Friday Video from Smartpak: A Dash of Charisma

It’s been a good week for celebrating our horsey heroes of decades past, with showjumper Milton taking the stage a few days ago and now, an ode to the great Charisma debuting on YouTube today.

With Mark Todd in the irons, Charisma — or Podge, as he was known at home — became one of the world’s best-loved eventers of all time after his extraordinary efforts through the 1980s saw him scoop back-to-back individual gold medals at the ’84 and ’88 Olympics.

Just 15.3hh, he and his lanky rider cut a striking figure together as they tackled the world’s top three-day events. Such was their success that Charisma ended up receiving more fan mail than any horse in Kiwi history. Ahh, fan mail — remember that?

Join us as we wallow unabashedly in nostalgia (not for fan mail, but for the ultimate dark horse of eventing). Is there an iconic eventer you’d like to see recognised in the FEI’s Horses of History series? Drop it in the comments!