Michael Ansell

Sir Michael Ansell was a show-jumping administrator who was born in Curragh, County Kildare, the home of Irish horse racing. An excellent horseman, he became an international showjumper and polo player, and later a show jumping course designer.

Ansell was chairman of the British Show Jumping Association for more than 20 years in two terms between 1945-71 and was president between 1964-66. He was also director of the Royal International Horse of the Year Show for more than 25 years from its inception in 1949, and was chairman and/or president of the British Equestrian Federation 1972-76.

Educated at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, Ansell was commissioned as a cavalry officer into the 5th Inniskilling Dragoon Guards. In 1940 his leadership skills saw him placed in command of a Yeomanry regiment in France, and at the age of 35 he was the youngest commanding officer in the British Army. Ansell was blinded by accidental fire from British soldiers during a raid, when he also lost four fingers on his left hand. He was subsequently captured and was a prisoner-of-war for four years. Ansell was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in 1944 and a CBE in 1951, and was knighted in 1968.

Despite being blind, Ansell foresaw the future of show jumping as a spectator sport and how it would be ideal for the new media of television that was popular in the 1950s and he subsequently became known as the “father of show jumping”. In October 1969, Ansell suffered the heartbreak of his wife of 33 years passing away at the age of 57. He re-married in December 1970 but six months later he lost his second wife when a lorry mounted a pavement and killed her in an accident at Wiltshire. Despite his blindness Ansell was a fine salmon fisherman and flower-grower.