Bareback Puissance

We all know the Puissance wall to be the biggest challenge on the showjumping circuit, only a highly trained, high quality partnership would even attempt the obstacle.

Well what happens when some of the World`s top riders take on the challenge bareback? That`s right jumping the huge obstacle without the safety of so much as a saddle to sit on.

Some riders and horses have become Puissance specialists such as Robert Whittaker, seen in the video below - Robert Whittaker has won well over 20 Puissance competitions and once won 13 in a row on iconic chestnut Finbar consistently jumping heights over 2.26m. Robert is part of the UK`s famous Whittaker dynasty and has has represented the Britain many times from junior level to the senior ranks including winning the British Open Championship on multiple occasions

The other rider featured in this video, Will Melliger was a 2 time Olympic silver medal winning equestrian from Switzerland with his horse Calvaro V. They won an individual silver medal at Atlanta 1996 and was part of the Swiss silver medal winning show jumping team at Sydney 2000.

Melliger sadly past away in January 2018 after an earlier stroke but his achievements and his bareback puissance exploits will live on.