Charisma (horse)
| Breed | New Zealand Sport Horse |
|---|---|
| Sire | Tira Mink (Thoroughbred) |
| Grandsire | Faux Tirage (Thoroughbred) |
| Dam | Planet (Welsh Section B) |
| Maternal grandsire | Kiritea |
| Sex | Gelding |
| Foaled | 1972 |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Colour | Dark bay with a star |
| Breeder | Daphne and Peter Williams |
| Owner | Mark Todd |
| Olympic medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Equestrian | ||
 |
1984 Los Angeles | Individual eventing |
|
1988 Seoul | Individual eventing |
 |
1988 Seoul | Team eventing |
Charisma (1972 - 2003) was a horse ridden by New Zealander Mark Todd. Charisma won many competitions in the sport of eventing. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest event horses ever to have competed. He stood 15.3 hands (63 inches, 160 cm).
Charisma, also known as "Podge" and "Stroppy," was born October 30, 1972. His 12 hands (48 inches, 122 cm) hand dam, Planet, was by the Connemara and 1/16 Thoroughbred stallion Kiritea. Her dam was a Thoroughbred mare named Starbourne. Planet was a very successful Grade A show jumper in New Zealand, and under rider Sheryl Douglas, became the first mare in New Zealand to jump her own height. However, an injury ended her career, and she went home and was bred to the Thoroughbred stallion, Tira Mink.
Charisma's first home was on the Williams' 3,000-acre (12 km2) farm in Wairarapa. Even at a young age, Charisma was laid-back and easy to train. He was soon bought by David Murdoch, who placed the yearling in a small pasture with a four-foot fence, which Charisma jumped. The colt was gelded as a four-year-old, although he managed to cover four mares before that time.
The young horse was slowly broken in, and later bought by Sharon Dearden in 1977. She competed him in Grade B show jumping competitions, and trained him up to intermediate level in eventing. Although the pair was long-listed for the Los Angeles Olympics, Dearden decided to sell the horse. Mrs. Fran Clark bought him and later lent him to Jennifer Stobart. Stobart brought him to Prix St Georges level in dressage "just for fun".
Mark Todd was offered Charisma to ride by Virginia Caro, as his experienced horse was sick. In May 1983, he tried the gelding out, and brought him back to his place to get the horse fit. Charisma was a bit fat at that time, and had to be bedded on newspaper strips, as he would try to eat other bedding. Keeping the weight off the horse was always quite a struggle.
Charisma won his first two one-day events with Mark Todd, and then won the National One-Day Event Championship and National Three-day Event at Taupo (both of which he led after dressage and finished on his dressage score). The pair was then selected for the Los Angeles Olympics.
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