Innholdsfortegnelse for 30-May-2024 i Horse & Hound

THE equestrian community is mourning the loss of talented and muchloved event rider Georgie Campbell, who died in a fall at Bicton International Horse Trials last Sunday. All of our thoughts are with Georgie's husband Jesse and her family and friends at this devastating time. We report this tragedy in this week's pages, and will pay tribute to Georgie in a future issue. In this week's Access all areas (p52), racing editor Jennifer Donald goes behind the scenes at Ballydoyle and finds that, as well as being an extraordinary operation driven by numbers and data, part of Aidan O'Brien's secret to success is getting a good night's sleep. He simply counts his breaths to drift off and never gets to 20. What a great trick and skill, I'll be trying…

CHEEKY CALIMBO Andrew Hoy and Christiane Classen's gelding has died at 22. He won the CCI3* (now CCI4*-L) at Montelibretti in 2016, and the CIC3* at Luhmühlen in 2014. H&M CHRISTIAN K Stuteri Arch's showjumper has retired at 17. He and Sweden's Peder Fredricson won world team silver in 2018, and had World and Nations Cup success. CATHERSTON NUTSAFE Kenneth Pritchard's medal-winning pony star has died, aged 29. “Snoopy” took a host of riders to the top, including Tom McEwen, and excelled in showing and jumping.…

OLYMPICS A caller rings H&H Towers about an article we ran on the Olympics. “Which one?” asked the H&H-er. “The one in Paris this summer,” she said. Glad we got that straight… EXPRESSIONS A tiny rider was having her first canter on a saintly lesson pony, with quite the look on her face. Watching, Dad said: “That's how she looked when she went on a rollercoaster.” And it gets better from here, kid. STOPPING A calendar of “worst-case scenarios” includes advice on how to stop a runaway horse. This includes “hold on tight” and “wait for the horse to stop”. Brilliant. SCAMMERS This week's award to a seller who, when asked, does indeed apparently stock zebras, including males, females and the very rare spotted sort – and can deliver. Go…

Email to hhletters@futurenet.com Name and address must be included. Letters may be edited. @ horseandhound instagram.com/horseandhound facebook.com/horseandhound SAVE THE BREED ON 17 May 2024, I welcomed my first pure-bred Cleveland Bay colt into the world, the first under my own stud and my fifth pure Cleveland. At 25, I am likely to be one of the UK's youngest Cleveland Bay breeders. But I don't come from an equestrian background – everything about the stud is self-made, with invaluable help from non-horsey family, friends and neighbours. “The breed is now at risk of extinction” TIERNEY HILL It's crucial for young equestrians and aspiring breeders to get involved with rare breeds to ensure their survival. Cleveland Bays, with their trainability and sweet nature, make excellent first horses. However, like many critically-endangered breeds, they…

I'VE competed in two basic Olympic formats – in Atlanta we had completely different events for the team and individual, then in Athens, Hong Kong, London and Rio we had a combined competition, but a second round of showjumping for the individual. I've also seen variation in number of riders per team – mostly four (three to count), but five in London (three to count) and nowadays we have three with all to count. For as long as I can remember, we've been told the next Olympics will be the last for eventing, but it keeps surviving, if in a slightly neutralised, muted form. I accept we have to adapt our sport to stay in the Olympics, and it looks like that's ongoing with at least the team competition finishing…

IT is important to recognise that not all horses with AF need to be treated – and even among those that are, the chance of reoccurrence is fairly high. “If an owner is happy to accept a drop in performance and find a new job for their horse, or the horse is coping with his current workload, then he can live happily with AF,” says John. “At rest, AF can be of little or no consequence as the horse does not need to use much of the heart's capacity. During exercise, however, the drop in effective pumping action caused by AF – which can be around 20% – reduces the volume of blood getting to the lungs and muscles which, in turn, leads to a drop in performance. “Getting an…

TIPS FOR THE TOP WHEN the tempo increases in the showjumping ring, how do you grasp the winning edge rather than letting all your hard work unravel beneath you? Does it begin with the groundwork at home or can it come down to formulating – and executing – the ideal plan according to the horse you're riding? We delve inside the minds of three of the country's leading (and fastest) showjumpers, to find out how to lock into that winning mindset and what's key to nailing the perfect jump-off performance. ’Smoother is definitely quicker’ OLYMPIC gold medallist Scott Brash is one of the most successful riders of his generation. He is the master of producing young horses to the top level and among his current string of horses are Hello…

EVENTING: LT ADOLF VAN DER VOORT VAN ZIJP, THE NETHERLANDS IT was Lt van der Voort van Zijp, a second lieutenant in the second regiment of the Huzares, who led the Dutch (pictured above) to the team title with his individual gold medal-winning performance aboard the 10-year-old English thoroughbred mare, Silver Piece. He would go on to help his nation retain team gold in 1928 and finish fourth individually. During World War II, he fought at the Battle of the Grebbeberg in 1940. In 1942, he was made a prisoner of war, remaining so until the end of the war. In his post-war military career, he would go on to be appointed brigadier general in charge of the inspection of the Dutch cavalry in 1953. DRESSAGE: ERNST LINDER, SWEDEN A…

OLYMPIANS crossing the Channel to Paris will have to unravel rather more red tape than in previous Olympic years. “Before Brexit, you literally just rolled up at Dover, got on the next ferry, off the other side and off you went,” explains Jackie. “Now, you have to get there at the right time and it's chocka. “There are vet checks at each side, and you have to get your carnet stamped in Dover and Calais – this is the document with the goods you're travelling. There's one for your equipment and one for your horse. “The team this year might do their vet check at the quarantine venue before they go to Dover, which would save time, but we've been back and forth a lot since Brexit and find it…

BICTON ARENA (1) 23–26 May pippa.roome@futurenet.com @pipparoomeorkyle Bicton Arena (1), Devon DEVON'S only mid-season international three-day event, which started with so much promise and offered an action-packed schedule, ended in tragedy as the final class was drawing to a conclusion, with the death of hugely popular rider Georgie Campbell (née Strang) on Sunday afternoon (see news, p6). Georgie's horse, Global Quest, her second ride in the final cross-country phase of the TopSpec CCI4*-S – she had earlier steered Speedwell around for 18.8 time-faults – fell at the log into the Symonds & Sampson Splash (fence 5b). He was unhurt in the accident and Georgie was attended by on-site medics and an air ambulance arrived at the scene, but she couldn't be saved. The first rider out on the cross-country course…

EX-FLAT racehorse Ember's Glow won his first BE80 start under owner/rider Lucy Robinson at Aston-le-Walls (1) in Northamptonshire. “He had a reasonable racing career up until the age of seven, when he lost the love for it and went sour,” said Lucy, who came across the gelding at a yard belonging to her friend and trainer, Justine Ward. “Justine had been gifted him and told he was unrideable, but when I got on him I knew I had to buy him.” FIRST WINS Ember's Glow's transformation involved two years of slow education and patient retraining. “This was his first event, my first sub-30 dressage score and my first-ever win,” said Lucy, who scored 23 in the first phase. BE90 victors Harper Rolfe and Primitives Pebbles also enjoyed a win at…

CROCKET I scored a confidence-boosting prelim double at Vale View EC, Leicestershire. According to Marcin Stachurski, who is training him for Bev Lynn and Carol Wright, the six-year-old Quantensprung gelding was “pretty much unrideable” when she started working with him in November. “He was petrified of a rider behind him, so we did lots of groundwork and I didn't sit on him until March,” she said. “It looks like we're on the other side now. At home, he's foot-perfect. He's still a bit nervous every so often, but he finds reassurance in me. I'm excited about him.” AGAINST THE ODDS…

A YOUNG jockey and her pair of home-produced half-brothers are enjoying great success in the show ring. Ruby Roberts, four, and her mother Cathrin Roberts' hunter pony lead-rein, Colne Tatsuki (Baby), and M&M lead-rein, Colne Taittinger (Charlie), both reigned most recently at the Royal Welsh spring festival and BSPS North Wales at Maelor Equestrian Centre, Wrexham. Both were bred by Alan and Ann Overton Ablitt and are out of Colne Thumberlina. Baby, a five-year-old by Delami Bohemian, joined the Roberts' to be stabled ahead of the Welsh Pony and Cob Society sales, but he never made it. “I liked him so much that I bought him for Ruby,” said Cathrin, of the gelding who won the hunter pony lead-rein class at the spring festival. Thistledown Irn-Bru son Charlie is the…

OF the 13,113 horses currently registered with the charity Retraining of Racehorses (RoR), 3,276 – around 25% – named hunting as an activity they would be participating in on registration. RoR acknowledges that there are many former racehorses taking part in many disciplines that aren't registered with RoR, so there are probably many more than this number that go hunting nationwide. RoR has recently launched its new three-year strategy to increase registrations and traceability of former racehorses. The charity is working towards ensuring that all horses bred for racing in Britain are registered with them and their data maintained in a centralised database. RoR believes that by knowing the whereabouts of these horses, the charity is better placed to attract new leisure owners to the RoR community and provide effective…

NEWS Insider Share your news story Call 0330 390 6386 Email eleanor.jones@futurenet.com @ jones_eleanor_ BRITISH event rider Georgie Campbell has died, in a fall at Bicton International Horse Trials on Sunday (26 May). Georgie and Global Quest were competing in the CCI4*-S at the Devon event when they fell at the log into water at fence 5b, the Symonds & Sampson Splash, on the cross-country course. A statement released by the event at 6pm said: “It is with deepest regret that we announce that Georgie Campbell (GBR) suffered a fatal accident while competing at the Bicton International Horse Trials in Devon, England on Sunday, 26 May 2024. Medical professionals attended immediately following her fall at fence 5b however, unfortunately, she could not be saved. “The horse, Global Quest, was assessed…

NEW VET GROUP TO TACKLE ISSUES BRITISH EQUESTRIAN CEO Jim Eyre is chairing a new European Equestrian Federation veterinarian working group. The group, of 11 vets from across Europe, is “dedicated to addressing upcoming challenges and ensuring the wellbeing of our equine athletes”. Its main goal is to promote collaboration, with focus on advancing veterinary standards, promoting welfare and addressing any emerging issues. It will follow FEI rule-change timelines and make proposals if required, and create focus groups to work on key topics. SPANISH RIDING SCHOOL'S RETURN THE Spanish Riding School has announced it is coming to the UK this autumn, its first visit here since 2016. The Lipizzaner stallions and their riders will appear at Wembley Arena, London, from 18–20 October, and at P&J Live, Aberdeen, from 25–27 October.…

Leading showing judge Jennifer Williams celebrated her 90th birthday on 28 May. The former top rider and BSHA chair founded Pendley Stud. Former event rider and para dressage rider Suz Hext has been selected to represent Great Britain in a second Paralympics this year, in swimming. Australian three-time Olympic eventing medallist Shane Rose has returned to the saddle nine weeks after he was seriously injured in a fall. Eventer Grace Moran is the new chair of British Eventing Scotland. Grace has competed up to four-star and combines eventing with her family transport business. Sport Horse Breeding of Great Britain is “deeply honoured” to confirm that The King is to be its patron, a role his mother The late Queen held.…

pippa.roome@futurenet.com @pipparoomeorkyle BADMINTON this year keeps everyone's dream alive. There must be so many people wishing they had gone – the win was there for the taking and that made it very exciting. I was a bit flat beforehand, probably for the obvious reason that I wasn't riding, but also because lots of favourites pulled out. I wondered whether it would still feel as exciting as normal, but it really did. “It's sad many will have to stay at home” It's ironic that Ballaghmor Class missed his only ever three-day just when he was most needed by Oliver Townend, in his bid to try to clinch the Rolex Grand Slam. He has been such a soldier and looking at his previous five-star completion scores, he surely would have beaten the…

My earliest memory of horses is at a livery yard in Scotland, run by my granny. I remember sitting on a hairy Welsh mountain pony, not enjoying it or being very good at it, while my sister was the shining light because she loved it. Granny wouldn't have the heating on, but if we were cold, you could have a horse rug on your bed. I was always going to go into the forces. Mum was in the Queen Alexandra's Royal Nursing Corps and Dad was in the Royal Navy. I went straight to Sandhurst after Cardiff University, then to Afghanistan for six months. I did a two-year posting with the Troop as the adjutant in 2017, learning to ride in six weeks, and loved it. The King's Troop comprises…

BRITAIN'S sole 1924 equestrian medal was the bronze won by its polo team, made up of RAF Wing Commander Percival Kinnear Wise, politician Frederick Guest, amateur jockey Dennis Bingham, and member of the 1920 gold medal-winning side Maj Frederick W Barrett. The Westminster Gazette reported Britain's 10-2 defeat in a soggy match on 3 July against eventual silver medallists the US: “The British team played a plucky game and showed just as good horsemanship as the winners, but their ponies were decidedly slower.” “Wing Commander Wise was outstanding for Britain, and his fine saves were a feature of a game which was fast, considering the state of the ground. Col Bingham also played a sound defensive game. Wing Commander Wise and Maj Barrett scored the losers' goals.”…

BALLYDOYLE'S sister facility is the nearby Coolmore Stud, set up by John Magnier with his father-in-law Vincent O'Brien and Robert Sangster in the 1970s. Twelve breeding stallions – the likes of Wootton Bassett, St Mark's Basilica and Paddington (pictured) – are currently housed there. “We try to produce horses good enough to go to Ballydoyle and they try to produce horses good enough to come here to use,” says Niall Scott, who looks after sales and nominations at Coolmore. “It's like drilling for oil – eight wells you dig out of nine will come out dry. But what we have here are very special stallions.”…

THE young rider CCI3*-L winner Josh Levett, 19, confessed that it isn't often he lets off the handbrake of the 15-year-old This Ones On You, but a faster-than-usual turn of foot across country, coupled with a showjumping clear, ensured that he could enjoy a victor's lap of honour for the first time in the rider's eight-year eventing career. “Because he's older, I try to protect him and so I only take him fast across country a couple of times a year,” said Josh. “I'd done a lot of gallop work with him, but I wondered if he'd be fit enough. It's very hilly here, but he had lots of energy left all the way to the end.” The Gloucestershire-based rider admitted, though, that he has endured showjumping struggles in the…

SOMERFORD PREMIER LEAGUE 25–26 May oscar.williams@futurenet.com @oscarw_dr Somerford Premier League, Somerford Park Farm, Cheshire MSJ DANTE VX won the grand prix by the narrowest margin to the delight of rider Michael Eilberg. “Over the moon” was his first reaction to the Dante Weltino gelding's win. “Having the High Profile show here yesterday was the most perfect warm-up,” he added. “It's not often you get to run through two grands prix on consecutive days and for him, it couldn't have worked better. “He's super-talented but he's always been very insecure and at times I have wondered whether he would get that confidence,” Michael continued. “The first time he came here, as a six-year-old, he bolted out of the warm-up and through the arenas so things have improved! “When he is confident…

DEVON COUNTY 16–18 May alexandra.robinson@futurenet.com @alexrob_journo_ Devon County, Westpoint Arena A CONNEMARA stallion will make his third consecutive visit to Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) in October, despite his owner's intention of him enjoying a summer of love. Cathy Wood's seven-year-old Cloverhill Magic, led by Jamie Frost, triumphed in the Price Family supreme in-hand championship just as a deluge of rain and thunderclaps hit the showground. “We had only planned a couple of shows for him this year,” explained Cathy, who watched Magic stand mountain and moorland (M&M) reserve supreme at Royal Windsor earlier in the month. “I said he'd only be shown at Devon and Windsor this year as his semen is available all season, so I'm delighted with his results.” Cathy had been unable to attend the…

BSPS Area 3B White Rose County, Speetley EC, Derbys TEAM Glover reigned in the supreme with stablemates standing champion and reserve. Supreme fell to the Kirby Family's on-form coloured stallion, Monivea Black Magic, ridden by Pippa Kirby, who had come through as RIHS coloured champion. Lucy Glover was reserve on her own RIHS riding horse champion Nu-Be, an Up With The Lark seven-year-old who achieved intermediate glory at the BSPS winter championships. Indy Kirby added to the wins with a double; she lifted the RIHS show hunter pony title with current HOYS show hunter pony of the year Morning Sunflower, and the RIHS show pony tricolour went to her and Cindy Theakstone's home-bred 148cm Cynbrook Gentleman Jack. Lucy was also RIHS M&M reserve, riding the O'Donnells' Welsh section C, Popsters…

HIGHLIGHTS 14–19 May jennifer.donald@futurenet.com @jen_donald DO YOU WANT TO BE ON THIS PAGE? HAVE YOU WON A CLASS? Email jennifer.donald@futurenet.com within 24 hours of your event and please include a contact telephone number CSI2* Wellington Riding, Hants RONNIE LEE JONES and his dependable mare Kaleche secured their first international victory when they delivered the fastest of six double clears to win the CSI2* grand prix. “It was a twisty course but she is like a JA pony and can turn up to any sort of upright on any sort of angle and give it a go – which is how she won it,” said Ronnie, who pipped Joe Clayton and Gentlemen VH Veldhof to the post. “The first few to go were all having four faults – they put two…

TALKING POINT GINA ANDREWS secured the 400th pointing winner of her career when taking the conditions (level three) with I'm Spellbound at the Berks & Bucks Draghounds meeting. “I've had 398 English and two Irish pointing winners – it's nice to achieve these milestones, but they're not something I really push for,” she explained following her victory with the eight-year-old she trains for The Signy & Marriage Families. “He was back to his best following a really bad fall at the last when in the lead at Larkhill in February. “We always thought he was a really good horse but he lost all confidence, so it's great to get him back to winning ways.”…

catherine.austen@futurenet.com @cfausten123 RACEHORSE and huntsman's horse – as jobs go, they seem poles apart. Boil it down to the basics and perhaps they are not so different after all. Being at the front is the name of the game with both, and to question their ability to adapt is to question the essential versatility of horses. Many racehorses go on to excellent second careers as hunt horses and can be found kicking on all over the country. Charles Carter hunted ex-racehorses from Mick and David Easterby when he was master and huntsman of the Middleton. These days, as master and huntsman of the Royal Artillery, he has a horse called Postman from trainer Seamus Mullins that does sterling work for him on Salisbury Plain. “Our country is all chalk grassland,…

THE PICTURE, THE STORY Olympic countdown MEXICO 1968 8 weeks to go…

alexandra.robinson@futurenet.com @alexrob_ journo_ WONDERFUL Royal Windsor is a show like no other and I leave with special memories every time. As I am something of a history buff, it has to be my favourite event of the season with its iconic castle backdrop and historical connections. The show pony champion, for instance, is awarded a trophy presented by the famous sporting Savile Row tailor Lord Bernard Weatherill, who was also the speaker of the House of Commons from 1983 to 1992. It's always an honour to judge there. I had the pleasure of sorting the open show ponies this time alongside former successful Team Hollings jockey Natalie Mulrooney (née Middlemas), as well as the competitive ridden mountain and moorland (M&M) ridden section with my co-judge Jane Brace. Interestingly, the Welsh…

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BALLYDOYLE groom David Hickey has the enviable job of looking after City Of Troy. In 27 years working at Ballydoyle, David has looked after a star-studded cast including Camelot, Australia, Starspangledbanner and St Nicholas Abbey. His day begins at 3.20am. “I keep 20 greyhounds, so I feed the dogs before I come to work,” he says. “We either come in for feeding at 4.30am or start at 5.45am mucking out and brushing them over. City Of Troy usually goes out second lot, then I walk him out, sponge his girth, make sure his shoes are on and brush him over again. “He's fed at 11.30am, then all the horses are left alone for some quiet time and I'll be back in from 2.45pm until 5pm. I lead him out to…

HIGHLIGHTS 25–26 May Edited by Gemma Redrup gemma.redrup@futurenet.com @gemmaredrup Berks & Bucks Draghounds, Kingston Blount, Oxon THE race to the ladies' jockey championship continued to hot up, with Izzie Marshall and Gina Andrews fighting it out in what was the closest battle seen in this rank in many years – as H&H went to press the title was yet to be decided. Izzie kept the pressure on when taking the mixed open with the Alan Hill-trained I K Brunel. “He had a very hard race at Fakenham last time out in April, so we needed to freshen him up – he's not a horse that runs well otherwise,” explained Alan of the superconsistent 10-year-old, owned by the I K Brunel Partnership. “There was a fair bit of rain the night…