Discipline: Jumping
Born: October 25th, 1957

Training and showing business located at Portola Valley Training Center, Menlo Park, CA  since 1987.
Competed internationally in Australia, Canada, Sweden, Germany and Holland.
Represented New Zealand at Olympic Games Sydney 2000

Grand Prix wins:

• Cow Palace Jumper Derby (two times)
• Bakersfield GP
• Atco Cup - Spruce Meadows
• Grand Prix of California
• Menlo Circus Grand Prix
• Portola Valley Grand Prix (two times)

Transplanted from his native New Zealand to the U.S. more than 20 years ago, Peter Breakwell trains A-circuit jumpers and adult amateurs, along with a few hunters and junior riders, from his Breakwell Stables, located at Northern California’s beautiful Portola Valley Training Center. 

Peter just returned from Aachen, Germany, where he qualified for a spot on the New Zealand show jumping team slated for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, riding Adonis All Star (seen right). Show jumpers from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, Iran, and Saudi Arabia will be in Aachen for the qualifying competition being held June 12 to 15, the week before Aachen’s big show.

Peter knows the pressure of Olympic competition—he rode in the Sydney Games as an individual for New Zealand. At the Athens Games, he’s hoping to ride on the New Zealand team, and he’s looking to do it on Adonis All Star, his talented young Grand Prix horse.

Hearing Peter talk about Adonis All Star is to understand how much care Peter takes in training his horses: “He’s naturally very careful, but he lacked confidence, so we had to instill that in him, bring him along slowly and not over-face him. He’s got a big stride, a big jump, but he needed to believe in himself and his talent.”

It’s not surprising that Adonis All Star “can do it,” as Peter succinctly says. His sire, Argentinus, also sired Anka 191, who recently won the World Cup in Las Vegas for German rider Marcus Ehning. But breeding alone won’t make a champion—training plays just as big a role in a jumper’s success, maybe more. Peter took about a year to get Adonis All Star going well, and his care has paid off.

At Indio, Adonis All Star was Champion Level Eight Jumper in week three and Mid-Circuit Level Eight Champion Jumper. Shortly after that, at The Oaks Spring Classic II, he was second in the Grand Prix, won the Open Section II Jumpers, and was Champion Open Jumper.