DOVECOTE FARM’S SMART wooden gates are firmly closed. As coronavirus rages around the planet, for rising star showjumper Joe Stockdale it’s more or less business as usual, within the confines of his fenced 24 acres at least. The main sign that this isn’t quite life as Joe knows it is that, currently, those gates don’t slide open regularly to let out his swish show-bound Oakley lorry containing several competition-ready, perfectly groomed equines.
Instead, he has to content himself with flatwork in the outdoor (or, during conventional storms, in the indoor arena), plus a quiet hack in the fields; the melee of the collecting ring, the adrenaline rush of pushing for the finish line, rosettes and result euphoria now the stuff of fond memories and future dreams.
“We’re keeping the horses…