William Barker

William Barker was a member of the well-known Northallerton family of show jumpers and was named after his grandfather William, who owned “Barkers of Northallerton”, a famous department store in the North-Yorkshire town. The 17-year-old William was in the Great Britain team that won the 1963 European Junior Show Jumping Championship in Rotterdam, and in both that year, and 1964, he won the Young Riders´ Championship. Also in 1964, Barker was named as the fourth rider to join Peter Robeson, David Broome, and his own older brother David to go to the Tokyo Olympics. William went as GB reserve.

William enjoyed success at the 1965 Horse of the Year Show (HOTYS) when he won the Ronson Trophy, the Victor Ludorum of the annual show, on his Olympic horse North Flight. The pair also won that year´s City of Rotterdam Grand Prix.