44 SIDELINES JUNE 2014
FORHORSEPEOPLE • ABOUTHORSEPEOPLE
Ben wasn’t the only one who saw untapped potential abroad.
Liz and Ted saw it too and gifted Ben with a two-week riding
experiencewithanother of their former students, BeatMandli. For
the second time since leaving school, Benpackeduphis suitcase
and left for anadventure that would changehis life. The two-week
riding experience in Switzerland quickly turned into a job, and
Ben spent his next two years in Switzerland riding and working
for Beat.
“I’dbecomeoneof hisstable riders,”Bensaid. “Iwaseventually
given a set of horses, a lorry and a groom. We had towork very,
veryhard for it, but theywerecertainlysomeof themost funyears
I ever had. Therewere no real pressures. I didn’t have any bills. I
didn’t haveanyworries. I just had toget up in themorningand ride
my horses. It was a fantastic start tomy jumping career. It was a
great time, andhe’s agreat trainer.”
ATurningPoint at Age 22
Following his time with Beat, Ben returned to England to try to
make it onhisown, but businesswasslow to takeoff forBen. That
is until 2005, a year which proved to be the turning point of his
career. At the age of 22, Ben became only the second rider ever
to win both major events at Hickstead— the Hickstead Jumper
Derby and theSpeedDerby.
“I had a couple horses of my own, but I was struggling to kind
of make a little bit of a business of it,” Ben said. “I went from
struggling tomakeanymoney, and then I wonboth classes; all of
a sudden I got some very low-level sponsorship from a couple of
companies. Theyweremy very first sponsors.
“In England, the Hickstead Derby is the class that everybody
knows of even if they’re not horse people,” Ben continued. “They
know about the Hickstead Derby, and they know about the
puissance. Igota fewhorsesgiven tome to rideafter thatbecause
of the good publicity. It’s perhaps not the biggest achievement
compared to an Olympic gold medal, but it was a turning point
inmy career. I often thinkmaybe I wouldn’t bewhere I am today
without that.”
The few horses that Ben was given to ride following his
Hickstead wins snowballed into more rides and more sponsors,
and he hasn’t slowed down since. Ben built up a string of world-
class horses and quickly became one of the top British riders in
the world. By the age of 26, he was ranked number one in his
country, andhe had broken into the top five in theworld.
In 2008, Ben competed in his first Olympic Games aboard
Rolette, and, in 2012, he returned to theOlympics, this time on a
homebred mount, Tripple X III, and this time he went home with
Olympic gold.
AWholeNewWorld
Ben’s Olympic gold medal performance, his general riding
ability and his resume over the preceding years caught people’s
attention. In particular, it caught the attention of one key person:
JaneClark.
The former U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation President and
CEO, and long-time supporter of equestrian sport, was searching
for just the right rider to takeover the reinsona fewof her horses,
and she likedwhat she saw inBen.
“It was late2012whenwe started to talk,” Ben said. “Jane took
a big risk withme in the beginning. Obviously, I’m not American.
That was probably a shock to a lot of people. I was nervous even
though I hada lot of experience.Youcan’t helpbut think that Iwas
walking into a position that maybemany thought may not work or
was a risk for Jane.”
It was a risk that has paid off tenfold. The incredible support of
an owner like Jane has helped take Ben to awhole new rung on
the ladder of show jumping success.
Ben took over the rides on Jane’s Urico and Cella prior to
Ben and JaneClark’sUrico
Photo byKennethKraus
