Richard Waygood

Richard has ridden from an early age. At 16 he realised an ambition to join the Household Cavalry (The Life Guards). After years of hard work and dedication he was commissioned from the ranks to hold the highly prestigious and respected post of Riding Master in the Household Cavalry. Richard also rode and evented a number of horses for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

He has had a busy and varied career, within his role of Riding Master where he was instrumental in many ceremonial duties such as the Queen’s Birthday Parade/State Opening of Parliament, he choreographed the world famous Household Cavalry Musical Ride who performed all over the world as far reaching as the frozen lake at St.Moritz to the heat of the desert in Dubai. In 2009 he was awarded an MBE for outstanding service.

Since leaving the Army in 2009 Richard was appointed Performance Manager for the GB Dressage Team successfully winning Britain’s first ever dressage medals at the London Games, Team Gold and Individual Gold and Bronze followed by Rio Games where the Team Silver and Individual Gold Medals were won. In January of 2017 Richard was appointed Performance Manager for the GB Eventing Team. At the 2017 European Championships the Eventing Team won their first Team Gold for 8 years. The 2018 World Equestrian Games in Tryon, North Carolina 2018 proved very successful, Team Gold and Individual Gold were won followed by Team Silver at the 2019 European Championships. Since Richard’s appointments in elite sport in 2009 he has been involved in securing over 40 Senior Championship medals. In 2019 Richard was appointed Performance Director British Equestrian and oversaw the World Class Programme and Team GB Equestrian. He led the Equestrian Team GB at the Tokyo Olympic Games amassing a tally of 5 Olympic and 8 Paralympic medals. He is a world renowned coach and well-regarded sought-after motivational speaker talking of his life experiences and leadership roles. All focus is now on Paris 2024!