Mark Todd :
"It is important if you keep the horse balanced as much as possible, so as to interfere as little as possible"

Cheval Savoir : How do you choose a horse?

Mark Todd : For all horses, you have a whole impression, then you look at the head, the body : the horse has to catch your eyes. The first thing you see in the morning, when you go to the stables, is their heads over the door, and if you don’t like the sight of it, there is no means having them! You will have to see them every day, so you need having something nice looking at. (laugh) Well the temperament comes into it as much as you can tell: the way they move, the way they physically feel, the way they jump, the way they handle themselves… If it is a young horse, you will have to be thinking what’s the training will develop him to, and that is part of the skill of the trainer and of the producer too... and I am quite good at that. Sometimes, you like the look of a horse, but the minute you get on him, it just does not feel right. Particularly now that I get older, you have to feel comfortable. Sometimes also, personalities can clash. Usually, I can tell fairly quickly whether I like the horse, or whatever… And also, as competition is not my only concern, it is also my business to think to whom I will be able to sell them, so I like horses to have good temperaments, who are not so difficult.

C.S. Have you changed methods ?

M.T. Yes ! Well maybe not changed, but evolved over the years. Yes, evolved, rather than changed, because as requirements have changed in each phase, we have had to evolve a little bit with it, and also I am not an impetuous young man anymore, I am older and getting a little more patient, and I’ll maybe give the horses a little bit more time if they need it; And because I am not imposed in such a rush with them in the training, I can take my time a little bit more, and the results are better. I think I am riding now in a better way than I was, twenty years ago. I think that, one of the things which is amazing about riding and horses, unlike other sports, is that you can keep on improving : if I was an athlete, a runner, or a tennis-player, it comes to a certain point where it goes down, whereas with riding, you continue to improve. I am more analytical about how I am sitting on a horse, the difference my weight does, more aware of my posture and influence on the horse. I would say that the training on the flat I do is very standard, and has been in place for many years, with slight changes. Again, if you want to sell them, you have got to train them very correctly, traditionally. I have very good records of people who have been competing at very high level with horses I had sold them.

C.S. Do you follow a strict time-table ?

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