It is with profound sadness that ESNZ acknowledges the passing of Chris Shore.
He is remembered as a true gentleman of the sport who quietly, behind the scenes, made a huge difference to showjumping.
He was born in the UK, into an equestrian family that was involved in racing and other horsey pursuits. Chris was a keen hunter, showjumper and successful point-to-pointer.
Chris and wife Sandy hunted and showjumped together in the early days.
The couple moved to New Zealand with two children in 1980, with their youngest, Zoe, born here. Chris felt the future was in farming Down Under and they settled in the Clutha Valley, South Otago. Despite coming from a strong dairy background, they initially did cropping and sheep and beef farming but moved back to dairy in 2000 with a conversion.
Horses were still very much part of the family and soon enough Zoe and Nicky were following their parents’ footsteps.
Chris jumped to BSJA A grade, mostly on horses he had produced himself. The family became emersed in the equestrian world in Otago, where Chris was chair of the ESNZ Jumping Group. Chris is remembered as a fantastic judge who could spot a good horse at a glance and equally quickly find faults. He became involved with Ashburton Showjumping, the NEC at Mcleans Island and was a stalwart on the New Zealand Nationals Showjumping Committee for many years.
A valued committee member, he was hugely respected for his calm, common sense approach and one who was a good listener with a solid business head.
In 2010 he made a decision that contributed to New Zealand’s best-ever result at the FEI World Cup Jumping Final. He and the family, along with the McVean’s, became co-owners of Dunstan Delphi. Chris had long dreamt of having a top showjumper, and the family say Delphi was a dream come true for him. Together, they went on quite the journey, including to the 2010 World Champs in Kentucky and the World Cup Final in Leipzig, Germany, where Katie and Delphi placed sixth.
Chris was on the ESNZ Jumping board between 2016-2019, was on the HOY appeal committee and on the NEC committee as well, where he made a huge contribution.
Richard Sunderland remembers Chris to be astute, fair and direct when dealing with appeals. “He didn’t suffer fools and if he thought someone was doing a good job he would go up and thank them,” says Richard.
John Cottle first met the Shores in the UK and was later on the jumping board with him. “He was a good old fashioned gentleman who was passionate about the sport and always had good sound advice,” said John. “His investment into Delphi was great for the sport.”
Jeff McVean remembers the relationship very fondly. “That enabled us to get Delphi and Kate offshore and got that international career underway,” he says. “We became good friends. Chris had great knowledge of horses and horsemanship and did so much for the sport. He truly wanted to be involved and did a lot.”
Chris will long be remembered for all he contributed to the sport he loved so much.
27 February 2026
Diana Dobson