He’s been the national team coach for the German eventing team during an extraordinary run of success – but now Christopher Bartle is going to be Performance Coach for the British Eventing team.
The British Equestrian Federation (BEF) and British Eventing confirmed today (25 November) that Chris will be taking on the newly-created role in January 2017.
Yogi Breisner, who was the former World Class Performance Manager for BE, announced his retirement this year.
“We are incredibly lucky to have found such a strong and inspirational Performance Coach to take the British eventing squad forward,” said British Eventing Chief Executive David Holmes.
Clare Salmon, British Equestrian Federation Chief Executive, added: “Chris has a great wealth of knowledge and experience across all Olympic equestrian disciplines as a rider as well as achieving incredible results throughout his years with the German Senior Eventing team. We look forward to welcoming him back to his homeland and to the UK Sport Lottery Funded World Class Performance team in the New Year.”
Christopher was a successful dressage rider, finishing sixth at the Los Angeles Olympics on Wily Trout, before switching to eventing. He won Badminton in 1998, and was part of the gold-medal winning British team at the European Championships in 1997. He was the travelling reserve for the team at the Syndey Olympics in 2000.
A renowned trainer and Fellow of the British Horse Society, Christopher is one of the directors of the Yorkshire Riding Centre.