Innholdsfortegnelse for 30-Dec-2021 i Horse & Hound

IN this week’s issue, we have a spotlight on Dark Legend, the horse that won the great young rider and Olympic team medallist Lottie Fry even more fans at London International Horse Show last week, where the pair finished an extremely impressive second to Olympic individual bronze medallists Charlotte Dujardin and Gio. Also for this week, I had the pleasure of interviewing the lovely Sadie Smith, former rider for Carl Hester, who has made the leap across the Channel to the same base as Lottie in the Netherlands, with the van Olsts. Sadie, whom Carl once compared to Charlotte in these pages, talks candidly about not having unlimited funds to play with, but nevertheless finishing fourth at the nationals with 71%-plus on Keystone Dynamite – a somewhat wayward but loveable…

IVAR GOODEN Imogen Murray is back on board her five-star campaigner after he was injured at Bicton in June. The 14-year-old, co-owned by MS Team and Aivar Ward, has finished eighth at Badminton and sixth at Burghley. FLORINA 146 Mette Dahl’s junior European Championship ride has been put down aged 11 after a freak accident while turned out. She took Mette, 15, from her first affiliated show to her first junior international and youth Europeans. VASSILY DE LASSOS Andrew Hoy’s Tokyo Olympic individual bronze and team silver medal-winning ride is EquiRatings horse of the year after a vote. Paula and David Evans’ 12-year-old has been in the top eight on 16 of 17 FEI starts with Andrew.…

BODY PROTECTORS RULING CHANGED THE National Pony Society (NPS) has amended its ruling on body protectors in working hunter classes. The society advises all competitors to wear body protectors while jumping, but they will not be mandatory. The NPS announced a 2022 rule change in November, following the British Show Pony Society, which made body protectors compulsory from 2020. Many adult competitors who ride in NPS classes were dismayed at the rule, resulting in online debates and petitions. Following discussions with Horse of the Year Show, the Showing Council and the Royal International, the wording has been changed. GRASS SICKNESS SCHEME A SUCCESS A GRASS sickness biobank has been hailed a “remarkable success” following its first season. The project, led by researcher Kathy Geyer, is funded by the Moredun Foundation…

▲ LUNGEING As we take a deep breath before the end of the year, can we just check whether someone is lungeing 2022 before we all get on? We’re thinking it would be wise, and possibly give it some turmeric too. Thanks. ▲ PARTIES To the US, where it appears baby showers are extending to cover the owners of infoal mares; your mare gets pregnant and people come and have a party and give you lots of horse stuff. We like this idea a lot, although it could get pricey for friends of major breeders… ▲ APOLOGIES Overheard at a show, a young rider bellowing “sorry” as she mistimed a fence but her pony cleared it with aplomb. Asked afterwards whether she was apologising to the pony or the judges,…

If you weren’t a rider, what would you be? Probably a groom – I love caring for horses and making them look good. Aside from horses I think I would work in transport logistics as I like to be organised. All about Lizzie... Lizzie Baugh, 24, finished in the top 15 at two young rider European Championships and has been placed at four-star. How do you handle competition nerves? I make sure that I’m as prepared as I can be. I tend to believe that everything happens for a reason, so whatever happens is going to happen, and all that I can do is to try my best. I reason with myself that I put the hours into the training and therefore I’m not going to go into the ring…

RIDER LOTTIE FRY “I FIRST started riding ‘Darky’ when he was about six – it’s really nice to have shared the whole journey with him. He was very sharp and nervous and not the easiest horse in the beginning; he was scared of everything. “At one point I was taking him out almost every weekend doing prix st georges to grow our partnership, and even though at our first international we had to retire as I couldn’t get him round the ring, he slowly started to trust me. He is now so much more confident – back at the start I would never have dreamed we’d be doing all these shows together. “Darky is very bouncy to ride and I remember in the early days the sitting trot wasn’t the…

“It’s been a revelation riding a horse like her. She just keeps going” IT’S not easy to take a thoroughbred straight from the racetrack to the hunting field, but when it works, it’s a joy. “She is an absolute wonder,” says Barry Seifert, Staff College Drag legend, of Ballygannon Lady. “It’s been a revelation riding a horse like her. She just keeps going.” Known as Tori, the mare came from Ireland aged five, having only raced, as far as Barry knows – “I don’t know much!” Her first time out was with the drag. “She was quite a handful, just off the racetrack.” The former jockey wisely gave her time. “I’m not a professional, but I’ve ridden a lot of horses and with each one you’ve got to learn.” It…

jennifer.donald@futurenet.com @jen_donald Hartpury Winter Classic, Glos ADRIAN SPEIGHT and Millfield Baloney ended their year on the same high they have been riding on throughout, breezing to a win in the winter grand prix. Judith Witham’s 15-year-old headed this summer’s gold league and also claimed the national title at Stoneleigh, collecting a string of grands prix, area trials and stairways along the way. “He seems to be getting better with age, he’s getting quicker,” said Adrian, who has been riding “Louie” for three years. “He’s as sound and fit as a butcher’s dog, so fingers crossed we get to carry on like this into the new year.” A quarter of the 41 starters delivered clears around Krissy Spiller’s track, which was beefed-up for the second phase. “I thought the first round…

KATHERINE TULLIE secured the final points for winter regional qualification at both elementary and medium level with her mother Fiona’s Joie A Vie, at Alnwick Ford, Northumberland. The sevenyear-old was bought in 2017 in the Netherlands as a just-backed three-year-old. “We went looking for a youngster, tried 15 and she was the one I didn’t want to get off even though she did put in a few bucks,” said Katherine, who works on her parents’ mixed farm up in the Borders. “I train with Paul Hayler and have just spent a fortnight helping him out – I took ‘Ginger’ with me,” she said. “She’s a very hot mare and we’ve worked on getting a little bit more airtime in her trot work and I really felt the difference in the…

WHEN Mary was told that an exciting five-year-old was coming up for sale at Bernice Strong’s yard near Newbury, she leapt in her car and drove there immediately, “knowing how hard it is to find good young horses”, she says. “As soon as I saw William, I absolutely fell for him. He came out of the stable with his head held high with his big white blaze; I could tell he was a natural athlete. But when I looked at him more carefully, I could see he had poor lower-limb conformation; he was quite pigeon-toed, slightly tied in below the knee and had curbed hocks. I thought he was a lovely horse, but thought, ‘Surely I can’t buy a horse with these sorts of conformational faults?’ “I remember being quite…

Share your news story Call 01252 555021 Email eleanor.jones@futurenet.com @ jones_eleanor FORMER jockey Freddy Tylicki won his High Court case with a judge ruling that fellow jockey Graham Gibbons was responsible for the fall that resulted in Mr Tylicki’s life-changing injuries. Her honour judge Karen Walden-Smith ruled that Mr Gibbons had a “reckless disregard” for Mr Tylicki’s safety in the seconds ahead of the fall, in the 3.20pm mile maiden on the allweather track at Kempton on 31 October 2016. The case was heard over five days and the judgement released on 21 December. Judge Walden-Smith ruled that Mr Gibbons “knew, or at the very least ought to have known” where Mr Tylicki and Nellie Deen were, when he steered his horse, Madame Butterfly, across Nellie Deen’s racing line. The…

THE huge and diverse popularity of riding in Sweden shows the effect of state interest and backing, research has found. Sports professor Susanna Hedenborg, of Malmö University, investigated the reasons equestrianism in the country is so “classless”, in contrast to the system in some other countries. Riding is one of the most popular youth sports in Sweden and the national federation has more than 150,000 members. “It’s a different concept and way of organising riding,” Prof Hedenborg told H&H. She explained that state subsidising of the sport has a long history. Until the end of the 19th century, riding was the premise of the military, or upper-class men, but in the 20th century, the government started taking an interest, for military reasons. “Riding is seen as an important part of…

“DARKY is a bit of a character, and he loves to be centre of attention – I’d say he is a bit needy. Lottie is very much his person, and he gets impatient if she’s doing things with other horses, and quite jealous. He is so funny – he’ll pull all these faces as though he is really grumpy, but when you walk up to him he just wants you to scratch him. He spends quite a lot of time with his ears back actually, but he just wants attention. “He always wants to work and he’s not happy unless he’s been ridden, but in the stable he is generally easy to handle. He’s a gentleman in that respect, but he is spooky and scared of some things. We have…

IT is nearly imperceptible. At the highest level, the rider only needs to think “half-halt” and the horse responds. And, like so many things to do with riding, it is all about “feel”, something which is perceived differently by different people. Therefore, it is not surprising that mystery and confusion surrounds the half-halt. However, it is vital to master this method of communication as Caroline Moore, FBHS and British Eventing youth performance coach, explains: “It’s about learning to use the leg, seat and rein aids at the right time; crucially, softening the hands at the right time. Once you learn that, everything opens up for you.” Training a horse without half-halts is simply impossible, it is so fundamental. “For me, it’s about managing the horse’s balance in relationship to mental…

polly.bryan@futurenet.com @pollyrose21 Aintree EC, Merseyside ISLA MANSELL’S former racehorse Crisp Note, from the family of leading event sire Miners Lamp (sire of Britain’s Olympic medallist Miners Frolic, among others), won the bronze section of both elementaries. It’s a familiar venue for the 19-year-old mare, who has competed with great success there over the years at the annual Retraining of Racehorses Championships. “She came out of racing as a three-year-old and I bought her cheaply the following year,” explained Isla. “I’d been looking for an eventer but couldn’t afford one and ‘Duck’ was supposed to be the project that funded it, but that didn’t quite happen and she stayed. “They gave her a 30% chance of recovery”ISLA MANSELL “She has done everything and more than I could have hoped. We did…

“WHEN the lorry rocked up on the day that he arrived and they opened up the back, there was this horse that looked like a giraffe coming out the back,” remembers Mary’s former groom, Annie Corbin. “My first thought was, ‘How am I going to get a saddle on that?’ because he was so big and tall. But from the word go, he was the handsome one on the yard. “As a baby, he had to be the first out and about, he didn’t like hanging around. And he always wanted to know where his neighbour was; we had to be a bit careful not to leave him on his own too much and to make sure he had a friend that he could see. “From a groom’s point of…

A WORKING group made up of key stakeholders in British racing will develop an “action plan” to tackle conduct and promote “positive behaviour change”. The group, chaired by the British Horseracing Authority, will include representatives from a range of industry organisations “and/or – crucially –the people that they represent”. Its formation was announced a week after Robbie Dunne was found to have bullied and harassed fellow jockey Bryony Frost (news, 16 December). The aim is to promote “the positive elements of conduct” through education, deterring poor behaviour and discrimination, and empowering people to “call out conduct which falls short”. “It is essential horseracing remains a progressive, modern industry when it comes to conduct. We must prioritise the wellbeing and development of our workforce, stand against discrimination, and invest in making…

Olympic dressage rider Lottie Fry, 25, received the Raymond Brooks-Ward trophy at the London International Horse Show. The award recognises an under-25 rider with great potential. British Dressage finance director Caroline Godfrey has been appointed interim chairman after the death of Linda Whetstone. She will hold the post until a new chairman is elected in spring. Olympic showjumper Jos Lansink is the new coach of the Netherlands’ showjumping team. Jos, who replaces Rob Ehrens, said he is “looking forward to the new challenge”. The Medical Equestrian Association has appointed Andy Simpson as new chair. Dr Simpson is a racecourse doctor at Cheltenham and has worked at Badminton Horse Trials. Professional Jockeys Association (PJA) CEO Paul Struthers has stepped down after 10 years. PJA executive director Dale Gibson has been appointed…

THE Donkey Sanctuary is well used to protecting vulnerable equids – less so vulnerable mushrooms. But one of the UK’s rarest fungi, violet coral Clavaria zollingeri, has been found at the charity’s Paccombe Farm, by the sanctuary’s Helen Cavilla. This is only the second time the fungus has been found in Devon; it is listed as a vulnerable species worldwide. David Farley of the Devon Fungus Group said: “The violet coral is one of our most beautiful fungi. “It is very rare in south-west England and usually confined to upland areas, so its appearance at The Donkey Sanctuary is especially unusual. “In 40 years of observing wild fungi I’ve only seen this species once before. A remarkable find.”…

1) By what name is Rio 2016 eventing bronze medallist Over The Vee more commonly known? 2) How many Welsh sections are there? 3) What is Richard Walker’s Badminton claim to fame? 4) On which horse did Princess Anne score her first Flat race winner? 5) Who is the only horse to have won the Cheltenham Gold Cup five times in a row? Answers from 23 December 1) FRH Butts Abraxxas 2) Horseracing 3) Barolo and Mount St John Freestyle 4) Five 5) Peggy.…

polly.bryan@futurenet.com @pollyrose21 NEWS of the sudden death of our British Dressage chair Linda Whetstone came as a huge shock to so many. She was an inspiring person possessed of an incisive intellect; an amazing stickler for detail, timings, and strategies. It was no wonder that one rarely came across anyone who had any complaint about Linda, as one of her chief characteristics was her fairness. I had heard that she was a high-flyer in all areas of her life but reading the tributes from across the world, and watching the tribute to her in the House of Commons, I realised I had no idea she was held in such high regard in so many spheres. “Linda was the leading light who shaped the way British dressage is today with her…

catherine.austen@futurenet.com @cfausten123 United Pack, Selly Hall, Shropshire ONE of the great joys of hacking home with hounds is the time it gives you to ponder and rerun the events of the day. The enjoyment of hunting is as much the warm afterglow as the immediate thrill of the moment. We set off across the hill in daylight, but by the time we hit the road to ride the last mile to the box, the sparks of light like fairy dust were spitting off the horses’ shoes. There was not a car on these tiny single-track roads, nor a noise from anything except livestock or ducks disturbed from the roadside pond. I wondered if there could be any more idyllic place to hunt. The day had started in the same way,…

JORDAN KAVANAGH was in unbeatable form at Arena UK, Lincs, and Port Royal, Yorks. His week started with four red rosettes at novice and prelim at Arena UK, followed by two more 24 hours later at Port Royal. Magic Mikey, winner of both Arena UK prelims with 76.9% and 75.8,% is owned by Glen Russell, who bought the horse last year. “We were looking for something at least four and broken in, and came back with an unbroken three-year-old,” said Jordan. “He was a quality horse who moved well but it was his temperament that was 80% of the decision and the aim with him is grand prix.” Limelight, who won both novices with over 70%, is with Jordan on sales livery. “If he’s still here he will go out…

EVERYONE who knows horses knows that with all the joy they bring, there is plenty of heartache, too. That knowledge doesn’t make it any easier when the bad things happen, which they have a habit of doing, usually at the most inconvenient time. For a while now I have been listening to people’s sad and tricky horse stories, thinking that I was on borrowed time. One of the worst recently was from Ruby, who works here. Ruby had gone about her morning in her usual bionic way. Got here before dawn, ridden and led two, mucked out more and left the yard ready for a military inspection, not a blade of straw out of place. She then raced home to get her own (quite new) horse ready for hunting. She…