dbo:abstract
- Ryan’s Son (1968-1987) was a successful showjumping horse ridden by John Whitaker. He was a bay gelding and stood 16 hands (64 inches, 163 cm). He was sired by a Thoroughbred called Ozymandias and born from an Irish Draught mare. In January 2007, Ryan’s Son joined John Whitaker in being inducted into The British Horse Society Equestrian Hall of Fame. In 2020 he was named as one of the greatest horses of all time by Country Life (magazine) with Ryan’s Son being noted for “a distinctive white blaze, a swishing tail and a habit of bucking violently after the last fence that was beloved by the public.” A crowd favourite, Ryan’s Son became renowned for bucking after the final fence. On the bucking, jockey John Whittaker was quoted as saying: “He was showing off. He knew he had finished by the applause and by feeling me switch off the pressure. He said: ‘that’s it, I have done it’, and bucked. It was off-putting, though, if the audience clapped after a difficult combination in the middle of a round, because he bucked then too, which would put you wrong for the next fence.” (en)