PrintPeter Doubleday usually has the best seat in the house at a horse show, whether it’s high in the announcer’s stand or by the in-gate. Doubleday has been the voice of American show jumping for decades, and he’s also at the helm, as manager, of three of the most prestigious shows in North America—the Pennsylvania National, the Royal Winter Fair (Ont.) and Devon (Pa.), where he co-manages with David Distler.
Doubleday has announced the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, six FEI World Cup Show Jumping Finals, and at many of the top U.S. shows. He’s also looking forward to serving as the production coordinator and chief announcer at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.
Doubleday’s father, a radio and TV broadcaster in Syracuse, N.Y., announced horse shows on the weekends as a hobby. Doubleday accompanied him and caught the horse show bug. He rode as a junior, and once he graduated college, he took a job grooming. “I mucked stalls, braided, drove the van and foxhunted,” Doubleday said. He also started announcing and gradually transitioned to it full time for many breeds and disciplines. Managing shows was a natural evolution.
“I do some big Saddlebred shows still,” he said. “I used to announce probably 40 weeks of the year. I used to announce for every breed imaginable, from Miniature Horses to Arabians. That’s one nice thing that I think helped my career—I met and enjoyed people from all different breeds, not just hunters and jumpers.”
Doubleday lives with his wife of five years, Chrissie, and their Jack Russell named Jack.
Name: Peter Doubleday
Home Base: Southern Pines, N.C.
Age: 59
