Jane Holderness-Roddam Honored with 2025 Horse & Hound Lifetime Achievement Award
Jane Holderness-Roddam has been recognized for her extraordinary dedication and impact on the equestrian world with the 2025 Horse & Hound Lifetime Achievement Award, a testament to her unparalleled contribution to the sport. The announcement was met with resounding applause at the Horse & Hound Awards ceremony, held in partnership with NAF and Agria at Dallas Burston Polo Club this evening.
According to Pippa Roome, magazine and eventing editor at H&H, “Jane’s story with Our Nobby is the stuff of every child’s dreams – to take our pony all the way to a Badminton win and the Olympics – and she has gone on to become a hugely respected figure in equestrianism, her influence touching so many different areas to which she has generously given her time and expertise.” Roome further emphasized Holderness-Roddam’s consistent kindness and the honor for Horse & Hound to bestow this award as she steps down from running West Kington Stud.
Born into the equestrian-focused Bullen family in Dorset in 1948, Holderness-Roddam’s upbringing was deeply intertwined with horses and ponies at her parents’ Catherston Stud. Alongside her three brothers – Anthony, Michael, and Charlie – and two sisters, Jennie and Sarah, she experienced a childhood filled with riding bareback on the beach, swimming with ponies in the sea, hunting, and active participation in Pony Club activities. The Bullen children also excelled in showing ponies, both those bred by their parents and those belonging to owners, at the highest competitive levels.
Holderness-Roddam’s competitive journey began at the age of three and a half, securing a win in the leading-rein class at Richmond. At seven years old, she and her sister Jennie, along with three ponies – Royal Show, Criban Bumble, and Coed Coch Pryderi – were flown to New York’s Madison Square Gardens and Toronto’s Royal Winter Fair by Miss Stubbings, a prominent pony owner, igniting a passion for international equestrian competition in both young riders.
Her initial foray into eventing came as a member of the Cattistock branch of the Pony Club’s area team – a team largely comprised of Bullen family members – riding a pony named Little Robin. The family’s move to Didmarton in Gloucestershire when Holderness-Roddam was eleven brought them closer to the iconic Badminton Horse Trials. The Duke of Beaufort granted the Bullens permission to ride in the park at Badminton, sparking a lifelong connection to the prestigious event. A year later, her brother Mike competed at Badminton, achieving ninth and sixteenth place finishes, and in 1960, he became the first member of the Bullen family to compete at the Olympic Games in Rome.
In 1960, Holderness-Roddam’s parents acquired a 14.2hh thoroughbred named Our Nobby – described as “thin and scruffy-looking, with a ewe neck” – for £150. This partnership would prove to be legendary. Seven years later, the pair made their debut at Badminton, with Holderness-Roddam balancing her training as a nurse at the Middlesex Hospital with rigorous fitness preparation, including running up and down hospital wards and skipping on the hospital roof. They finished fifth and were shortlisted for the European Championships at Punchestown, followed by a third-place finish at Burghley that autumn.
The pinnacle of their success arrived in 1968 when Holderness-Roddam and Our Nobby triumphed at Badminton and earned selection for the Mexico Olympics. At just 20 years old, Holderness-Roddam became the first British woman to compete in three-day eventing at the Olympics. Despite challenging conditions – high altitude, extreme humidity, and flooding – the British team secured a gold medal, with Holderness-Roddam making history as the first woman to win an Olympic eventing medal and returning home as a national hero.
Our Nobby was retired after the Olympics, but Holderness-Roddam’s success continued. In 1976, she won Burghley on Warrior, owned by Suzie Howard, and achieved a strong performance at Badminton in 1978. She was also a member of the gold medal-winning British team at the European Championships at Burghley in 1977.
In 1974, she married Tim Holderness-Roddam, and together they established a successful stud at Church Farm, West Kington, Wiltshire. The eventing community deeply mourned Tim’s passing in 2021. While Holderness-Roddam transitioned away from nursing after her marriage, she remained actively involved in numerous pursuits, including serving as a lady-in-waiting to the Princess Royal, completing the London Marathon for the Fortune Centre of Riding Therapy, and undertaking a tandem skydive to raise funds for the Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA).
Holderness-Roddam has dedicated significant energy to various roles within equestrianism, including a challenging period as chairman of British Eventing amidst a series of tragic deaths in the sport and the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. She has also served as president of British Eventing, the Fortune Centre of Riding Therapy, the British Equestrian Trade Society, and the Caspian Horse Society. Furthermore, she is a former national chairman of the RDA and a former council chairman of the British Equestrian Federation. A prolific author, she has penned over 25 equestrian books and was presented with the Queen’s Award for Equestrianism in 2009.
Holderness-Roddam’s service to equestrian sport extends to her contributions as a judge, steward, and official, where she is highly regarded for her kindness, wisdom, positivity, and friendliness.
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H&H news editor
Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.
