Indholdsfortegnelse for 17-Jul-2025 i Horse & Hound

WELL done to those riders flying the flag for Britain in last week’s youth championships (news, p5). To represent your country at such a young age is a tremendous achievement and bodes well for the future. Riders like Rachel Proudley have simultaneously made a name for themselves on the senior circuit. We see others take a different route after pony or young rider success. I was recently asked what are the most common routes riders take to become top competitors. Within these pages we speak to many every week who have “made it” – as well as those who are on their way. From this insight others can be inspired and develop their own strategies. This week’s H&H interview (p18) focuses on Tom Rowland, who shares an honest look at…

IN THE NEWS DALLAS VEGAS BATILLY The Olympic gold medal-winning mare, owned by Charlotte Rossetter and Pamela Wright, has replaced Ben Maher’s ride Point Break on the British team at the Europeans. FLETCHA VAN ’T VERAHOF Belgian eventer Karin Donckers’ great campaigner, who competed at eight senior championships, has retired aged 20. JUKEBOX JURY The National Hunt sire of multiple Grade One victors including Il Etait Temps, plus Group winners on the Flat such as Princess Zoe, has died aged 19.…

SENSE Ferrari has lost a legal case against Malayan drink Wee Power. The mega brand claimed the tiny brand’s logo of two red horses infringed on its trademark, um, one black horse. Can’t think why Ferrari lost… CASH The Melbourne Cup is giving at least £48,000 prize money to every horse, even the one that finishes last. We like this idea, and think it could be picked up more. £48k for last in a 90cm? Perfect. ADS Ad of the week, for a mini who’s “not a pony, he’s an experience”, and a “little flower (Venus flytrap)”. “He comes with a bottle of wine and a first aid kit.” Where do we sign? THOUGHTFULNESS Overheard from a rider at a rather prestigious show: “We did the extended trot.” Followed by,…

Email to hhletters@futurenet.com Name and address must be included. Letters may be edited. CLEAR GUIDANCE PAMMY HUTTON rightly highlights the importance of guidance and support for officials on the ground (comment, 19 June). In eventing, our strength lies in the depth of talent among its officials. From experienced professionals to passionate young officials, our community is one of eventing’s most vital assets. Most officials give their time and expertise on a voluntary basis, out of a passion for the sport. Without them, the sport could not go on. “We must uphold fairness and safety in eventing” ANDY GRIFFITHS & SUE STEWART An education system that can equip present and future officials is of paramount importance. Despite recent changes by the FEI, there are ways to improve the current system further…

“I WAS not some amazing, glistening young rider. I’ve always thought I’m probably about five years behind. But that’s fine – I’ll just go on five years longer. I’m quite stubborn about it.” So says Tom Rowland, who achieved a breakthrough result with seventh at Badminton last season, aged 33, and backed it up with 12th there this year. These Badminton results are fitting, because it is the event that inspired Tom’s career, through attending every year while growing up near Tetbury. “Both my parents were teachers, but Mum rode and my gran bred Arab horses, so I probably inherited it from her. My younger brother Barney rode briefly, but there was a moment at a Pony Club show where he lay in the grass in horse wee, so that…

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AFTER finding out she’d qualified for HOYS for the first time via phone call just a week prior, dog groomer Betsy Marriott enjoyed a well-earned victory lap here when her own Barrowby Royal Rein (pictured, above) was called out as winner of the Connemara qualifier. The Castle Gizmo 10-year-old, who stands at just 138cm, then finished reserve large breed and reserve overall M&M supreme. Betsy picked him out of the field aged four at the Barrowby Stud, which is located just a stone’s throw away from the Great Yorkshire Showground. “He’s taken a long time to mature and while he’s qualified for the RIHS for the past two years, this is both of our first times qualifying for HOYS,” said Betsy, 20. FIRST HOYS At Lincoln, Betsy and “Charlie” had…

THERE was a special celebration at Greenlands Equestrian Centre in Cumbria as Marley VI won the Traditional Gypsy Cob Association (TGCA) class of the SEIB Search for a Star (SFAS) series, earning a first-ever HOYS ticket for his Highlands-based rider Zoe Clarke. FIRST HOYS TICKET The 12-year-old traditional cob was bought for just £85 as a weanling at a dispersal sale and was originally intended to be a happy hacker for Zoe’s mother, Nicola Clarke, who still hasn’t sat on him as “he turned out far too sharp”, Zoe explained. The family was en route from Inverness to the Great Yorkshire when they spotted the SFAS qualifier at Greenlands. “It was a bit of a jolly. We only got his passport back from TGCA on Saturday morning. I think I’m…

TWESELDOWN (3) 5–6 July pippa.roome@futurenet.com @pipparoomeorkyle Tweseldown (3), Hants FREELANCE rider and coach Harriet Colderick steered Jane Townshend’s “supermodel” mare, Classictop Cover Girl (Coco), to a first win in BE100 section M. The six-year-old by Jigilo is already on her third career, having been successful in the show ring as a youngster before producing a foal of her own when she was four. “She’d already seen a lot of the world by the time she started eventing last year,” said Harriet, who backed the 16.3hh mare when she was three and restarted her once her “maternity” leave was over. “We’ve taken it slowly as she is still growing into her frame,” added Harriet. “Last season was about educating her, but now we have a really strong partnership, she trusts me…

Para Home Nations, Onley Grounds Equestrian Complex, Warks THE South & West Donald Ducks took team gold, ahead of the competitive Super Leeks team from Wales and third-placed South & East Mint Condition. The winning team comprised Isabella Benfield, Hattie Spurling, Alisha Robbins and Jason Inchley. Isabella was riding Lamborghini III, who was formerly competed up to medium by Dan Greenwood. The nine-year-old Gunner KS gelding has proved a sensible step up from ponies for the grade III rider. “Lambie is loving and very kind,” said Isabella, who trains with Pammy Hutton. “He knows his job in the arena, and he really looks after me, but he’s not a fan of the washbox – and he’s a real escape artist.” Riding at grade V, Hattie produced a confident test with…

Ella Dalton The showjumper hit the headlines when she won the 2023 Hickstead speed Derby with Quality Rubies N Diamonds. She’s since contested the Derby itself, and is jumping 1.60m tracks Tell us about your first pony… My first proper pony was called Erimus Busy Bee, or Tosh. My mum went to buy me a dog and came back with a dog – and a pony! I was quite excited. He was a 12hh show hunter pony and I did side-saddle and stuff like that with him. He was a cutie. What is the last thing you do before getting on to compete in a big show? I have to go and wee. A lot. Mum will say, “Ella, I am not holding that horse by the ring while you…

Share your news story Call 0330 390 6386 Email eleanor.jones@futurenet.com @ jones_eleanor_ US EQUESTRIAN (USEF) has introduced hair testing and changes to protocols – as it is thought people are using euthanasia drugs as calmers. USEF has approved a change to allow horses’ hair, as well as blood and urine, to be tested from 1 July. “Hair testing allows regulators to detect certain prohibited substances such as barbiturates (including the euthanasia drug) more readily and for a considerably longer time than blood or urine,” a USEF spokesperson said. COLLAPSE THE board also approved a modification to rules on horse collapses at hunter, jumper and hunter/jumper competitions, to “ensure our equine partners receive appropriate care and are fit to compete before they return to the ring after an unexplained collapse”. “This…

REBECCA HAMILTON-FLETCHER THE lifelong horse lover, the ultimate vet, a beautiful person full of life, love and laughter has died unexpectedly, aged 65. Rebecca (Becca) was born and grew up in Richmond upon Thames, but her happiest memories were weekends and summers with her family on the Isle of Purbeck. This was where Rebecca acquired her first pony, Twinkle. The spark was lit, the flame fanned and a world with horses beckoned. Rebecca’s ambition was always to be an equine vet, and she graduated from the University of Bristol with honours in 1983. She was resident vet at Whitcombe racing stables when Cool Ground won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1992, then spent a short time at Avon Lodge in Salisbury. Becca set up a two-woman equine practice, then moved…

Jockey Will Buick rode his 2,000th winner, the Charlie Appleby-trained El Cordobes, in the Princess of Wales’s Stakes at Newmarket on 10 July. The Racing Foundation has appointed Hazel Peplinksi as a trustee. She is a former CEO of racecourses and a “lifelong racing enthusiast”. Kiwi Olympic eventer and FEI judge Andrew Bennie has joined the International Eventing Officials Club’s board. Andrew is looking forward to “getting stuck in”. Five-time Olympic eventer Ingrid Klimke will represent Germany at the European Dressage Championships, with Vayron NRW. Three-time champion Flat jockey-turned-trainer Richard Hughes saddled his first Group One winner, No Half Measures, ridden by Neil Callan, on 12 July.…

oscar.williams@futurenet.com @oscnwilliams FOLLOWING a break after further surgery to my hand, I’ve been riding our up-and-coming stable talents. It’s made me realise that the basics are everything. Part of coaching is keeping your clients, especially those bringing horses on to a high level for the first time, invested in the boring bits: corners, transitions, straightness. Once they’ve ridden at the level, the fuss about basics starts to make sense and the riders become as obsessed with these details as the rest of us. But first, they have to seem relevant. For example, I’d say 99.9% of flying changes go wrong because the horse isn’t truly straight. Or if we let the horse die into a downward transition at lower levels, we’ll only have to go back and fix it later.…

My mother’s family were equestrians, and there were always horses and ponies around when I was growing up. My uncle Peter Hervey became a successful three-day eventer, and was reserve for the 1968 Olympics. My own first real pony was an old grey called Veuve Clicquot, a lovely old gentleman who had been there and done it with the HH branch of the Pony Club. Polo didn’t come into my life until I was about 14. Dad was commanding officer of the cavalry at Tidworth and so was in charge of the Tidworth polo club. He went on to become chairman not just of Pony Club polo but also of the HPA (Hurlingham Polo Association). Polo hooked me completely from day one. I started playing on my Pony Club event…

AYRSHIRE-BASED home-producer Lara Berrie’s first trip to Harrogate paid off as she won a competitive intermediate show riding type qualifier aboard 14-year-old Dowhills Final Fling. “It’s my last year in intermediates so Mum – Arleen – and I decided to do the fun shows,” said Lara. Lara bought “Sid” – who was bred by Jane Cross – as a four-year-old from a Facebook advert. After some success in the show ring, he was sold to a friend for dressage. “I sadly had to retire my mare who I’d pinned all my hopes on as she severed a tendon,” Lara explained. “At the beginning of this year, Sid was kindly offered back to us; we couldn’t pass the opportunity up. He was gifted to us for £1 and has continued to…

FEW riders experience the kind of comeback witnessed in the intermediate working hunter class at the Warwickshire Festival. Alice Pimbley defied medical odds to steer her grandfather’s six-year-old Heatseeker to a sensational win after a riding accident left her seriously injured. “I came off a horse in May in a freak accident,” she said. “I shattered six ribs, punctured a lung and fractured my back. I spent a couple of weeks in hospital and was told not to ride for six months, but I couldn’t resist the temptation.” Despite riding only a handful of times since, she returned to the ring and delivered a foot-perfect performance. “A lot of people asked if it put me off. Not at all. If anything, it made me more determined.” Alice plans to ride…

GREAT YORKSHIRE 8–9 July catherine.austen@futurenet.com @cfausten123 Great Yorkshire, Great Yorkshire Showground, N Yorks FOXHOUNDS THE old English dominated the foxhound judging at the Great Yorkshire, with quality entries taking one or more prizes in nearly every class. The trend was set early on, in the unentered doghounds, with a win for Cheshire Pester 24. Percy Corker 00 came second. Nigel Peel, who was judging the doghounds with Mason Lampton, master of the Midland Foxhounds in Georgia, USA, said of the Cheshire entries, “You’d need a good horse to stay with them.” Cheshire Pester 24 took the laurels again in the unentered couples class with his litter brother, Cheshire Pedro 24. The Percy were again second with Corker 00 and Coldplay. Both Cheshire winners were sired by a Percy doghound, Pedro…

BRITAIN enjoyed a fantastic weekend of European Championships success, coming home with a fistful of medals in all three of the Olympic disciplines. British horses and riders excelled at youth level in showjumping and dressage – as well as in the eventing CCI3*-S European Cup – and Irish jumpers were also on the podium. Rachel Proudley and HK Horses’ Quality Street were crowned individual young rider European showjumping champions, having helped the team to bronze at the youth Europeans in Riesenbeck, Germany. Eleonora Ljungman won individual silver in the children’s championships with Jamaica EBH, and Ireland won team silver in the young riders’ championship, and team gold and individual gold and silver in the junior competition. The British under-25 dressage team also won bronze, at the youth championships in Kronberg,…

AMBASSADORS FOR LONDON THE London International Horse Show is “delighted” to confirm Becky Moody and Matt Sampson as ambassadors for the 2025 event (18–22 December). Former London jumping grand prix winner Matt said he was honoured and “it is going to be a special week”, and reigning London dressage grand prix champion Becky said she was “absolutely thrilled” . “They will extend the narrative of the show by offering exclusive insight into the lives of elite riders,” a show spokesperson said. “Through social media takeovers, behind-the-scenes content and the popular on-site interviews, they will showcase what it takes to prepare for and compete at one of the most prestigious events in the equestrian calendar.” NATIVES WELCOME AT FUTURITY ENTRIES are open for the 2025 British Breeding Baileys Horse Feeds Futurity…

A RIDER who thought her boyfriend had bought her a horse when he involved her current showjumper in a proposal joked that he still has the opportunity for the former. Saul Hayden led Victoria Lundy blindfolded across a field, at Victoria’s family’s Croft Top Equestrian Centre. When she removed the blindfold, she saw Rolex wearing a rug embroidered with the words “Will you marry me?” “It took me a moment!” Victoria told H&H. “I thought he’d bought me another horse. He said, ‘Well, will you?’ And I said yes.” Victoria said it was special Rolex was involved: “He’s the best horse ever.” The pair have won up to 1.30m. “He loves it,” she said. “He’s a bit of a worrier; he was staring as I was being dragged across the…

jennifer.donald@futurenet.com @jen_donald CAN you think of a rider, horse or success that changed the history of the sport? For me, it was when Scott Brash won the Rolex Grand Slam of Showjumping at Spruce Meadows in 2015. We often talk about the importance of consistency in our sport and the Grand Slam title is the embodiment of this. For Scott to win three majors in a row seemed almost impossible. It happened during my second year of commentating at the Calgary venue. Scott and I are both from Scotland and I had watched him climb our national ranks. Now we were 4,000 miles away from home and at a venue that most see only on television. In front of a capacity crowd, Scott was last to go in round two…

GREAT YORKSHIRE 8–11 July bethan.simons@futurenet.com Great Yorkshire, Great Yorkshire Showground, N Yorks AN exquisite broodmare and her foal dazzled to book their debut in the Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) in-hand supreme final. Supreme judge Lucinda Sims was presented with 17 championship-winning animals who all held their own under blazing sun. Lucinda pulled a line of six forward before finding an overall supreme in the hunter breeding champion, Andrea and Shirley Roberts’ small hunter Kings Mistress (Missy) and her colt foal, Royalview Kings Warrior, shown by Hannah Owen and Meirion Lloyd, respectively. “Some exhibits sparkled more than others,” said Lucinda. “You could tell exactly what each animal was, though a few were carrying too much weight. My champion and her foal were a lovely combo; she moved beautifully and…

HIGHLIGHTS 30 June–6 July oscar.williams@futurenet.com @oscnwilliams Youth Inter-Regionals, Onley Grounds Equestrian Complex, Warks WALES CONWY stood five points clear of the field, beating 35 teams and leaving runners-up North & West Jaguar to defeat North & East Scarborough Castle by less than a point. “It was lovely to go home and ride for Wales,” said Sofia Mirza, B test champion and a member of the victorious Conwy team. An apprentice at the Sheepcote Stud in Herefordshire, Sofia triumphed with her Welsh cob Lamboro Action Man. The Pincus family, at Sheepcote, had encouraged her to be ambitious with “Red” when she joined them 18 months ago as a working pupil. “They liked him from day one,” said Sofia. “It was good to be told that you can learn to ride properly…