Dannevirke’s Maurice Beatson inducted into Equestrian Hall of Fame

Maurice Beatson with Central Park in Florida.

Lifetime equestrian and former Olympian Maurice Beatson is feeling “pretty good” after his Equestrian Hall of Fame honour.

The humble Dannevirke rider was inducted for his dedication and success within the sport at a ceremony in Auckland on July 5.

His successes included the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games as a New Zealand representative and winning 214 Grand Prix competitions.

Beatson is also a four-time winner of the FEI World Cup New Zealand League, a five-time winner of the Olympic Cup and a four-time winner of the Norwood Gold Cup, both at Horse of the Year.

His name will be featured on the wall at the National Equestrian Centre in Taupō.

Beatson has ridden horses since he was a child and said the sport came naturally to him after growing up on a farm with parents who also rode.

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“When we were kids we had horses and ponies – that was the way.”

Beatson found it difficult to define a career highlight but said he enjoyed travelling the world through show jumping.

He said the sport was unpredictable when dealing with animals, especially when a horse got hurt or wasn’t performing at its best.

Maurice Beatson with Mandalay Bay at the Show Jumping World Cup qualifier in 2019. Photo / Paul Taylor

“You always have misadventures when you have horses, but that is the nature of the sport.”

The experienced equestrian didn’t have a favourite horse but recalled My Gollywog and Central Park as standouts.

The 70 year old said he was lucky that his body had not yet started to hurt when riding as he was preparing for the upcoming New Zealand show jumping season, due to start in six weeks.

His advice for anyone starting in the sport was to set goals and stick to them and success would follow.

“You just got to keep training and working hard at it.”

Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings and Central Hawke’s Bay newsrooms. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and has a love for sharing stories about farming and rural communities.