Hua Tian and his idol sat side by side on an oak tree before the 2008 Olympics and that image got immediately famous in the world's most populous country.

"That picture was taken at the Badminton horse show," Todd said. "Alex was based in England. I don't know him really well but I see him around a lot."

Todd said that Eventing has become more popular over the years and 40 years ago, it was hard to imagine that China would have qualified for the Olympic Games as a team.

"I think it was brilliant," he said. "You have a team."

Hua Tian's Olympic debut turned out to be a surprise defeat as he fell in the cross country competition and was disqualified. After narrowly missing the London Olympic Games, he finished eighth in Rio.

"You cannot go and ride every time," Todd said. "It is like life. You have highs and lows. You need to cope with the time when things aren't going right. I have a lot of that. Give yourself 24 hours, feel sorry for yourself and you just get back on it and keep going again."

He said one of his worst lows was at Badminton when his horse, who won with him at Burghley on the previous year, slipped the fence and fell with a broken leg.

"That was one of the worst moments. You know that they are your friend, your partner. You are just helpless when something like that happens."

The other bad moment came at the Rio Olympic Games, when he had four fences down and cost the medal hope for the team.

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