Can John and Jack Whitaker make Olympic showjumping history?

Showjumper John Whitaker is contemplating how many competitions he has won during his near-50-year career. “I’ve no idea!” he answers honestly, which is perhaps understandable. At 68, he is one of the world’s most successful showjumpers – and has no plans to retire any time soon.

Jack Whitaker, John’s 22-year-old nephew (and son of showjumper Michael Whitaker), has joined us on the farm, having followed in the family’s sporting tradition. How many events has he won? He grins towards his uncle. “Not as many as him.” 

John suddenly recalls the tally: “I’ve got about 24 or 25 international championship medals,” he says. His hoard includes an Olympic team silver from 1984, and multiple trophies, many of which are displayed inside a dresser in John and wife Clare’s farmhouse, a 120-acre haven overlooking the Yorkshire Pennines.

The 60 horses at their yard are missing three of their number on the day I arrive. Sharid, whose recent wins include two firsts at the London International Horse Show (LIHS) is en route to John’s next event in Spain, while his potential hope for the 2024 Olympics, Arqana de Riverland (a horse owned by the French rider Juliette Faligot who has handed over the reins to Whitaker to give it the best chance of winning) and Equine America Unick du Francport are still in transit from a competition in Doha, Qatar.

You’ve got to be ruthless. When you get in the ring, it’s that hunger to win

Jack is as ambitious as his uncle. Noted as one of Britain’s most exciting up-and-coming jumpers, he is building his own collection of international trophies eventing at equestrian’s five-star competitions. As a junior, he won a team silver at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires. Last year, he and fellow equestrian Joe Stockdale became official ambassadors for the Royal Windsor Horse Show, one of the world’s most prestigious equestrian events.

Jack is not the Whitaker family’s only protégé. The showjumping dynasty, which began with farmer’s son John, and two of his brothers Michael and Steven, now includes 15 Whitakers who compete internationally – and often bump into each other at shows. Jack never felt forced to compete. “There was no pressure on me,” he says. “I went to all the big shows with my dad when I was young and I enjoyed it, so I wanted to do it, too. My mum was quite tough though. Before I could ride, I had to do all the groundwork first, like mucking out and cleaning tack.”

His father Michael passes the best horses on to his son. Which means competing against John. Is that something Jack finds difficult? “No,” he answers without pause. “You’ve got to be ruthless. When you get in the ring, it’s that hunger to win.”

John nods in agreement: “It’s in the Whitaker genes. Jack has inherited the determination to win,” he says. “Everyone wants to succeed, but in the end it comes down to pressing the right buttons for that 60 seconds when you’re in the ring. It’s one thing to be keen and interested, but it’s another being good enough. You’ve got to have that little bit extra: the will to win, horsemanship and the right character.”

The same famous sibling rivalry occurred between John and his brother Michael, who competed for more than 40 years, winning 15 championship medals (he still competes, although not at the highest level; he now focuses on producing the horses for Jack to ride). “I’ve done it all my life with Michael – if he’s in the lead, I try to beat him. If I’m in the lead he tries to beat me,” says John. “Even when we were kids, if I did well in a class, Michael would think to himself, ‘If he can do it, I can do it.’ And I’d think: ‘I can beat him.’”

Although fiercely competitive, the Whitaker clan are equally loyal and provide support when one of its members has had a bad round. 

I ask Jack what he most admires about John. “He’s very good under pressure. I admire how cool he is – his ability to just get it done,” he says.

John smiles at the compliment. “It’s about being able to handle a situation where you’re expected to win the competition. When you’re in a big championship you get nervous. If you don’t you’re not trying hard enough – you’re not passionate enough,” he says. “You have to control your nerves because the horse feels it, and then he can go wrong.”

He looks to his nephew who, he says, has inherited this same trait: “He’s very good under pressure and rises to the occasion,” John continues, before adding: “Unfortunately, he hasn’t inherited my looks – or my hairstyle, or his father’s. He’s disappointed about that.” “I took all his hair, is that what inherited means?” Jack shoots back.

While the Whitaker name is lauded whenever one of its members enters a ring, John has a special place in the hearts of showjumping fans. A fence knocked down is often met with a collective gasp of disappointment, followed by a rousing cheer as he and his horse continue on. “They feel sorry for me,” he jokes. “Cheering definitely motivates you though, it’s a good feeling. It brings the best out in all of us.”

Likewise, the horses have to have a certain temperament to succeed. Ryan’s Son, the 16-hand bay gelding who kicked off John’s career in the 1970s, and with whom he won many top prizes, would buck violently after the last fence to the thrill of the arena. Milton, another big winner, was also a crowd-pleaser: “He would grow in stature, he loved it. It definitely made him better,” John recalls.

Now approaching 69, John is close to rivalling the world’s oldest five-star winner, Austrian Hugo Simon, who came second at the Wiener Neustadt Grand Prix in 2016 at the age of 74. It’s all the more remarkable given that in December 2000, John almost died from a brain haemorrhage. He returned to competing within a year, defying all expectations – except his own. “When I woke up in hospital I said, ‘Where’s my jeans, I’d better get going, it’s Olympia [now LIHS] next week.’ I had drains in my head [for the fluid on the brain] and the doctor said, ‘You’re going nowhere”, but I had no doubt that I’d ride again.”

John remains a key player in showjumping where combining a quality rider and horse is highly lucrative. A top horse can cost millions, and the value is elevated by the prize money on offer. At the Royal Windsor Horse Show, where both John and Jack will compete this May, the Rolex Grand Prix’s prize fund is €500,000. Here, as has become customary, Jack will ask John for advice as they walk a course before competing. 

“He’ll tell me, then beat me anyway,” says Jack.

“I’ll tell him wrong,” John retorts.

Both uncle and nephew are also in the running for selection for the Paris Olympics. For Jack, it would be his first Games, for John, his seventh. He thinks he has “an outside chance” with Arqana de Riverland. Let the competition start. 

Royal Windsor Horse Show 2024, 1-5 May, rwhs.co.uk