Throughout history, there have been many great horsemen from the ancient period to the modern days. Even though horses are no longer used for war at the moment, horse riding is still an extremely difficult skill and requires a lot of time to practice and master. However, there are still those who have mastered the difficulty of horse riding, become professional in the equestrian field and attend many horse competitions to show their skill. In this article, we will look at the qualities of the best horse rider should own and cónult some of the best horse riders in the world.
The Qualities Of The Best Horse Riders
The first quality of the best horse rider is balance. The ability to keep balance has a significant effect on a horse’s performance while doing maneuvers such as dressage, show jumping or racing. To be able to maintain balance, the rider should buy a good pair of jodhpurs because it provides better grip and stability on the horse.
The second quality is the combination between rider and horse. The rider’s commands need to be smooth and consistent, as this will affect the performance and compliance of the horse. Therefore, wearing suitable riding boots and horse bridle support the rider to communicate flexibly and synchronize with the horse.
The third one is patience. Horse training is a gradual process and often comes with a lot of hardship. Horse clippers and fly spray are the items that the riders can use to care for their 4-legged friend during the training process, and the rider should invest themselves in a good pair of gloves to practice more comfortably.The last is strength. Horse riding is a sport that requires physical strength, especially in the limbs, and mental strength. In addition, the rider needs to ensure the physical as well as mental health of the horse, and continuous learning is an essential quality.
Best Horse Riders In The World
Below are some of the best horse riders in each equestrian discipline in the world. They left behind great achievements in this horse sport and let’s take a look at some of their achievements.
Dressage
Anky van Grunsven
Anky van Grunsven has held several titles at the World Equestrian Games and three Olympic gold medals. The Dutch equestrian has been competing at the highest level in dressage since 1982, and her biggest victory is the gold medal with her horse Bonfire at the 2000 Olympics.
Charlotte Dujardin
Charlotte Dujardin is a decorated British dressage athlete. She has held many world records in dressage such as the Olympic freedata-style, World Cup individual dressage, European Freedata-style, World freedata-style and Grand Prix Special, and Grand Prix Special titles at the same time with her gelding Valegro. After gaining various wins and Olympic titles in five years, Charlotte retired in 2016.
Isabell Werth
The German equestrian Isabell Werth is the best horse rider of all time, with 12 Olympic medals: 7 golds and 5 silvers.
Werth won her first Olympic gold medal in the team dressage event and a silver medal in the individual dressage event at the 1992 Olympics. She competed in the 1996, 2000, 2008, 2016, and 2021 Olympics, winning at least one gold medal at each.
However, in 2009, Isabelle’s horse Whisper tested positive for fluphenazine, a banned substance in equestrian sports. She later said that the substance was given to horses to treat tremors, but she was still banned from competing for 6 months. She is still called the “Queen of Dressage”, competing and winning Olympic gold medals with various horses: Gigolo FRH, Satchmo 78, Weihegold OLD, and Bella Rose 2.
Eventing
Michael Jung
Michael Jung is one of the best horse riders from Germany who is able to compete in show jumping and eventing. Jung is an Olympic gold medallist four times, including individual and team gold at the 2012 London Olympics, individual gold and team silver at the 2016 Rio Olympics, and individual gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Moreover, Jung won many gold medals and silver medals in various big equestrian competitions like European Championships, World Championships.
Because of grand achievements, in 2013, Jung was inducted into the Eventing Rider Association Hall of Fame. Additionally, Michael was the second rider in history to win the Grand Slam of Eventing in 2016.
Pippa Funnell
Pippa Funnell was the first woman horse rider to win the Rolex Grand Slam of eventing in 2003. She has also won 5 gold medals at the European Championships.
In addition, Funnell is the star of many video games as well as the author of the children’s book series Tilly’s Pony Tails. The book Tilly’s Pony Tails is not only a fun read for children but also includes horse care advice from Pippa, who is one of the best horse riders and trainers in the world.
Tom Mcewen
McEwen is a promising young best horse rider in eventing. He won Olympic gold in the team event in 2010 with horse Major Sweep and then won another gold in 2011 with horse Private Rudolph. In 2018, McEwen attended the World Equestrian Games and won the gold medal in the team competition for Team GBR. Then, he and his horse Toledo De Kerser were chosen to represent Britain to compete in the 2020 Summer Olympics and won gold in the team event and silver in the individual event.
Jockeys
Eddie Arcaro
Eddie Arcaro was referred to as “The Master”. During his career, the American jockey claimed more than 4000 victories and rode famous racehorses in history, for example, two Triple Crown champions, Whirlaway (1941) and Citation (1948). The achievements of Arcaro make him the best horse rider of all time and teach horse enthusiasts that besides speed of horse, horse racing also needs strategy and skill.
Frankie Dettori
Frankie Dettori is the Italian champion jockey Gianfranco Dettori’s son. He has been living and developing his career in England for over 35 years. He claimed British flat racing Champion Jockey in 1994, 1995, and 2004 respectively. The most notable win is that he rode all 7 horse winners on British Festival of Racing Day at Ascot Racecourse on September 28, 1996. In addition, Frankie rode the 287 winners from the Group 1 race, which includes 23 winners of the British Classic Races.
Kieren Fallon
Kieren Francis Fallon is an Irish veteran flat racing jockey who competed as a British Champion Jockey six times. Kieren Fallon retired with over 2200 career wins, but his career involved “preventing” other horses from competing in the race from 2002-2004. After this accident, he was depressed. Fallon is still remembered as one of the best horse riders in horse racing and he probably recovered after his traumatic career years.
Show Jumping
Beezie Madden
Beezie Madden is one of the best horse riders in equestrian history, especially in show jumping. Madden is the first woman show jumping athlete to earn over 1 million dollars in rewards. She is also a founder of John Madden Sales, which is a horse training and business. Recently, she seems to be semi-retired and to end her career, she won a gold medal at the 2018 World Cup Final.
Peder Fredricson
Peder Fredricson is one of the best Olympic medalists. At the Olympics, there are his achievements: a gold medal in team jumping and three silver medals at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, a silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, a silver in individual jumping at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, and a silver individual jumping at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Besides the above medals, he also attended and won medals at the World Championships, European Championships, and World Cup. The Swedish equestrian also rides a lot of top horses jumping such as Catch Me Not S, Jumper d’Oase, H&M All In, H&M Christian K, and Thelma Hästak.
Henrik von Eckermann
The Swedish Olympic show jumping rider Henrik von Eckermann has competed at four Summer Olympics in 2012, 2016, 2020 and 2024 respectively. His best individual Olympic achievements were a gold medal in the team and ranked 4th in the individual event in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Furthermore, Henrik claimed a team bronze at the 2013 European Showjumping Championships which took place in Herning, Denmark. The biggest success of the Swedish horse rider was ranked 3rd in the finals in 2017, behind McLain Ward and Romain Duguet.
FAQs
Mongolia has the most best horse riders in the world. In history, Mongols are considered the best horsemen because Mongol children are on the horseback when they are 3 to 5 years old and start horse racing from 6 to 12.
In terms of horse athletes, Ireland ranks at first position, then followed by the United States of America, France, Germany, Switzerland, Great Britain, The Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden and Brazil.
Eventing is considered as the hardest equestrian discipline because eventing is the equestrian triathlon which consists of dressage, cross country riding and show jumping. requires patience, the high level of precision, and the connection between horse and rider.
According to United States FAO Stat, The United States of America is leading in producing horses with over 10 million horses in the world1.
A World From Raxin Horse
Through the above article, you probably already know the qualities that the best horse riders have. In addition, if you want to become an equestrian athlete, you should also pay attention to fighting skills and strategies. And if you want to become a good horse rider, then perhaps the best horse riders above will be the perfect role models for you to strive for and follow in their footsteps.
- Horse Rankings. (n.d.). Blue Marble Citizen. Retrieved September 12, 2024, from https://www.bluemarblecitizen.com/rankings/top-horse-countries ↩︎
