Innehållsförteckning för 9-Oct-2025 från Horse & Hound

AS Horse of the Year Show kicks off at the NEC and individuals lament lost tickets (news, p10), lost rides and ineligibility (news, future issue), we doff, but do not drop, a hat to all who have made it, through hard work and determination, to that hallowed turf. We wish them a happy experience in the ring and, hopefully, under the spotlight. One who knew only too well the drama of the horse world, Dame Jilly Cooper, tragically passed away last Sunday (news, p5). Like many, I was saddened to hear of the passing of the great author, fundraiser and all-round wonderful human. Our thoughts are with all who knew and loved her. Jilly was a writing powerhouse and did so much to champion equestrianism, as well as being a…

BALLAGHMOR CLASS The four-time CCI5* winner, ridden by Oliver Townend, features in a strong field for Pau five-star (23–26 October). Entries also include Tom McEwen with JL Dublin. DARYZ The three-year-old trained by Francis-Henri Graffard and ridden by Mickael Barzalona, won the 2025 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp (5 October). CHACOON BLUE The Chacco-Blue stallion of Paul Schockemöhle’s has been put down, aged 16, owing to laminitis after colic surgery. His offspring include almost 60 licensed sons.…

oscar.williams@futurenet.com @oscnwilliams WITH the National Championships wrapped up, I want to congratulate Sadie Smith on winning the top title with her lovely mare, Swanmore Dantina. Having been on a Nations Cup team with her earlier this season, I can confidently say this is just the beginning for a very talented pair. This year, I opted out of nationals and chose to compete in Germany a week later instead – partly because the first week of term is always tricky with the kids, and partly because I thought it would be a quiet, low-key international. Well, that was a mistake; there were so many entries that they had to split the grand prix, and I must say the quality of horses never ceases to amaze me. From a personal point of…

My family were animal lovers, as opposed to strictly horsey, but we had a horse and donkey, both of whom I sat on before I could walk. I had a pony and started eventing, but very quickly realised I didn’t enjoy the competitive nature of the horse world. I just loved being around horses and ponies. They’re very good company. I started in commercial veterinary practice, but I was bad at taking money off people. I moved into government doing purely farm animal welfare, and spent 16 years with Defra as the lead vet for Devon and Cornwall. There were hard days. We’re often touted to be a nation of animal lovers, but cruelty is alive and kicking out there. I was doing everything from advice to crown prosecutions for…

Kelsall Hill, Cheshire SARAH FARNSWORTH scooted halfway up the country from Devon to Cheshire to win the under-21 open intermediate with her longtime partner, The Ridge Cardento (Dave). “The plan was to finish my season at Allerton before I headed back to uni, but when Allerton was cancelled, Mum and I came up with a plan B,” explained Sarah, who has just started her final year of a business and management degree at Exeter University. “Mum kept Dave ticking over for an extra week and then drove him from our yard in Scotland to Kelsall, and I met her there. “It’s amazing how being out of the saddle for even a week can affect you,” she continued. “Luckily, Dave knows his job, so it was a case of hitch up…

MRF METRO TEQUILA sparkled at Cockshot, Cheshire, to score novice silver section and outright wins. Previously successful in novice eventing, eight-year-old “Mavis” is making a smooth transition to dressage, according to her owner/rider Alison King. I OWE IT TO… “Dressage is where I’m going,” said Alison, who bought the mare “after a few glasses of wine” from the Monarch online event horse sales during lockdown. “Mavis is a beautiful, light-moving horse, with lovely self-carriage. She has achieved her regional qualifications in quick time, but I’ve no expectations for her. We’ll see how we get on,” added Alison.…

Bogenraith EC, Aberdeenshire A HORSE described as a “happy accident” scored a hat-trick of silver medium wins. Elaine Taylor’s Cullenbay Rhodolite, a mix of Friesian, thoroughbred and Clydesdale, came up trumps for the third consecutive time in the past 12 months. Elaine, who ended up with ownership of “Rusty” six years ago as part of a debt repayment, said: “I had no intention of keeping him, but as soon as I backed him, I loved him. All of his breeding adds to his way of going – he has a super walk, from the thoroughbred, a good canter and the temperament from the Clydesdale. “The plan is now to crack on” ELAINE TAYLOR “We’re up in the Highlands and logistics have made competing difficult, but whatever he has done, he’s done…

@jen_donald LONGINES LEAGUE OF NATIONS FINAL 2–5 October LONGINES LEAGUE OF NATIONS FINAL 1 GREAT BRITAIN 2 IRELAND 3 GERMANY Longines League of Nations Final, Real Club de Polo, Barcelona, Spain “I’VE been on many teams over the years but the strength and attitude that these guys have is fantastic – it’s a great environment to be in,” credited Ben Maher after he and teammates Harry Charles, Donald Whitaker and hero of the hour once again, Scott Brash, lifted the trophy for the Longines League of Nations (LLN) Final. British showjumpers are riding the crest of a colossal wave at the moment, notching up a remarkable hat-trick of team successes, which started with a long-awaited victory in the BMO Nations Cup at Spruce Meadows, continued into the last LLN qualifier in St…

@marthaowenorterry BRITISH RIDING CLUBS SEIB COMBINED CHAMPIONSHIPS 27–28 September British Riding Clubs SEIB Combined Championships, Aston-le-Walls, Northants EDMUND FINLAN went home from Aston-le-Walls with a lorry-load of prizes after he won the junior challenge 80 individually, helped Area 4 to victory in the team event and finished third individually in the junior challenge 70. In the junior challenge 80, the 11-year-old partnered Little George, a 16-year-old Connemara he’s had for three months. While in the junior challenge 70, Edmund rode his twin sister Beatrice’s pony, Sonic The Hedgehog. “George comes alive at a competition and loves his jumping,” said Edmund, who represents Ackworth RC. “I knew the time was tight so I tried to ride him in a fast canter, but I never expected to win as we’ve only been…

Share your news story Call 0330 390 6386 Email eleanor.jones@futurenet.com @ jones_eleanor_ THE panel who ruled on the case of Cesar Parra was “amazed to see how creative [he] has been in trying to find techniques and practices that would hurt horses, in perfect indifference to their suffering”. The US dressage rider was suspended for 15 years by the FEI Tribunal, for abusing multiple horses (news, 14 August). The full Tribunal report has now been published. EXCESSIVE WHIP USE THE Tribunal panel said Parra had excessively used the whip and spurs. He caused damage to horses’ mouths by misusing his hands, used “abusive equipment” – metal nuts under the noseband – and elasticated hobbles and shackles. “[His] actions put horses’ mental and physical health at risk,” the Tribunal report states.…

Showjumper Scott Brash won the Barcelona grand prix with Hello Folie, then helped Britain win the League of Nations with Hello Jefferson. Report, p44 The Mare and Foal Sanctuary’s director Dawn Vincent has been appointed a director of the National Equine Welfare Council. Jockey Rossa Ryan rode his 1,000th British winner, the Alan King-trained Blazeon Five, at Ascot on 3 October. Rossa is third in the Flat jockeys’ championship. European champion event rider Laura Collett has been shortlisted for the Peden Bloodstock best athlete category at the 2025 FEI awards. Top groom Adam Short, who works for event rider Tom McEwen, has been shortlisted in the Cavalor best groom category at the 2025 FEI awards.…

IT’S perhaps the ultimate fairy tale – the wedding day, a white horse, a handsome prince. For Hannah Freeman, when she married Maxwell Bishop, it was with her handsome Prince, who she saved from the meat man to be a horse of a lifetime. Hannah made the heartbreaking decision to sell Prince 18 months ago, but his new owners kindly agreed to lend him back for the big day. “It could only have been him,” Hannah told H&H. “It was very, very special.” Hannah bought Prince when he was four or five. “He was in a terrible state. I could put my hand between his ribs, he was riddled with viruses and the vets suggested I put him down but I refused. I brought him back to life to be…

@jen_donald WE at The Billy Stud don’t tend to take many horses to the annual World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses (WBFSH) World Breeding Championships for Young Horses at Lanaken and every time I arrive there, I think perhaps, as the largest breeders in the UK, we should really start having a bigger presence. But I left this year in no doubt that we’re doing the right thing. I think, as they’re world championships, people lose sight of the fact we’re trying to produce our horses in the best way possible to reach the best of their abilities and this year’s five-year-old final made for uncomfortable viewing at times. There has to be a better way to produce our five-year-olds within the sport than racing them round like that. Many…

@pipparoomeorkyle LITTLE DOWNHAM 30 September Little Downham, Cambs “YOU can’t complain about that,” said David Doel, having landed an impressive double at this international fixture. David enjoyed his first British four-star win in Childéric Saddles CCI4*-S section C with his experienced partner, Galileo Nieuwmoed, and topped the advanced class aboard Midnight Rollercoaster. David and Galileo, owned by Gillian Jones and Mary Fox, posted the only double clear of the section to finish on their 31.8 dressage. “We’ve got a new warm-up where we give him a loose lunge before the dressage and it seems to work really well,” said David. “We could have had a slightly better medium trot and my halts weren’t quite as nailed as I’d have liked, so there’s still room for improvement to get back into…

@oscnwilliams PETPLAN SUMMER AREA FESTIVAL & SUE CARSON SADDLES MIDDLE TOUR CHAMPIONSHIPS 1–5 October Petplan Summer Area Festival & Sue Carson Saddles Middle Tour Championships, Arena UK, Lincs CHANTELLE OLIVER-SYMONDS and her beloved Appaloosa x Welsh section D gelding Stadmorslow Coffee N Cream (Harvey), made their 13th Area Festival Championship appearance a victorious one, winning the inter I freestyle silver title with 62.54%. “Winning that rug and sash with Harvey, especially now he’s 20, meant the world to me,” Chantelle said. “He’s my horse of a lifetime.” The Craigcoach Midas gelding has taken Chantelle from prelim to grand prix, despite a humble £200 price tag. “We’ve done it all without financial backing, just hard work and the right partnership,” she said. “It shows that dreams can come true.” Chantelle, an…

BSPS HERITAGE CHAMPIONSHIPS 27–28 September BSPS Heritage Championships, Arena UK, Grantham, Lincs SAM ROBERTS marked 20 consecutive years qualifying for the London International (LIHS) in style, taking no fewer than three tickets to this year’s final and the overall supreme of show title. It was Bradley Helyer and Cheryl Hillman’s six-year-old Welsh section C stallion Cnwch Carwyn (Wyn) who partnered Sam to lift the latter. The pair started their weekend’s campaign by landing the open ridden Welsh C and D class, before taking a credible first turn in the workers to take a third in the novice 133cm ranks. They continued on stellar form into day two, taking the second of two novice tricolours on offer during the weekend and then the breed London semi-final. With nothing to lose, Sam…

SUZANNAH ENGELMANN is no stranger to success at British Riding Club Championships (BRC), but her title in the senior challenge 80 with Lissin Rocket was extra special this time after a difficult year. “I broke my neck coming off a youngster in January and spent eight weeks in a neck brace, returning to the saddle in time for the BRC Winter Showjumping Championships,” explained Suzannah, of Saffron Walden RC. “At the championships I traumatically amputated my thumb in a stable door, so I didn’t get to compete and instead spent four days in hospital followed by four weeks with my hand sewn to my hip, establishing a skin flap to reconstruct what remained of my thumb.” AGAINST THE ODDS Suzannah and Lissin Rocket were one of three combinations to complete…

ANNABELLE ROSE, from Grange Farm Livery and Performance Horses in Lincoln, has experienced both systems: “My preference is the indoor barn. It makes it easier to manage and everything is in one place. When the weather’s bad, we carry on regardless.” Her 15-box indoor set-up houses event and dressage horses alongside full liveries, and she’s convinced about the welfare benefits: “It’s sociable for the horses, they can see each other all the time,” she says. While outdoor stabling is cheaper, Annabelle’s situation was different: “We had an agricultural building that we got ‘change of use’ on. It was cheaper for us to install boxes inside than build 15 looseboxes outside.” And the investment has paid dividends. “When you advertise indoor stabling, it attracts more livery enquiries,” she adds.…

STEP IN TIME Mark Kyle’s championship and five-star ride, bred by Mark’s father Johnny, has died aged 26. He and Mark finished in the top 20 at Badminton and went to the 2010 world games. LIBERTHINE The Waley-Cohens’ Cheltenham Festival winner has died at 26. She won almost £200,000, bred winning offspring and lived with the family all her life from age three. RSH CONTEND’OR Felicity Collins and her own and Avrina Milton’s 16-year-old eventer jumped their 23rd four-star double clear together, at Little Downham on 30 September.…

HOLIDAYS A quick Google of past “H&H Awards” resulted in an AI “answer” that the awards have happened, in Puerto Rico. Sorry, they’re in Warwickshire, not the Caribbean. Unless Google wants to fly us out there… LATIN Dressage star Becky Moody’s school had the Latin motto Disce aut discede, “Learn or leave”. We like that; a perfect motto for the horse world, although disce aut cadere might also work… IDEAS Spotted online, the idea of using an old horseshoe to keep one’s hose in one’s trough. A collective sigh as horses realise we know what they’ve been trying to tell us for years. MONEY Overheard at the yard: “I spend money on hay, feed it, it turns into poo. It would save time to just feed the horses the cash.”…

Email to hhletters@futurenet.com Name and address must be included. Letters may be edited. @ horseandhound instagram.com/horseandhound facebook.com/horseandhound “A GREAT LEVELLER” MARK PHILLIPS’ cross-country track at Blenheim was a true championship course that delivered great results. With challenging terrain and intense parts of the course cleverly sited, riders had to be bold and accurate as some lines required precision and good planning. There were no bad falls, the frangible pins did their job and the run-outs were entirely rider related. The bubble broke for the team Brits due to rider mistakes, which will be a good wake-up call for the worlds next year. The brilliance of Mark Phillips as a course-designer is something special and hard to match. “Riders had to be bold and accurate at Blenheim” ROBIN DUMAS This was a…

CASSIE SANGER remembers distinctly a pinch-me moment soon after she arrived in England in May. She had just come back from a gallop with her new trainer Ros Canter, who asked her to sort out both horses while Ros moved the horsebox – one of them being the 2023 European champion and now double Badminton and Burghley winner, Lordships Graffalo. “I was hosing ‘Walter’ off and thinking, ‘This is insane, it’s just a casual day and you’re just taking care of the best horse in the world! This is very cool,’” she says. For Cassie, who only a couple of years ago was juggling high school with evening rides at a barn in Connecticut, these star-struck moments have fast become part of everyday life as she finds her feet on…

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JANE LITTLEJOHN was all smiles as her home-produced gelding, Not Just Anyone, captured the elementary silver with 71.146%. The seven-year-old by Just Wimphof, who Jane has owned since a two-year-old, was also runner-up in two other classes: the medium freestyle silver (70.72%) and medium silver (70.28%). “This is his first season at this level, so to get these results at a championships is just amazing,” said Jane, who trains with Tyler Bradshaw. “Jet has a brilliant attitude and loves competing – especially at stay-away shows.” Chilled and unfazed by the atmosphere, Jet gave Jane a ride to remember. “He did everything I asked and more – I had a lovely time,” she added. ONES TO WATCH…

“SHE’S really coming into her own,” said Caitlin Powell of her seven-year-old coloured warmblood mare, Oso Never Enough, a novice bronze winner at Bridgend College, Glamorgan. Caitlin, who bought “Madge” as a four-year-old, has since produced her under the guidance of trainers Andrew Jones and Justine Sole. “She does sometimes need a bit of hand-holding, so we’ve taken our time to gain her confidence in the arena,” said Caitlin, who is training to be a primary school teacher. “She usually loses concentration when competing outdoors at Bridgend, but this time she was more focused. We’re starting to see the work she can produce at home.”…

Sheepgate Equestrian, Lincs A MARE who broke her leg as a two-year-old claims wins at medium and advanced medium. Lara Edwards, who co-owns six-year-old Beaumont Franziska with Lauren Bull, said: “Ziska was properly rehabbed after the accident and has since qualified all the way through. She has been very sweet to train. “She’s capable of higher levels, but as she still has some metalwork in her left fore, I’d ideally like her to be ridden by my daughters in children-on-horses classes.” Lara’s Fürst Fabergé mare, Only Star VZ, was unbeaten at novice, heading six classes. “It was lovely to see her confidence grow over the two days,” said Lara, who bought Star on a trip to Holland with the plan to sell her on. “I know she’s a 75% horse,…

@cfausten123 DAVID BARKER was one of the most remarkable horsemen of the post-war years, excelling as an international showjumper, a producer of show horses and as a professional huntsman of foxhounds. It was as huntsman of the Meynell and South Staffs that he realised the pinnacle of his hunting career, attracting large hard-riding fields, many from Leicestershire and including the Prince of Wales as a regular visitor. The Prince admired his forthright manner, becoming a good friend and, when guest editing Country Life in 2013, he nominated David as one of his “heroes of the countryside”. David Barker was brought up in Yorkshire, the son of a hunting farmer, where he had much success in junior showjumping classes and point-to-pointing. However, his home life was not always smooth and, when…

JAYNE ARMSTRONG, who formerly ran a riding school and livery yard, offers a more cautious perspective. “From an industry side, the American barns are easier to work in, but there’s a higher risk of infection and people may not want to be in each other’s pockets,” she says. “With traditional looseboxes, controlling disease and illness is easier.” Jayne’s reservations about traditional outdoor stabling are equally frank. “At some point with looseboxes, you’re still going to struggle with the weather,” she says. “Rain could get into your boxes, wooden boxes can rot quicker and of course it’s not as luxurious as being indoors.”…

LAST Thursday, the stars aligned to produce a really excellent autumn trail-hunting morning. There was a new sharpness in the air and dew on the ground when Adam and I set out from home and just minutes from arrival, hounds were speaking in a glorious unbroken stream of music as they took an arc around the neighbouring farm. There weren’t many of us out to enjoy all of this and although it warmed up and became less easy later on, I turned for home feeling really grateful for the morning. A friend, Ally, hacked home with me, having unboxed at the farm. We were pootling along in companionable silence when she said, “Something really embarrassing happened this week. I’ve only told Ant [her husband] but I’ve just got to share…