Reuben Jones (born 19 October 1932 in Newport

Newport, Shropshire

Newport is a market town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. It lies some north of Telford and some west of Stafford sitting on the Shropshire/Staffordshire border...

, Shropshire

Shropshire

Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

; died 3 January 1990 in Melton Mowbray

Melton Mowbray

Melton Mowbray is a town in the Melton borough of Leicestershire, England. It is to the northeast of Leicester, and southeast of Nottingham...

, Leicestershire

Leicestershire

Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...

) was an Olympic

Olympic Games

The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

 equestrian

Equestrianism

Equestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...

 rider who competed in the 1964 Summer Olympics

1964 Summer Olympics

The 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan in 1964. Tokyo had been awarded with the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subsequently passed to Helsinki because of Japan's...

 in Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

 and the 1968 Summer Olympics

1968 Summer Olympics

The 1968 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Mexico City, Mexico in October 1968. The 1968 Games were the first Olympic Games hosted by a developing country, and the first Games hosted by a Spanish-speaking country...

 in Mexico City

Mexico City

Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...

.

Equestrian career

Jones was part of the British team that travelled to Tokyo in 1964 to compete in team eventing. "Eventing" is an equestrian

Equestrianism

Equestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...

 event which comprises dressage

Dressage

Dressage is a competitive equestrian sport, defined by the International Equestrian Federation as "the highest expression of horse training." Competitions are held at all levels from amateur to the World Equestrian Games...

, cross-country

Cross-country equestrianism

Cross country equestrian jumping is an endurance test, and is one of the three phases of the sport of eventing; it may also be a competition in its own right, known as hunter trials or simply "cross-country" - these tend to be lower level, local competitions.The object of the endurance test is to...

 and show jumping

Show jumping

Show jumping, also known as "stadium jumping," "open jumping," or "jumpers," is a member of a family of English riding equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes commonly are seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics...

. Other team members were Michael Bullen, Richard Meade

Richard Meade

Richard John Hannay Meade, OBE is a British equestrian expert and Olympic gold medal winning rider, tipped at one time to be the future husband of Princess Anne.In 1964, Meade won the Burghley Horse Trials on Barberry...

, and James Templar. The team was eliminated out of medal contention. Jones finished ninth on an individual basis riding a horse called The Poacher. He was the first non-commissioned officer

Non-commissioned officer

A non-commissioned officer , called a sub-officer in some countries, is a military officer who has not been given a commission...

 to compete for Great Britain in the equestrian portion of the Olympic Games.

Jones and the team from Great Britain at the 1968 Summer Olympics won the gold medal in the team eventing equestrian event. Teammates for the 1968 win were Derek Allhusen

Derek Allhusen

Major Derek Swithin Allhusen, CVO was an English equestrian who was a 54 year old grandfather when he rode Lochinvar to team gold and individual silver medals at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico....

, Jane Bullen, and Richard Meade. Jones finished fifth on an individual basis that year. Jones also won gold medals in 1967 and 1969 at the European Championships as part of the British team.

Military career

Jones was an accomplished horseman; as a young man and his ambition was to become a jockey, but he was too tall. He chose to join the army as a way to work with horses.

Jones was a sergeant of the King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery

King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery

The King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery is a ceremonial unit of the British Army. It is a mounted unit and all of its soldiers are trained to drive a team of six horses that pull each of the six First World War-era 13-pounder state saluting guns...

, in charge of equitation. In 1968, he was posted to the Royal Army Veterinary Corps

Royal Army Veterinary Corps

The Royal Army Veterinary Corps is an administrative and operational branch of the British Army responsible for the provision, training and care of animals. It is a small but technically competent corps forming part of the Army Medical Services...

; after his commission he was transferred to the General Service Corps

General Service Corps

The General Service Corps is a corps of the British Army. Its main function is to act as a holding unit for specialists who have not been assigned to other units or corps; these are primarily reservists and the GSC is usually only active in wartime....

 at Melton Mowbray

Melton Mowbray

Melton Mowbray is a town in the Melton borough of Leicestershire, England. It is to the northeast of Leicester, and southeast of Nottingham...

. There he was in charge of training at the RAVC remount depot. After retirement, he died while training a young horse.

In Newport there is a residential street named after him: "Ben Jones Avenue".