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I am the son of Olympic Showjumper, the late, Tim Stockdale; I have been riding all my life and started in the Oakley Hunt West Pony Club when I was 4 years old on a pony called Miss Muffet. During my Pony Club years I competed in Tetrathlon and Show jumping teams and was in the Mounted Games Team at Horse of the Year Show in 2013. I also competed for my school showjumping team. At the age of twelve I moved onto horses. I was lucky to be given the chance to ride a horse called Gunar S, we eventually bought him and I competed him from Newcomers to 1.40 classes. I only jumped occasionally as I was busy playing cricket. Cricket had been my original chosen career. I played for Northampton County from age 11, through to 19, playing for their second team. |
Gunner (Romeo) arrived in 2015, he had jumped a few Newcomer classes, but hadn't done much for his age. We gelled straight away and although he is only 15.2hh he doesn't know it! In 2017 I was lucky enough to be selected to jump on my first junior team and travelled to Belgium and Holland.
I jumped at the British Show jumping National Championships in August of 2018 and qualified to jump at Horse of the Year Show later that year. There I won the 5 fence challenge and finished 9th in the Grand Prix. Sadly, Dad was in hospital at that time, he managed to watch my rounds on the Live Stream though.
Over the next couple of weeks Dad and I discussed a plan for the yard and horses, I had had such a good show at Horse of the Year Show all of Dad's owners said they would like to give me a chance and keep the horses with me. At that point I decided to change my career path and gave up cricket. In the November Dad passed away.
2019 started with success on a trip to Spain, winning my first Ranking class. I followed that
by winning the Under 25s at Royal Windsor in May and I was then selected to jump on my first Young Riders Team in Austria and then the Young Rider European Championship Team in Holland on Don Diego de Plata. Another successful show at the National Championships at Stoneleigh gave me another chance to compete at Horse of the Year show again and also Olympia under 25s class in the December.
In February 2020 we set off to the Sunshine Tour in Spain, only for it to be cut short due to Covid-19. All of the horses jumped well and although most of 2020 was difficult due to restrictions the results I achieved led me to be selected for my first senior team in Vejer in October that year. I was also invited to be a part of the UK Sport World Class Podium Potential Program.
www.britishequestrian.org.uk/team/showjumping/rider/joseph-stockdale
2021 started with another trip to Vejer, all the horses learnt a lot on that trip and Equine America Cacharel finished 2nd in a big Grand Prix. Despite things being difficult with covid causing travel difficulties we did manage to get some very good shows and I had some fantastic results. I jumped on several Nations Cup teams and jumped on my first 5* Nations Cup in Sopot, Poland in June. Following that I was selected as part of the European Championship Team that travelled to Riesenbeck in Germany. We were the youngest team there and I was the youngest rider at the Championships. Although we didn't come away with any medals I learnt an enormous amount. It was a great experience and I am looking forward to being part of more British Teams in the future.
2022 Got off to a good start with a trip to Holland for two days where I was interviewed for the "Riders Academy". I am proud to say I was successfully selected onto the squad for 2022. www.ridersacademy.eu/rider.aspx?id=74
I travelled to Italy for several weeks in March to prepare the horses for the season ahead. With success at Royal Windsor I was selected for Nations Cups Teams in Rome, St Gallen, Rotterdam and Falsterbo. My double clear in Rotterdam and with good rounds on the other teams I was then selected to be a part of the team to travel to Herning, in Denmark for the 2022 ECCO FEI World Championships with Scott Brash, Harry Charles, Ben Maher and John Whitaker.
The experience I gained there was incredible. The atmosphere is so different from the day time jumping compared to the night time competition. The courses were the toughest Cacharel and I had ever seen,
The team result of Bronze on the Friday night was the first time Great Britain had won a medal in 24 years. I was so proud to be there and be a part of that night.
https://www.britishequestrian.org.uk/news/british-jumping-team-secures-first-world-championship-medal-in-24-years
I jumped at the British Show jumping National Championships in August of 2018 and qualified to jump at Horse of the Year Show later that year. There I won the 5 fence challenge and finished 9th in the Grand Prix. Sadly, Dad was in hospital at that time, he managed to watch my rounds on the Live Stream though.
Over the next couple of weeks Dad and I discussed a plan for the yard and horses, I had had such a good show at Horse of the Year Show all of Dad's owners said they would like to give me a chance and keep the horses with me. At that point I decided to change my career path and gave up cricket. In the November Dad passed away.
2019 started with success on a trip to Spain, winning my first Ranking class. I followed that
by winning the Under 25s at Royal Windsor in May and I was then selected to jump on my first Young Riders Team in Austria and then the Young Rider European Championship Team in Holland on Don Diego de Plata. Another successful show at the National Championships at Stoneleigh gave me another chance to compete at Horse of the Year show again and also Olympia under 25s class in the December.
In February 2020 we set off to the Sunshine Tour in Spain, only for it to be cut short due to Covid-19. All of the horses jumped well and although most of 2020 was difficult due to restrictions the results I achieved led me to be selected for my first senior team in Vejer in October that year. I was also invited to be a part of the UK Sport World Class Podium Potential Program.
www.britishequestrian.org.uk/team/showjumping/rider/joseph-stockdale
2021 started with another trip to Vejer, all the horses learnt a lot on that trip and Equine America Cacharel finished 2nd in a big Grand Prix. Despite things being difficult with covid causing travel difficulties we did manage to get some very good shows and I had some fantastic results. I jumped on several Nations Cup teams and jumped on my first 5* Nations Cup in Sopot, Poland in June. Following that I was selected as part of the European Championship Team that travelled to Riesenbeck in Germany. We were the youngest team there and I was the youngest rider at the Championships. Although we didn't come away with any medals I learnt an enormous amount. It was a great experience and I am looking forward to being part of more British Teams in the future.
2022 Got off to a good start with a trip to Holland for two days where I was interviewed for the "Riders Academy". I am proud to say I was successfully selected onto the squad for 2022. www.ridersacademy.eu/rider.aspx?id=74
I travelled to Italy for several weeks in March to prepare the horses for the season ahead. With success at Royal Windsor I was selected for Nations Cups Teams in Rome, St Gallen, Rotterdam and Falsterbo. My double clear in Rotterdam and with good rounds on the other teams I was then selected to be a part of the team to travel to Herning, in Denmark for the 2022 ECCO FEI World Championships with Scott Brash, Harry Charles, Ben Maher and John Whitaker.
The experience I gained there was incredible. The atmosphere is so different from the day time jumping compared to the night time competition. The courses were the toughest Cacharel and I had ever seen,
The team result of Bronze on the Friday night was the first time Great Britain had won a medal in 24 years. I was so proud to be there and be a part of that night.
https://www.britishequestrian.org.uk/news/british-jumping-team-secures-first-world-championship-medal-in-24-years
