Innholdsfortegnelse for 21-Nov-2019 i Horse & Hound

WORLD HORSE WELFARE held their annual conference last week and asked the question, “Who is responsible?” with regards to equine welfare. The forum encourages open debate, allowing for differences of opinion within the equestrian world to be respectfully heard. It was noted that the gap between the percentage of people in favour or against horses being used for sport and leisure is shrinking (news, p4). This needs to be addressed. Not only is it vital we take every step to eliminate unethical practices from equestrianism, we must then portray all the good that remains in such a way that the public sees horse sport as beneficial to both equines and humans. We can agree doping is not a good thing, beating a horse is not a good thing, starving a…

A FULL World Equestrian Games will not be held in 2022, as two hosts have been confirmed for separate World Championships. The jumping, dressage, para dressage and vaulting will run at Herning, Denmark, in August 2022, and Pratoni del Vivaro, Italy, will host eventing and driving in September. No decision on endurance or reining was to be made until after the general assembly (18-19 November). FEI secretary general Sabrina Ibáñez said: “By allocating these multi-discipline championships, we’re working with hosts that have the experience and infrastructure to organise world-class championships. We received some excellent bids and unfortunately don’t have enough championships to allocate to everyone.” Leipzig in Germany will host four World Cup finals; showjumping, dressage, driving and vaulting, in April 2022. The 2023 finals for showjumping and dressage will…

TEAM Ireland’s senior high-performance showjumping director Rodrigo Pessoa is to step down after three years, to focus on his riding career. Rodrigo, who guided Ireland to Tokyo 2020 Olympic qualification, is to seek selection for Brazil at the Games. Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) chairman Joe Reynolds said: “Representing your country at the Olympics is one of the highest honours in sport and we wish Rodrigo the very best. “From an Irish perspective his decision to seek a position on the Brazilian team, which will compete against Ireland in Tokyo, makes it impossible for him to continue as senior high performance jumping director. Everyone at HSI wishes him all the best as he seeks to represent his country again next year.” Rodrigo said he felt fulfilled, having “accomplished his initial mission”…

POLITICIANS After the princess’ speech, MP George Freeman took the lectern. “There’s quite a few speeches going on round the country at the moment, and few of them as well constructed and delivered as that,” he said. What could he mean? NEWS A national news outlet ran a piece last week on The Queen riding, describing it as a “surprising pastime”. Hmm. What’s perhaps more surprising is the fact that, according to the author, she was riding a “Shire horse”. A rather small one... CHOCOLATE H&H eventing reporters were very keen to hear Mars is to be an official event partner for Badminton next year — surely this means a press office full of chocolate? Possibly not; it’s Mars Equestrian, which is more about horse feed than chewy caramel. Oh…

I VERY much enjoyed your hunting report on the Tetcott (7 November) for a number of reasons. First, the article captured perfectly the highs and lows (namely the weather) of a day’s hunting. Second, it is good to see a hunt focusing on encouraging so many young members on the hunting field, as the future of hunting lies in their hands. Also, as an English teacher, it was with great pleasure that I recognised some of my pupils, past and present, in the article. I know first-hand how much hunting enriches their lives — their love of the sport has been shared in school, from presentations they have made in class through to chats with me in the classroom. The article brought back memories of my own teenage years spent…

“IT started as a small patch on a hindleg and spread around the pastern,” says Megan Bills of the skin soreness and swelling that has grounded her showjumping gelding Solisto. “As that finally started to heal, scabs appeared on the other hindleg — which blew up like a balloon.” Solisto has been diagnosed with pastern and cannon leukocytoclastic vasculitis, a problem that is proving difficult to treat. “We’ve tried so many things, including two different courses of antibiotics and two courses of steroids,” explains Megan, who has owned the French-bred gelding, now 13, for eight years without previous issues of this kind. “Solisto has had blood and allergy tests, which came back normal, and we’ve changed his bedding type and kept him out of mud and sunlight. He has missed…

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THE HUNT: of Scotland’s 10 registered packs of hounds, the Berwickshire is thought to be the oldest, with a history extending as far as the early 1600s when the First Earl of Hume had his own pack of hounds. In recent times, Rory Innes returned to the Scottish borders to hunt them (2010-2016) and was succeeded by Ryan Mania, a jockey from the Scottish Borders who became a local celebrity after he won the Grand National on 66/1 outsider Auroras Encore in 2003. Ryan hunted the Berwickshire hounds for three seasons (2016-2018) and has remained in the mastership this season. He is now race-riding again and news came through that he’d had a win at Kelso the day that I was out. JOINT-MASTERS: Colin Aitchison, Ryan Mania, Colin Tait, Gareth…

7 Nov: prelim 17Q gold (L Selway).— 1, JFK (M Lamb) 67.24; 2, Keystone DiMarco (C Memory) 66.2. silv.— 1, Rummley Miss Lilibet (A Tidmarsh) 70; 2, Grannoushka (N Baker) 67.24; 3, Carhue Boy (C Manning) 67.06. brnz.— 1, Hairy MacLarey (S Hester) 65. prelim 19Q gold (C Kershaw).— 1, JFK 68.12. silv.— 1, Rummley Miss Lilibet 71.25; 2, Grannoushka 68.75; 3, Unique Utah (T Denison) 63.75. brnz.— 1, Any News (K Stokes) 64.58; 2, Fasquez (E Lemon) 63.54; 3, Hairy MacLarey 63.33. nov 22 gold (L Selway).— 1, Warjag WD (A Farina Rodriguez) 66.89; 2, Gampbell (S Dwyer-Coles) 66.37; 3, Tambrook Applause (J Deter) 64.82. silv.— 1, Just Like That (S Roberts) 69.48; 2, Headmore Dramatica (A Kirby) 69.13; 3, Cool Spring (L Westerway) 68.44. brnz.— 1, Any News…

Morris Equestrian Winter Classic, Ayrshire LAURA STEPHENSON’S four-hour trip from West Yorkshire for her “annual holiday” at Morris Equestrian proved more than worth it when she put her foot to the floor on her reliable 17-year-old Catherston Connor, by Cevin Z, to win the £2,000 winter grand prix. With only four clears in the first round, two belonging to Keith Shore, Laura said the plan simply was to “kick!” “You always have to be quick if Keith’s in a class,” she said. And quick she was, up on the clock by more than a second, as she thundered round to the final two fences. “I’ve had Connor since he was seven and he’d never seen a pole before I got him. I’m over the moon, I was in tears when…

14 Nov: Connolly’s Red Mills newcomers.–1, Just White (G Taylor); 2, Idefix II (I Warnock); 3, Bellini II (E Prisk). 1.10m. – 1, Carquois Du Ceve (H Johnstone); 2, Coulters Candy (N Devlin); 3, Eros SC (S Coyle). SEIB winter nov.– 1, Incredibola (A McLean); 2, Juvenosa (R Connor; 3, Casiano IV (B Ion). Equitop GLME Foxhunter.– 1, Derryinver Premier Sarah (L Campbell); 2, Manzana De Rigo (K Shore); 3, Quattro Van De Kwakkelhoek (L Milne-Home). 1.20m.– 1 and 2, Applemount Trooper and Corliono (L Campbell); 3, Ballyfree Luxalier (R Connor). 1.30m.–1, Bailande Van De Kapel (K Connor); 2, Hanleen Beatrice (R Pindar); 3, Caloro Ex Z (J Whitaker). winter 1.35m. –1, Guus Geluk (J Dixon); 2, Zaha (R Connor); 3, Filandria (C Smith). acc.–1, Hugana Vant Heike (L Guild);…

Willow Banks, Lincs REBECCA SEIDL and Quality Star have added to a great season with a runaway victory in the FMBs Therapy Systems star qualifier. Rebecca, from Malton in North Yorkshire, bought her 12-year-old Dutch-bred mare with Quality Touch and Quick Star bloodlines from Adam Taylor almost four years ago. She has produced her to grade A, with sixth place in this year’s silver league championship at Horse of the Year Show among the highlights. “She’s not got a bad bone in her body and she absolutely loves her job,” said Rebecca, who was born in Germany and moved to Britain as a teenager. ‘She’s not got a bad bone in her body, and loves her job’REBECCA SEIDL ON QUALITY STAR Rebecca first sat on a pony at her grandmother’s…

The November Meeting, Cheltenham Racecourse, Glos HAPPY DIVA became the first mare to win the BetVictor Gold Cup since Lady Cricket in 2000. She held on dourly up the Cheltenham hill to claim the first big handicap chase of the National Hunt season in the mud on Saturday, 16 November. Having lost the popular Countryside Day on Friday because of a waterlogged course, the ground was a mix of soft and heavy, but the Kerry Lee-trained eight-year-old — a model of consistency — thrived on it and no one went down with swamp fever. She travelled through the race like a dream on a strip of slightly fresher ground, tight to the inside, which conditional jockey Richard Patrick had spotted on a reconnaissance jog of the course. He made his…

REDUCING the pressure and force exerted on horses’ heads by bridles can lead to improved gait, including increased limb flexion and movement, a study has found. Rachel Murray of Rossdales presented the research, published in the Journal of Equine Veterinary Science, at the World Horse Welfare conference on 13 November. She told guests while saddles are usually “carefully fitted and measured”, the bridle is “often forgotten”, despite the presence of important structures in the head. “Lots of concerns have been raised on social media and other places, in relation to parts of the bridle, in particular nosebands and bits,” she said. “Some of this research is well supported; other parts, or things used or put across on social media, there’s less evidence for.” Dr Murray said there has been little…

TIGER ROLL The double Grand National winner has had to have a chip removed from a joint. Gigginstown’s history-making nine-year-old, trained by Gordon Elliott, has been ruled out from racing until February at the earliest. ARGENTINUS The eventer, owned by Lottie Wemyss and ridden by Italy’s Vittoria Panizzon, has been put down following a field accident. The 14-year-old had top-10 international results and competed at the Nations Cup leg in September. ENABLE The John Gosden-trained five-year-old was crowned Cartier horse of the year for a second time. Owned by Prince Khalid Abdullah, she added three further Group One victories to her impressive CV in 2019. LOT 560 The half-brother to 10-time Grade One winner Altior sold for €155,000 (£132,401) at Tattersalls Ireland’s November National Hunt sale. He was bred by…

ANYONE who feels a moment away from horses is a moment wasted might consider staying at a new B&B in Cumbria. Greenbank Farm, Cartmel, offers guests at its “stable stay” the choice of a miniature Shetland or a Friesian next door. On the humans’ side is all that’s needed for a stay, while the equine side, which is cleaned and disinfected after every stay, is separated by a partition —and those lucky enough to be in the top bunk can speak to the horses from over the top of it. Tracey Alexander, who runs a not-for-profit Friesian sanctuary at the farm alongside the B&B, with her mother Sylvia and sister Tamara, told H&H: “The horses always have a bath before the stay, and we also offer earplugs if anyone staying…

When you see the outpouring of support and grief when a horse such as Many Clouds collapses after a race at Cheltenham, you share a part in that. But you are very conscious that in that moment you have to focus on doing everything you can for the horse’s welfare. You have to accept that there is risk in this sport, but as each year goes by there is extra effort put into managing the going, fences and equipment that we have access to. With the sharing of ideas across equestrian sport and the investment that racing puts into research, over the past 20 years there have been huge advancements in how to deal with various situations. We have more advanced imaging, for example, which means that some limb fractures…

WHEN Claire Howie’s event horse didn’t come across the field when called as he usually does, she suspected something was wrong. “I saw he was covered in hives,” she recalls. “His face and legs were swollen and he was staggering, as if he was drunk.” Claire’s immediate thought was that Obi had suffered an allergic reaction to something he had eaten, but Campbell Thompson, of Nantwich Equine Vets, diagnosed a case of Purpura haemorrhagica. “Campbell walked into the stable and said: ‘That’s one sick horse,’” says Claire. “You could feel the heat on Obi’s body; he was white with sweat between his back legs. His limbs had doubled in size from the knee and hock downwards.” Immediate treatment included intravenous steroids and antibiotics, together with cold hosing to reduce Obi’s…

AOIFE CLARK THE highlight of the Oxfordshire-based Irish event rider’s career to date is seventh at the 2012 Olympics with Master Crusoe. Aoife has won at Bramham and Blenheim, and has had two top-10 Badminton finishes. She competed a string of 10 horses this season and gave birth to baby Patrick in May. TRAINING THE STARS I LOVE this exercise and use it on my experienced horses, including Fernhill Adventure and Celus D Ermac Z, as well as the youngsters. I vary the intensity of it with the height of the fences and the size of the loops — not less than 20-30m for the youngsters or 15m for the advanced horses.…

Glamorgan, Picket Farm, Llandow WERE you to head westbound on the M4, across the amazing feat of engineering that is the Prince of Wales Bridge, or, as most us know it, the New Bridge, and trundle on for a little bit, you will come to one of the friendliest yet most professional hunts you could ever wish to find. The Glamorgan country sits to the east of Cardiff and goes along to Porthcawl with the unofficial boundary of the M4 to the north and the obvious one of the Bristol Channel to the south. It is a lovely, undulating area with a plenty of grass, various bits of forestry and lots of nooks and crannies. Some areas reminded me of being the other side of the water, with little banks…

THE rain for which we yearned last season has come to our corner of England and we are enjoying two years’ worth in a few short weeks. Vast areas of Lincolnshire are submerged and Leicestershire is thoroughly waterlogged. Cattle are stranded outside and huge swathes of land are left fallow, leaving farmers glum at best. The apparent folding of the Atherstone this season has come as a great shock to many. It would appear that a number of factors and personalities have come together to contribute to an unfortunate situation. Perhaps the writing has been on the wall for sometime. Many years ago, when I first came to Leicestershire, the few days I experienced with the Atherstone had me surprised by the volume of roads and traffic in some parts.…

VETERAN HORSE PSG 15-19 (C Ballantyne, A Fletcher).— 1, Tavano (S Bradley) 58.95. 20+.— 1, World Dancer (H Brick) 64.28; 2, Jomsmead Jemima (N Ekelund) 61.71; 3, Holme Park Volnay (C Gaskin) 61.64. adv med 91 15-19.— 1, Tavano 60; 2, Siklen Belle (V Henderson) 58.91. 20+.— 1, World Dancer 66.73; 2, Bantry Parks Ransom (L Gordon) 63.27; 3, Mr Ricard (S Waterfall) 61.15. med 69 15-19.— 1, Leyla (J Foster) 67.8; 2, King Of The Street (K Hall) 67.58; 3, Double Black Diamond (N Anderson) 65.83. 20+.— 1, No Limit D (B Senior) 66.14; 2, Sanddor (H Lewis-Wortley) 65.98; 3, Spring Bok (J Newsham) 62.27. elem 45 15-19.— Ballingowan Stoneyman (Z Golding) 70.69; 2, Lord Harvey (A Hinchcliffe) 67.67; 3, Luigi (T Lees) 67.5. 20+ (S Staines, L Pearce).—…

7 Nov: prelim 19Q gold (C Alston).— 1, Divine Miss M (K Richards) 73.95; 2, Danger Bay (O Cooper) 71.87; 3, Kaylas Surprise (S Gairdner) 70.2. silv.— 1, Millend Duke (N Canot) 68.54; 2, Mrs Tiggywinkle (J Warner) 63.75. nov 23 gold.— 1, Diamantino (W McKay) 71.45; 2, Viva Las Vegas (F Brennan) 68.12. silv.— 1, Treraven (E Richards) 70.2; 2, Kaylas Surprise 70; 3, Black Rock Cavalier 67.5. brnz.— 1, Crunch Du Magma (L Care) 69.37; 2, Millend Duke 65.83; 3, Foxhall Forged Mischief (L Care) 63.75. nov 37Q gold (C Trendell).— 1, Viva Las Vegas 71.11; 2, Diamantino 69.44; 3, Kirtle Bluebell (A Morris) 64.44. silv.— 1, Treraven (E Richards) 65.18; 2, Etrust (L Robson) 64.25; 3, Volume One (V Russell) 62.4. brnz.— 1, Crunch Du Magma 69.07.…

Rachel, who also hunts “Ronnie”. “I take him on my own to the dressage, with my six-month-old baby daughter, Rose, so he only gets 10 minutes’ warm-up.” Despite a shaky start when Rachel bought him six years ago — Ronnie needed surgery for a retained testicle and then developed strangles — the busy bay has blossomed into a versatile all-rounder. “He’s my fun pony,” said Rachel. “HE needs to do a lot, otherwise he becomes a total delinquent,” said Rachel Philo of her 14hh Welsh section D gelding Brynmelys Ranaldo, who claimed two good prelim wins at Eaglesfield EC, Kent. The nine-year-old is new to dressage but has excelled in worker hunters. “He won at Surrey County this summer with my friend, as I was heavily pregnant,” explained ‘He needs…

TWO seasons ago, I just got touched off in a maiden in Devon by a horse called Noah And The Ark. It’s fair to say that, as we embrace a new season, most of us would welcome a little assistance from Noah and his ark to get up and running in this weather. A total of 167 meetings are taking place over the next seven months and we already look set to have more soft ground than virtually the whole of last season. The Point-to-Point Authority (PPA) have reacted to a mixed appetite for November and December racing by reducing the number of pre-Christmas meetings from 11 to nine. Overall, there are set to be five less fixtures between now and mid-June. Declining numbers — most notably in both horses…

IT was a testing weekend for Cheltenham and the loss of the Countryside Day was sad for them. It is hard to imagine that racing at Cheltenham in early November could possibly be waterlogged when, most years, we are praying for rain at this time of year. The day is one of the Countryside Alliance’s biggest fundraising events, so to miss out on all the hard-earned money when the countryside and its pursuits are so much under threat was devastating. Thankfully, the racecourse was able to run on both the Saturday and Sunday. It was a wonderful meeting for the stable of Kerry Lee, whose mare Happy Diva was so unlucky last year but came back to win the feature contest, the BetVictor Gold Cup. And trainer Alan King, whose…

THE equestrian industry must work together to ensure our sports thrive under increased scrutiny. Annamarie Phelps, chair of the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), addressed the World Horse Welfare conference on 13 November. She spoke of racing’s, and horse sport’s, need to maintain its social licence to operate, and to not only ensure welfare is the top priority, but to communicate this. “If we could talk about our horses with the same exuberance as a young Enable [running], that would be a good start,” she said. “But we want to go further, to quantify the benefits to horses’ wellbeing. We’ve commissioned a project to develop a welfare and wellbeing assessment, trying to identify factors that contribute most to quality of life.” Ms Phelps said talking about horse welfare is difficult, and…

M&M judge, author and former H&H reporter Peggy Grayson celebrates her 100th birthday on 22 November. Peggy, who is in good health, has published 16 books. Dressage rider Lottie Fry scored a personal best of 78% in the grand prix freestyle on Dark Legend at her first World Cup qualifier in Stuttgart, Germany on 15 November. Retired Irish champion Flat jockey Pat Smullen was given the award of merit at the Cartier Awards. Pat, a former Derby winner, is undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer. Jockey Edward Vaughan, 12, won the 148cm race at Cheltenham on White Water. Edward, son of dual Grade One-winning trainer Tim Vaughan, said it had been a tough season but it had “all paid Swedish dressage rider Patrik Kittel has been appointed to the FEI dressage…

NEW PARTNERS FOR BADMINTON IT is unlikely Badminton Horse Trials will have a title sponsor for 2020 — but organisers are “delighted” to welcome Mars Equestrian and Science Supplements as official event partners. Landowner the Duke of Beaufort said the team is “extremely grateful” for the companies’ support of the event (6-10 May). Last year was Mitsubishi Motors’ final one as title sponsor, and event director Jane Tuckwell said the new partnerships are significant. “We have been exploring different sponsorship models and it is fantastic to have both Science Supplements and Mars Equestrian on board,” she said. RIDING CENTRES TO BE HONOURED NOMINATIONS have opened for the first SEIB Insurance Brokers livery yard and riding school of the year awards. The public has until 9 December to nominate riding schools…

▲PURDAH It’s that time again, in the run-up to an election, when government departments say this means they can’t make any comment on anything “because purdah”. One spokesman eventually said: “We can only give you facts”. Well. We didn’t really want anything else... ▲SOFAS A rider determined to lose enough weight to be able to ride her horse has taken the step of buying a treadmill but now has a battle to deal with. “Unfortunately, my settee always wins the war,” she said. We feel your pain. ▲OWNERSHIP To the World Horse Welfare conference, and president the Princess Royal. On responsibility, she pointed out that competitors have responsibility to adhere to rules. “But reading the whole rulebook doesn’t always happen,” she added. Hmm. A fair point……

IRISH Olympian Judy Reynolds and her thrilling horse Vancouver K (JP) are making history for their country. They enjoyed a superb run at the European Championships in August, breaking three of their own records and taking fifth in the grand prix. This clinched Olympic qualification for an Irish team for the first time. I meet Judy in a bustling Cavan Equestrian Centre during the Irish National Championships. Judy is here in her guise as coach to some of Ireland’s future stars. Since she and the all-female team, affectionately known as the “Girls in Green” (Judy, Kate Dwyer, Heike Holstein and Anna Merveldt), qualified for Tokyo 2020, dressage feels more important than ever before for Ireland. Judy and JP are no strangers to the Olympics, having represented Ireland in Rio 2016.…

‘He knows he’s boss and he knows he’s king’ MOST people would be put off by a horse with the nickname Pelvis, earned through breaking the pelvises of three unlucky riders, but not Charlie Shirley-Beavan, joint-master and huntsman of the Tynedale. “He’s had a few owners, but I wouldn’t let him go now,” he says. Coulton, named after a village in the Middleton country, was owned by Peter Easterby and latterly the huntsman Tom Holt. “I took my hounds down when Tom was hunting him,” explains Charlie. “I saw him jumping and knew I wanted him, so when Tom retired I made sure he came to me.” Charlie was under no illusions, having seen how Tom struggled to hold Coulton when his own horse came upsides. “If anyone tries to…

Nettex Associated Championships (veteran horse and rider, RoR, thoroughbred, CHAPS), Vale View, Leics FORMER leading racehorses showed their versatility to get their head in front under a different set of rules. Royal Ascot winner Namibian and Cesarewitch star Big Easy were among the retrained racehorses to take home sashes. Para rider Julie Frizzell and Namibian, by Cape Cross, produced two personal bests to win both the thoroughbred medium 73 and the Retraining of Racehorses (RoR) medium 69. “He can be a bit of a cross between Bambi and a cheeky teenager with a sense of humour,” said Julie, adding that it is the horse’s first season at this level. “I found out in the warm-up for the second class that he’d won the first [medium 73] and blown his personal…

AT the end of October, Lara Butler and I were mums on tour — we spent a few nights away from motherhood and took just one horse each to compete at the CDI in Oldenburg, Germany. Heaven! The horses were great and we had some good results; I was delighted with my nine-year-old mare, Rose Of Bavaria, whom I threw in at the deep end as I wanted to see how she copes in a big ring. She did not disappoint and I am super-excited about what the near future will bring. It was a wonderful feeling to sit on a horse that, though a little nervous, was so focused on pleasing me. Dressage enthusiasts live for that partnership and it is something that develops over time; horse and rider…

‘THEY WERE SLIGHTLY FERAL’ A TRIP to Kings Equestrian, Herefords, in a new five-horse lorry proved a challenge for Mat Burnett and his head girl Charlotte Smithwhite. “We’ve always gone off quietly in a 7.5-tonne, being strategic about taking horses that can be warmed up together,” said Mat. “This time, though, we took four in the big wagon. They were a little overwhelmed at going to a party with so many of their friends and were slightly feral.” Nevertheless, the gang claimed five wins. Highlights included a good medium score for Grisbimone on the mare’s medium debut, a first outing for Mat’s new ride Eckhard and a promising performance from Josephine Eley’s Nibeley Black Pearl. Mat added: “Showjumpers and eventers cope, so my diva dressage horses will just have to…

FANS of SL Lucci would not be surprised to hear that the double European champion and triple world record-holding dressage pony claimed the highest score of the day (80.33%) at Swallowfield Equestrian, West Mids. This time, however, it was not Phoebe Peters in the saddle but her sister Camille — riding only her third affiliated test and making her feestyle debut, at medium. “I’ve ridden for a long time, but never wanted to compete,” explained Camille, who has recently taken over the reins of the 17-year-old superstar while Phoebe spends a year abroad as part of a modern foreign languages degree. “It never appealed to me, but since Lucci is in such brilliant shape it seemed a good opportunity to learn.” Phoebe has been teaching her sister via FaceTime, which…

I READ with interest Pennie Cornish’s comment in last week’s Horse & Hound (14 November) regarding the state of British showjumping, before seeing with sadness that this week’s scheduled CSI2* at Keysoe had been cancelled due to lack of entries. Was it because there was no wild card on offer to Liverpool International as there had been the previous year? Was it because people were late entering? Did riders not realise it had two world ranking classes? Or, did people just not know it was on? The fact is we have some excellent show centres in this country and desperately need more international shows, but we are seeing many struggling to survive, unable to make it pay with the burden of huge rates and seemingly lots of red tape. In…

12 Nov: Horse & Rider Cobber 80cm.— 1, Bordesley Golden Sunrise (S Faulkner); 2, Legend Of Zorro (K Brummell); 3, Buckaroo Bob (R Dorrell). Dodson & Horrell 85cm qual.— 1, Tullycars Peek A Boo (M Cowan); 2, Mr Monkey Puzzle (B Fairbrother); 3, Keltek Beau (T Morris). Tammy Walters Art Veteran 90cm prelim.— 1 & 2, Zilver Bling & Rubi VII (L Simpson); 3, Springtime III (R Mosley). D&H 95cm qual.— 1, Dun Over (H Tiley); 2, Helms Tolu (J Helm); 3, Tinx (S Roberts). D&H 1.05m qual.— 1, Wyzer By Far (K Rankin); 2, Ears Two (K Ward); 3, Zagy (M Whitman). D&H 1.10m qual.— 1, Touch Of Fabulous (H Tiley); 2, Best Ever Z (T Hughes); 3, Mid Summer Rose (L Gilsenan). 13 Nov: D&H Nat 85cm prelim.—…

SEIB SFAS M&M Championship, Stoneleigh Park, Warks THE upstanding Welsh section D Llanarth Red Bull (Rebel) and Lois Hunt were crowned 2019 SEIB Search For A Star (SFAS) mountain and moorland (M&M) champions, despite being called out as second in the large breeds class. Judges Sandy Wooderson (conformation) and Matthew Lawrence (ride) concluded that the 12-year-old gelding “came alive” in the championship, enabling him to pip large breeds victors Highland pony Memphis Of Millfield and Claire Kinsley to the top. The win has come after a difficult few months for Lois, who used to work for Thomas Cook before the travel company collapsed over the summer. “I was working as cabin crew and in the earlier part of the season,” said Lois, who rides Rebel for her mother, Dawn. “I…

Dunsmore Racing, Dunsmore, Devon WILL BIDDICK secured his first win on the ladder this season towards his eighth champion jockey title when steering the Jake Slatter-trained favourite, Waterloo Warrior, to victory in the intermediate. The jockey produced the seven-year-old gelding over the final ditch to claim a six-length win over runner-up Robin Why Not. “Will gave him a class ride and rode Waterloo Warrior exactly as I asked,” said Jake, who is a beef and arable farmer based near Toddington. Things hadn’t quite gone to plan for the champion rider earlier in the day when he rode Queens Legacy in the opening maiden race. The combination looked to be travelling well before slipping up on the bend, leaving Merv Woodward and the Jimmy Cole-trained Macca’s Stowaway to take the race…

IT’S nearing the time of year when I start questioning why we live on an exposed hill in the northernmost county of England. The wind is driving drizzle at high speed past the window, we are up to our axels in mud and the floods are out down in the village. “At least it’s not snow,” said our electrician, working on the still unfinished house next door — and he has a point. The natives are good at looking on the bright side when it comes to the weather, which is lucky really. While all is normal climatically, family life has taken a less predictable turn in that Adam has gone to Hong Kong — not his normal hangout at any time of year, let alone the first week of…