IN DEPTH WITH...Andrew Nicholson

New Zealand Olympian Andrew Nicholson and his charge Avebury will make the short trip from their stables in Lockeridge, just outside Marlborough, keen to continue their recent domination of the event.

The pair will seek a fourth straight title at the competition in Rockley next weekend, with Nicholson confirming Avebury is fully fit to take part, having recovered from a bone chip which ruled him out of Badminton earlier this year.

In fact, so impressive is the pair’s record at the event, that organisers have renamed a fence on the course in Avebury’s honour.

“It’s a wonderful event to be part of and we’ve been lucky enough to have some fantastic results there over the years,” said 53-year-old Nicholson.

“Over the three days, we will have eight or nine horses going, so we‘re all really looking forward to it.

“It’s a beautiful bit of the countryside in England, especially at this time of the year with all the crops coming out. It’s just a lovely setting.

“And it’s one of the few spectator courses where the public can sit and see nearly every jump from one point. To be able to see pretty much the whole cross-country course from one place is a real bonus.

“It’s always good to do well at your local events and I always try to support them whenever I can. It’s quite a buzz for me when I do well there.

“Avebury is going well and is my main hope for the trials.

“He has made a good recovery. He did a small competition a few weeks ago in preparation for Barbury and went very well, so he’s in good shape.

“Because he has won it the last three years in a row, they have named a jump after him up at the Stonehenge bit of the course - it’s quite an honour for him.

“The way he is going here at home, there’s no reason why he can’t win a fourth one.”

Andrew Nicholson and Avebury in action at last year's Barbury Horse Trials

Nicholson has come a long way in his career – not least the near 12,000 miles from his birthplace on New Zealand’s North Island in 1961.

Back then, his apprenticeship into eventing was primarily one of simplicity, with a young Nicholson able to ride regularly near his family home.

However, that early marriage of convenience became a life-long love affair with all things equine.

“When I started riding ponies as a kid back in New Zealand, I was lucky enough to live right next door to where the pony club would have their weekly rallies. It was very easy for me to pop across the road and take part,” said Nicholson.

“I didn’t really enjoy the dressage side of it but I loved the jumping and the games and those sorts of things.

“As I got a little older, I realised I could make a living out of selling my ponies and that’s pretty much what got me into eventing.

“I enjoyed the cross-country side of it and I also realised I could make money out of producing. I started producing ponies and now I produce horses and sell them.

“To be honest, back then I loved going over the jumps but I didn’t really like the technical side of it. But all these years later, I’m doing the technical side of it as well.”

A big part of Nicholson’s storied career is his association with the Olympic Games.

Aged 23, he made his Olympic debut, riding Kahlua in Los Angeles in 1984 and – alongside Sir Mark Todd – has gone on to become the first New Zealander to be selected for seven Games.

Although Nicholson has collected a trio of Olympic team medals – silver at Barcelona 1992, as well as bronzes in Atlanta four years later and at London 2012, his efforts elsewhere as an individual have given him much more satisfaction.

Chief among those is at the world-famous Burghley Horse Trials, where he and Avebury will also go for a fourth straight title in September.

“My first Games were back in 1984 in Los Angeles and that’s what really got me hooked into eventing,” said Nicholson.

“I sold my horse the day after the Olympics and stayed in America, so I had both sides of it. I managed to ride at an Olympic Games, and that was really exciting to be part of, and then to sell the horse straight afterwards made the business side of it seem worthwhile as well.

“That pretty much got me focussed to stick with eventing.

“Olympic Games are great things to go to but, to be honest, some of the other things I have done are probably bigger highlights for me.

“Things like Burghley; winning there three times in a row on the same horse is quite something, although certainly, if I could be Olympic individual champion, then that would be a highlight.”

Nicholson remains keen to continue his Olympic legacy and has set his sights on a place at an eighth Games in Rio next year.

However, that could be derailed by a dispute between the rider and Equestrian Sport New Zealand, which has seen him left off his country’s high performance squad.

Although frustrated by the current situation, Nicholson is hopeful a resolution can be found.

“I’m hopeful I can be there in Rio but at the moment, I am having a little bit of a problem with my federation,” he said.

“I am on the outlist at the moment but it’s still a way off, so who knows. It seems to be going round in circles at the moment but we are talking, and there is time on my side, which is good.”

Nicholson and Avebury, pictured at his ride's namesake Barbury fence

If Nicholson has competed at his last Games, then there could have been no better way to bow out than in front of the crowds of his adopted home at London 2012.

He enjoyed his best-ever individual result at a Games at Greenwich Park by finishing fourth on board Nereo and also helped New Zealand claim a bronze medal in the team competition.

“The most exciting Olympics I have been to was London. They did an amazing job with the whole competition,” said Nicholson.

“I have lived over here longer than I lived in New Zealand, so whether that made it feel different to the others, I am not sure but it was certainly very special.

“The cross-country course was so twisty, the people were so close to you and you felt that connection with the spectators.

“You could get a lot of spectators who were possibly not that interested in horses but just wanted to go to an Olympic venue and they felt like they were very involved in the competition and the whole thing of the Olympics. They just felt like they were excited to be part of it.

“You could feel they were excited for you, for themselves and for everything.”

Future Olympic participation may be out of his control for the time being but the one thing Nicholson is most determined to try to put right himself is the quest for an elusive maiden crown at Badminton.

Back in May, Nicholson appeared destined to land the title he has chased for three decades, leading on board Nereo after both the dressage and cross-country phases.

However, the competition was to end in heartbreak as the pair knocked down three fences on the final show jumping element and could only finish sixth.

Nicholson will celebrate his 54th birthday next month and has been saddling up horses for more than 40 years, but that burning Badminton desire means he no plans to hang up his leather chaps just yet.

“I was very close - you don’t get any closer than I was - but it just didn’t go how it was meant to. That’s sport and I have moved on and we’ll just go back again and have another go,” said Nicholson.

“I will have to keep going until I get that monkey off my back. It certainly gives you an incentive to keep going. As long as I keep enjoying what I do, I will keep going.

"At the moment, I still enjoy getting up in the morning and doing it, so I can see myself going for quite a few more years. The travelling I find gets a bit monotonous but the work at home and the competing I enjoy.

“At the moment, we’ve got 30 horses here at the stables. It’s a very busy system. We have got horses from the bottom level to the top and you have to keep working on the bottom ones to get them experience, so when the top ones retire or have injuries, you have another one to step into its place.

“I have got a very, very good young horse who has been doing very well called Jet Set. I have got high hopes for him and I think he will be a big one to look out for next year.”