Innholdsfortegnelse for 9-Jan-2025 i Horse & Hound

IT’S this time of year when we question our life choices – not least when wading through endless mud and being needled by freezing rain, as Tessa Waugh describes (Goodnight, p74). But with so much to love, and so much that is addictive about horses, we could never give them up for long. So it was for this week’s interviewee, young rider medallist Oliver Gould (p16), who took a two-year hiatus from dressage after starting secondary school and finding his peers less than encouraging about his interest. Inspired by watching his father Andrew in action at Hickstead in 2019, Oliver came back to the sport he loves and this summer took a European young rider bronze medal. He swears that none of it would have happened if not for that…

IN THE NEWS GEORGE CLOONEY BS The dressage stalwart, who won freestyle gold and individual silver at the 2024 pony Europeans with Brit Abigail Gray, has been sold to Sweden for Samantha Arnbäck. H&M LEGEND OF LOVE Olivier Philippaerts’ grand prix-winning ride has retired. The Belgian rider and the 19-year-old mare won Mechelen CSI5* grand prix and had many other top-flight results. SERPENTINE The 2020 Derby winner, trained by Aidan O’Brien, has retired aged eight. He later ran for Australian-based trainers, most recently Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott.…

Former Burghley cross-country course-designer Mark Phillips will take on the role at the Blenheim European Eventing Championships this summer. Olympic rider Wout-Jan van der Schans has been appointed national showjumping coach for the Netherlands. He replaces Jos Lansink in the role. Congratulations to German Olympic champion showjumper Christian Kukuk and his partner Veronica Tracy, who are expecting a baby girl. Grand national-winning jockey Daryl Jacobs, 41, has retired after claiming his final Grade One victory on Impaire Et Passe at Limerick on 28 December. Report, p58 Cheltenham managing director Ian Renton has stepped down after 12 years. His replacement is former Marylebone Cricket Club CEO Guy Lavender.…

jennifer.donald@futurenet.com @jen_donald IT was great to see our sport shown in such a positive light at the last major show of 2024, the London International (LIHS). With all the afternoon and evening performances sold out, the atmosphere in the ExCeL arena this year was every bit as good as it used to be at Olympia. It has a much bigger collecting ring, too! And with airy stabling and the horseboxes parked on site – unlike Olympia where they were miles away – I’m sure the venue received the vote of the big contingent of overseas riders and grooms. It’s a tremendously well-run show. I’ve always said that if you want a job doing well, ask a busy man – and Simon Brooks-Ward certainly fits that bill. His eye for detail…

GROOM ROBIN LAND “I HAVE looked after ‘Jon Jon’ from day one. He’s a bit of a nervous type, so I try not to move too quickly around him and I like to keep his routine simple. He can be a fidget when I’m trying to brush him over and he never stands still at evening stables. “Jon is a hot horse, so I am forever checking the weather to see what rugs to have on him and making sure he’s not getting too warm. He has never been the best traveller – he seems best facing forwards – but he’s getting better. “At the races, we saddle him at the stable yard to keep him relaxed and we leave it as late as possible to enter the paddock. We…

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About Alex EVENT rider Alex Bragg is ranked in the world top 20. After his top-level debut at Burghley in 2016, he was a reserve for the European Championships in 2017, won the Event Rider Masters series in 2018 with Zagreb and helped secure a Nations Cup series win for Great Britain the same year. In 2024, he came third at Badminton and eighth at Burghley with Quindiva, a 14-year-old mare by Quintender, who stepped up to five-star the previous year. THE idea behind an October visit to Alex Bragg’s Bridgwater yard had been to capitalise on the light – qualitatively and quantitatively – ahead of a dreary winter. This was not to be, and the dream of training images dazzlingly lit with a golden autumnal sun was snuffed out…

OUR trainer, Richard Phillips, recently met up for a Cotswold pub lunch with the queen bee of equine bonkbusters, Dame Jilly Cooper, fresh from seeing her Rivals show signed up for a second series. As Richard, who set up the National Racehorse Week initiative, and Jilly swapped bags, she was thrilled to hear about Idas Boy’s progress and enthused: “I’m so excited that Richard Phillips, one of my very favourite trainers, is revving up the glorious golden giant, Idas Boy, for this year’s Grand National. I wish you all huge luck.”…

AINTREE RACECOURSE’S historian Jane Clarke says: “There have been three Grand National-winning syndicates – The Ramblers with Corach Rambler in 2023, the Dee Racing Syndicate with Monty’s Pass in 2003 and The Summit Partnership with Earth Summit in 1998.” The origins of syndicates and racing clubs is thanks to the late trainer Toby Balding OBE, who set up the first UK racing clubs in the 1980s out of his Fyfield training yard at Weyhill, Hampshire. Toby won the 1969 Grand National with Highland Wedding, and the 1989 race with the 12-year-old Little Polveir at 28/1. “Uncle Toby was at the forefront of what we have today as racing clubs,” says his nephew, trainer Andrew Balding. “He believed racing was a sport for everyone and wanted anyone to have the opportunity…

Blue Chip Joint Care power qualifier, Mendip Plains EC, Somerset EMILY PROUD ended a successful first full year of British Showjumping (BS) competition with a 74th victory, heading the Blue Chip Joint Care power qualifier with the six-year-old CSF Incendio (Harry). It was a third Blue Chip ticket for this Indoctro x Ars Vivendi gelding, who Emily bought unseen from an online auction during the pandemic. “It was a bit of a risk, but it paid off as he’s been fantastic,” said Emily, who has also qualified him for the diamond and WB Equiline star finals. “He’s a lovely horse to ride – he’s rangey, with a big stride you can open up, but he turns on a sixpence like a pony.” Emily, who works full-time as a physio in…

Share your news story Call 0330 390 6386 Email eleanor.jones@futurenet.com @ jones_eleanor_ THE Government has reiterated its commitment to ban trail-hunting – as tens of thousands of people turned out again to support festive meets this year. H&H reported before last year’s general election that Labour had pledged a ban – and on Boxing Day national media reported plans for tougher punishments for anyone in breach of the Hunting Act. Polly Portwin, director of the Countryside Alliance’s campaign for hunting, told H&H: “Support on Boxing Day and at other festive meets has yet again demonstrated that trail-hunting is an important part of rural life for tens of thousands of people, bringing them together while supporting local businesses. “It took seven years, 700 hours of parliamentary time and a huge amount…

THE keeper of a 31-year-old horse who was stuck upside-down in a ditch for three hours as an animal rescue unit had to be sent from the next county said the incident highlights how crucial such services are. Darren Woods, who has had Vicky Milton’s Rupert since he was four, praised the Kent Fire and Rescue Service unit that came as the West Sussex Fire & Rescue one was unavailable. Darren told H&H he was hacking on a younger horse, with another rider on Rupert. “The young horse spooked and took a step back, so Rupert stepped back too,” he said. “He was on the edge of the bank, it gave way and he sat down. “The lad got off but Rupert couldn’t get up, and slid sideways into the…

“THE first time I sat on Jonbon was winning his bumper at Newbury in 2021 and he came with an expensive price tag, so it was interesting to see how good he really was. When I took over from Aidan Coleman [who rode Jonbon until his career-ending injury in 2023], that engine was still there and he’s always been very slick over his fences. He’s by Walk In The Park and he can be hot – he just wants to get on with things – but once he’s actually doing it, he’s very professional. “He is a joy to ride but he’s probably not as straightforward as he looks – if you just sit there, he won’t actually do much, so you have to keep the old leg on! But…

THIS horse has a full thickness toe quarter crack (image one) that extends from the coronary band down to the ground surface. It has been present for more than 12 months. After meticulous debridement of the crack – making it substantially wider – a synthetic patch has been applied to stabilise the crack (image two). Finally a shoe is applied to give further stability (image three). It is critically important to ensure that the horse has good foot balance and a level foot fall.…

IS there anything more exhilarating than yesterday’s impossible becoming today’s result? Those light-bulb moments; when the neural pathways light up and suddenly something that seemed out of reach for so long is within your grasp. It’s tricky to pinpoint quite what triggers a eureka moment – it could be wise words from a teacher, a shifted perspective or even something as abstract as a feeling. One thing’s for sure: these elusive huzzahs are woven into the tapestry of equestrian sport and feature in some of the most meteoric rises across the disciplines. THERE’S no guarantee of a youth-class horse going all the way to the top, but for 2024 British Dressage national champion Lewis RobertsonCarrier and his premier mount Diego V, this is what happened. Lewis and Diego partnered up…

ONE of our syndicate members, Julie Tomlinson, has been a huge fan of the Grand National all her life. The day she decided to join the Dozen Dreamers was not only the anniversary of the death of her beloved mother, Joan Kirby, but the day she won £10,000 on the Premium Bonds, having previously won nothing at all. Joan was quite a character and rode until she was 78. She was a Red Rum super-fan and had a fixation with the three-time Grand National winner that extended to her carrying a large lock of his mane in her handbag. One of the happiest moments in her life was being on the Yorkshire TV show, Living It Up, and being given the coveted chance, in 1988, to ride the retired legend…

catherine.austen@futurenet.com @cfausten123…

HIGHLIGHTS 21–30 December Pony Blue Chip qualifier show, Onley Grounds EC, Warks NELLIE LOCK had a confidence-boosting round ahead of her first trip to the pony World Cup Final in Mechelen when she stormed to a 12.24sec victory in the Onley Grounds 1.30m grand prix with the nine-year-old mare, Catho Van De Langvelden Z. There were two double clears from four through to the jump-off, and Nellie beat Millie Davies and Catness 8 to the win. “There weren’t many clears throughout the show,” Nellie said. “I think a lot of people hadn’t jumped for a while and the tracks were up to height. It’s a big arena and big atmosphere and was a reasonable test to prepare me for Mechelen. “She jumped well in the first round and my mum…

jennifer.donald@futurenet.com @jen_donald 1 A family affair: Potters Charm – trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies, assisted by son Willy, with son Sam in the saddle – extends his unbeaten run by delivering Grade One glory at Aintree in the William Hill Formby Novices’ Hurdle. “When you go to the Festival, you want a horse that can jump with pace and not make any fiddly little errors or get too high in the air,” reflected Sam Twiston-Davies. “Hopefully, he has ironed that out now and will go to Cheltenham [for the Turners Novices’ Hurdle, a race the stable won in 2013 with The New One] with a right chance.” 2 Can Galopin Des Champs emulate Best Mate as a three-time Cheltenham Gold Cup winner? His mighty Savills Chasewinning performance at Leopardstown certainly marked him…

I LOVE a disaster podcast; stories of ordinary people who head out for a hike, get attacked by a bear and are found three days later roaming disorientated without a limb. The climbers who fall into crevasses, paragliders who are swept upwards to fly alongside jumbo jets and walkers who lose their way and end up walking shoeless for miles in deep snow. The common currency of all these tales is humankind’s instinct for survival, but also how quickly we are rendered powerless by nature. Yesterday’s adventure is nowhere near as dramatic as these, but it got me thinking again about how vulnerable we are when faced with nature’s whims. The forecast was poor but it was dry when Mary and I set out to hack to the meet, trotting…

IN THE NEWS RIDE FOR THAÏS CHAMAN DUMONTCEAU The Paris Olympic team silver medal-winning ride of Stéphane Landois, who took him on from the late Thais Meheust, has been sold to a British rider. GLENCARRIG BOBBY Jane Sonnex and Victoria Taylor’s Connemara has died, aged 29. The pony was a multiple Horse of the Year Show and London International finalist during his career. CATCH ME IF YOU CAN OLD The top mare has retired, aged 17. She won world team bronze with Laura Klaphake then competed at the Tokyo Olympics with Anna Kellnerová.…

LABOUR A report about the Tindalls not only said their youngest child is “rarely seen” – one imagines he is seen every day – but that “the pair gave birth to Lena”. Strong though Mike is, one doubts he was doing the pushing in that case… AUTOCORRECT A rider replying to a text telling her that her horse had lost a shoe found she’d put “for Fuchs sake”. Martin or Markus, is the question… COST Overheard, a trainer telling a rider to rearrange her weight. “You’re using about £500 worth of a £4,000 saddle,” she noted. “That’s expensive backside space.” RIDING SCHOOLS News emerges of times riding schools were contacted over Christmas, such as one that got a call at 7am on the big day to book a four-hour hack…

Email to hhletters@futurenet.com Name and address must be included. Letters may be edited. REFUND POLICIES I WRITE to express concerns regarding British Eventing’s (BE) refund policy, having withdrawn from an event five days before the fixture with a vet’s note. I was only refunded about 5% of my entry fee and nothing for my unused stabling and straw as I hadn’t provided seven days’ notice. However, when venues cancel 24 hours before the event, they keep around 40%. “This could have a negative grassroots impact” SAMANTHA LEWIS While I support venues retaining a portion of entry fees when cancelling due to factors beyond their control, competitors should also be supported when genuine circumstances prevent their participation. It seems that current policies are weighted too heavily in favour of venues, leaving…

RIDING is in my DNA, and I suppose I did have quite a feel for it. I started riding at the age of two. I had a grey pony called Snowflake, who pulled like mad. I used to ride him in a double bridle; that was pretty stupid, wasn’t it? But it’s what we did, and I couldn’t hold one side of him, so that was all right. When we went hunting, I was led by the groom. That’s agony, as you keep bumping into the groom’s stirrup, and it’s painful. Then when I was let off the lead, of course the pony took charge. If he came up to a crowd waiting to jump a ditch, he’d just nip through, under the leading horse, over the ditch and away…

SPORTING epiphanies rarely materialise following one simple change. But when they do, euphoria can sustain you for years to come. Showjumper Will Fletcher, son of Tina and Graham Fletcher, had a big breakthrough at 12 years old when his pony career was flipped on its head. “I was never very successful on ponies,” recalls Will, “despite having parents who were grand prix riders with countless Nations Cups behind them. My peers were doing so well and I was barely getting round 1m. “I’ve always been tall, so when I was about 12 I went to a children-on-horses show with a horse called Uragan [pictured] – he was my first horse. I’d never jumped bigger than 1.10m, so I started the day there.” The pair jumped a double clear. “Mum couldn’t…

I WAS a guest of the sponsors at the 1996 Martell Grand National and spent a very happy half an hour or so chatting to the late, great, racing thrillers legend that was Dick Francis, the late Queen Mother’s favourite author. As we sipped on champagne cocktails, Dick told me about his inspirations and the writing of Lester Piggott’s official biography, which was published that year. Dick won over 350 races as a jockey and wrote an incredible 40 bestsellers. Ever discreet, Dick had great stories and a wicked sense of humour. He was about to give me a tip, when we were interrupted and he was taken off to meet a Martell bigwig. Sadly we didn’t bump into each other again so I will never know if that tip…

“THERE’S nothing wrong with him, he’s just naughty,” said Alice Pimbley’s uncle John, a well-respected vet, referring to the innocently named Teddy whom Alice had just bought unseen. Teddy had arrived with a list of known “quirks”. Starting with being cold-backed and ending with “bites other horses”, the list was formidable, but it meant Teddy was affordable. Only on the hunting field would the horse supposedly redeem himself. Everything on that list, for better or for worse, proved to be true. Teddy is a horse of extraordinary contradictions. Nevertheless, Alice is devoted to him. “MADE FOR HUNTING” AT home he “puts his head between his legs and explodes,” says Alice merrily. “Sometimes it can take over an hour for me to stay on longer than five seconds,” she continues unperturbed.…

CERI CHAPMAN went home with a fistful of Blue Chip tickets after securing three of the top five places in the Bliss of London winter novice qualifier at Kelsall Hill, Cheshire, claiming two of them riding home-breds. She headed a 20-strong jump-off with the 10-year-old Irish mare Bonmahon Blue Lee (Maddie; pictured, right), finishing just 0.49sec behind on her home-bred 17.2hh FH Quantez. Drawn second-to-last on the 14.2hh home-bred FH Quickstep, she opted for a quiet round with this normally very quick mare to pick up another qualifying spot in fifth. Ceri originally produced her winning ride Maddie as a four-year-old. “She’d come over from Ireland and I rode her and sold her for a friend – I always thought she was special,” Ceri said. “She ended up coming back…