Marius Silver Jubilee, better known as ''Milton'', (16 February 1977 – 4 July 1999) was a successful

showjumping 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 are l ...

horse ridden by John Whitaker. He was a

grey Grey (more frequent in British English) or gray (more frequent in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning that it has no chroma. It is the color of a cloud-covered s ...

gelding A gelding (Help:IPA/English, /ˈɡɛldɪŋ/) is a castration, castrated male horse or other equine, such as a pony, donkey or a mule. The term is also used with certain other animals and livestock, such as domesticated Camelidae, camels. By compa ...

and stood high at the withers.

Biography

Foaled in 1977, Milton was by Dutch Warmblood Marius, out of Irish Draught Aston Answers. His lines included successful sportshorses in both paternal and maternal lines, his sire being an international level and his dam a Grade A national level jumper. When Milton was young, Caroline Bradley, who had ridden Marius to international success, told her parents Milton would be her Olympic mount. She trained him until her death in 1983, after which many offers were made to her parents to buy the gelding, who had already proven his talent. They kept the horse. Stephen Hadley, who later became an FEI TV show jumping commentator, rode Milton for a short time, before he became a mount of the world-renowned international rider John Whitaker in 1985 and entered international competition.

Career

During his competitive career, Milton achieved many international victories, and became the first horse outside the racing world to win more than £1.25 million in prize money. Throughout his career, Milton rarely touched a rail or refused a fence. The gelding was a favourite with the crowd, many times ending a successful round with a leap into the air. Even after his retirement at the 1994

Olympia Horse Show The London International Horse Show, formerly the Olympia London International Horse Show, is one of the UK's biggest equestrian competitions. It is best known as the host of the UK legs of the FEI World Cup series in dressage, show jumping and ...

, he was adored by all. Milton died on 4 July 1999. He was buried on the Whitakers' farm in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

Achievements

* Over £1.25 million in prize money won * Winner of the 1986 Du Maurier Limited International competition,

Spruce Meadows Spruce Meadows is a multi-purpose sports facility near Calgary, Alberta built by the Southern family which opened in 1975. The facility contains an equestrian show jumping complex that comprises . The current president and CEO of Spruce Me ...

, then the richest (in total prize money) show jumping competition in the world. * Individual Silver and Team Gold 1987 European Championships in

St Gallen St. Gallen is a Swiss city and the capital of the canton of St. Gallen. It evolved from the hermitage of Saint Gall, founded in the 7th century. Today, it is a large urban agglomeration (with around 167,000 inhabitants in 2019) and rep ...

* Individual and Team Gold 1989 European Championships in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

* Winner of the 1990 FEI World Cup Final in

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* Individual Silver and Team Bronze 1990

World Equestrian Games The FEI World Equestrian Games are the major international championships for equestrianism, and are administered by the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI). The games have been held every four years, halfway between sets of consecutive S ...

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* Winner of the 1991 FEI World Cup Final in Gothenburg

References

{{reflist, refs= {{Cite web , url=https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/features/milton-great-horses-in-history-180542 , title=Milton: 12 fascinating facts about our hero , work=Horse & Hound , date=12 June 2015 {{Cite web , url=http://www.horsesport.org/PDFS/S/07_02/S-Europ-Champ.pdf , title=European Championships Jumping , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061009004905/https://www.horsesport.org/PDFS/S/07_02/S-Europ-Champ.pdf , archive-date=October 9, 2006 , website=horsesport.org {{Cite web , title=Milton British Sport Horse (pedigree) , url=https://www.allbreedpedigree.com/milton8 , website=allbreedpedigree.com {{Cite web , url=http://www.showjumping.com/nuke/html/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=92 , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060524100201/http://www.showjumping.com/nuke/html/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=92 , archive-date=May 24, 2006 , title=World Cup: Past Winners of the FEI World Cup since its inception in 1979 , date=April 20, 2006 , website=showjumping.com Show jumping horses Individual warmbloods Individual male horses 1977 animal births 1999 animal deaths

Biography

Career

Achievements

See also

References