Tag Archives: Olympics

General

Talk of Tokyo Part 2: All you need to know about the British Dressage Team

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With the Tokyo Olympics just around the corner, Horse Scout journalist Ellie Kelly takes a look at the recently selected British Dressage team that will be going for gold this summer.

The Team for Tokyo:


Charlotte Dujardin (35) based in Newent, Gloucestershire with Renai Hart, Carl Hester and her own Gio (chestnut, gelding, 10yrs, Apache x Tango.)

Breeders: H J de Jong, A Valk NED, Groom: Alan Davies.


Charlotte (Lottie) Fry (25) based in Den Hout, the Netherlands (from Scarborough, North Yorkshire) with Van Olst Horses and her own Everdale (black stallion, 17.2hh, 12yrs, Lord Leatherdale x Negro.)

Breeder: P Kluytmans NED, Groom: Steven Caley.


Carl Hester (53) based in Newent, Gloucestershire (from Sark, The Channel Islands) with Sandra Biddlecombe, Charlotte Dujardin, Lady Anne Evans and his own En Vogue (darkbay, gelding, 12yrs, 17hh, Jazz x Contango.)

Breeder: A Van der Goor NED, Groom: Lucy Scudamore.

Travelling reserve


Gareth Hughes (50) based in Southam, Warwickshire with Judy Firmston-Williams and his own Sintano Van Hof Olympia (bay, gelding, 16.3hh, 11yrs, Sandro Hit x Silvano.)

Breeder: Hof Olympia NED, Groom: Steph Sharples.

talk of tokyo

Dressage Facts

● Tokyo will be Carl Hester’s sixth Olympics.

● Both Charlotte’s have been trained by Carl. Lottie Fry started training with Carl at the age of 14.

● Carl was born on the tiny Channel island of Sark, where no cars existed at the time. Transport was by horse or donkey. He started his equestrian career by learning to ride on a donkey and then helping with the local horse-drawn taxi business in his childhood.

● Carl’s Tokyo Olympic ride En Vogue is part owned by Charlotte Dujardin and she produced and competed it until 18 months ago.

● En Vogue lives out in the field most of the time which helps his slightly hot
temperament.

● Lottie Fry attributes her talent and her inspiration to her mother. She is the daughter of the late Laura Fry who competed on the British Team winning silver at the Europeans Championships and was part of the team at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 but sadly passed away in 2012.

● Lottie moved to Holland in 2014 when she was just 16 years old and has been based there ever since. She was introduced to Anne van Olst by Carl and it is with the Van Olst horses that Lottie has had great success. Anne owns her Olympic horse, Everdale and trains the pair most days.

● Lottie who is ranked 35th in the world, made her senior debut for the British team less than two years ago.

● Charlotte Dujardin is the most successful British rider in dressage history. She has won every major title possible including three gold and one silver Olympic medals, as well as two golds won at the World Equestrian Games. She holds all three world records in the sport and is the only rider to date, to hold the complete set of individual titles at the same time.

● If Charlotte won another individual gold at Tokyo, she would be just the second rider ever to win three successive medals. The first was Holland’s Anky van Grunsven.

● Charlotte, Carl and Lottie finished 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the FEI Dressage World Cup at the London International Horse Show at Olympia in 2019.

● Carl and Charlotte’s horses work in the school just four days a week. They all hack and get turned out in paddocks most days. Carl and Charlotte are great believers that horses should be allowed to be horses and relax so that schooling and competing isn’t considered as stressful and unpleasant.

● Gareth Hughes grew up in Australia where he competed in Showing and Western riding as well as Dressage.

● Gareth’s nickname is Mr Detail.

Photo credits – Carl Hester, Charlotte Dujardin

Written by Horse Scout journalist Ellie Kelly.

eventing team
General

Talk of Tokyo Part 1: All you need to know about the British eventing team

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The news of who has made the cut for the three equestrian teams heading to Tokyo Olympics was announced last week, so we thought we would bring you the story behind the story, with some fun facts about those riders selected to compete. First up, we will look at the British eventing team.

The eventing team:


Laura Collett (31) based in Salperton, Gloucestershire, with Karen Bartlett, Keith Scott and her own London 52 (bay, gelding, 12yrs, 16.3hh, Landos x Quinar.)

Breeder: Ocke Riewerts GER, Groom: Matilda Sayburn-Hughes.

Tom McEwen (30) based in Stroud, Gloucestershire, with Fred and Penny Barker, Jane Inns and Ali McEwen’s Toledo de Kerser (bay, gelding, 14yrs, 16.1hh, Diamant de Semilly x Papillon Rouge.)

Breeder: Kerstin Drevet FRA, Groom: Francesca Gorni.

Oliver Townend (38) based in Ellesmere, Shropshire, with Karyn Shuter, Angela Hislop and Val Ryan’s Ballaghmor Class (grey, gelding, 14yo, 16.2hh, s. Courage II.)

Breeder: Noel Hicky IRL, Groom: Jess McKie

Travelling reserve-
Piggy March (40) based in Maidwell, Northamptonshire, with John and Chloe Perry and Alison Swinburn’s Brookfield Innocent (bay, gelding, 12yrs, 16.3hh, Innocent x Kings Servant.

Breeder: John Mulvey IRL, Groom: Amy Phillip

eventing team

Eventing


● The last time the British eventing team won a Olympic team gold medal was 1972. Richard Meade (father of Olympic longlisted rider Harry Meade) also won individual gold that year.

● Unlike previous Olympics were there were four riders with one drop score, now only three riders will compete and all scores will count. The fourth rider is a travelling reserve. The last time there were only three riders competing at an Olympics was Mexico City 1968, when Team GB also won team gold. Britain won two of their three team gold medals under the three rider format. Perhaps this is a sign for things to come…

● The 49 year Olympic eventing team’s gold medal absence may be surprising given the Brits are reigning world champions, an accolade won in at the World Equestrian Games, Tryon in 2018, where British rider Ros Canter also picked up the individual title.

● None of the three selected riders or reserve for Tokyo 2021, have ever been on an Olympic team before.

● The four selected horses have all finished either first or second in at least one 5*. Three of the four riders have won at least one 5*.

● Two of the four selected horses are Irish bred. Ballaghmor Class is by Courage II, whilst reserve horse Brookfield Inocent is by Inocent out of a mare by Kings Servant.

● Laura Collett suffered a death defying fall in 2013 and was in an induced coma for six days. She was left partially sighted when a fragment of bone got into her bloodstream and damaged the retina. She has learnt to ride with this disability and it is the reason she competes with special glasses.

● Laura started in the world of showing when she won the Supreme Pony title at the Horse of the Year Show. She then made her first British event team at the age of 15 riding a home-produced pony called Noble Springbok with whom she won individual bronze and team gold at the European Championships.

● Laura won nine medals during her youth career, seven of those were gold and since moving into the senior ranks she has been selected for three European Championships as an individual.

● Tom McEwen is based on the Princess Royal’s Gatcombe estate, a stone’s throw from the yard of the Queen’s granddaughter and fellow eventer, Zara Tindall.

● Tom is from a very horsey background- his father Bobby McEwen is a world renowned equine vet who was on the vet team at Badminton horse trials for 30 years; his mother Ali was a showjumper and his sister Ella competed on two British pony teams. His uncle John McEwen was Vice President of the FEI for eight years.

● Oliver Townend has been a world number one rider on numerous occasions. He was the leading rider on British Eventing points in six of the nine years between 2011-2020.

● Oliver has won six times at five-star level, including three back to back victories at the US 5* Land Rover Kentucky Three Day Event.

● Oliver is the son of a milkman from Huddersfield. Despite having no financial leg-up bought the impressive eventing set-up Gadlas Farm, at the age of 25 years old from money made by buying and selling horses.

● Reserve rider, Piggy March (nee French) was the last rider to win Badminton which took place in 2019. She finished 2nd to Laura Collett at Pau in 2020 with Brookfield Inocent- the horse’s 5* debut.

● Piggy earned selection for the 2012 Olympic Games but was forced to withdraw fairly late in the day, due to an injury to her horse.

Written by Horse Scout journalist Ellie Kelly.

Photo’s courtesy of British Equestrian and Oliver Townend Official.

General

OLYMPIA RAISES OLYMPIC HOPES

FacebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailThe London International Horse Show at Olympia signals a round-up of the equestrian year. This coupled with that festive feel-good factor shared amongst riders and spectators alike, makes it one of the best shows on the European circuit.

 

This year was no different and it further reinforced the gravitas of Olympia, which first took place in 1907 making it one of the oldest and most prestigious shows on the continent. With seven of the world’s top ten show-jumpers competing, including World Number one and two Steve Guerdat and Martin Fuchs. This together with the reigning Olympic dressage gold medalist Charlotte Dujardin plus Carl Hester and the FEI Driving World Champion Boyd Exell, proves the show as one of great significance to the equestrian world. And beyond- Olympia is one of only three British equestrian events still broadcast annually by the BBC.

 

The show attracted riders from a wealth of nations but in almost every discipline, it was British riders who dominated. With the opening ceremony of Tokyo Olympics less than seven months away, riders have something to prove to selectors. In addition, the end of January is the cut off point for horses to change hands if they are to be campaigned by riders at the Olympics. So you could say Olympia gave us a bit of a glimpse of what may be to come.

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The Dressage World Cup class at Olympia is the only British qualifier for the Longines FEI World Cup Final and it was as hotly contested as ever amongst Britain’s leading riders. The top three places in both the FEI World Cup Dressage Grand Prix were filled by Charlotte Dujardin (Mount St John Freestyle) in first, Carl Hester (Hawtins Delecato) in second and Lottie Fry (Everdale) in third. It was something of a deja-vous the following day when the placings were replicated in the World Cup Freestyle to Music.

 

This was Charlotte’s fourth win in the FEI World Cup. Although it was a first with the talented British bred mare by Fidermark, having previously won it and set the record on Valegro. “This was her third ever Freestyle. The crowd felt even closer tonight and it was a difficult floorplan. She really tried and listened to me. I’ve had my highs and lows this year (referring to disqualification at the European Championships for blood on a flank) and it is great to end the year with such a positive ride.”

 

With the Olympics in mind, judge Andrew Gradner was particularly pleased with the British dressage domination: “These horses are young, so there is more to come. This is my favourite show and judging horses of this calibre here is such a treat.”

 

Olympia is a personal favourite for many leading British showjumpers and whilst there was the notable absence of John and Michael Whitaker from the line-up, Olympic gold medallists Ben Maher and Scott Brash both brought a team of horses and Holly Smith had three.

 

Whilst the World Cup was won by Swiss rider, Martin Fuchs on Sinner, Scott further cemented his place at the Longines FEI World Cup Final in Las Vegas with a fifth placing on Hello Jefferson. Speaking in the press conference, Scott believes that this could be his mount for the Tokyo Olympics this year. Indeed the 10 year old gelding by Cooper vd Heffink seems to improve in form with each outing. The pair were crucial to the British FEI Nations Cup victory in Dublin back in August which set them in good stead for a team bronze and Olympia qualification at the European Championships in Rotterdam.

 

Scott pulled off another great display of horsemanship in the final class of the show, The Turkish Airlines Olympia Grand Prix. This time riding Hello Vincent, a recent purchase and previously the ride of Jodie Hall McAteer, the 19 year old British starlet who also had a good show with a win in the Voltaire Design Under 25 British Championship. Scott was notably enthusiastic about the young gelding. “I’m so proud of Vincent- he was amazing. Winning my last grand prix of the year, in front of a home crowd- it doesn’t get any better than that.”

Seven riders made it through to the jump-off and four of them were British. Australia’s Edwina Tops-Alexander was the only non-Brit to squeeze into the top four with a second place on brand new ride Identity Vitserol.

 

Third place went to Holly Smith on Hearts Destiny who has enjoyed her best season yet with a Nations Cup win and the Aga Khan Trophy in Dublin and a bronze medal at the Europeans. Holly enjoyed an outstanding Olympia and took the Leading Rider accolade by an incredible 28 points.

 

“I’m absolutely delighted with all three of my horses but Heart’s Destiny has taken me to places I’ve only dreamed of. The calibre of riders here at Olympia- seven of the world’s top 10- makes it all the more special.”

 

Fourth place in the Grand Prix went to 25 year old James Wilson, a new face on the British Nations Cup team this year. Riding Imagine de Maze, the mare has kept James starry eyed this year. “This horse has made all my dreams come true: my first World Cup, my first Nations Cup and now my first Grand Prix placing. She has catapulted me right up there and now I’ve got Tokyo in my sights.”

 

So in our humble opinion, and if Olympia is anything to go by, the Brits may have more than just Tokyo in their sights. Bring on the medals!

Written by Ellie Kelly

General

Wowed by Liverpool

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Our roving reporter, Ellie Kelly heads down to the TheraPlate UK Liverpool International Horse Show  to check out the action.

 

It was my first visit to Liverpool-  both the city and the show and I have not been disappointed. Despite the 600 mile round trip, within hours of being there, I decided to make it a regular fixture. Nina Barbour has delivered a first-class event to this vibrant city. In a part of the world which is rich in horse enthusiasts and professional riders but surprisingly short of major equestrian events. Testament to the quality and production of the show, leading riders from the worlds of showjumping and dressage were competing, even at a time when many professional yards wind down over Christmas. Still a relatively new show, Liverpool International is gathering momentum but with leading riders some great entertainment, I wasn’t surprised to see the Echo Arena with very few empty seats.

 

On the first day, Charlotte Dujardin reminded she is no one-hit wonder when claiming the Equitop Myoplast Freestyle Dressage. The multi-medaled Olympian scored 81.938% on her flashy eight-year-old mare, Florentina VI in the Intermediate 1 class. Earlier in the evening, she paraded Valegro to an excited crowd at the Echo arena.

 

Also on Friday, teen showjumper Jack Whitaker won the Liverpool International Under 25 Grand Prix, sponsored by Equerry Horse Feeds. The son of Michael Whitaker has had another great year, including winning a silver medal at the Youth Olympics in Argentina.

 

It was a great day for the girls on the second day. Pony rider Claudia Moore repeated her great Liverpool victory of 2017 in the 148cm Championships, sponsored by Carden Arms. Claudia was a member of Great-Britain’s Pony European Championships this summer, where she claimed individual bronze. In the evening, Harriet Nuttall who scored the fastest jump-off time to win the four-star Voltaire sponsored jumping class, somewhat fittingly as the Somerset rider is sponsored by Voltaire.

 

On Day three Harry Charles underlined his status as one of world showjumping’s most exciting prospects by claiming a brilliant victory at the TheraPlateUK Liverpool International Horse Show.

 

The 19-year-old, from Alton in Hampshire, won the 1.45m international speed class, sponsored by Hope Valley Saddlery, with bay mare Doulita.

 

It proved to be a thrilling competition, with Harry’s time of 57.28 seconds proving just enough to edge out Graham Babes. They were both members of Great Britain’s gold medal-winning European Young Riders team earlier this year.

 

“It was an amazing win,” Harry said, after collecting a £7,300 victor’s purse. “I own the horse, which makes it extra special. I’ve had her a year, and every day I have put work into her to get her to this level.

 

Harry, son of London 2012 Great Britain team showjumping gold medallist Peter Charles, added: “It has been an absolutely fantastic year for me. Liverpool last year was my first real big show, and since then my whole career has taken off. I put a lot of pressure on myself. I want to win every time, it is the best feeling in the world, and I chase that every day in training. I want to make sure I do my best.

 

It was England and Ireland who shared top honours in the Puissance on Sunday evening. Yorkshireman Matt Sampson and Irish challenger Michael shared the top prize after they both jumped 2.20 metres (7ft 3in) to clear the famous red wall in a class sponsored by Equitop GLME.

 

And for Matt, it was a remarkable result, given that he only knew about his ride – Top Dollar VI – barely 30 minutes before the start after its regular rider Laura Renwick rang and offered him the ride.

 

“I’ve only ever done one Puissance before but he filled me with confidence and it got easier as I figured him out a bit more,” said Matt.

 

There will be more hot off the press action from the final day of the TheraPlate UK Liverpool International Horse Show.

 

 

General

BEN MAHER

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The Horse Scout team catches up with Ben Maher at the Longines Global Champions Playoffs in Prague this weekend. 

 

Ben Maher has had a cracking season in the Longines Global Champions Series. After winning three Grand Prix, he was crowned as the overall winner of the LGCT after winning Rome in September. His horse, Explosion W is just nine years old. The seemingly unstoppable pair went on to Doha, the final leg of the Series to win both the Grand Prix and captain his team- the London Knights to another victory in the Longines Global Champions League.

 

The Global Champions League has really taken off. As team Manager of the London Knight’s, what has been the strategy behind your success for most of the season?

A lot of thought and planning goes into it. We will have a meeting in January to find out what horses everyone has available and work out where to aim those horses and what everyone’s commitments are. So it’s a 90% plan for the first half of the season. There’s a text group and most of the time it stays serious but the guys sometimes fool around a bit. We have a very strong team spirit.

This year I’ve been lucky, there has been a very strong team bond and they have all taken it very seriously and that’s why we’ve managed to be so successful.

 

What is the significance of the Global Champions Series to the sport and how has it changed it? 

It has been great for the sport. We ride every weekend for 100,000 euros to the winner. It was only five years ago that we were riding for 20,000 and thought that was a big weekend. It’s pushed the level of prize money monumentally. I never thought I would see prize money come to our sport this fast.

 

With that, the horse values have increased. It’s brought more sponsors in and hopefully, there will be TV right from big broadcasters. Maybe, in the end, we can get it back on mainstream TV because it is a great sport. There are lots of kids who have ponies or dream of having ponies. They have a connection with what we do. Like people who play tennis at the weekend, love watching Andy Murray. I Hope that within my career it can come back to what it was because I really believe it’s a great sport to watch.

 

The GCT and the GCL are continually trying to improve and grow the sport. It’s brought some colour to the sport. We’ve been very lucky to ride in these unique venues and now fans can actually follow a team and we have team colours to make it stand out. Slowly it’s building momentum and I really think that in ten years time, it will be huge.

 

Does the attractive prize fund detract you from competing at other significant competitions and making team appearance?

Obviously, the prize money is increasingly growing in the GCT but it’s not growing comparatively at other competitions. I’m still committed to my country and supportive of the Nations Cup Series and the Championships. My decision not to be available for Championships was based on the fact I have a younger team of horses and Championships are a lot harder on a horse than one Grand Prix on a Global Champions Tour so it was in the best interests for my horses’ welfare.

 

We still have not qualified for the Tokyo Olympics, so you think there is a chance we may not get there? 

We have two chances next year at Rotterdam in the European Championships and then Barcelona for the Nations Cup Final and I will do my best to make that happen.

 

I will never forget riding for my life in Aachen to qualify for the Rio Olympics. It was harder getting to Rio than it was in Rio and I never want to get to that point again. It’s a sport where we are always moving, some people who may not have helped to qualify still make it on to an Olympic team because they have the right horse at the right time and you have to have that in consideration. I also have owners that own my horses and it’s not always my decision.

 

How do you think it will grow the sport?

The GCT and GCL, runs at a slightly higher pace so that keeps the interest. Rather than 40 horses with riders all dressed the same, I agree it can be like watching paint dry- like Formula 1. Where the sport is interesting is looking at the tactics, the training and what goes on behind the scenes before those 60 seconds we spend in the ring. I think this is how we can really draw the audience into what we do and then they can bond with the horses as we do ourselves.

 

It looks like an incredible life from the outside but what is the reality?

I’m incredibly lucky to do the sport that I love and enjoy. But I’ve been on the road 50 weeks this year. I barely know what home is. I’ve also had the best season of my career and I wouldn’t change it for the world. We lose more often than we win and I just try to enjoy it as much as I can.

 

Whilst you are now winning big, the overheads must be enormous? 

The expenses are huge. It’s travel for both horse and rider and we are living in hotels most of the time. There are 40 horses within our team with 20 members of staff, planes, trucks. The reality is that the prize money a horse can win now and the value of the horses, it’s now in keeping with what it costs to run a horse.

 

With these horses, there is no expense spared. They are treated like high-level athletes. They are better looked after than I am. They live in the Four Seasons hotel lifestyle every single day. They have physios, specialist care and in many cases have one groom per horse. They are the athlete and that is how we take care of them. Thankfully the sport has now developed enough to help make it financially viable for investors and owners to be part of the sport

 

Highlight of your career

Competing at the Olympic Games in London where we won team gold. It’s a moment that won’t be repeated in my lifetime at a home game. I would like to go to another Olympics and the dream is to win both a team and an individual gold medal. A double gold would be the ultimate!

 

Do you think we could win a medal at the next Olympics? 

I think anything is possible. This year I didn’t think it would be possible to win the Global Champions Tour Final on two young horses.

 

What do you think of the state of British showjumping at the moment? 

We have a lot of good young riders in the UK but I don’t think it’s a sport where riding is just enough anymore. I think you have to be a very rounded person and you have to be able to communicate with sponsors, owners. I think it’s looking bright, I believe We are just a few years off being very strong. Myself and Scott have had a very good year and I hope we can be a part of that and lead the way for young riders like Emily Moffit, Jack Whitaker, and Harry Charles but we don’t have a lot of time before the next Olympics so we need to accelerate and get things moving quickly.

 

https://www.gcglobalchampions.com

 

General

Richard Davison: Welfare in top level Equestrian Sport

FacebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailPart 1: What do our horses really want? 

 

When the words “Equine Welfare” are used, associated with animal cruelty, to me it conjures up images of emaciated, lice-infested horses and ponies. Yet at the recent World Horse Welfare Annual Conference, a number of other “modern” welfare issues were highlighted. Olympic Dressage Rider Richard Davison has been at the top of the sport for many years, having contested four Olympics. He was a founder of the Burghley Young Event Horse series and his yard is made up of dressage horses and his son’s international showjumpers. Therefore he is highly regarded both as a great horseman and spokesperson on Equestrian matters, who is not frightened of sticking his neck out.  At the Conference last week, Richard spoke candidly on the welfare issues seen even at the highest level of Equestrian Sport.

 

In our first blog, Richard raises his concerns over the modern fashion of “humanising” our horses, relaying one example he saw at a show recently.

 

“For those of you have visited international competitions, you will know that horses are confined in relatively small stables for four to five days. I was in Denmark last week and I watched a groom perform surgery on a teddy bear (used as a stable toy) who had lost a limb. The process of sewing up the teddy took half an hour or more. I wondered whether this half an hour would have been better spent, taking the horse out of the stable and giving it a walk in the sunlight or finding some grass for a graze and a stretch. For me, this “humanising” behaviour displayed by owners can skewer the priorities.

 

In my world (Dressage), they’ve all got the bling browbands, the matchy-matchy stuff, and the belly-deep shavings beds but actually what does a horse really want? What is really important, is to get out in the field, not to be kept in a stable, never mind how beautifully decorated it is with toys or anything else. They really want to be outside, stretching their back, being with their mates, sniffing each other’s bottoms and rolling in the mud. Thankfully is not generally something that us humans do, any longer. So I put this to riders and grooms- ditch the teddy bear and take the horse out of the stable and give them fresh air. That is what they really want- to be horses.

 

We are all stakeholders in this. We all feed off equestrian sport, either professionally or just gaining an awful lot of enjoyment from it. We all need to get behind education and spend more time, learning how horses really function. In these days in horse sport, where horses command huge sums of money we must never forget that their natural habits and herd instinct are really essential for both mental and physical welfare.”

 

General

BEHIND THE SCENES: GRIT, GLAMOUR AND GREAT SPORT AT THE LONGINES FEI NATIONS CUP FINAL BARCELONA 2018

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I was lucky enough to be reporting at the Longines FEI Nations Cup Final In Barcelona last week. Not only was there great sporting action, a masterful display of horsemanship and a tantalising finish. Beyond this, there were some high profile individuals and interesting back-stories that really highlighted what a special sport this is.

 

Having breakfast in the hotel one morning I was sat next to Jessica Springsteen. The drop-dead gorgeous daughter of Bruce was looking very much in love with boyfriend, Italian heartthrob Lorenzo de Luca, as she ate her boiled egg.  Lorenzo was later caught buying his girl a present in the shopping village.

 

Across the room was World No 1, Harrie with the rest of the Dutch team and World No 2 Mclain Ward, fresh from winning team gold at WEG. Mclain was over to train 19-year-old showjumping sensation; Lucy Deslauriers who was making her first big team appearance for the USA. Extraordinarily Lucy’s father Mario was also competing but for his homeland of Canada. Now 53 years of age, Mario was the youngest ever winner of a World Cup Final at the age of 19 and he and his daughter could make headlines if they both achieve their dreams of being selected for the Tokyo Olympics, for their respective Nations.

 

Also competing at the show were the UAE team who are rising stars. After a fascinating interview, I discovered every one of them has a full-time job and compete just a handful of horses alongside this. Jobs included a policeman, an office administrator and a camel trainer.  “Football is the only professional sport but we are trying to change that” I was told.

 

“Never give up” was the take away message from this year’s prestigious competition. Held in the popular Real Club de Polo in Barcelona for the sixth year in a row, it was the Belgians who won the oldest jumping competition in the world and lifted the Nations Cup trophy. But it was by no means decisive and Peter Weinberg, Chef d’Equipe of the team summed up the result and in that, the very nature of equestrian sport. “We call ourselves the “Never Give Up Team” because in the middle we had two with 12 faults already but still we were fighting to the last rider, so this victory means a lot to us!”

 

With one of the most challenging tracks this final has seen, of the eight nations who went through to the final, just three riders jumped clear. It is hardly surprising that Course Designer Santiago Varela has been selected as course designer for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The track was imposing and technical and questioned control, balance, judgement and skill, all the way around. As Varela pointed out it wasn’t about the number of faults the riders collected. “A score of 8 or 12 didn’t mean they had a bad round, horses jumped unbelievably, but the course was difficult, tough and big…and everything was connected”, he explained.

 

As was the case with most of the teams, the Belgians had mixed fortunes, Niels Bruynseels gave the team confidence with a superb clear from Gancia de Muze but both Pieter Devos (Claire Z) and Jos Verlooy (Caracas) each leaving three fences on the floor. However, it was the dashing Nicola Philippaerts, who saved the day with a sublime clear round on H&M Harley v. Bisschop and that sealed the deal.

 

Nicola said his teammates told him “everything is still possible” when he was last to go. “I just tried to ride my own class and it worked out well – today it was me that could make the clear round that would make a difference, and another time it will be one of the others”. And he had even more reason to be pleased when sharing the €100,000 bonus for double-clear performances with team-mate Bruynseels, Sweden’s Peder Fredricson and Italy’s new star, Riccardo Pisani.

 

This was Belgium’s second win of the Longines FEI Nations Cup in Barcelona; their last came in 2015. As Chef d’Equipe Weinberg said: “it was an interesting day, first ups and then in between downs, but in the end, we won anyway so it was really great sport!”

 

 

 

 

General

12 interesting (and slightly feminist and Nationalistic) facts about the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games in Tryon.

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  1. In the Olympic sports of Dressage, Showjumping and Eventing, all three gold medals were won by female riders: Germany’s Isabel Werth (49) and Simone Blum (29) plus British rider Rosalind Canter (32)
  2. In Para Dressage the individual titles in all six grades, were won by women.
  3. Simone Blum became the first female individual gold medallist in the 28 year history of the FEI World Equestrian Games and only the second female rider in the 65 year history of the World Championships.
  4. Gold medalist eventer Rosalind Canter is 5ft2 whilst her horse Allstar B towers at 17.1hh. Whilst Best British showjumper, Amanda Derbyshire is also 5ft 2’’ but her ride stands at barely 16 hands.
  5. Of the top twenty placed horses in the individual showjumping, half were mares.
  6. Of the top five placed dressage horses, three were mares.
  7. Chestnut mares took top honours in both dressage and showjumping. Isabell Werth’s Bella Rose in the dressage and Simone Blum’s DSP Alice
  8. Showjumper Amanda Derbyshire, who finished best of the Brits has been based in the US for the last seven years but started her career as a work rider for Nick Skelton. Nick and his partner, US rider Laura Kraut still train Derbyshire.
  9. Derbyshire’s diminutive mare “Luibanta BH”, was bred in Ireland and produced by Ellen Whitaker. She was bought by current owner’s as a junior horse for their teenage daughter to ride but by far exceeded expectations.
  10. Of the 25 horses in the individual final of the showjumping at WEG, seven were produced in Britain and three were British bred. In eventing, Mr Chunky the silver medalist was bred and produced in the UK and Charlotte Dujardin’s Dressage bronze medalist, Mount St John Freestyle was produced from a foal by Emma and Jill Blundell at the Mount St John Stud Thirsk, Scotland. The Mount St John Stud also produced and still owns Para Dressage individual gold and team silver medalist Mount St John Diva Dannebrog, ridden by Britain’s Natasha Baker
  11. The British Para-Dressage team missed out on a major international gold for the first time in the history of the World Equestrian Games, having won every European, World and Paralympic team gold since the Sydney Paralympics in 2000.  Team GB were beaten by the Dutch into silver by just 0.64% in their total score in Tryon.
  12. A strong British performance at WEG resulted in Team GB finishing third in the medal rankings and receiving 2020 Olympic qualification for Eventing, Dressage and Para-Dressage.
General

Laura Renwick

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Laura Renwick

Laura Renwick has retained her position of leading British female rider for a number of years. She is certainly one of the busiest riders on the circuit and admits to sometimes competing more than 10 horses in a day. Perhaps surprisingly, Laura only started competing seriously at 26.  We caught up with the 44 year old at the Equerry Bolesworth International Horse Show, to hear her story and find out what the season holds.

 

“I’ve got two top horses. Top Dollar VI has more ability than he has ever going to need but the rideability is always going to be a bit iffy so I have ruled myself out of selection for the World Equestrian Games this year but I am looking more towards the Olympics” she explains.

“I’m a bit short on top Grand Prix horsepower but we started breeding from some of my competition mares a few years ago and they are just starting to come through. So I’ve got some really promising young ones and hopefully this time next year, some of them will have reached fruition.”

Laura is married to former elite show jumper John Renwick, who gave up the sport in 2002 to focus on supporting his wife. She juggles competing all over the world with running the equestrian business and being a mother to son, Jack.

Amazingly it wasn’t until after the birth of her son that she started to make a name for herself as a rider. For many women, having children can force competitive sport to the back seat. Quite the opposite has happened for Laura, whose sporting career really started to take off after childbirth.

Introduced to horses by her mother, who owned a riding school, Laura was successful in show jumping from the age of 11. Prophetically, she bought her first jumping pony from John, her future husband.

At the age of 18, she questioned whether she wanted to make a career out of it and gave up competing for several years. “I was lucky that my parents supported me up to 18 but then but then I had to go it alone. This sport is tough, especially for anyone starting out and trying to support themselves. At the time I thought I should try something else.

Her sabbatical included being a flight attendant for BA and living in Spain. “If I had my time again I would have stuck at show jumping because it really is in my blood. That’s why I came back to it all these years later.”

Laura returned to the sport at the age of 25. She bought a young horse, which meant starting again from the beginning. Soon after, she met her husband on the competition circuit. To begin with it was purely a business partnership but it later evolved into marriage and parenthood.

“We bought some young horses together and in the early days whilst John was still riding at the top international competitions, I was producing the young horses. These are the horses that I am still riding now so it’s all been a working progress, we’ve learnt together. I think that’s why I have such a strong bond with our horses; we know each other inside out.”

As well as her training skills and empathy with horses, Laura is renowned for her fearless, competitive spirit. On a good horse, she would be hard to beat against the clock and has won a number of Puissance competitions. She won the prestigious Olympia Puissance last year, clearing 7ft on Top Dollar VI

A combination of skill, poise and style has garnered her sponsorship and she even took part in a risqué photography shoot to promote British show jumping. “It was a laugh and done to raise the sport’s profile, but I probably wouldn’t do anything like it again.”

This year Laura was asked to be show jumping ambassador for The Brooke charity’s “Every Horse Remembered” Campaign. I’m delighted to start my official support for Brooke as an Every Horse Remembered Ambassador. I’m looking forward to representing the campaign for Brooke in the British Show jumping scene” she said. “Horses have worked side by side with people for centuries, not least in the First world War. It’s vital that we remember the sacrifice they gave.

 

In order to stay in the game at this level, she and her husband have to be commercially minded. “We breed horses, train them and sell them, even some we would like to keep. John handles most of the business side of things now. He had a lot of injuries which is why I had to up my game and focus on competing.”

“We still have to make a living from it. Prize money in showjumping has gone through the roof, compared to what it used to be but you still have to have the horsepower to be at those shows with that prize money. You need to have a pool of Grand Prix horses to compete regularly at that level and the top riders have that luxury. So until you’re in that sort of league, you do still have to make your money where you can, so our horses are always for sale.”

Laura does not seem fussed that son Jack is more interested in football. “He can ride but has no interest in competing” she says. “I enjoy taking him to football training and have told him to work hard at it so he can look after us in our old age.”

The future looks bright for Laura and she hopes to consolidate her performance next season and “just keep enjoying it” she adds. Does she dare dream of future medals and team selection? “My top horse Top Dollar is more than capable. It’s just about hitting the form at the right time” she says.

 

Written by Ellie Kelly

General

Andrew Hoy: Fatherhood has given me a new lease of life On flying form at The Equerry Bolesworth International Horse Show

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“I’ve had a new lease of life since becoming a father” said Andrew Hoy after winning the Eventing Grand Prix at Bolesworth  International Horse Show. This fiercely competitive pairs competition, sponsored by Cazenove Capital involves showjumpers and eventers joining forces in a thrilling dual sport competition. Andrew’s showjumping partner was Beth Vernon, who left all the rails up in in one of the fastest time, before Andrew completed a short course of arena cross-country fences on to three show jumps to finish. The competition attracted a number of prolific showjumpers and eventers including Chris Burton, Tom McEwen, Alex Hua Tian, Matthew Sampson, Joe Clayton and Harriet Nuttall.

 

Andrew a seven time Olympian, belied his 59 years by storming around the challenging course in the fastest clean round, on Cheeky Calimbo, the horse he has ridden at four star level. “He’s cheeky by name and cheeky by nature” he said after his round, with his 10 month old daughter Philippa sitting on his lap. “I picked him for this class as he is a great jumper and I know him so well. It was a really exciting competition but it was really difficult having to show jump at the end after you have galloped across-country.”

 

Having won four Olympic medal- three gold and one silver, Andrew is one of the most successful event riders of all time. Yet we have not seen as much of the Australian rider at top level in recent years. He explained that he has been quietly working away in the background, producing some new horses. “I have a maximum of 15 horses now and a new generation of horses coming through.”

 

There is one in particular that he is excited about. A nine year old called Vassily de Lassos, who he bought from French International rider, Thomas Carlisle. “I’ve only had him 12 months and when Tom told me about him, he explained that he needed a pony (for company) and was a weaver, so I wasn’t particularly keen.” When Andrew sat on him, he still wasn’t particularly impressed. “But I kept looking at his record which was exceptional. Since 2013, he has only had one showjumping rail in FEI events.”

 

Andrew views him as a horse for the World Equestrian Games later this year and is hoping to run him at Aachen this summer to impress selectors. The impressive French bred horse is by the prolific stallion Jaguar Mail and finished 8th at Blenheim CIC 3* for 8 and 9 year olds. “I couldn’t be more excited for the future with this truly once in a lifetime horse” he said.

 

So no sign of hanging up his legendary boots any time soon then.  “I might be getting older but I am enjoying eventing even more” he smiled.

 

Written by Ellie Kelly