The Man behind the Mike

Mike Tucker was born into a life of farming and horses. His passion and hard work enabled him to progress from international groom to successful international event rider, top level Eventing official and television commentator. The pinnacle of Mike's career as a commentator was covering Nick Skelton's Gold Medal at the Rio Olympics in 2016 for the BBC. In `The Man Behind the Mike' we learn about Mike's family history and the connection with the Badminton Estate where his grandfather farmed; The Beaufort Pony Club, a huge influence in his life with many top level riders being members; a visit to Australia, staying with the Roycroft family, which proved to be a pivotal moment in his efforts to become a successful event rider; and about Mike's second place at Badminton, which laid the foundations of his credibility as a rider and commentator. The 'voice behind the microphone' had the experience and knowledge to commentate with authority and to command respect from the listening public at venues of not just horse trials but also show jumping, dressage, and shows in general. The wealth of experience and lifetime involvement in the world of equestrian sport has enabled him to travel all over the world meeting many different people and sharing his expertise. We are told many funny, revealing, fascinating and sometimes sad anecdotes of his experiences of the successes and failures along the way and we are given a true insight into the real stories behind the headlines, and 'The Man Behind the Mike'. AUTHOR: Jane Wallace was born in Cambridge and started riding at an early age. She was soon spotted as showing talent and rode many of the top show ponies of the 1960s, winning at all the major shows including the Horse of the Year Show and Dublin Show. In 1989 Jane won the Individual Silver Medal at the European Championships at Burghley and was ranked 3rd lady rider in the world. Jane was a highly regarded hunter judge, judging at the major shows including The Horse of the Year Show. She taught and gave lectures/demonstrations in England and abroad. She continues to run a busy livery yard and still teaches. Jane has written several books, The Less Than Perfect Horse, Jumping is Jumping, Teaching Children to Ride and seven Threshold Picture Guides.

“'Jane Wallace has done a heroic job in completing this book and has thoroughly done justice to a quite irreplaceable man of great passion, kindness and, above all, humour'”

Jane Wallace has done a heroic job in completing this book and has thoroughly done justice to a quite irreplaceable man of great passion, kindness and, above all, humour.

-- Kate Green Country Life
A fantastic book which gives a tremendous insight of the late Mike Tucker. The Man Behind the Mike should be on everyone's read list – a superb tribute to someone who gave so much to the sport. British Showjumping

Jane Wallace was born in Cambridge and started riding at an early age. She was soon spotted as showing talent and rode many of the top show ponies of the 1960s, winning at all the major shows including the Horse of the Year Show and Dublin Show. In 1989 Jane won the Individual Silver Medal at the European Championships at Burghley and was ranked 3rd ladyrider in the world. Jane was a highly regarded hunter judge, judging at the major shows including The Horse of the Year Show. She taught and gave lectures/demonstrations in England and abroad. She continues to run a busy livery yard and still teaches. Jane has written several books, The Less Than Perfect Horse, Jumping is Jumping, Teaching Children to Ride and seven Threshold Picture Guides.

'... a man with extraordinarily varied talents.' Lucinda Green MBE 'His commentating career coincided with some of the great moments in equestrian sport - gold for Zara Phillips at the World Championships, gold for the showjumping team in London and the sudden rise in British dressage fortunes thanks to Charlotte Dujardin and Carl Hester, which gave him three gold medals to describe across London and Rio, before rounding off his Olympic Games commentary with a fairy-tale final individual gold medal for Nick Skelton.' Clare Balding OBE 'Mike was an all-time great commentator and a great mover, shaker and protagonist. I used to call him Lord Tucker of the GoldenVoice and he always called me The Captain! When he ran Tetbury Horse Trials, he wanted to put on an entertainment in the hope it would attract a bigger crowd, which it did. He would always go out of his way to do something special in every walk of life, but it was all for the good of the horse and the sport.' Captain Mark Phillips

Mike Tucker was born into a life of farming and horses. His passion and hard work enabled him to progress from international groom to successful international event rider, top level Eventing official and television commentator. The pinnacle of Mike's career as a commentator was covering Nick Skelton's Gold Medal at the Rio Olympics in 2016 for the BBC. In ' The Man Behind the Mike ' we learn about Mike's family history and the connection with the Badminton Estate where his grandfather farmed; The Beaufort Pony Club, a huge influence in his life with many top level riders being members; a visit to Australia, staying with the Roycroft family, which proved to be a pivotal moment in his efforts to become a successful event rider; and about Mike's second place at Badminton, which laid the foundations of his credibility as a rider and commentator. The 'voice behind the microphone' had the experience and knowledge to commentate with authority and to command respect from the listening public at venues of not just horse trials but also show jumping, dressage, and shows in general. The wealth of experience and lifetime involvement in the world of equestrian sport has enabled him to travel all over the world meeting many different people and sharing his expertise. We are told many funny, revealing, fascinating and sometimes sad anecdotes of his experiences of the successes and failures along the way and we are given a true insight into the real stories behind the headlines, and 'The Man Behind the Mike'.

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