Background
Born in Cambridge, New Zealand.
Born in Cambridge, New Zealand.
On leaving school Todd pursued a career as a farmer, gaining a Diploma of Agriculture at the Waikato Technical Institute, and working on farms while fitting in riding, competing and selling horses.
In 1978 he was part of New Zealand’s first three-day eventing team to contest a world championship, at Lexington, Kentucky, USA. Thereafter, Todd moved to England where he mucked out stables and obtained use of horses for event rides. At his first attempt, in 1980, he won the Badminton Horse Trials riding Southern Comfort.
Todd is recognized as a pioneer of three-day eventing in New Zealand.
Todd became a popular sportsman in his home country and some of the horses he rode also became well-known.
At the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics he won an individual bronze medal.
Todd retired from international competition following the 2000 Sydney Olympics and returned to live in New Zealand. He remained closely involved with the administration of the eventing, acting as coach for the NZ Olympic Eventing team at Athens in 2004. He continued to compete in eventing at a local level and to support the sport in general.
On 25 January 2008 Horse & Hound announced online that Mark Todd was to make a return to Eventing eight years after he retired in Sydney.
On 19 May 2008, Todd placed sixth at a three-day equestrian event in Saumur, France.
In February 2009 Todd announced that he was making a full return to elite level eventing, basing himself in England with a team of up to 8 horses.
Competing at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Todd is the second oldest New Zealand olympian in history.
In the 1985 New Year Honours, Todd was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire, and he was elevated to Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1995 Queen's Birthday Honours.
Todd was made a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2013 New Year's Honours, for his services to equestrian sport.
So Far So Good
Charisma
One Day Eventing
Mark Todd’s Cross-Country Handbook
Novice Eventing with Mark Todd
Snow skiing, boating
Todd married Carolyn Berry in 1986 and had two children, Lauren and James.
