Chris Burton

The Olympic eventer on his nervous time-wasting habit, keeping it simple in training and the magazine purchase that changed his life

- Cooley Lands and Graf Liberty

AUSTRALIAN-BORN Chris was an Olympic eventing team bronze medallist in Rio riding Santano II. Among other accolades, he won Burghley with Nobilis 18 in 2016 and finished third and fourth at Badminton 2019 on Cooley Lands and Graf Liberty.

GROWING up, I was lucky to have supportive parents who were always there for me and backed all the decisions I made. This has stood me in good stead during my career; although when I was younger I didn’t realise that a job in the horse world could – and would – go on for so long.

At school I was asked about what I wanted to do and, while I knew I wanted to work with horses, my answer wasn’t necessarily what everyone else wanted to hear. I didn’t really know a career in horses was a real thing. My father still jokes about this now, telling me that it’s time to get a proper job soon. Maybe I will one day.