Blyth Tait

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Olympic medal record
Equestrian
Bronze	Barcelona 1992	Three-Day Event Individual
Silver	Barcelona 1992	Three-Day Event Team
Gold	Atlanta 1996	Three-Day Event Individual
Bronze	Atlanta 1996	Three-Day Event Team

Robert Blyth Tait (born May 10, 1961 in Whangarei) is a New Zealand equestrian, who has represented New Zealand at four Summer Olympics. Tait has two horses, "Ready Teddy" and "Eze". He as become one of New Zealand’s greatest sportsmen, winning world and Olympic titles, and excelling in all the other major three-day eventing competitions around the world.

Tait attended Whangarei Boys High School, and was interested in horses from an early age – his father bred race horses – and tried showjumping before specialising in three-day eventing.

Tait first came to public attention riding Rata in the mid-1980s. The pair qualified for the 1986 world championships at Gawler, Australia, but Rata died of a heart attack on the eve of the competition.

About this time, Tait teamed with a showjumping horse, Messiah, converting him to the three-day event. He made the New Zealand team to Australia in 1988 where he rode his first great horse, Messiah to a second placing at Hawkesbury. The following year, there were second placings with Messiah at Achselschwang, Germany and Chantilly, France, in 1989.

In 1990 Tait took a huge leap forward, winning the world individual title on Messiah in Stockholm, Sweden and helping New Zealand to the world team title as well. There was also a second placing at the prestigious Badminton Horse Trials on the same horse, plus victory in the Scottish Open on Ricochet.

By 1992, Tait was ranked No 1 in the world, a position he maintained almost throughout the decade. He and Messiah took away the individual bronze medal at the Barcelona Olympics, and were part of the silver medal-winning New Zealand team there. The individual bronze was a special feat as after the dressage section, Tait had been placed only 69th.

By now Tait, based in England fulltime, was showing the Todd-like ability to ride a number of horses successfully and he shone also with Tempo and Delta.

Tait’s greatest horse was probably Ready Teddy. The combination produced the Olympic individual gold medal at Atlanta in 1996, while they were listed as reserves before the event and gained entry only when Mark Todd’s Kayem was injured. They also won the world individual title in Rome in 1998. Tait and Ready Teddy also helped New Zealand to the world team title in 1998. Further, riding Chesterfield, Tait helped New Zealand to a team bronze medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics.

A tenacious competitor, Tait has won the Kentucky three-day event, on Welton Envoy, and Burghley — in 1998 on Chesterfield and 2001 on Ready Teddy. However Badminton has eluded him — three times he has been runner-up.

Tait was awarded the Lonsdale Cup by the New Zealand Olympic Committee in 2001. He was proudly the team flagbearer at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.