Ian Stark Biography
Ian Stark was born in Galashiels in 1954, the youngest of three children. He married Jenny McAulay in 1979 and they went on to have two children, firstly a daughter, Stephanie, in 1980, and then a son, Tim, in 1981. Stephanie is now married to Charles Robson and they have two boys, Freddie and Alfie. Tim is married to Kirsty and have 2 children, Hugo and Eilidh. The Grandchildren all call Ian ‘Grumpy’.
Ian started riding at Will Boyle’s Ladhope stables in Galashiels at the age of 10. He rode in his first horse trials at Sunderland Hall, between Galashiels and Selkirk, aged 18 on Jackie Rodger’s Glenmoidart.
Ian worked for the DHSS from the age of 18 to 28. At 28 Ian started to work at home, with Jenny, doing horses full time. At 30 Ian rode in his first Badminton on Sir Wattie, owned by Dame Jean Maxwell-Scott and Mrs Susan Luczyc-Wyhowska, and Oxford Blue, owned by Miss Liz Davidson. Both horses were only 8 years old at the time. They finished 6th and 3rd respectively and Ian was subsequently short listed for the 1984 Olympic Team.
At this point, most fortunately, Ian’s first sponsor stepped in. The Edinburgh Woollen Mill, with David Stevenson at the helm, was the lifeblood of Ian’s career for over 8 years and it cannot be expressed in words how much David’s support – financial and otherwise – was and is appreciated
At the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles Ian rode Oxford Blue, with Sir Wattie as his travelling reserve. Ian’s first championship medal came from these games in the form of team Silver.
The LA Olympics was the real start of Ian’s eventing career and the beginning of a longstanding inclusion on the British event team, which culminated in a collection of medals and wins, including:
4 Olympic Silvers
1 team gold, 1 team silver and 1 individual silver at World Championships
1 individual Gold, 1 individual silver and 1 individual bronze – plus 6 team golds – at European Championships
Team gold and individual bronze in Poland at the 1986 alternative World Champs
Three Badminton wins and the (as yet) unequalled record of being the only rider to ever become 1st and 2nd in the same year in 1988
An abundance of three day event wins – too numerous to recall but with Bramham being a particular favourite and lucky place!
All in all Ian has ridden 18 horses to 4 star level, supported throughout his career by some truly wonderful owners and sponsors. Ian retired from teams in 2000 and then (allegedly!) retired fully in 2007. Thereafter he went on to ride at three star level again with ‘Looks Similar’, a horse that was first competed at Pre-Novice level by his late sister-in-law, Catriona Arres, and then up to two star level by his daughter, Stephanie. He still finds it impossible to give up totally so you will see him out and about on the odd young horse at the more local events!
Ian’s eventing career diversified latterly. From 2001 to 2012 he was a selector of the British team and in 2004 he trained the Brazilian team for the Athens Olympics.
In 2005 Ian started cross country course designing at Chatsworth, encouraged by Mike Etherington Smith and The Duchess of Devonshire. This was the start of his new career in eventing and he now designs throughout Britain, Ireland and the USA. In 2015 he designed his first Championship track for the European Championships at, Blair Castle in Scotland.
Ian now designs up to five-star level, with his biggest UK events being Chatsworth CCI**** and Bramham CCI****/CIC****. Ian has designed at 4 star level in Ireland, most notably at Tattersalls, and across the USA, including Richland Park in Michigan, Rebecca Farm in Montana and Galway Downs in California. Ian is excited to be designing his first 5 star event at Fair Hill, in Maryland USA, which is due to run in October 2021.
In addition to his eventing efforts, Ian has had four books published about his life and career – his wife, Jenny, wrote the first one, entitled The Flying Scot!
Ian rode in Point-to-Points for 12 years, he rode a handful of point-to-point winners, most notably Randolph Place, who was owned by David and Alix Stevenson of the Edinburgh Woollen Mill. His race riding ended when he rode in the Foxhunters Chase at Cheltenham in 1993 and ended up in hospital – he will freely admit that race riding was not his forte but he then trained horses and had much more success, including Birkwood winning the Buccleuch Cup at Kelso races. For some years Ian was busy being a Steward for the British Horseracing Authority and is part of the BHA Disciplinary Committee.
Ian has hunted since he was twelve – partly for fun, partly for countryside management, but mostly for the purpose of educating young horses and giving enthusiasm and confidence back to the more ‘mature’ horse.
In the main, Ian has hunted with the Duke of Buccleuch Foxhounds, although he has enjoyed many days with the other local packs – the Berwickshire, Lauderdale and Jedforest – and has visited friends and hunted with other packs across the UK, most notably the Eglinton, the Pytchley, the Beaufort, the Tynedale and the North Cotswold.
A few years ago Ian and a small, select group of gents took a ‘boys trip’ over to Ireland and hunted with the Duhallow, the County Limerick and the Tipperary Foxhounds. What goes on tour stays on tour, but suffice to say they were warmly welcomed, well looked after and enjoyed some wonderful post-hunting food and drink courtesy of the Dunraven Arms.
Ian has been honoured with a number of awards over the course of his career, including:
The Honorary Fellowship of the British Horse Society
The MBE from the Queen in 1989 and the OBE in 2000
Honorary Yeoman of the Worshipful Company of Saddlers
Fellowship of the Scottish Borders College in 2007
Induction into the Halls of Fame of Sporting Scotland, Sporting Scottish Borders, the British Horse Society and the Event Riders’ Association
