Michael Ansell

Colonel Sir Michael Picton "Mike" Ansell CBE, DSO (26 March 1905 - 17 February 1994) was a soldier, show jumping rider, polo player, and horse show administrator.

Early life
Ansell was born on 26 March 1905 at the Curragh, County Kildare. His father George Ansell died in the First World War, while serving as a Lieutenant Colonel in the British Army. After attending St Michael's Westgate-in-Sea and Wellington he went to Royal Military College Sandhurst.

Army
In 1924 he was commissioned into the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards and in the 1930s was a cavalry officer, show jumping rider, and international polo player. He was a Commander by 1935.

In France in March 1940, during World War II, he was given charge of the 1st Lothian and Border Yeomanry, becoming the British Army's youngest commanding officer. He won the Distinguished Service Order (DSO), but was shortly afterwards wounded in the hand and eyes by "friendly fire", blinding him permanently, and then became a prisoner of war. All four fingers on his injured left hand were later amputated. He was repatriated from a German POW camp in 1943.

Showjumping
An invitation to take up the position of chairman of the British Showjumping Association led to him being credited with revitalising the sport. He restarted the Royal International Horse Show and initiated the Horse of the Year Show. He was Chairman of the British Horse Society and Chaired the British Showjumping Association from 1945 until 1964. He also was the first president of the British Equestrian Federation.

In 1967, when his address was given as "Pillhead House, Bideford", he was High Sheriff of Devon. He was President of St Dunstan's, a charity for blind servicemen, from 1977 to 1986.

Picton was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1951 and a Knight Bachelor (Kt) in 1968. He appeared on the television programme This Is Your Life on 28 March 1960, and as a "castaway" on the BBC Radio programme Desert Island Discs on 14 July 1973. His autobiography, Soldier On,was published in 1973. It had a foreword by the Duke of Edinburgh. His final book, Leopard: the story of my horse, featured a forward by Prince Charles

He died on 17 February 1994 in Brighton, England.