Innholdsfortegnelse for 13-Jan-2022 i Horse & Hound

IN this week’s issue we look at the particular challenges professional riders face that can negatively affect mental health. There is much greater understanding in the horseworld, as elsewhere, than there was 20 years ago, that mental health should be treated with as much support as physical health conditions. There is thankfully greater acceptance, too, that to overcome mental health challenges takes so much more than “kicking on”, as we equestrians are prone to saying. The riders quoted in this feature (p34) have sound advice on where to look for that help, and how to support others who may not realise they could benefit from it. If this feature helps one person realise that actually they’re not just having a bad start to the year, that they need to seek…

ADVANCE tickets only and a new paid-for livestreaming service headline major changes for this year’s Badminton Horse Trials. Badminton director Jane Tuckwell told H&H the “no tickets at the gate” decision will be “strongly enforced”. “The decision is one we have been considering since the 2019 event, when on the Saturday, we did all but reach full capacity,” she said, adding that there is no limit on the number anyone can buy. Jane told the InsideBadminton podcast this is to speed up entry. Viewers will still be able to watch the full event live, with changes. The BBC highlights and results show on Sunday will stay free, but the live cross-country will not be on the BBC red button on Saturday. Badminton TV will show every phase live, behind a…

HORSES DIE IN UAE ENDURANCE RIDE AT least two horses died in a national class during HH The President of the UAE Cup at Boudheib, Abu Dhabi. Mekadesh Park is listed as having suffered a catastrophic injury. Rum Rebellion is shown in results as having died. Baldikova De Becherel is shown as eliminated on metabolic grounds, but “there are unconfirmed reports [she] also suffered a catastrophic injury”, an Endurance GB (EGB) spokesman said. It was a national class, but part of an event featuring international classes and EGB called on the FEI to investigate. GAL CLEARED IN LEGAL ACTION EDWARD GAL has been acquitted of cruelty in a case brought by the German branch of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). The Dutch Olympic dressage rider was cleared…

▲ MONOPOLY Apparently, one can buy a “horses and ponies” version of Monopoly. One collects different breeds, plays apples and carrots cards, and the two utilities are vets and farriers. Plus one’s salary is the same as one’s hay bill, which seems fairly true to life… ▲ GLITTER A three-year-old rider who has been practising her riding was asked by her father if she would like to jump as big as he does. “I jump bigger than you already, Daddy,” she declared, adding, “but I can’t do it unless I have a glittery hat.” But of course. ▲ GAMING Overheard at the yard: “Will 10 bags of balancer fit in my Honda? Just trying to work out when to get all the feed in.” Best reply of the lot was:…

MANY years ago, I was a member of East Grinstead Riding Club and the British Horse Society Dressage Group as it was then. Both held dressage competitions at Ardingly in West Sussex, which I entered regularly with friends. Linda Whetstone (obituary, 6 January) was often in attendance and once when someone asked if the coming and going of tractors and similar farm machinery could cease because it upset some of the horses, she replied, “If your horse is off the aids, you shouldn’t have a problem.” Everyone in the working-in area suddenly sat up, put their leg on and got on with it! Sheila Leonard Chaldon, Surrey The writer of letter of the week wins a bottle of Champagne Taittinger…

jennifer.donald@futurenet.com @jen_donald THE extended Christmas holiday period has finally come to an end. Frankly we trainers were so busy that we probably went past the stage of knowing which day we were waking up to. It has been frantic, but we have witnessed some fabulous racing, especially across the Irish Sea. Before I go any further, let me remind you why I am here writing this column; it is because I love my sport. Talking sport, I need to take you back to Cheltenham’s fabulous New Year’s Day meeting. Not to discuss the brilliance of Venetia Williams’ mare L’Homme Presse, Nigel Twiston-Davies’ Vienna Court or Willie Mullins’ Relkeel Hurdle winner Stormy Ireland, but the battle between two true Corinthian amateurs in Mr David Maxwell and Miss Victoria Malzard, who fought…

3411 FOX CROFT LANE Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, US For you: located in the equestrian community of Caloosa, this smart five-bedroom home gives off modern and rustic vibes. Outdoor features include a salt-chlorinated pool with sun deck, putting green, pizza oven and summer kitchen. For the horses: this five-acre property features an impressive barn with eight oversized stables, tack room and three wash-rack stations, as well as a riding arena with a full jumps course, five turnout paddocks and a pole barn. Caloosa has 30 miles of interior bridle paths leading to the 32-acre horse park with jumps course and community equestrian events. $3.9m (£2.9m approx) Waterfront Properties and Club Communities, +1 561 746 7272, waterfront-properties.com 1150 F ROAD Loxahatchee Groves, Florida, US For you: a 10-acre equestrian property with grooms’…

LE CHAMEAU VIERZONORD WELLINGTONS The dual-density sole absorbs shock and gives arch support. Neoprene lined for warmth. £190 lechameau.com HUNTER BALMORAL ADJUSTABLE NEOPRENE-LINED WELLINGTON BOOTS Designed for grip with shock-absorbing soles. £160 hunterboots.com ARIAT BURFORD INSULATED WELLINGTON BOOTS Created with waterproof rubber, a shockabsorbing mid-sole and neoprene lining. £150 ariat.com THE ORIGINAL MUCK BOOT COMPANY ARCTIC SPORT II Designed for the cold with a fleece lining, 5mm neoprene inner boot and top-line binding. £135 muckbootcompany.co.uk AIGLE PARCOURS 2 VARIO Boasts a tri-density rubber sole, shockabsorbing cushion and a waterproof gusset. The lining can be cleaned with a sponge. £150 aigle.com ALAN PAINE ARXUS PRIMO NORD LW ZIP BOOTS These boots have a 5mm neoprene lining and the waterproof shaft is resistant to thorns. £275 alanpaine.co.uk TOGGI WANDERER PLUS A thermal…

THERE’S more to student riding clubs than cheap lessons and competitions. As with most university clubs, the social side is a fundamental part of club life, including weekly pub nights and other opportunities for fun, horsey activities. “All team riders attend a strength and conditioning session in our university performance gym every week, run by Brookes Sport, with a coach who tailors our workouts for riding,” says Oxford Brookes University Equestrian president Imogen Carr. “These are really beneficial to our riding. We also run social riding lessons which anybody can attend, where we go to a local riding school. “Outside of riding, we also host a social get-together every Wednesday evening, which we usually do with another sport at Brookes, along with Christmas meals and formal events.” Hartpury riding club…

MY fantasy hunting day would take place behind the Exmoor Foxhounds; mainly doghounds, with a few bitches to liven things up. They are the best hunting hounds that I have ever seen, given their tenacity, independence and ability to hunt in the roughest of moorland weather. There would be a full team of professionals at the sharp end, with two whippers-in. John Hazeltine, who used to hunt the Tiverton Foxhounds so effectively, would hunt hounds, with Gary Boon – formerly of the Eggesford but who has been hunting the Devon and Somerset Staghounds with great style and dash while their huntsman is injured – and John Nicholson, who has hunted the Dulverton West with great success for the past 21 seasons, whipping-in. Adam Essom, currently master and huntsman of the…

IN the last thousand years, Battle Abbey on the south coast has seen her fair share of defiant English men and women. She looked down on us being settled by William the Conqueror and she looked up at skies full of Spitfires over our sea. This Boxing Day, she saw another little by-line of defiance in our island story. Did the Abbey see a tide which is finally on the turn? It was a very happy by-line, written with foxhounds and scarlet coats against a bad law. It was written in a huge field of smiling riders – from children on hairy ponies to old ladies on farm horses. It found voice in the whoops and holloas of the country lads in the back corner, and the applause of the…

jennifer.donald@futurenet.com @jen_donald Sandown Racecourse, Surrey A WET, miserable winter’s afternoon at Sandown was lit up by the runaway victory of Nicky Henderson’s Constitution Hill in the Unibet Tolworth Hurdle at Sandown. The five-year-old by Blue Bresil, owned by Michael Buckley who’s been in the game for coming up 50 years, cruised through the race, took Nico de Boinville to the front at the second-last and hardly came off the bridle to beat Jetoile, winner of his last two starts, by 12 lengths. On the back of the performance, he supplanted his stablemate Jonbon in some lists as the favourite for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham. “It was weird not being at what is one of my favourite tracks”COVID-HIT TRAINER NICKY HENDERSON ON WATCHING FROM HOME He had looked good…

WHEN Our Nobby arrived with the Bullens, he was too lean, so the mother, Anne, fed him up and wormed him. When a rash emerged, they put it down to the new feed. “It turned out to be ringworm,” relates Jennie. “But by the time we discovered that, he’d given it to most of the horses on the yard. One of the stable girls even got ringworm, so the National Health came round and said they’d never known a case like this. They did all sorts of tests and found it was a Canadian pox and advised us to wash in Blue Daz, which must have had some chemical in it. It did the trick! “Through this testing, they discovered that griseofulvin was the right treatment, thanks to Our Nobby…

Share your news story Call 01252 555021 Email eleanor.jones@futurenet.com @ jones_eleanor A MAJOR drive to improve understanding, treatment and prevention of sporting concussion is hoped to benefit riders. The Government has published an action plan, following an inquiry by the Department for Digital Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) select committee. The inquiry recommended UK-wide protocols on dealing with head injuries and improvement in reporting sport injuries (news, 12 August). The plan focuses on four areas: research, education, health and technology. The main aim is to improve understanding, awareness, prevention and treatment in all sport. Concussion is a hot topic in the equestrian world, and a number of recommendations will have a direct impact on riders. EFFECTIVE TREATMENT THE Government’s independent concussion advisor, Laurence Geller, is working to ensure concussion in…

CLEVER LOUIS The 2019 Blenheim young horse champion, previously ridden by Chris Burton who co-owns the 12-year-old with Geoffrey and Kate Guy, has joined Bubby Upton with fellow four-star campaigner Jefferson 18. VIEUX LION ROUGE The two-time Becher Chase winner has retired aged 13. The David Pipe-trained gelding, owned by Caroline Tisdall and John Gent, won 13 of his 41 starts and ran over the Grand National fences 11 times. CARNSDALE TOP GUN Joanne Shaw’s intermediate working hunter was put down, aged 27, after a bout of colic. The two-time Desert Orchid winner competed at HOYS and the RIHS for 15 years, with a HOYS win, gold cup and county show titles.…

polly.bryan@futurenet.com @pollyrose21 HAPPY new year to all readers! After a double championship year in 2021, which was filled with many medals across the disciplines, 2022 has big shoes to fill. But with a World Championships in Denmark on the horizon, it should be another exciting year of sport. I saw in the new year while feeding the newest member of my family, who is eight weeks old at the time of writing, so I am in the thick of it. The World Championships seem like a distant dream for me, but my sights are set firmly on getting to them nonetheless. It will be a challenge for me to go from a team reserve this year to actually being on a championship team again, but it is in having goals…

All I ever wanted was to be a jockey but I had a career-ending fall in 2011 after 23 years in the saddle - it was my spinal-cord, so that was me finished. The jockey coach role came up about a year later but I never thought it would take me to where it has now. At the time, even though I was 41, I thought I would get a few more years out of racing. I’d used the Jockeys Education and Training Scheme (JETS) and I’d been vaguely thinking about life after racing, breaking in a lot of horses for people in the small yard I had. So that was a sideline that I was expecting to get bigger. Jockey coaching saved me. When I got hurt, I physically…

THE canter pirouette is a bit like a puzzle,” says dressage legend Kyra Kyrklund. “You have to have all the pieces of the puzzle. Then you have to put them all together. Suddenly, you see a picture. For a good pirouette, you need every piece of the puzzle to be in the right place.” To give an idea of how difficult it is to perform a good canter pirouette, Kyra says: “It has a coefficient for a reason. For many years, I rode bad pirouettes. It was at least 20 years before I understood them. When I started out, you could get away with a bad pirouette, but today there are too many good horses, trainers and riders.” “It was at least 20 years before I understood pirouettes”KYRA KYRKLUND Kyra…

catherine.austen@futurenet.com @cfausten123 NICKY HANBURY’S final day as field master of the Quorn was, she says, “the hardest she has had to do, because the fog was so thick. But we kept very safe and had a jolly day.” Nicky, who is standing down as a Quorn joint-master alongside her husband Joss at the end of the season, has had “total responsibility” for Quorn Fridays for five years. “It has been a job not to be taken lightly, but I have really enjoyed it. I have spent five afternoons a week clearing my country, and meeting and getting to know the farmers has been wonderful - I have been so blessed that people have been so hospitable. I took over this role when Joss retired from field mastering, and he has…

jennifer.donald@futurenet.com @jen_donald Onley Grounds Equestrian Complex Winter Classic, Warks BREEDING and success were on display as Jack Whitaker landed the winter grand prix with Negredo De Muze - a nine-yearold out of his father Michael’s former top ride, Portofino. Course-designer David Cole’s 1.50m track with airy verticals and a meaty oxer-to-oxer double tested the 47 competitors. “The double was on a dog-leg. I took the wider option for six strides, but you have to be positive to jump out,” assessed Jack. Joe Fernyhough set the standard on Lejoor in the 13-horse decider, but was immediately relegated by Louise Saywell’s Kingsborough Kasper. They had to settle for second and third as Jack cut the time by 0.16sec on the Elvis Ter Putte x Habsburg homebred born in Belgium. “It proved difficult…

• MICHAEL WHIPPEY’S rising six-year-old gelding, Genson Blue, scored his fourth novice gold win of the month with a double at Tillyoch EC, Aberdeenshire. The Governor son has settled quickly into his new home after Michael moved from Swindon to Scotland in September. “We bought him in 2020 from the Woodcroft Stud and as soon as I saw him, I knew he was right,” said Michael, who previously trained with Carl Hester. “He’s an angel on the ground, but he has a big personality and can be quite feisty to ride. I see a lot of potential - he’s already doing half-steps and has his flying changes.” • AFTER a successful international season at pony FEI level and a busy time with mock exams, 15-year-old Lauren Geraghty tried for last-minute…

THE 13-year-old Jepeck (pictured, right) won the veterans’ final two years ago. But he proved age is just a number when he made all the running under Ben Godfrey to win the rapidcharge.com Leading EV Charging Solution Handicap Hurdle by 6½ lengths at Wincanton. Given his preference for heavy ground combined with the switch back to hurdles meant his owner, Jon Pike, had £200 on at 50/1, earning him considerably more than the prize money. “The bookies dismissed him and it was unfair because it was his ground,” said Pike. “He’s been a fantastic horse. Everybody had written him off, but Anthony [Honeyball, his trainer] told me not to, so I’m over the moon.” TALKING POINT…

OUR SOLO AUSSIE eventer Billy Roycroft’s 15hh mare (pictured) won Badminton in 1960. They also won team gold at the Mexico Olympics in 1968, despite Bill suffering a broken collarbone falling across country. He famously discharged himself from hospital the following day to help secure the team title. THEODORE O’CONNOR KAREN O’CONNOR rode the 14.1¾hh chestnut at eventing’s highest level, finishing third at Kentucky in 2007 and sixth the following year. They also won team and individual gold at the Pan-American Games. STROLLER THE only pony to compete in Olympic showjumping, the Connemara/thoroughbred stood 14.1hh. He won individual silver at the Mexico Olympics in 1968, as well as the Hickstead Derby in 1967. Aged 20, he won the Hamburg Derby and lived to a ripe age of 36.…

US Olympic dressage rider Laura Graves and her husband Curt Maes welcomed a baby girl, Mackenzie Elaine Maes, on 15 December. Laura said “Our hearts are so full”. Tokyo Olympic showjumper Harry Charles, 22, has topped the FEI under-25 world rankings following his World Cup and grand prix wins at the London International Horse Show. The Equestrian Employers and British Grooms associations’ chair Chris Hewlett is stepping down at the end of his term. He will remain involved and the associations seek a new chair. Retired National Hunt jockey Nina Carberry made her debut on Ireland’s Dancing With The Stars on 9 January with Pasquale La Rocca. Nina scored 19 points, the highest mark of the night. Hamilton Park racecourse CEO Vivien Currie has been appointed chief executive of Ascot.…

WHEN Kieran Baslington told partner Will Price he would like to be proposed to out hunting or on top of the London Eye, Will knew there was only one option. Matters did not go entirely according to plan at the Wheatland’s meet on New Year’s Day, as Kieran was minus two teeth – but he said yes. Kieran had once shared his dream proposals, and Will had no intention of scaling the Eye, so hunting it was. “Kieran was on a new horse, who had been cavorting and he had lost his two front teeth,” Will said. “But I had it all planned. He said after, ‘You could have picked a day when I had my front teeth!’” Will said he was “petrified”. “I don’t know how I did it,…

1) Name the oldest, English, chalk-cut hill horse. 2) Who bred both Kitty King’s European team gold medallist Vendredi Biats and William Fox-Pitt’s five-star horse Oslo? 3) Two 15hh horses have won Badminton. Who are they? 4) When was The Showing Register founded? 5) Name the horse with most wins in racing history. Answers from 6 January 2022 1) Walnut 2) 15.2hh 3) Jane Holderness-Roddam (née Bullen) 4) Princess Anne’s only steeplechase winner 5) The Queen, with Highclere.…

alexandra.robinson@futurenet.com @alexrob_journo_ AS we commence 2022, there is a lot of familiar worry about the new Covid variant, and the world of equestrian sport is understandably uncertain about what lies ahead this year. It’s a sad, scary time for everyone and the prospect of more lockdowns is on everyone’s mind. There are many questions which can’t be answered, but we must remember how successfully our societies and organisers managed to handle the 2021 season. As a sport, we’ve shown how we can come together, cope and work with the restrictions put in place, instead of against them. The most greatly affected part of showing was our muchloved county and agricultural shows. Many of these longstanding shows have been lost over the past two years, and while some adapted just to…

Dyson, S., & Ellis, A. D. (2020). Application of a ridden horse pain ethogram to horses competing at 5-star three-day-events: comparison with performance. Equine Ve, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1111/eve.13415 Furtado, T., Preshaw, L., Hockenhull, J., Wathan, J., Douglas, J., Horseman, S., Smith, R., Pollard, D., Pinchbeck, G., Rogers, J., & Hall, C. (2021). How happy are equine athletes? Stakeholder perceptions of equine welfare issues associated with equestrian sport. Animals, 11(11), 3228. Hockenhull, J., & Creighton, E. (2012). Equipment and training risk factors associated with ridden behaviour problems in UK leisure horses. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 137(1), 36- 42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2012.01.007…

EXERCISE 1: master the walk pirouette until you can turn two steps then walk straight, turn two steps and walk straight again. EXERCISE 2 (diagram): practise transitions walk-canter-walk-canter-walk with the horse responding immediately to the lightest aids. From a highly collected walk, go into countercanter, then back to collected walk: 1 Do this along a wall at first. The initial aim is to get a good response to light aids. 2 Then work on straightness, using the wall or fence to help you. 3 Next, use the exercise to work on collecting the canter stride more. 4 Then try to let the horse reach down with his neck. Keep the contact on the inside rein (the left rein in this diagram as the horse is slightly flexed to the left)…

“He would take you into anything–he knew where all the hunt jumps were” MOST of us like a holiday, but not Reggie. “If you gave him the summer off, he’d be banging the gate after seven days,” says Min Lockyer, joint-master of the Wilton. “He hated time off.” It wasn’t clear that the Irish-born hunter of unknown breeding loved work at first. “He went to a local GP who didn’t get on with him. I bought him in 2010 for £2,500, including tack,” Min reveals. “The first day I hunted him, the secretary said, ‘Why the hell have you bought that thing, it doesn’t hunt!’ We did four days on the trot and that was it.” Reggie loved being with hounds – “he would hear them before you could”. He…

DI FANSHAWE was one of the last individuals to witness the vintage years of Captain Wallace’s Heythrop mastership and yet survived long enough to see Charles Frampton in action. A Pytchley girl by birth, Di drove senior military personnel during World War II and was the first woman to enter Hamburg in 1945. She had the honour of driving Winston Churchill around London to inspect areas bombed during the Blitz. In 1963, she married Dick Fanshawe, (father of Brian, of Cottesmore fame), and they settled at Condicote, where numerous Heythrop puppies were walked over the years. Di acquired a reputation for always being in the right place during a day’s hunting and she was the only individual Captain Wallace allowed to holloa. She crossed the country effortlessly, elegantly and at…

A CHANCE ride in Wales and West’s newcomers second round paid off for Joe Fernyhough, as he’s quickly developed a rapport with Courtney Beaurain’s Grandino x Carthago Z nine-year-old, Indy Van De Rietvenne (pictured, right). “It was only going to be a one-time ride and a big step up from 1.20m, but she jumped three rounds to finish seventh and I’ve met her at a couple of shows since,” said Joe, who was fifth in the Hartpury grand prix and jumped clear around the tricky Onley grand prix track with ease to finish seventh. “She’s rideable, scopey, careful and doesn’t spook - just focuses on the jump,” added Joe, who now has plans to head to Oliva Nova, Spain, in March. ONE TO WATCH…

Foxes Riding School, Cheshire LOFTY seven-year-old gelding With Love JM II (Flint) made easy work of the prelim 2 to win with 73.1%. His owner, Kerry Gibbons, said that the “cowardly” 18hh-plus Wolkenderry son is gaining confidence in the arena. “He’s an intelligent horse and an absolute pleasure, but we’re taking things slowly as we want longevity,” said Kerry, who trains with Dane Rawlins. “Flint’s a big goofball.” “We’re taking things slowly as we want longevity”KERRY GIBBONS…

gemma.redrup@futurenet.com @gemmaredrup Dunston Harriers, Ampton, Suffolk POINTING stalwart Sir Mangan got up in front to land the Jockey Club and Retraining of Racehorses (RoR) veteran horse conditions 9yo&up under Ben Sutton for Alan Hill and owner Nick Sutton. “The horse today was an absolute superstar,” said Alan. “He didn’t get too stuck in on the first circuit and then Ben got into the race during the second half. The horse was so brave, he did not want to get beat. He is a very nice and easy horse to train and everybody loves him.” Trainer Tom Ellis had a memorable day when landing five races across two meetings. He had three wins at Ampton, starting with the ladies’ open which was won by Blazing Tom under Natalya Irvine. “His job…

WHAT will 2022 bring? I am feeling trepidatious. Coronavirus is still in our midst and drastic changes are needed to stop the rot on the environmental front. Here in the country, we are clinging hard to our cherished traditions, but for how much longer? At the children’s meet it was wonderful to see a group of seven or eight teenagers looking so smart and happy on their horses. Some of them have hunted since they were small. Others started only recently. Will this lot be able to pass the baton to the ones coming behind them? There was Jack on the leading rein and babies in prams and slings, waiting in the wings. Adam was talking to a tall man who I recognised immediately as Tom, a keen hunting boy,…