Innholdsfortegnelse for 5-Jan-17 i Horse & Hound

‘We’re going to get back up; we’re not a division two country’Di Lampard POSITIVES can be drawn from Britain’s relegation from the top tier of showjumping Nations Cup competition in 2017 — including possible championship experience for up and coming riders, writes Eleanor Jones . No changes were made to league numbers at the 2016 FEI general assembly (19-22 November), which means Britain will be in the second division of European competition. But British Showjumping (BS) has made it clear it has no intention of staying in the lower league beyond this year. BS chief executive Iain Graham explained the best four results from six Nations Cup competitions will determine league positions. The top two will be invited to the final, from which one will win promotion. “We’ll need to…

The iconic Palace of Versailles, France, is to host a new five-star showjumping show in May, with a € 530,000 (£451,750) prize fund. • www.horseandhound.co.uk/ versailles-sj-show Rio dressage team silver medallists Spencer Wilton and Fiona Bigwood, and Valegro’s groom Alan Davies, were among those awarded BEF medals of honour last month. • www.horseandhound.co.uk/ bef-medals-of-honour A winnning three-year-old was one of 23 horses killed in a devastating fire at a racing yard in Kentucky, US. • www.horseandhound.co.uk/ kentucky-barn-fire Former Royal Ascot winner Namibian (pictured) has qualified for the national para dressage championships two years running. • www.horseandhound.co.uk/ namibian Forget donkeys in sombreros; friends Sue Whitehouse and Sara Llewellyn brought back two horses from their Spanish holiday. • www.horseandhound.co.uk/ holiday-horses Equine sanctuary Redwings is to open a new rehoming centre Warwickshire in 2017, and is hoping to encourage more people to take…

TESSA WHEELER THE owner of Chilham Castle, Mrs Wheeler died on 11 December aged 72. Mrs Wheeler (née Codrington), who bought the Kent castle and its grounds with her husband Stuart in 2002, was heavily involved with the foundation and running of horse trials on her land. Chilham was established as a cross-country training venue in 2004 and three years later ran its first affiliated horse trials. In 2013 it expanded to hold two British Eventing fixtures a year, including a CIC*. Also a talented photographer, Mrs Wheeler became the first female president of the Association of Photographers in 1997. Her funeral was held on 19 December at St Mary’s Church in Chilham, which was attended by more than 500 people. The East Kent Hunt also attended and her horse,…

WHAT a way for Lee Pearson to start the New Year, with a knighthood in rightful recognition of his achievement as the most decorated Paralympian. And this alongside honours for many of his equestrian peers. One omission from the list, though, was Carl Hester. He may not have won all the medals, but others would not have enjoyed their success without his input and what he has done for dressage as a whole is undisputable. Perhaps that knowledge has not reached those making these decisions. The hunting community ended 2016 on a high, with the Countryside Alliance suggesting a turnout of 250,000 in support of Boxing Day meets. Twelve years on from the ban, support within hunting communities remains as resolute as ever. I hope you enjoy this reflected in…

Flight of the flying turkey THE traditional “fancy dress” mini major had the crowd screaming their favourites on, and the journey from Dorset proved well worthwhile for Luli Loveridge, who teamed up with the “flying turkey” - aka Guy Willliams - to produce the winning round. “The pressure’s always on the senior riders not to let their partner down and after Luli stormed round, I didn’t have too much to do,” said Guy.…

DRESSAGE power couple Fiona Bigwood and Anders Dahl (pictured above with their children) have sold their extensive base at Bourne Hill in Sussex and moved to a huge but run-down property near Haywards Heath. The new home, which had a guide price of £6m, was once the home of Princess Alice (Countess of Athlone and granddaughter of Queen Victoria) but will require extensive renovation and updating. “I like a challenge,” Anders told H&H . He did a lot of work on the family’s previous property to turn it into a stunning family home with jaw-dropping stables and a glass indoor arena. The new house is a Grade II-listed country mansion, constructed in the mid-Victorian era, and will certainly keep Anders busy over the coming years. THE minimum qualifying score to…

‘I’ve sat on the fence — but you’ve all seen what he’s capable of’Colin Tizzard on Thistlecrack THERE are not many people who would have been keen for 2016 to continue, but Colin Tizzard is probably one of them after Christmas capped a year he will never forget. It started with the World Hurdle back in March, and finished with a one-two in the 32Red King George VI Chase — with the decision to run novice superstar Thistlecrack totally vindicated — plus, a day later, the Coral Welsh Grand National with Native River. Of course to a certain extent in sport and racing you make your own luck, but if proof were needed that things were going Tizzard’s way this Christmas it came in the Grade One 32Red Kauto Star…

‘Thistlecrack has matured a lot over the past year’ I can’t deny I felt very confident going into this year’s King George VI Chase aboard Thistlecrack, as I’m sure Paddy Brennan was on Cue Card. Nothing had been left to chance with Thistlecrack’s training and I had complete belief in the horse. The plan I had in my head for the race was to get him up there, in a good position over the first few fences and then I knew the rest should work out for him. He has so much exuberance but I know he can jump like that and get away with it. It is an unbelievable buzz riding him in a race — it’s never an “oh my goodness” feeling when he puts in those huge…

AN average of 100,000 more people tuned in to watch New Year’s Day racing compared to the 2016 fi xture. Racing returned to ITV for the first time in 32 years on 1 January 2017 after the broadcaster took over the coverage rights from Channel 4. An average of 676,000 viewers tuned in, with a peak of 831,000. This compares to an average of 558,000 in 2016 and 601,000 in 2015. “The team were glad to get started after all the build-up,” an ITV Racing insider told H&H . “They really enjoyed it, despite the challenging weather, and the mood among everyone, both in front of and behind the cameras, is very upbeat and we’re looking forward to the year ahead.” The launch of ITV’s coverage sparked online debate and…

FREDDY TYLICKI The jockey who was paralysed in a fall on 31 October spent Christmas Day at home with his mother and sister. “Great to be home after all,” he said. BOYD MARTIN The eventer was named rider of the year at the United States Eventing Association awards. Howard Simpson won lifetime achievement. SOPHIE MCCORMACK Sophie, who was seriously injured in a cross-country fall in 2015, is to return to eventing this season. “No words can express how special it feels to be back in the saddle,” she said. BRYAN COOPER The 2016 Cheltenham Gold Cup-winner sustained a fractured pelvis in a racing fall on 31 December, and will be out of action for six to eight weeks. ROBERT SMITH The rider’s wife Raffaelle gave birth to Harvey Robert on…

ANY jockey who sustains concussion during a race will be given an £80 voucher to put towards a new hat. The British Equestrian Trade Association (BETA) and the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) have joined forces to offer “enhancements” to the existing helmet bounty scheme. The initiative, which has been available through the BHA for some years, caters for riders who have been diagnosed with concussion during a BHA or Point-to-Point Authority race. Previously, cash for a new hat was given to the concussed rider but this has been replaced by the voucher, which can be used at a participating BETA retailer. This means the initiative can be offered more widely, and that replacement hats will be fitted by BETA-trained members of staff.…

SEAT OF LEARNING Sir — I could not agree more with Sylvia Loch (comment, 29 December): the basic standard of riding has deteriorated over the years since the demise of the army instructors. We were taught to have an independent seat, with thigh to knee firmly placed on a saddle with little or no padding, allowing the lower leg to “hang the boot” and give independent aids. The upper body was relaxed, allowing the arms and hands freedom of independent movement. So many of the dressage riders seem to be too rigid and not able to “flow” with the horse. Health and safety prevents many exercises: now one could not teach children to knot the reins, fold the arms and cross the stirrups and canter down a grid of low…

‘Galloping in the show ring is not about speed; give the judge a snippet of what’s there in a smooth, rhythmic way’ FIRST impressions are the most important thing in showing. Often, what the judges see when you first enter the show ring sets the way that they think about your horse for the entire class, so you must make it count. Remember, your job is to show your horse off; demonstrate to the judge why you think he’s so great. I see a lot of poor gallops in the ring. It’s so important to get it right — especially if you’re on a galloping type, like a hunter who should be able to follow hounds all day — but many riders don’t, and it lets the horse down. It’s…

FULL marks have to go to Nina Barbour, Alan Beaumont and the team for putting on such fantastic family entertainment. There was something to please everyone, and even non-horsey people could be dragged along and leave with a smile on their face. Horse power of a different nature went down well. I wasn’t sure how motorbikes and horses would go together at a show, but it worked. Collabro and the ABBA tribute band Revival also ramped up the entertainment, and the boys from Collabro entered into the spirit of things presenting awards. The jumping was top drawer, and if ever there was a pony grand slam then Tixylix would have won it. This pony is in a league of her own and she was at her brilliant best to win…

THE Vivaldi x D-Day son Vitalis rocked the house at the prestigious Nürnberger Burg-Pokal prix st georges for seven- to nine-year-old horses in Germany last month. His rider, Norwegian Isabel Freese, is only the second non-German to lift the title. The only other non-German winner in the event’s 25-year history is Austria’s Victoria Max-Theurer (Augustin OLD). Isabel and Vitalis scored an emphatic 79.22%. Isabel, who rides for Paul Schockemöhle, took over the reins when the stallion returned from the USA. He is a breeding stallion as well as a competition horse, as was the second-placed horse, Franziskus (77.63%). Ingrid Klimke not only rode into the runner-up spot, but also took third with Geraldine (76.95%). Isabel followed up her form by claiming second in the Louisdor Prize, Germany’s developing grand prix…

CAMILLA PARSONAGE notched up two medium wins with Aschwin despite hounds running through the yard at Northallerton EC, North Yorks (21 December), just before she was due to get on, reports Helen Scott. “I was tacking him up and suddenly he became difficult to handle, and we realised hounds were running around. He’s hunted, so he knew what was going on. Luckily, I was able to use it to my advantage and produce two good tests,” said Camilla, who trains with Hannah Esberger-Hancock. She bought the 11-year-old Sandro Song gelding for her mother a couple of years ago, with the intention of getting him going and handing him over. “He had fallen out of love with eventing but his previous owner, Alex Moody, had done a very good job with…

SHOULD Thistlecrack follow up his King George victory with the Gold Cup in March, he would put his breeders, Robin and Scarlett Knipe, into a club so exclusive it has, so far, just one member. Only the famed Irish horseman Joe Osborne has bred two winners of the Cheltenham showpiece from different mares, providing Silver Fame (1951) and Ten Up (1975). The Knipes, based at Cobhall Court Stud in Herefordshire, already have one Gold Cup winner, the 1995 hero Master Oats, to their credit. Thistlecrack is out of the Ardross mare Ardstown, who ran in the Knipes’ colours and was trained by them for most of her career, starting in point-to-points. She won three times between the flags and took Hunter Chases at Stratford, Chepstow and Leicester. With pointing disrupted…

‘He let me ride Goldstern, his Olympic gold medallist, and I remember thinking, “Ah that’s what it’s meant to feel like!”’ WHEN my brother Till and I went to international dressage shows as youngsters, we called Klaus “the green policeman” because he competed in his green police uniform and his cool freestyle music made him stand out. When I was young if he saw me at a show he’d always say something cheeky to make me laugh. I got to know him properly when I was 16 and went to stay with him for two weeks. I was very nervous but I was treated like family and his daughter [grand prix rider] Anabel was like my big sister. He let me ride Goldstern, his Olympic gold medallist, and I remember…

DON GENIRO Chinese rider Alex Hua Tian’s Rio ride has been chosen as Equiratings horse of the year in a public vote. “The Don” beat Olympic champion La Biosthetique Sam, Portersize Just A Jiff and Mulrys Error on the way to winning the annual competition. DESERT ORCHID The legendary chaser is to feature in Royal Mail’s special stamp programme this year, with seven other racehorses. April’s “racehorse legends” series will feature four Flat and three other jump horses. KING BOB Ludwig Svennerstål’s former four-star ride has been retired aged 18. The gelding, who won the Strzegom Nations Cup last June and finished eighth at Burghley in 2013, will stay with Ludwig to enjoy retirement “like the king he is”. COPAIN DU PERCHET Edwin Smits’ top horse has been sold and…

BRITAIN’S para dressage riders will benefit from a UK Sport funding increase for the Tokyo Games, from £3,782,800 to £4,273,411. Eight-time Paralympic gold medallist Sophie Christiansen welcomed the news. “I honestly don’t think I could have done what I’ve done without the funding from UK Sport” she told H&H . “I’m thrilled that UK Sport has said it’s going to continue its funding and put out a bit more. To do the sport we do need the support and funding — we’re number one in the world in para dressage because of the continued support. That money also goes towards the team behind us who have helped us become an unstoppable force in para dressage.”…

‘He was an incredibly selfless man’David Ingle TRIBUTES have been paid to showing’s “best friend” Roger Stack, who died on 24 December aged 78, writes Lucy Elder. A stalwart of the showing world, he was involved with Hickstead from its very beginning, as an exhibitor, judge, steward and most recently as director of showing until his retirement in 2014. “His enthusiasm for Hickstead and all things showing never wavered,” said Hickstead director Edward Bunn. “Many of the improvements in our showing facilities are down to his drive and vision. He was already planning for 2017 and beyond. Roger will be terribly missed by us all.” Showing Council chairman David Ingle, who took over as director of showing at Hickstead in 2014, said Mr Stack “has done more for showing as…

I wish to express my sincere thanks to your magazine Horse & Hound and your readers for supporting and voting for me — along with Mrs Andy Murray — in my quest to become Sports Personality of the Year 2016. I was more than pleased with the result, which put me into third place. What more could I ask for, having won gold in Rio, after being so proud and lucky to represent this great country of ours at the Olympics over so many years? I hope it may give hope and ambition to your young readers to do the same in years to come. I was sorry for the many who would have liked to have seen Big Star at Olympia, but he is recovering from a slight injury…

When I’m competing at… Shows like Great Yorkshire, Royal Windsor, the Royal International and HOYS (left) give me a buzz because the classes are filled with the best horses, so to win is very special. Best after-event party… The party at the Hilton hotel at the Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) 2006, that first time I won the working hunter championship. That year was also the 50th anniversary of the Prince Philip Cup mounted games. A large group of my friends from the Angus branch of the Pony Club had been invited to the show as we won the cup in 1963 and 1968. I had quite a bit to drink that night and only had a couple of hours in bed, but I was up in time to…

How can a tooth be saved? “ENDODONTIC dentistry relates to the pulp of the tooth,” explains Dr Chris Pearce. “To understand how these treatments work, it helps to think of an equine tooth as a stick of seaside rock (below): the pink on the outside is the enamel, the white centre is the dentine and the red lettering through the middle is the pulp.” Not all teeth can be salvaged, so points to consider include: 1 Root canal “Root canal therapy would be the first line of treatment in a human patient. The procedure is extremely difficult in the horse, because the equine root canal system is so complex. There are five pulp canals that are effectively upside down, so they’re wider at the bottom than the top. It is…

•Don’t overdo it. Because cavaletti are so small, it’s easy to keep going, but it’s more important that you horse does a good, short session, rather than a bad, strung-out one. •Each horse will have different stride lengths, so if you are riding a number of horses down the row of cavaletti, check each one’s stride length before you start. •Make sure your horse is always in front of the leg and on the aids. This exercise is great for sharpening the horse’s response to the aids, but they must be correct to start with.…

‘A lot of the Tuesday country is still owned by people who bought it for hunting’Andrew Osborne Joint-master and huntsman HUNTING people talk a lot about “tradition”. It is a word that can have negative connotations, in an era characterised by constant pressure to “move forward”, when anything new is seized upon and the old dismissed. But the Oxford English Dictionary defines tradition as “the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation”; in fact, a word that itself implies movement and progress. Hunting is emphatically not a worm-eaten relic of a bygone, less enlightened age, as our enemies hysterically insist, but a vibrant, living sport that celebrates its roots while continuing to evolve. The Cottesmore’s 350th anniversary meet at Roger Weatherby’s Burrough House exemplified that. A huge field…

‘He’s stilll a young horse with a big future, and he was great tonight’Robert Smith on Ilton’s spirited performance Equestrian.com  Liverpool International Horse Show, Liverpool, Merseyside 31 December–2 January MICHAEL WHITAKER and Jayne Bean’s home-bred JB’s Hot Stuff began their New Year in spectacular style by winning Sunday night’s feature, the Outlanda 1.50m rankings class. “She’s been in great form and when she jumped a really good first round, I thought we would be in with a shout,” said Michael. After the pathfinders in the nine –strong jump-off Louise Saywell and Cordalis 7 produced a sharp double clear in 36.38 seconds, it was game on for the remaining finalists. Sixth-drawn Italian Emanuele Gaudiano upped the pace still further with third-placed Chalou (35.56 seconds). However, his lead was short-lived as Michael…

‘He is a laid-back horse, but was in overdrive today’Jess Hewitt on Rusty’s performance JODIE HALL-MCATEER signed off her pony career by winning Liverpool’s inaugural 148cm pony competition. Riding the multi-garlanded Tixylix, Jodie topped the five-strong jump-off in typically determined style. Drawn the penultimate pair of five clears, Jodie judged her final round to perfection. “We did what we had to do and after good turns to the planks and second-last, I trusted Tixy to roll on to the final fence,” said Jodie. As pony and rider have won every imaginable title at home and away, a win here was a fitting finale to their brilliant career. Meanwhile, applause rang out long and loud for Charlie Atkinson, who was victorious in a thrilling Squibb Demolition 128cm championship. After Charlie’s winning…

‘Two Rio team members honoured’ NINE influential figures in the equestrian world were awarded British Equestrian Federation (BEF) medals of honour at Olympia Horse Show, including two members of the British silver medal winning team in Rio. Accolades went to Yogi Breisner, super-farrier Brendan Murray and eventing fundraiser Rosemary Barlow. The BEF awarded medals to Fiona Bigwood and Spencer Wilton for their services to equestrianism at the 2016 Olympics. Joining them was Islay Auty, who was recognised for her dedication to British dressage and her outstanding commitment and service to equestrianism across the different youth programmes for over 20 years. The outgoing manager of the British dressage senior team Richard (Dickie) Waygood was recognised for his management and leadership and the competition success in which he has been instrumental. Carl…

‘For you, Pammy, the weekly shop is defi nitely out’ WHY not make 2017 the year you ride in a dressage competition, even if it’s your first ever? It can be terrifying. As the nerves kick in, it’s easy to dream up excuses to cry off. The other day, I had to practically chase two students into the lorry – with a box of tissues to mop the tears. But it was all smiles afterwards. Competing is proof of your work. It’s fun and often a great learning experience. My own New Year’s resolution is to try to do another grand prix or two. Curbing the cost ALL I needed for Christmas was a riding hat. Mine has become useless for competing in by failing to meet the required standards,…