Lt. Col. Frank Weldon had an outstanding record at the European Championships. He was a member of the winning team in the three-day event in 1953, 1954, and 1955 and after placing second in the individual competition in 1953 and 1954 he won the individual title in 1955 before again placing second in 1959. At the 1956 Olympics, Weldon became the first British rider to win an individual Olympic equestrian medal and in addition to his bronze in the individual three-day event he won a gold medal in the team competition. Weldon would almost certainly have won the individual gold medal had he not insisted, as team captain, on a policy of strict caution in the cross-country section. At the 1955 European Championships and at the 1956 Olympics, Frank Weldon was riding his own horse, Kilbarry, whom he had ridden earlier in the Queen’s Coronation process when he commanded the King’s Troop of the Royal Horse Artillery. An Irish-bred, grey gelding, Kilbarry is almost certainly the only horse to have won international fame while still doing full daily duty as an officer’s charger in a Calvary regiment. Weldon made a second Olympic appearance in 1960 when he finished 25th individually and the British placed fourth in the team event. Frank Weldon was educated at Wellington and the Royal Military College and won his colours in the rugby XV both at school and at Sandhurst. After he retired from the Army and from equestrian competition he continued to make a great contribution to the sport. He served as Director of Badminton Horse Trials from 1966 to 1988 after having been asked, in 1964, to design the Badminton cross-country course. He was also a council member of the British Horse Society and was the equestrian correspondent of the Sunday Telegraph for many years.
Great Britain