Sally Clark at the Atlanta Olympic games, 1996. Photo / Photosport
Sally Clark at the Atlanta Olympic games, 1996. Photo / Photosport
Adam Julian for LockerRoom
In 1995, Sally Clark went out on her own in a bold and unorthodox attempt to join an illustrious group of equestrian riders conquering the world.
In the days of glovebox road maps, brick cellphones and the hit song How Bizarre, Clark refused to follow Sir Mark Todd, Blyth Tait, Andrew Nicholson, Vaughn Jefferis and Vicky Latta through the tried-and-tested European circuit.
Instead, Clark went to America with little knowledge, few contacts - and a horse out of form.
At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Sally Clark, aged 38 and 106 days, became the third-oldest New Zealand woman to claim an Olympic medal when she earned silver in individual eventing.
“You can buy a good horse, be a great rider and have a good coach, but if you haven’t got the mental application for what it takes, you’re not going to be successful. You have to build everything up.”
Today, Clark shares these lessons as a teacher of riding. She has a wide range of experiences from taking pony club teams to eventing and showjumping championships as well as being part of the Horse of the Year Show. In 2014, she was the coach of Emily Fraser, who won a gold medal in showjumping at the Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China.
With partner and fellow Olympian Maurice Beatson (29 national titles), Clark runs Kiwi Horses from a farm in Dannevirke. Kiwi Horses breeds a wide range of horses including showjumpers, eventers and hunters from warmblood, sport horse and thoroughbred breeds. Additionally, Kiwi Horses is the sole New Zealand agent of Bruno Delgrange, a leading saddle provider.
“The first thing I do in a lesson is let the rider go and assess them. I need to see what relationship already exists between the rider and horse. I’ll then share my knowledge and develop a collaborative plan on how to achieve better outcomes,” Clark said.
“I spend the most time on basics. If you don’t look after the little things, big problems emerge. Good horsemanship, that is the skills, knowledge, and understanding needed to form a harmonious relationship with a horse is essential.
“You can’t just jump on a horse and say we’re off to Badminton. It takes years to build trust, experience, and resources to succeed.”
Born Sally Dalrymple in 1958, she was educated in Rangitīkei at Ngā Tawa Girls’ School. Her mother, Pat, was a nationally ranked rider who passed on that love of horses to her daughters Sally and Katherin.
Clark always dreamed of making the Olympics, initially succeeding as a cross-country runner, but horses quickly became a more obvious, but equally arduous, route to Olympic success. After studying physical education at the University of Otago, Clark did a spell of teaching, then headed overseas. On her return she did an MA in business studies at Massey University, majoring in rural valuation.
A seven-time national champion, Clark was a member of the 1987 New Zealand team that contested the transtasman trophy. The following year, she was shortlisted for the Seoul Olympic team, but her horse, Sky Command, died.
“That was traumatic. Horses become your mates. Sky gave me this opening which I was so enthusiastic and proud of and then he suffered from colic. We would have got there, but it wasn’t meant to be,” Clark reflected.
Peter Kelly was a Hall of Fame race caller at Trentham for 28 years. Kelly raced several good gallopers, including Fun On The Run, Greene Street, and Meralini who, combined, won 37 and placed 24 times. In 1989, Clark acquired a horse named Squirrel Hill from Kelly.
“An old friend of Mum’s knew Peter, who suggested I try Squirrel Hill. Peter had trialled him, but it hadn’t worked out,” Clark explained.
“Peter’s daughter married a doctor, and they went to Pittsburgh and lived in the suburb of Squirrel Hill, hence his name.
“I didn’t think he was an Olympic horse when we started. It took a long time to develop him. We built confidence on the New Zealand circuit, and then I started thinking, maybe this is an Olympic horse. Tinks Pottinger said to me: ‘No, Squirrel Hill is not an Olympic horse, he’s an Olympic medal-winning horse.”
Pottinger won 10 national eventing titles on seven horses. Aboard Volunteer she helped New Zealand win bronze in the team eventing at the 1988 Olympics alongside Sir Mark Todd, Andrew Bennie, and Margs Carline.
Clark was chosen in the New Zealand squad for the 1994 World Championships at The Hague. Unfortunately, Squirrel Hill “didn’t travel well” and Clark’s result was poor. The below-par form continued in England. However, her final start in Europe in late 1995 was at the Open European Championships in Pratoni, Italy. The career-best result of ninth place put her on a high for her proposed sojourn to the USA.
“In ‘95, I was staying in a yard with several Americans, and they often talked about the differences between the UK and America. I decided if I were to have any chance in the Olympics, I’d have to take Squirrel Hill to America,” Clark reflected.
“Imagine going to America today with no phone and internet, driving on the wrong side of the road to these far-out paddocks and places to compete and then finding your own accommodation.
“It’s really challenging having a horse on the other side of the world. You can’t just get in the car and drive to the next event, you’ve got to get your horse there. You’ve got to get a vehicle and a trailer. If you borrow a vehicle, how do you get it back? You’re always leaning on people.
“But I needed to do things my way. When you live under people’s roofs, they decide you should be doing this and that. Sure, it’s good to discuss things, but it takes away your independence and it’s your independence that got you there in the first place.”
Clark had to make things happen quickly. She secured sponsorship from food processing company Heinz headed by Tony O’Reilly, the brilliant Irish winger who starred against the All Blacks on the 1959 British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand.
Kentucky Rolex was the Olympics qualifying event. A second-placed finish was enough for Clark to qualify for Atlanta, by which time she was battle-hardened.
“I treated the Olympics like any other event, turning up under the radar in a borrowed van on my own,” Clark laughed.
Sally Clark in action at Atlanta. "I treated the Olympics like any other event." Photo / Photosport
“I wasn’t really feeling it. I was like ‘come on, feel it’ but I couldn’t actually feel it. I’d done such a good job preparing myself, nothing was going to catch me under pressure.”
Clark was average in the dressage, which tests horse obedience in walk, trot, and canter. She scored 51.20 to rank 14th.
Cross-country is a gruelling undertaking where the riders must complete a 6840m course consisting of 40 to 45 obstacles, including logs, water jumps, fence ascents, and banks within an optimum time. Refusals incur 20 penalty points and combinations can also pick up time faults, both of which are added to the dressage score.
Clark scored an outstanding 9.20 to be in second place behind countryman Tait. Clark was flawless in the third and final showjumping discipline, leaping over a dozen obstacles inside the time allowed. The only person who could deprive her of the gold medal was Tait, who duly had the perfect round.
Tait’s best horse, Chesterfield, was selected for the team competition - held separately, and first - where New Zealand earned bronze. He was down only as a reserve for the individual event, but when Todd’s horse was injured, he got the chance to compete, riding Ready Teddy.
“After the medal ceremony, we went back to the barn, and nobody was there so we just pottered around. In the distance, we could hear this din. There was a party and then Blyth and I were summoned to go to a TV studio an hour away.
“Because Blyth won the gold medal, all the attention was focused on him which suited me. I didn’t have to answer many questions I might have messed up. When we went back to the party, it was all over, so we just went to bed.
“It was such a roller coaster ride going home with all the medal celebrations that I don’t think my feet touched the ground at all.
“I was kind of like two people - there was me carrying on with my life, and there was this person who went to the Olympics and won silver. It was all so surreal, maybe because it’s something that one always dreams about, and makes plans for but then it actually happens and it becomes hard to comprehend. The more time between 1996 and now, the prouder I am of what I achieved.”
Clark continued with Squirrel Hill after the Olympics, finishing sixth at Badminton in 1997 and being part of the gold medal-winning world champion New Zealand team the following year with Jefferis, Tait, Latta and Todd. The quintet won the Halberg Award for Team of the Year in 1998.
“What happened with eventing in the 90s was unique and I feel so lucky and privileged to have been a part of it. I have the hugest respect for Mark, Andrew, Blyth, and all the riders of that generation. I didn’t idolise them, but I looked up to them and picked their brains when I saw them. They were all heads-down, bums-up people. They selected good horses, knew what they were doing, and got things done.”
Clark continues to get things done with Maurice Beatson at Kiwi Horses, mostly preparing show jumping horses. The showjumping season runs from September to March and requires a different type of work to eventing, which is a shorter season with fewer events.
But with vast experience, Clark can teach all disciplines and often travels long distances to Nelson, Hawkes Bay, Masterton, and Wellington to meet students.
Clark is optimistic about New Zealand’s prospects at the Paris Olympics. Despite the team competition being reduced from four competitors to three, several riders are staking their claim.
“Matthew Grayling is based in the USA with his lovely, consistent horse Trudeau. Monica Spencer, a team bronze medallist from the 2022 World Champs, rides her lovely thoroughbred Artist.
“James Avery and Samantha Lissington are based in the UK. Tim and Jonelle Price are a glamour couple who’ve performed strongly. Clarke Johnstone and Caroline Powell are others waiting in the wings.”
Squirrel Hill retired from competition in 2000 and died of Cushing’s Syndrome aged 28 in 2011.
“We did a bit of hunting which he loved before he spent his final years as a free-range horse going in all the good grass paddocks at home. When he died I kind of felt like he knew I was there, so it was okay to let go. He was lying down with his head in my lap.”
*The oldest New Zealand female Olympic medallist is Vicky Latta, who was 45 years and 44 days when she claimed bronze in Team Eventing at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Riding Broadcast News, she achieved the bronze despite a serious fall during the cross-country which caused her to fail to finish the event.
This story was originally published at Newsroom.co.nz and is republished with permission.
