Charisma (30 October 1972 – 7 January 2003), nicknamed "Podge" and "Stroppy", was a horse ridden by New Zealander
Mark Todd. Charisma won many competitions in the sport of
eventing
Eventing (also known as three-day eventing or horse trials) is an equestrian event where the same horse and rider combination compete against other competitors across the three disciplines of dressage, cross-country, and show jumping. This ...
. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest event horses ever to have competed. He stood .
Breeding and early life
Charisma's dam, Planet, stood and was sired by the
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...
/
Percheron
The Percheron is a horse breed, breed of draft horse that originated in the Huisne river valley in western France, part of the former Perche province, from which the breed takes its name. Usually gray (horse), gray or black (horse), black in col ...
-cross Kiritea. Planet's dam was a
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...
named Starbourne. Planet was a successful Grade A show jumper in
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
and under rider Sheryl Douglas, became the first mare in New Zealand to jump her own height. After an injury ended her career, she was bred to the
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...
stallion Tira Mink,
and Charisma was foaled on 30 October 1972.
Charisma's first home was on the Williams' farm in Wairarapa, New Zealand. Even at a young age, Charisma was laid-back and easy to train. He was soon bought by David Murdoch, who placed the yearling in a small pasture with a four-foot fence, which Charisma jumped. The colt was gelded as a four-year-old, although he managed to cover four mares before that time.
Competitive career
The Beginning: 1977–1982
The young horse was slowly broken in, and later bought by Sharon Dearden in 1977.
She competed him in Grade B
show jumping
Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrian events that also includes eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics. Sometimes shows ar ...
competitions, and trained him up to intermediate level in eventing. Although the pair was long-listed for the Los Angeles Olympics, Dearden decided to sell the horse.
Mrs. Fran Clark bought him and later lent him to Jennifer Stobart.
Stobart brought him to Prix St Georges level in
dressage
Dressage ( or ; , most commonly translated as "training") is a form of horse riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. As an equestrianism, equestrian sport defined by th ...
"just for fun".
Under Mark Todd: 1983–1986
Mark Todd was offered Charisma to ride by Virginia Caro, as his experienced horse was sick. In May 1983, he tried the gelding out and brought him back to his place to get the horse fit. Charisma was a bit fat at that time and had to be bedded on newspaper strips, as he would try to eat other bedding. Keeping the weight off the horse was always quite a struggle.
Charisma won his first two one-day events with Todd and then won the National One-Day Event Championship and National Three-day Event at Taupo (both of which he led after dressage and finished on his dressage score). The pair was then selected for the Los Angeles Olympics.
Charisma was moved to England in February 1984. During the trip, he became sick, and the illness never really left him for the rest of his career. The gelding was taken to the
Badminton Horse Trials
The Badminton Horse Trials is a five-day event, one of only seven annual Concours Complet International (CCI) Five Star events as classified by the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI). It takes place in May each year in the park of ...
later that year, where he finished in 2nd place on his dressage score. A few months later, at the Los Angeles Olympic Games, Todd and Charisma finished well after dressage and then put in a clear cross-country and stadium round. A rail down by Karen Stives, who was leading by a few points, allowed the pair to cinch the individual gold.
After the Olympics, Charisma's owner, Fran Clark, decided to sell her horse. In 1985, she offered Charisma to the British rider
Lizzie Purbrick. Knowing that Todd wanted the horse badly,
Purbrick managed a deal with him to buy Charisma behind Clark's back. Todd's sponsor, Woolrest, transferred 50,000 pounds to Lizzie's account, to which she paid Clark, and Todd now was the official rider of Charisma under Woolrest's sponsorship.
Todd continued to compete Charisma in England, where he placed second at the 1985 Badminton Horse Trials and won every one-day event of the season in which they competed, except Dauntsey after a fall on cross-country. In 1986, the pair went to the World Championships in Australia. There they had a fall at the water and two rails down in stadium, and they finished in 10th place. A few weeks later in Luhmuhlen, they won both individually and as part of a team.
The end of his career: 1987–1988
However, Charisma never got his chance to win Badminton, as it was cancelled in 1987. He won the three-star in Saumur, and the pair almost won Burghley that year, but two rails down in show jumping dropped them to second. They later won the British Open Championships before shipping to Seoul.
At the 1988 Olympics, Charisma put in a stellar dressage test, and jumped clear rounds in both the cross-country and stadium. He won the individual gold yet again, and beat the second-place horse,
Sir Wattie, by the incredible margin of 10.20 penalties. The New Zealand team also won the bronze that year. The back-to-back Olympic win in eventing had only been accomplished once before.
Retirement
Charisma was retired after his second Olympic victory and he went home to New Zealand.
He then went on a six-month tour before taking a well-earned rest.
He was later shipped to Britain in 1995 to continue retirement.
On 7 January 2003, Charisma was euthanized at Mark Todd's Rivermonte Farm in Cambridge, after breaking a shoulder in the field. He was 30 years old.
Achievements
* Second Place at the
Badminton Horse Trials
The Badminton Horse Trials is a five-day event, one of only seven annual Concours Complet International (CCI) Five Star events as classified by the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI). It takes place in May each year in the park of ...
in 1984 and 1985
* Individual Gold at the
1984 Olympics in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
* Won the Luhmuhlen, Germany Three-Day Event in
1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
** Spain and Portugal en ...
* Second Place at the
Burghley Horse Trials
The Defender Burghley Horse Trials is an annual three-day event held at Burghley House near Stamford, Lincolnshire, England, currently in early September. Defender Burghley Horse Trials is classified by the FEI as one of the seven leading t ...
, England in 1987
* Won the British Open Championships in 1987
* Individual Gold and Team Bronze at the
1988 Olympics
1988 Olympics refers to both:
*The 1988 Winter Olympics, which were held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada
*The 1988 Summer Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 () ...
in
Seoul
Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...
* Voted best NZ Sport Horse in the world in 1983 and 1985
* Smallest
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...
foal in
Invercargill, NZ in 1972
* Horse with the most fan mail in
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
* Carried Mark Todd into the stadium carrying the torch at the opening ceremony of the 1990
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...
in
Auckland
Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
In 2020, Charisma was inducted into the
Equestrian Sports New Zealand Hall of Fame
The Equestrian Sports New Zealand Hall of Fame is a figurative hall of fame dedicated to New Zealand equestrian riders, horses, officials, volunteers and others from the wider equestrian world who have achieved at the highest level. The hall was ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Charisma (The horse)
Eventing horses
Horses in the Olympics
1972 animal births
2003 animal deaths
Individual horses in New Zealand