Charisma another Eventing Star from the past Olympic/World Championships

Standing at around 15.2hh, Mark admits he initially disregarded the horse due to his lack of height.
Mark recalls "I was returning from the UK and I got a phone call asking if I wanted to have a ride on this horse called Charisma, as he hadn’t been doing anything for a while apart from dressage. I drove two hours to go and see him and there was this little, fat, hairy (as it was winter) pony, and I very nearly got back in the car saying ‘I can’t ride that’."

“But I thought I’d driven all that way, so I might as well have a sit on him, and as soon as I did, he didn’t feel like a little horse — he felt amazing. So I agreed to ride him.”

After his triumph in 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, owner Fran Clark decided to sell her horse.However, for some reason she did not seem to want Mark Todd to continue riding Charisma. In 1985, she offered Charisma to the British rider Lizzie Purbrick. Knowing that Todd wanted the horse badly, Purbrick managed a deal with him to buy Charisma behind Fran Clark's back. Mark Todd's sponsor, Woolrest, transferred £50,000 to Lizzie's account, to which she paid Fran Clark, and Mark Todd now was the official rider of Charisma under Woolrest's sponsorship. Needless, to say, Fran Clark was not pleased.

The acquisition paid off as the pair finished second again at Badminton in 1985 and won at Luhmuhlen (Germany) the following year. Another shot at the Olympic team came into focus after Charisma placed second at the Burghley Horse Trials (England) and won the British open championship in 1987.

Despite these impressive performances, some doubters still wondered whether Charisma, at 16, would be able to medal again in South Korea.

No horse had earned back-to-back individual gold medals in eventing since the Netherlands’ Marcroix with Lt. Charles F. Pahud de Mortanges in 1928 and 1932. Commentators questioned the suitability of a small gelding to carry the very tall Todd, who reportedly joked he had to shorten his stirrups to be sure his own feet wouldn’t hit the jumps.

An outstanding dressage test and a double clear cross-country round gave Charisma and Mark Todd all the breathing room they needed to win their second individual Olympic gold medal in 1988 in Seoul, South Korea.

Charisma and Todd made the course look easy. They not only finished without jumping penalties (the only other clear trip being fellow Kiwis Tinks Pottinger and Volunteer), but also came home 19 seconds under the time.

That performance carried them into the final day with three rails in hand ahead of Great Britain’s Ian Stark and Sir Wattie. Known for rubbing poles, Charisma pulled one early rail, but as he headed for the final in-and-out with no additional faults, the crowd cheered his imminent repeat victory.

Charisma was retired after his second Olympic victory and he went home to New Zealand. He then went on a six-month tour before taking a well-earned rest. He was later shipped to Britain in 1995 to continue his well earned retirement.

On 7 January 2003, Charisma was euthanized at Mark Todd's Rivermonte Farm in Cambridge, after breaking a shoulder in the field. He was 30 years old.

Mark said: “Charisma was a magic horse to have around and will be sadly missed – he loved people and had the most wonderful nature and personality.”