Ecstatic Todd eyes the future

Give a man a horse, wrote Scottish poet James Thompson, and his strength and health shall never fail. 

If anyone is walking embodiment of that 18th century sentiment it's Mark Todd.

As the 53-year-old completed his comeback Olympic eventing campaign with a third consecutive clear round on Gandalf yesterday morning (NZ time) you could almost see Todd as a boy; there was as much exuberance and glee as there was when he and Charisma won gold medals at Los Angeles and Seoul two decades ago.

His joy was uncontainable as he slapped the horse on the neck and punched the air.

It was so emotional, you could be forgiven for thinking he'd done better than 17th place.

But for a lifelong horseman like Todd, the celebration was as much about a partnership with a great horse as it was about living up to his own personal aspirations in comeback that ended a seven-year sojourn from the sport.

Todd is so impressed with Gandalf, he's decided to press on with the horse, abandoning plans to sell the sprightly grey gelding in the possible hope they could be together at the London Olympics in 2012.

"Not many horses could do what he's done in such a short time," Todd said of the relatively short time he had to get Gandalf up to Olympic standard.

"He's come an awfully long way. He had competed at three star level in New Zealand but this is a whole new ball game; with all the travelling and everything else he's done it's remarkable the way he's come through it.

"He's got a lot of improvement in him. The horses getting good marks in dressage are 13-, 14-, 15-years-old and he's only just begun," he said, referring to the fact Gandalf was only 10-years-old.

Horses cannot start competing in eventing until they are eight.

And Todd, despite his 53 years, said his sixth Olympics hadn't taken a toll.

"Physically for me it's fine, I've kept fit and feel no ill effects from it. I feel no different to when I was riding full time. I think this has been successful. I know I can be competitive at this level.

"Asked if the result had exceeded expectations, the ever competitive Todd replied: "It's lived up to them."

Above all, he enjoyed it. "It feels like I have never been away from the sport. At the start of the cross country I felt just as nervous at the start as I always did and I then had the same buzz at the end." Now, with the blessing of his wife Carolyn and children, Lauren and James, he hopes to pursue a seventh Olympics.

He would also love to go to the world equestrian games in 2010. "That [Kentucky] is where I started with the New Zealand team in 1978."

So Thompson was right in a fashion. Todd is keeping fit, having fun and chasing gold ... all because of a horse, of course.

- © Fairfax NZ News