Innholdsfortegnelse for 23-Jan-2025 i Horse & Hound

A SCHEME aimed at allowing more people to access horses should also help riding schools, and the sector, become more commercially viable. The British Horse Society’s (BHS) initiative Everyone Welcome, is designed to create a sector of which anyone can be part. BHS CEO James Hick told H&H it brings together core aims of helping people and horses, increasing participation and supporting riding schools. The scheme brings together different BHS initiatives. The Changing Lives Through Horses (CLTH) programme involves more than 1,500 people at more than 129 riding schools. As well as helping disengaged young people, this is estimated to put £2.5m back into riding schools annually. “They value the whole experience” KHADIJA PATEL The Career Transition Fund has helped people through BHS coaching exams to the tune of about…

STAYING soft yet secure over fences is something we often attribute to the rider, but what does the same phrase mean for a horse? “A horse can’t engage the hindleg and deliver a powerful jump if he’s tense or crooked,” says five-star eventer Alex Bragg. “We look for softness in flatwork, and in dressage training you’ll often want that ‘spiralling out’ feeling where the horse yields to the inside aids and seeks the outside rein, stepping under and through with the inside hind. If we apply that same feeling over fences, we keep the engagement of that hindleg for better balance, softness and power.” Cultivating that softness takes conditioning. “You imagine the core strength a horse needs to lift his whole body – bearing in mind he is around 600kg…

catherine.austen@futurenet.com @cfausten123 FINGAL HARRIERS 4 January Fingal Harriers, Garristown, Co Dublin THE sort of weather one associates more with Siberia than the east coast of Ireland was threatened for the day of my planned visit to the Fingal Harriers. I texted Mick McGrath MH the evening before to ask what the likelihood was of the meet being cancelled, and received the terse reply, “None.” This rather set the tone for my day with the Fingals. They are a hardy bunch of lads and lassies who let nothing stand in the way of their hunting. Their country straddles the border between north Co Dublin and Meath, a good-scenting, light-riding country that they share with the Meath and Louth Foxhounds, the Ward Union Staghounds and the Goldburn Beagles. Hounds are predominantly modern…

Wellington Riding, Hants A RUN-THROUGH ahead of the regionals proved promising for Sophie Lee-Amies and River Rise Ooo La La, who scored two novice silver section wins with scores well into the plus-70% zone. The D’Avie-sired mare, who turns six this year, is progressing smoothly through the levels. “I was lucky enough to buy her last year from her breeder, Sarah Tyler Evans,” said Sophie, who works as a rider and groom for grand prix rider Sadie Smith. “She’s a sweet and very sensitive mare, in a nice way, and she wants to work hard. “I’ve had a lot of support from Sadie – I’ve learned so much, about both the riding and grooming. I’m so grateful to have this amazing mare and the opportunity to train her. I can’t…

THE youngest rider and oldest horse in the Seaver diamond qualifier at Leyland Court (5 January) are heading to the Blue Chip Winter Showjumping Championships, having beaten 20 other combinations to win. Issy James Wright, 13, and Calle (pictured), 25, finished more than a second ahead of their nearest rivals, Patrick Brewer and Pentons Who’s Who. Calle previously competed up to 1.60m level with his owner Tracy Priest, but has been based with Issy and her twin sister Daisy since they were 11. “We were at the nationals and I was talking to Tracy, who’s a good friend of mine, and who said the girls would be moving on to horses soon,” Issy’s mother Kath said. “She was with her daughter Phoebe Farman and said, ‘Should we give them Calle?’…

ELEVEN-YEAR-OLD Copperhead gave trainer Joe Tizzard “great satisfaction” after winning the £75,000 Unibet Veterans’ Handicap Chase Final at Market Rasen, with Freddie Gingell in the saddle. The chestnut has rekindled his love of racing this season, finishing in the top two in all five starts. But Copperhead’s story is even more remarkable, as he cracked his eye socket when falling at Cheltenham in 2020. “He was a poorly horse for a couple of months,” said Tizzard. “He seemed to lose his confidence and I took a lot of pleasure when he came back and won a four-runner race at Plumpton [last May]. They know when they win and he has gone from strength to strength. This series means a lot to these old horses and they deserve it.” TALKING POINT…

JOHN BARNETT JOHN passed away peacefully at 92, following a short illness. John was born at Mount Pleasant Farm, Warwickshire. His parents, William and Mary, had moved in 1927 and the family still farm it. He had one brother, Robert. Horses, farming and hunting were John’s life. At a young age, with his father and Robert, he started showing. The family was very successful breeding thoroughbreds and hunters for racing and showing. A racing career started on ponies, then progressed to pointing and hunter chasing. Hastener won the 1953 Coronation Cup at the Hertfordshire point-to-point. The racing successes also came on the Flat; Tecllyn was a three-time winner and produced fascinating offspring. In the 1980s, John’s son Andrew had aspirations to raceride and had success; once he retired, John continued…

RIDERS have been reminded of the need for permission to use certain medications as the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) revised list of prohibited substances has come into force. Every year, WADA publishes a list of substances banned in competition. British Equestrian rules incorporate this list and the FEI is a signatory of the world anti-doping code, so riders competing nationally and internationally must comply. Athletes may now donate blood, and blood components such as plasma. The frequency of use of inhaled formoterol, used by people with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, has changed, so dosing is limited to 12-hour intervals, and no more than 54mcg in 24 hours. “It is also important to keep in mind that the list identifies substances banned in certain cases at all times, in…

I NEVER wanted to be a jockey, I was mad keen on eventing and I had a very good horse, Pressoss, who took me to Badminton, Tidworth, Ireland and France. My father was a racing man, and when I met my husband, the pair of them teamed up against me! My first race was on Twidale – the original jockey was delayed in traffic. I wasn’t very effective; I’d drop my hands and they’d speed off with me. Then they would settle down into a nice rhythm – that’s why I was useless on the Flat, I couldn’t galvanise them into any sense of urgency. With Twidale, I appeared at the start, shirt hanging out, looking like a nitwit, the other jockeys knew the horse’s reputation as a bolter so…

BARN COTTAGE Herstmonceux, Hailsham, E Sussex For you: a six-bed converted barn with original features and South Downs views. Highlights include the first of four reception rooms, with an inglenook fireplace and wood-burning stove, and oak flooring throughout the ground floor. An attached annexe houses bedroom six and there’s an extensive lawn with mature trees and established borders. For your horse: an L-shaped timber yard of four stables and a separate hay store. Next to the yard is the 20x40m sand and rubber manège and eight post-and-rail paddocks set in as many acres. £1.25m Batcheller Monkhouse, 01424 775577, batchellermonkhouse.com GREENACRES Pinged, Carmarthenshire For you: a bungalow with three bedrooms, one of which is a loft conversion, a conservatory, large utility room and a lawned garden with a patio. For your…

BUILD IT YOU’LL need three upright fences fanned out on a curving line, with about seven paces between each at the middle. Alex used a solid groundline for each fence and leaves poles on the floor at the inside edge of the curve in case they’re needed. AIMS “WE’RE trying to get the horse to jump, but stay engaged with the hindleg,” says Alex. “We’re turning slightly, so we need to make sure the horse doesn’t fall out or knife in. We almost want it to feel as if they are cantering on the line and the jumps are just in the way. My focus is maintaining balance on the line, and the horse just has to soften.” WARM UP AFTER loosening up in all three gaits, Alex brings Albert…

WHEN you’re riding on a high, losing your confidence is not something you can ever predict, especially if you’re a trainer with an impressive CV. But for dressage rider Taima Mathers, a “massive wobble” experienced while working with her “dream horse” was exactly what happened. During her competitive career, Taima, like many, had achieved her results through years of hard work and dedicated perseverance. “I’d never had top-class horses, I’d always had to work with what I could afford,” says Taima, who works for Whitehouse Dressage alongside running her own business offering teaching and riding services. “One day, my farrier approached me about taking on the three-year-old Lincoln FEH for training. He was my ultimate heart horse – a black stallion with amazing breeding.” Taima says that from the beginning…

THE native breeds of Wales have an uncanny power in their hooves and Benlog Black Brangwen is no exception. “She knows where the bogs are,” says Tivyside chairman Peter Davies. “I let her choose her way and she avoids them.” The 11-year-old Welsh section D, known as Branny, was home-bred by the Davies. He became Peter’s “end-oflife horse” when he lost his previous hunter, on which he had won Man versus Horse. Branny and Peter came fifth in the internationally contested 24-mile race. Then last year, Peter’s daughter Georgina Silk won. “She knew exactly what she was doing and told me we were starting at the front,” she laughs. “She’s always been the sort that you can give her five minutes [to recover] and she’s away,” adds Peter. “She trots…

Bicton College, Devon WELSH section C Menai The Comrade punched well above his weight to score an outright prelim 5 win. Danielle Balsdon, who helped back and produce “Eric” for friends two years ago and soon afterwards bought him, describes the 13.1hh gelding as “quick to learn”. “He’s a typical pony and has his cheeky days, but from the start, he’s been so easy,” said Danielle, who has been focusing on Eric after a surprise win with him in a young pony five-year-old qualifier class last April. “He definitely has the brain for it – he’s already getting his changes. We’re consolidating his prelim work and aim to try the Associated Championships, and also hope to do some showing with him this year.” Alex Robinson-Barr’s homebred “gentle giant” Edge Of…

THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD Honey Bowes beat the adults to head the six-year-old qualifier, riding the Renwicks-bred gelding NFS Tiloubet (pictured), who is by Taloubet Z, out of a full sister to Laura’s former top horse Bintang II. “We bought him from John about three months ago, he won the five-year-old title at Hickstead with Laura last year. Honey has just started doing 1.20m classes with him and he’s been really good,” Honey’s mother Emily said. Honey has already switched fully to riding horses, and secured a team gold at this year’s children-on-horses Europeans with Javas El Cid, as well as silver at the children-on-horses Nations Cup final in Lier. ONE TO WATCH “Honey feels more confident on horses and finds them easier. The plan is to keep building the relationship with ‘Tommy’…

South View, Cheshire SEARLAIT ML claimed her fourth victory of 2025 for Emily Morris when she headed the WB Equiline star qualifier. The 15.2hh daughter of Escape Z is only at the start of her six-year-old year, but has already contested the British novice and discovery finals, won two finals at Scope and secured the 1m mini veteran title at the national amateur and veteran championships. “Nelly” is now on target to tackle two different finals at this spring’s Blue Chip Championships, adding this qualification to a ticket for the Blue Chip Joint RLF power. “She has done very little recently as my lorry was in for a new clutch, but she came back out and did the business,” said Emily, who also piloted the mare to her first 1.15m…

South Wold, Revesby Park, Lincs “I’VE adored this horse from the moment I first got him,” said trainer Kelly Morgan of Music Drive, who won the mixed open under Ellie Callwood. This eight-year-old, owned by the Foxfield Stud Syndicate, last ran in December 2022, when in training with Gordon Elliott. “Camilla Sharples, a good friend of mine, then bought him and when she moved from her job with Gordon to work for Ben Pauling, she mentioned she needed to move him on and so she gifted him to me,” said Kelly. “He has come back from two years off with a tendon injury and warmed to the task nicely today. Ellie gave him a lovely ride.” Kelly enjoyed a double on the day with John Chatfeild-Roberts’ Go Go Geronimo winning…

THE handling of the decision to sell a London 2012 Olympic legacy centre came under fire -but the resolution still stands. H&H reported on the future of the Greenwich Equestrian Centre (news, 12 December 2024). The £1.6m venue had significant public funding, including a £250,000 Sport England direct investment. The Royal Borough of Greenwich’s cabinet agreed to dispose of the site in less than a minute in November. Members of the public contacted councillors, who asked for the decision to be looked at again. “We had a meeting but the decision was a fait accompli” JIM EYRE The matter went before the council’s overview and scrutiny sub-committee on 8 January. Cllr Matt Hartley, one of the signatories of the call-in, said the decision-making process was a “complete contradiction” of the council’s…

YOU may be familiar with “wind” tests and assessments that form part of pre-purchase examinations and vettings. The upper airway refers to the area from the nostrils to the trachea (wind pipe), and is the “doorway” for oxygen into the horse’s lungs. If the air that the horse breathes in cannot get to the lungs easily then the oxygen cannot be passed to the horse’s blood and pumped around the body to the muscles that need it. If it cannot reach the muscles they then tire, your horse fatigues and performance suffers. How does upper airway noise occur? If the passage of air to the lungs becomes turbulent it creates an abnormal noise. To use the door analogy, imagine wind making a whistling noise as it passes through a small…

IN an industry suffering a shortage of skilled workers, great grooms can be hard to find. But the recent dialogue around grooms’ employment rights, mental health and workplace wellbeing suggests it might be even harder to find great employers. British Grooms Association (BGA) founder Lucy Katan, a former Team GB groom, says problems like overwork, underpayment and breaches of employment rights are leading reasons behind the industry’s depleted workforce. “At the BGA, every week we learn of grooms that are quitting the industry due to the substandard employment practices they have experienced,” Lucy says. Above all else, Lucy believes the best way for employers to retain grooms for the long term is to adhere to all legal responsibilities of employment, including providing employees with written contracts and paying at least…

STEPH BRITAIN soared over 1.65m on Dr Willie Reardon’s hunter, Sparky, to win the Pytchley with Woodland’s New Year’s Eve gate-jumping competition on the pair’s first attempt at high-jumping. The arena at the Paybody family’s Mill Farm, Maidwell provided excellent viewing for the large crowd of hunt supporters to watch the 12 entrants in the £500-to-the-winner spectacle. With several festively attired Pony Club members among the field, the gate started at 90cm and was raised by 10cm increments. Last year’s winners at 1.60m, Peggy Baker and Billy Burgundy, were back to defend their title, and the Spencer sisters – Chloe, 12, and Emily, 10 – caught the eye on their home-produced ponies. They are the daughters of Pytchley with Woodland joint-master Will and his former CCI4* event rider wife Fiona.…

HIGHLIGHTS 5–12 January Aintree International EC Small Pony Premier, Liverpool ANNABEL WIDDOWSON launched her 2025 campaign by claiming two 128cm Royal International (RIHS) tickets, one with previous Hickstead champion Bunbury Conquest and the other with new ride Desdemone De Marquais. Both of the show’s winter 128cm qualifiers ended with a tie when nine-year-old Annabel delivered one of only two clears in the second round. In Saturday’s class, she piloted Desdemone Du Marquais to joint victory with Hugo Oakes (Jonny Be Good), while on Sunday she shared the spoils with Kobi Hunter Watt (Hill Garth Bailey Cream). Annabel took over the ride on “Wolfie”, who was produced very successfully by Lucia Caroline, only shortly before Christmas. “We were shocked,” Annabel’s mother Kathleen said. “We went out to Forest Edge on 28…

Haydock Park, Merseyside THE giant Mr Vango is described by trainer Sara Bradstock as very slow, but what he lacks in speed he excels in stamina. And he ground out another memorable victory in Saturday’s Sky Bet Peter Marsh Chase with Jack Tudor in the saddle. “He’s such a fantastic horse because he can’t go any faster than that, but he just keeps going and he jumps beautifully,” said Bradstock, who saddled Mr Vango to win the London National last time out at Sandown. “We’re just hoping and praying for the wettest spring ever, so we can run him in the Grand National. But I’d only run him on heavy ground because they’d go too fast for him otherwise. But that’s the dream.”…

HIGHLIGHTS 18–19 January Royal Artillery, Larkhill, Wilts MY DROGO, who won more than £100,000 while in training with Dan Skelton, relished a switch to pointing when winning the mixed open under Will Biddick by 12 lengths. “He’s switched to pointing as he’s had issues in the past and so we’re trying to find his mojo again to extend his career in racing,” explained Will of the 10-year-old, owned by Richard and Lizzie Kelvin-Hughes and trained by Edward Walker. “He gave me a good feel, jumped very well and still holds quite a bit of class.” Will also won the Flat race for 4&5yo with Hard Stare, who is owned and trained by Anthony Honeyball. “He made all and ran on well,” said Will of the five-year-old, who was having his…