Robert Oliver

The winner of more than 40 HOYS championships, Robert Oliver’s breadth of horsemanship is such that few can match. Tricia Johnson looks back at his stellar career

- Tricia Johnson

SHOWING legend Robert Oliver, who celebrated his 80th birthday in May, holds a unique place in the record books. In a career spanning some 70 years, he has won and been champion in every category of horse class at Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) and Royal International (RIHS) – many times over – and his animals have stood supreme multiple times at both shows.

Since posting their first HOYS wins in 1970, Oliver-produced horses have claimed more than 40 HOYS championships in total, including 12 cob, nine hunter, six hacks, two riding horse, two ladies’ and five small hunter titles.

Robert took the coveted hunter tricolor at Royal Windsor four years running with the middleweight Kings Warrior, who also topped the line at RIHS and HOYS three times, standing supreme at the latter in 1991/92.

Other Oliver horses are legends in their own right too, and none more so than the amazing cob Super Ted, who had an eight-year unbeaten run at RIHS between 1987 and 1994 – standing overall supreme in 1990 and 1991 – and also landed six HOYS titles.

These two stand out in Robert’s memory.

“I’ve been so very lucky with the horses I’ve had, but I suppose my favorite would be Kings Warrior,” Robert says. “He won so much for me, was always sound and was a great hunter as well. Super Ted was amazing too; he never missed a show, apart from when he got injured.”