Innholdsfortegnelse for 14-May-2020 i Horse & Hound

I WAS unsure why there was such hope for the prime minister’s address on Sunday, with hundreds still dying with the virus every day, testing wanting and PPE lacking. But there was a great sense of anticipation that made Mr Johnson’s words an anti-climax. Then we experienced Monday’s chaos, with conflicting advice from all corners, and ministers’ comments being retracted as quickly as they were made. So there were cheers around (virtual) Horse & Hound Towers on Monday evening when the British Horse Society (BHS) released a holding statement to say they would be encouraging members to ride again. With no vaccine in sight, we are in this for the long haul. We have to find ways to progress – for businesses’ and individuals’ financial, mental and physical well-being –…

POLICE ADVICE AFTER TACK THEFTS POLICE are urging owners to review security after a spate of burglaries in Kent. Kent Police is looking at whether the crimes are linked. “I would urge owners to be vigilant and review their security to ensure they are taking all measures available,” said Sergeant Darren Walshaw, adding people should be cautious if offered cheap secondhand items and contact police with any concerns. “If possible, invest in CCTV and security lighting and join the local Horse Watch scheme.” NEW FUND FOR EQUINE CHARITIES THE Petplan Charitable Trust (PPCT) has joined forces with equestrian organisations to create a fund to support smaller equine welfare organisations impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The Covid-19 Equine Rescues Emergency Fund was created by the PPCT, World Horse Welfare and the…

Spanish dressage rider Juan Matute Guimon was taken to hospital on 5 May after sustaining a bleed on the brain and had had surgery as H&H went to press.He represented Spain at WEG 2018. Broadcaster Clare Balding has signed a book deal for two non-fiction titles. The first, Fall Off. Get Back On. Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay at the Top of your Game!, will be published in April 2021. British Olympic dressage rider Emile Faurie has partnered with Helgstrand Dressage, which specialises in training and selling elite horses, as their UK-based trainer and sales agent. The Jockey Club’s Lara Telfer was crowned winner of Racing Welfare’s singing competition the Furlong Factor on 9 May. Lara topped the vote with her rendition of James Bay’s Let It Go. NHS…

AN orphan filly has been adopted by her dam’s field mate, who is raising her with her own. Sally Lister’s Gracie has taken on skewbald Donna Seraphina, who lost her dam as a result of foaling complications. She was born the same night as Gracie’s filly, Brackenspa Nightingale. “We decided to give it a go as Gracie has been with us for years and we know her very well,” said Sally, who is an experienced breeder and whose husband has had positive results in doing this with orphaned calves. “Hopefully we have been able to make the best of a really sad situation,” she said. “Now they are all out in the field all day and the foals are absolutely loving life. “They are best mates and are going to…

THESE are strange times and the future has never been more uncertain, so making firm plans more than a few days ahead is almost impossible. At the time of writing there is no indication of when widespread sport can resume in the UK – the government document released last Monday said that as part of step two (at the earliest 1 June), sporting events could “take place behind closed doors for broadcast, while avoiding the risk of large-scale social contact”. But the same timescale surely does not apply to small-scale events. Some larger equestrian fixtures, including Luhmühlen, have modelled running without spectators. But even with TV and sponsors, the finances don’t stack up for any event dependent on fans through the gate and tradestands. Having said that, few sports have…

LIFE is undoubtedly strange at the moment, and the current situation will have affected people in numerous ways. While I am used to working from home, I’m now struggling with the fact that I’ve not laid eyes on a pony since lockdown began and I am definitely starting to get withdrawal symptoms. It soon became apparent that my affinity for riding a bike in a bid to get outdoors and keep fit is no replacement for my usual four-legged mount. There have been suggestions on social media that societies should look to refund membership fees, but I don’t agree. We need to think of their value beyond the role of running showing qualifiers for Horse of the Year Show and the Royal International (RIHS), coveted though these fixtures are. “These…

RACING WELFARE is a registered charity supporting the workforce of British horseracing, including stud, stable and racecourse staff, alongside those working in associated professions. The charity provides advice and guidance services, all of which are confidential and non-judgmental. Support is available for physical health, mental health, bereavement, careers advice, housing, money advice, illness, addiction, relationships and retirement. • racingwelfare.co.uk 24-hour racing support line: 0800 6300 443…

CHILD POSE 30 secs, 4 reps Get on to your hands and knees, and drop your buttocks to your heels. Stretch your hands forwards, dropping your head between your shoulders to the floor. You should feel the stretch through your back and upper arms. CHILD POSE WITH A TWIST 30 secs, 4 reps Kneel on the floor and sit on your heels. You can place cushions directly underneath your hips if you need to. Stretch your arms out in front of you, and walk your hands over to one side. Keeping your hips over your heels, turn your outer palm to face up, and place the other hand on top. Arch your outer side up as you reach to the side to increase the stretch. SARAH SAYS: “A lovely stretch…

HERE at H&H Towers, we like to think we know a bit about horses, but every day new facts surprise us. Did you know that William Fox-Pitt once contested a World Championship on a rare breed mare? Or that a Polish pony is being used to restore British wetland habitats? Brazil’s national horse numbers over half a million in its own land – but just one has found its way to our shores. Our competition arenas may be full of Connies, Dutch Warmbloods and thoroughbreds, but looking further afield, here are five unusual breeds with their own USPs. Marwari IN A NUTSHELL: an indigenous breed descended from an Indian warhorse, with “curly” ears touching at the tips. The breed is thought to go back to 2000BC. HEIGHT: 15hh–16hh RARITY: although…

THREE years into her second stint as master of the VWH, Countess (Susie) Goess-Saurau is one of the country’s senior masters of foxhounds. “Are you writing about old dinosaurs?” she laughs when I ring her. An elegant blonde in pastels and a big hat, Susie draws the eye at gatherings of the tribe throughout the summer. She looks like a Hitchcock heroine but in person she is fun, chatty and down-to-earth. As the daughter of non-horsey parents, horses didn’t come to her, she explains. “I spotted a pony, aged two, and screamed until I was put on it. My parents allowed me to have riding lessons and I became known as ‘the professor’ because all of my knowledge came from the Pony Club manual.” She remembers her parents loyally dragging…

THE equestrian community was starting to take its first steps towards a post-lockdown situation as H&H went to press — with riding encouraged again. On 10 May, prime minister Boris Johnson announced plans to “provide the first sketch of a road map for re-opening society”. This included encouraging people to work who cannot work from home, and encouraging people to take more, “even unlimited amounts”, of outdoor exercise. The government produced more detailed guidance on Monday (11 May) and as H&H went to press that evening, Sport England was due to reveal what this meant for sport. In the meantime, the British Horse Society said it was encouraging members and “the wider equestrian community” to ride again, with immediate effect in Scotland and Wales, and from 13 May in England.…

WORLD CRUISE Shane Breen’s 2006 World Equestrian Games ride, who also had success with Alex and Michael Duffy, has died aged 25. He won the 2010 Bunn Leisure Trophy and had numerous top placings at international shows. WAITWITH WESTWIND Debbie Barr’s Welsh section A has died aged 22. The stallion won the Cuddy in-hand final at HOYS 2006 and stood mountain and moorland working hunter champion in 2013, and was also placed at Olympia. BARRICHELLO The gelding is among the rides owned by Sarah Hughes to join Irish eventer Cathal Daniels. The 11-year-old was evented by Britain’s Alex Bragg in 2018, with top-10 three-star (now four-star) finishes.…

A VIRTUAL event including showjumping on bicycles, apple-bobbing and putting pillows in cases has raised over £150,000 for health charities. British rider Kirsty Chabert, on Classic VI, won the Virtual Eventing, which ran from 6 to 10 May, the dates Badminton Horse Trials should have run. Competitors rode their dressage tests at home, videos of which were judged – but the other two phases were different. For the “cross-country”, each rider had to tackle a set series of challenges, including pushing a wheelbarrow loaded with bedding and tack, changing clothes and boots and negotiating bending poles on foot. The “showjumping” involved negotiating a course of poles on the ground, on a bike. “It’s been fun,” said organiser Rachel Wakefield, of Uptown Eventing, who praised the “spectacular” commentators, Spencer Sturmey, Pammy…

TIMOTHY GWYN-JONES MFH A NOTED hunting man in England and Ireland, Timothy Gwyn-Jones died aged 81 on April 8, a victim of the coronavirus. Mr Gwyn-Jones played a great part in reviving the East Galway Hunt, which had been closed for 14 years until 1970 when Michael Higgens took the mastership. When Mr Higgens left to hunt the Tipperary hounds, Mr Gwyn-Jones was part of a new East Galway mastership, which built up the hunt and re-opened the country successfully, with hounds hunted by Mr Gwyn-Jones’s friends Charlie Bishop and Michael Dempsey senior. Mr Gwyn-Jones was a highly successful property dealer, forming a successful company. He hunted with the Puckeridge in the late 1960s, and first tasted the joys of Irish hunting with Thady Ryan at the Scarteen, followed by…

HOLDING ON H&H’s friendly crystal ball-gazing team predicts a surge in sales of neckstraps in the near future. Anyone else who hasn’t ridden for a good few weeks and is thinking the first time on board may be interesting? LICENSING Top marks to the equestrian centre selling groceries during lockdown, which has secured an alcohol licence as well. It is hoped the licence will be retained once shows start – could this mean more other halves keen to help at shows once we get going again, one wonders? Everyone’s a winner there. ESSENTIAL JOURNEYS Talking of alcohol, a rider who wanted to buy some slightly non-essential items was wondering with what to combine the trip. “If I’m going to buy gin anyway, surely that’s essential?” she asked. But of course.…

DURING lockdown, I’ve been watching a lot of online training videos. Some are good, some are amusing and some terrifyingly bad. The blessing and the curse of the internet is that anyone can get out there and strut their stuff, but from what I’ve seen online I’m starting to think that all trainers – virtual or otherwise – should have some sort of qualification, whether that’s obtained via exam, competition results or judging. When you are dealing with a one-tonne animal, things can get messy pretty quickly if you don’t know what you are doing. The presenters of these training videos have many different styles, and approaches range from the cavalier “have a go” to the achingly slow. I’ve developed a particular dislike for those who use line drawings by…

RIDER KITTY KING “‘FROGGY’ liked to buck people off as a young horse and he still does it every now and again. “When I first saw him, I thought he had a nice head, but I didn’t like anything else about him! He drags his hind feet along being trotted up and I thought he was really uninspiring. But we’d driven all the way to Devon, so I let Padraig McCarthy ride him and he looked much more athletic under saddle. I felt he would be trainable and he is – he’s a clever horse. “His success last year wasn’t a surprise to me; it had been building over the previous two seasons, though last year’s Badminton didn’t go to plan. He was within 15 seconds of being started cross-country…

THOROUGHPIN FLUID swelling of the tarsal sheath, which lubricates the deep digital flexor tendon as it runs over the back of the hock on the inside. A more severe case may be caused by injury to the deep digital flexor tendon or the bone that the tendon runs over. › Action: if swelling causes a problem, draining the fluid and medication with antiinflammatories may help. Significant lameness warrants further investigation. CALCANEAL BURSITIS SWELLING of the deep calcaneal bursa, which acts to lubricate the superficial digital flexor tendon as it runs over the point of the hock. This usually indicates injury, typically of the superficial digital flexor tendon or its thick attachments to the point of the hock. › Action: the most severe injuries involve a slipped tendon, where one of…

“If you’ve tried your best, the result doesn’t matter” I AM absolutely obsessed with organisation. If we’re showing, the lorry is always packed the night before; it’s better to be an hour early than two hours late, in case something unexpected happens. Many years ago, we broke down on the way to a show with a 13hh show hunter. We arrived and the pony wasn’t even plaited up. Back in the day you were permitted to go into the ring late. It was a class of 25 and the 24th pony was doing its show as we hurried him in. Everyone had to do the go-round again and our pony came up to win. It’s quite funny in hindsight, but we’ve never, ever been late again. When I was out…

LATERAL BUNNY JUMPS 30 secs, 1 rep, 3 sets Stand up straight with a line on the floor to your side. Jump sideways over the line, landing lightly on your feet as you regain your balance. Try to land as quietly as you can, absorbing the impact with your hips and knees as if landing from a showjump. You may use your arms to swing to help with this explosive movement. Next, jump back over the line and regain your balance. To make this lower impact, step from side to side rather than jump, still lifting and lowering your arms with each step. To make this harder, do not rest between jumps; keep the jumps a continuous flow of movement. SARAH SAYS: “This is a great exercise to help build…

MOOR TO MEAL THE Devon breed recognised by the RBST as “endangered” is the Dartmoor, the Victorian result of crossing chunky hill ponies with Arabs and hackneys to create polo ponies and admired as agile and attractive, good for riding and driving. Still on the moor, however, are some 1,200 Dartmoor Hill Ponies (pictured), of assorted colours and sizes. In an endeavour to ensure recognition of the herds after Brexit, the first genetic profiling of the hill ponies was carried out and revealed that they appear to be genetically distinct, sharing genes only with the Carneddau ponies of Wales. As Joss Hibbs of the Dartmoor Hill Pony Association explains, one method of ensuring they retain a value is by selling their meat through Dartmoor Conservation Meat. “It is lean red…

FROM the loo-roll challenge to hound racing, online auctions to hunting-tea recipe sharing, from downing raw eggs and pints of milk to holding virtual horse, dog and agricultural shows, hunts across the country have shown extraordinary adaptability in keeping communities together, helping those in need and raising vital funds. It’s proof once again that hunting is the backbone of rural life and a community to rely on in times of need. Since 23 March, life for every one of us has been very strange. A week before, the Masters of Foxhounds Association (MFHA) called a halt to all hunting, while point-to-points and hunt balls were hastily cancelled as the country went into lockdown. While simultaneously redoubling efforts to keep their flesh rounds going during lambing and amid new restrictions on…

FEW have ridden across country with the panache of Ginny Elliot, the petite eventer whose distinctive purple colours blazed a trail around the sport’s toughest tracks. Yet Ginny delivered not just style, but substance. During an astonishing decade, she dominated the international scene – claiming multiple Olympic, World and European Championship medals alongside a Badminton hat-trick and five Burghley wins. “We hit a real purple patch in the 1980s,” she recalls. “I’d had a tough time but, thankfully, everything suddenly clicked.” She certainly made it look effortless. Fellow eventers admired her, spectators adored her and no pony-mad youngster’s bedroom was complete without posters of Priceless, Night Cap and Master Craftsman on the walls. But the polished performances came after an arduous climb to the top. Ginny, whose maiden name was…

THIS area is well-known for its turbulent history. The people who lived here, in North Northumberland, years ago were endlessly racing over the border to steal – and worse – from their neighbours on the other side. That’s why so many farms have their own mini-castles, fortified towers called “pele” towers, where they could keep watch or retreat when the heat was on. It struck me the other day that their lives probably weren’t so dissimilar to ours now. I expect there was a peasant hausfrau who used to stare at this very same view with her family of bairns at foot, seeing little escape beyond a trip to the well or the washing line. At 40-plus I’m probably granny-age by their standards but stick with me. No doubt she…

THE 2021 FEI European Championships in all Olympic and Paralympic disciplines have been cancelled as a result of the rescheduled Tokyo Games. The showjumping, dressage and para dressage were to be held in Budapest next summer. The Hungarian capital will still host the driving and vaulting. The eventing, scheduled to run in Haras du Pin, France, in August, has also been cancelled. FEI secretary general Sabrina Ibáñez said the FEI, organisers and federations “examined every option to try to save the championships”. “But we have reached the regrettable decision that it is not possible to have these important events so close to the Olympics and Paralympics,” she said. “While there are some nations that have enough horsepower to send strong teams to the Olympic and Paralympic Games and also to…

DEJA Swedish dressage rider Patrik Kittel’s Rio Olympic and 2015 Europeans ride has been retired aged 16 to be a broodmare. Marie Harward’s mare won numerous grands prix and was fourth at the 2018 World Cup Final. MA FILLEULE The former Nicky Henderson-trained mare, who won the 2014 Topham Chase, has died aged 12 following complications from colic surgery. She was bought after her racing career by Dominic Burke. BABALOU 41 Jack Snyder’s multiple grand prix-winning mare, partnered by US showjumper Todd Minikus and Ireland’s Darragh Kenny, has retired aged 15. Her other career highlights included placings in Aachen’s Rolex grand prix.…

NON-PUB QUIZZES Contestants in an online quiz stumped by “how many stomachs does a giraffe have?” were more confused by the justification “well, a horse has two…” Erm. The answer, fact fans, is four. For giraffes, obviously. NEWS A website posted pictures of Katie Price leaving Tesco with all her essentials, including, of course, her copy of H&H. Sharp-eyed readers will have noticed the copy was not that week’s edition but the previous one. Hmm. Were those pictures really taken that morning…? RON THE BULL Poor old Ron. He had an itchy behind but his choice of itching post, a telegraph pole, wasn’t ideal as he managed to dislodge the transformer box and caused a power cut to 700+ homes. And yes, this wasn’t a horse but it’s great, and…

IN these challenging times of Covid-19, the Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) groups and animal charities that still have to train and look after thousands of animals, but with no income, are suffering considerably. I have been attending Broadlands RDA in Alton, Hampshire, since spring 2013 following a life-changing stroke and, thanks to their wonderful team, when I’m riding or having “horse therapy” sessions, I can focus on what I want to achieve. This has enabled me to look at life in a more positive way, which helps both my physical and mental wellbeing. So if everyone could donate whatever they’d spend on lessons to these deserving charities that give us such pleasure, we’d be helping them to survive until business resumes once again. Caroline Lawson Farnborough, Hants The…

WITH plenty of time to reflect during lockdown, having not been to a show since the Sunshine Tour in early March, my thoughts turned to the unbelievable job the Blázquez family does at their venue in Vejer De La Frontera in Spain. It’s a five-star-plus facility with grass and sand rings that are second to none. The stables and the warm-ups have all you require and it’s absolutely spotless. The tour is run for the sport rather than spectators and the family has made a thriving business out of it, attracting huge numbers of people. So why don’t we have anything like it in this country? British riders – many names I don’t even recognise – turn up on the Sunshine Tour in droves. The reason is, very simply, we…

VENDREDI BIATS Age: 11 Breeding: Winningmood x Camelia De Ruelles Owners: Diana Bown, Sally Lloyd-Baker, Sally Eyre and Samantha Wilson Rider: Kitty King Breeder: Philippe Brivois Greatest achievements: fifth Burgham CCI4*-S 2017; first Hartpury CCI4*-S 2017; third Chatsworth CCI4*-S 2018; fourth Bramham CCI4*-L 2018; fifth Blenheim CCI4*-L 2018; first Bramham CCI4*-L 2019; first Burgham CCI4*-S 2019; seventh individually at Luhmühlen European Championships 2019 (all class names updated to current format).…

ALTHOUGH racing is a multi-billion-pound industry, it is largely made up of hundreds of small businesses whose lifeblood has been taken away with lockdown measures. This has put at risk the jobs of thousands of people, all of whom are entitled to Racing Welfare’s services. Racing Welfare acted quickly to ensure we were able to maintain our services. Staff were reorganised into project teams and all departments came together to support the welfare team. This, along with Racing’s Support Line, our 24-hour helpline, has ensured the resilience of our services. Over lockdown, we have seen demand for services grow. From 17 March to 14 April, new enquiries increased by 1,780%. We believe this increase is the calm before the storm and the number of people turning to Racing Welfare for…

IN the early days of lockdown, many of us eagerly bunny-hopped around to Joe Wicks’ schoolkids’ morning workouts (parents possibly more than their children). But as the restrictions continue, and with no competitions on the horizon, it’s hard to stay motivated, especially for those who cannot even get out to ride. However, keeping fit is not only good for our mental and physical health, it will enable us to hit the ground running as soon as the competition gates do open again. Every week in Horse & Hound until mid-June, we’ll feature three rider-focused exercises, in stretch, cardio and strength/endurance, to boost your fitness regime. There are various grades within the exercises, so start gradually and work up to a level at which you are comfortable. TAKE CARE: With any…

“Competition has stopped, but the equestrian world hasn’t” SARAH SKILLIN, SELF-EMPLOYED MY costs have gone down because all of my horses – two of my own and four liveries – are now out all the time. That would happen normally anyway, but we have turned them out three and a half weeks earlier than usual. However, that’s not down to the pandemic, that’s down to the weather. My winter fields went from being sodden to concrete in 24 hours. It got cheaper because I’m not feeding multiple bales of hay a day and the hard feed is reduced. Pandemic-related cost reductions include things such as my chiropractor and the physio, who does the horses and I, plus the horses haven’t had their six-monthly vaccinations. I have not renewed my British…

THE BETA national equestrian survey 2019 found that the average owner spent the following on essentials last year: £656 – bedding £812 – HAY/HAYLAGE £937 – FARRIERS £652 – compound feed (excluding balancers) £767 – VETS AND MEDICINES (EXCLUDING WORMERS) And as a nation… 374,000 – number of horse-owning households in Britain £4.7BN – the annual spend of Britain’s equestrian industry (up from £4.3bn in 2015) £3.15bn – the total direct spend (purchases directly associated with owning and caring for horses) of Britain’s horse owners 814,000 – ESTIMATED HORSE POPULATION IN BRITAIN…

“He was safe and comfortable, important on a long day” ANYONE fortunate enough to still be hunting in their nineties would be happy with a horse like Nelson. Vicomte le Hardy de Beaulieu, long-time subscriber to the Quantock Staghounds, celebrated turning 100 on 14 April, and remembers the handsome grey as “one of the best horses I have had during my long career as a hunting man in Belgium and England.” Born in 1993, bred by the Batten family out of a Weatherbird mare called Seabird and by notable eventing stallion Brendonhill Hot Rumour, Nelson had hunting pedigree on both sides. “I saw him for the first time following hounds when he was four, ridden by Lucy Down [neé Batten, wife of then huntsman Richard],” remembers Hugh. “I thought he…

“IT was a hoot,” says former eventer and Badminton media director Julian Seaman, who, along with Ginny and other eventers including Jane Holderness-Roddam and Richard Meade, secured a riding part in the film International Velvet. “Ginny was a good friend of mine and had one of the lead roles, doubling for Tatum O’Neal. It was filmed at Burghley right after the 1977 Europeans, and it was just like grown-up Pony Club camp; we would play chase-me-Charlie over the fences every morning.”…