William Micklem on the Three S's: Keep it Safe, Simple and Sunny

When I met William Micklem in February of 1989, I must confess that I had no idea of who he was. Forgive me, but I was only 18 years old, and the Internet hadn’t been invented yet! At the time, the only horsey news I received was the monthly Corinthian Horse Sport Magazine and the quarterly Canadian Eventing Newsletter. As a kid from a small town in Northern Ontario, I was very insulated from the wide world of international equestrian sport. I was ignorant, indeed, and not particularly impressed the first time I met him!

Nowadays, if you haven’t heard of William Micklem, a quick Google search will tell you that he is one of the horse world’s most iconic figures. His articles appear in respected publications like The Chronicle of the Horse and cover topics from breeding sport horses to the evolution of our sport, and the importance of producing happy horses. He is a sought after speaker, a published author, is known for breeding multiple World and Olympic medal winning horses, for producing top level riders and for supporting the love and growth of good horsemanship from the grassroots level on up.

His love for horses shines through everything he does, most notably spurring him to invent The Micklem Bridle; a more comfortable, humane bridle that accommodates the anatomy the equine jaw; which has won industry awards and been embraced by riders worldwide in every discipline of horse sport.

Like most horse people of his time, he comes from a long line of accomplished horseme