Kate Green on Charisma

KATE GREEN, deputy editor of Country Life and former editor of Eventing magazine, went to New Zealand in the autumn of 2001 to do a training series for Horse &

Hound with Mark Todd.

She says: “It was emotional enough seeing Charisma in a paddock – the horse had been retired for about 13 years but, wherever Mark was based in the world, he always flew Podge to be with him. The horse would wander around behind him like a dog – there was an invisible golden thread between them that went far beyond competitor and top horse and was deeply touching to see.

“I couldn’t believe it when Mark asked me if I’d like to ride him, but he said he loved seeing people on him. In retrospect, the potential for looking an idiot was immense – and, at 5ft 2in, I could barely reach the stirrups even when the leathers were looped over for me, and felt as if I might be bucked off at any minute – but the sensation of power underneath me was extraordinary for an old horse.

“One tiny squeeze and he floated into the trot that had H&H dressage reporter Pegotty Henriques in raptures at the Seoul Olympics and made a very amateur jockey feel like Isabell Werth. And for a few weeks I could say that the last horse I rode was Charisma…”