"Michael Mac
28.1.1962 – 2.6.2014
It is with a heavy heart that British Showjumping shares the sad news of the passing of former British Showjumping Chairman, Michael Mac at the age of 52 years. Michael’s death comes after a long and hard battle with cancer; a battle that at times looked like he had beaten only for it to return.
Michael, who competed within the sport from a young age rose through the ranks with impressive success. Progressing from ponies, he made the move onto horses look easy by securing an Individual Gold Medal at Junior European Championships level. The mid 1980’s saw Michael appear on a number of Senior Teams in addition to setting the Olympia Puissance record at 7ft 4ins; a record which remained for many years.
Retiring from competitive riding at the age of 24 years to focus on a career as an Insurance Broker, Michael then directed his passion for the sport and his desire to move it forward by sitting as a Committee Member. He became an Executive Board Member in 1994, becoming Chairman in 2005; a post he held until 2013.
Michael’s drive for change within the sport and his desire for it to be modernised was relentless as was his belief that if the sport wasn’t brought into the 21st Century it would struggle to survive. Under Michael’s Chairmanship, the sport has evolved into the one that it is today; a sport that is regularly acknowledged by other Olympic sports as a leading light in both its streamlined structure and its alliance with the government’s Voluntary Code of Good Governance directive.
Under Michael’s guidance a number of new initiatives within the sport were implemented. These are far too many to mention individually, however some of the key ones saw British Showjumping enjoy a vast increase in broadcast time, the introduction of the UKCC Level 3 Coaching structure, implementation of the Junior Academies, a top level County Show series alongside an Amateur series culminating at Horse of The Year Show and a regional membership category for those not wishing to compete for National Finals.
His vision for the future stability of British Showjumping from a logistics and commercial perspective came to fruition at the end of his term as Chairman, with the purchase of a modern office building in Meriden. The offices became the new ‘home’ for the sport in 2013, creating a professional and fresh environment for both British Showjumping and British Dressage whom relocated at the same time as tenants.
Michael’s ‘nothing is impossible’ approach to life was refreshing and unremitting. Never frightened to stick his head above the parapet, Michael will be best noted for his persistent belief that the sport’s constitution needed to change if it was not to fall by the wayside. His persistence came to fruition in September 2012, when the membership voted in confidence of his vision allowing a change to the constitution which would permit for a smaller and skills based board to be appointed.
At the end of his term as Chairman in April 2013, Michael said “I think I was the youngest Chairman when I was appointed at the age of 43 years and I now believe I’ve been the longest serving. I feel confident that I have driven change that will allow British Showjumping’s position to be strengthened in terms of future funding and for it to be allowed to grow. One of my major goals was to ensure we had a thriving sport, a structured young horse environment, to improve coaching and to also ensure that we worked alongside the BEF World Class programme to ensure we had best chance of delivering medals at the London 2012 Olympics. I feel pleased that I am able to hand over the reins to the sports new Chairman having achieved all of this. I would like to stress however, that none of it would have been possible without the tremendous support I have had from the team that work at British Showjumping.”
Extremely personable in his manner, he was also forthright in his belief and believed in straight talking. His sense of humour was infectious as was his energy, enthusiasm and ‘can do’ approach to anything in life. Michael worked closely with every member of staff at British Showjumping and spent time getting to know both them and the role they played, earning him tremendous respect from everyone that knew him. He also, in recent years became a UKCC Accredited coach as a result of the enthusiasm he had for the sports coaching structure and became committed to assisting others realise their ambitions. August last year saw Michael return to the saddle competitively with a novice horse he jointly owned called Competitive Edge. Regularly seen at shows, his drive for winning and qualifying for second rounds was no less at British Novice and Discovery level than it was twenty years previously when he was competing in 1.60m Grand Prix’s. Michael’s enthusiasm and sense of achievement when he had won a class was shared by everyone in the office at British Showjumping, and it was fantastic to see him back in the saddle and enjoying competing once again."
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