BEN ATKINSON
The all-action stunt rider talks to Julie Brown about why he used to fall off a lot, how hunter hirelings changed his family’s life and why working in TV is not all it’s cracked up to be
I’VE SEEN BEN ATKINSON in action at Your Horse Live and he’s impressive. Nerves of steel and core muscles to match. So, as I trundle down a succession of narrow Lincolnshire roads to the home of this much in demand rider, I’m excited to find out more about his interesting choice of career. Getting onto his yard proves tricky as Buddy the Bassett Hound/Beagle cross takes a shine to the car and lying in front of it seems a good idea. Much hooting and swerving later, I’m in the middle of a yard with a well-kept but higgledy-piggledy layout of stables gathered around a large house and barn. On my slow crawl down the drive, I’d noticed paddocks with high electric fencing — to be expected, I suppose, when you’re trying to keep stunt horses from escaping. I’m greeted cheerily by Ben, who is pulling a carriage out of a barn, and his dad, Mark, who is busy getting two black horses into driving kit. Another dog, Mabel-Louise, a Jack Russell/Chihuahua cross, is keen to say hello, but she’s so tiny I have to be careful where I put my feet. Time is a constant battle for Ben and I’m told we’re going out in the carriage. We’ll do the interview on the move, which is a first for me. Ben and I scramble up into the front, with Mark and photographer Matt in the back. It turns out the horses, Johnny Wilkinson and Mojo, are starring in a wild west show at the weekend and they need time in the carriage beforehand — multi-tasking at its best.
As we start chatting, I have to remind myself that Ben is only 24 — he’s crammed so much into his life. “I don’t remember a time without horses,” says Ben. “The farm, originally dairy, was started by my Grandad, who’s 91 now. He and his brother rode and so does my Dad. Showjumping and showing was his thing.” Ben had his first introduction to the show ring aged just 23 months, riding a Shetland pony in a lead-rein class. “I was nearly disqualified for shoving my boots in the judge’s face,” says Ben. “I also clearly remember a riding horse qualifier. All the other ponies were much posher than Elizabeth my Shetland. I’d been practising in the garden and walked, trotted, cantered and galloped around the ring, concentrating hard. I came third, missing out on a higher placing because, as the judge carefully explained, gallop wasn’t required. I was always a bit gung ho.” Dad, Mark, takes up the story as he nods in agreement. “He used to worry me so much. On our hacks, he’d go cantering off and I wouldn’t dare follow in case his pony got faster. I just had to hope he’d be in one piece when I got home. I’d be schooling my 17hh showjumper with Ben nearby on his 12-hander. I’d warn him to stay clear of the jumps, but he would gaily give it a go anyway, no matter how high. Falling off was a regularity.” Grandad was keen to make Ben a good horseman, long-reining the three-year-old around the garden to teach him about rein pressure. Ben couldn’t get enough of his ponies, and was often found eating cake at the kitchen table with his Shetland.
Ben was a mere four years old when the family started the business that was later to become Atkinson Action Horses. “We originally opened a livery yard and riding school, providing hunter hirelings too,” explains Ben. “It was through this that the whole thing started, with Dad reluctantly involved in the first live performance.” Two horses on the yard were owned by re-enactors and, when one of their troop fell ill, they asked Mark to stand in at a display. “Mum volunteered him and he wasn’t happy at all,” continues Ben. “While he was
there, he met a member of the English Civil War Society who asked about us supplying cavalry horses for them. Dad said yes, and in came the hirelings from their summer holiday to start training for it, with the local villagers providing the manpower needed to mimic the noisy scenarios they’d need to get used to.” The gig was a great success and more work came rolling in from the likes of the Sealed Knot and Royal Armouries. Demand for the Atkinson horses grew, and the family were soon taking on TV and film work too.
Ben admits to being a terrible technical rider at the start, only learning to ride correctly 10 years ago, although he’s been standing on a pair of horses since the age of 11. “I’ve grown up on film sets and at live performances, so to me this type of riding is normal, like rising trot is to everyone else.” Asked if he ever gets nervous, there’s a little pause. “The only nly time is when I go under the belly in the Cossack riding,” says Ben with a wry smile. “I get et battered by the elbows and hooves so it always hurts. I try not to think about what could happen if it went wrong, which thankfully it never has.” To keep himself safe, Ben stays fit, running every morning and gyming in the evening. He does all the cooking too, as he only eats healthy stuff. Ben’s day starts at 4.30am. “You have to be hungry for success. If you’re not, someone else will take it from you. So, I work hard.” Although Ben has ridden on TV and in films such as War Horse, he’s best known for his work on TV blockbusters such as Poldark, Victoria, Peaky Blinders and Jamaica Inn. “We provide the horses, teach the actors to ride and I’ve been Aidan Turner’s T double [Aidan plays Poldark] in some of the riding scenes he couldn’t manage at first.” Teaching the art of riding for TV is very different, as Ben explains: “We “take into account what the actor needs to do and the deadline we’re working to. For instance, with Aidan, he only had to leap on and off and gallop in a workmanlike fashion, so that’s what I taught him. For Victoria, the style is more military.” Ben starts all actors on the lunge. With the men it’s straightforward, but the women usually have to ride sidesaddle and so he teaches this from the off. “They love it because they’re wedged in and feel secure. I wouldn’t let them ride astride though, as they’re not trained for that.” Although the TV work sounds glamorous, for Ben the lustre has worn off. “I still enjoy it,” he explains. “But my real passion lies with training the horses — we have 65 and I could work with them all day. They all do every job, including driving.” Ben also enjoys classical dressage and has a team of eight Spanish dressage display horses (his favourite) in his stable block. As we chat, he takes one out of the stable and, wearing only a headcollar, with a few clicks of the tongue, the horse is doing perfect piaffe. The relationship between this man and his horses is palpable; enough to bring tears to the eyes — or was that just me?
Ben has been spreading his wings recently and work has taken him to the likes of Dubai and India. “India was my biggest gig and biggest achievement so far,” he explains. “I was riding master on a Bollywood film, handpicked by the director. I arrived with no horses and had to buy three quickly to get them trained up. When I left, it broke my heart to leave my beautiful mares behind. Luckily, they were bought by a prince who keeps in touch.” The future for Ben isn’t mapped out. “I believe in enjoying the journey rather than focusing on the destination. I’ll take opportunities as they come along.” Whatever the future holds for Ben Atkinson, it’s going to be big.