ’88 Olympics fast becoming known as one of the most famous horse riders in the world with the International Federation For Equestrian Olympics naming him “Rider of The Twentieth Century”.
Retiring in 2000, Mark ended up coming back to the sport in 2008. He was the second to oldest rider competing in the 2012 and 2016 Olympics and has since retired from competition again.
Kieren Fallon
Birth Name: Kieren Fallon
Career: Race Jockey
Birthplace: Ireland
Date of Birth: February 21st, 1965
Age: 56 years old
Nationality: Irish
Kieren Fallon was born in 1965 in Ireland. During his career, he was a six-time British Champion Jockey and became a very famous horse rider. Sadly, his entire career had many incidents of controversy in it.
Fallon’s career was extremely promising until 2006 when he was completely banned from racing, accused of race-fixing. Although the ban ended up being lifted in 2007, his career was tarnished, and his reputation scarred.
Later, testing positive for substances that were not allowed, he was banned again. He tried coming back again in 2009 but by the year 2016, with nothing going his way, he retired out of depression.
Although his career was so controversial, he was remarkably successful in Britain and had quite a few wins during his career.