World number one showjumper Harrie Smolders has bought a one-third share in the British-produced six-year-old stallion Escape Z.

The son of the Dutchman’s Olympic partner Emerald was bred in Holland by Willem van Hoof and has been produced in the UK since a three-year-old by Danielle Ryder.

In 2016 he claimed the national four-year-old title at Addington and last year was named leading five-year-old stallion at the world young horse championships in Lanaken.

The 166cm (16.1hh) chestnut will remain in the UK with Danielle — who along with his breeder Willem retains a one-third share — to produce for the next year and a half.

“I am often away from home and he would not get enough exercise at my place. He has to keep up with his peers, no more. Hopefully he will be the successor of his sire Emerald,” Harrie said.

“He is a very remarkable horse. I believe that he has great quality and enough power to cover wide oxers. I am always looking for horses like that. As long as they have something exceptional, the right instincts, things you can not change as a rider.”

Danielle said Harrie — who claimed a European individual silver medal last year with the British-produced stallion Don VHP — had confidence in the UK’s young horse system.

“Harrie has known the horse for a year and a half and followed him since he did his first international shows as a five-year-old, then he saw him jump at Lanaken on the z-tour and he approached us from there,” Danielle said. “He will ride him a few times over the next two years and then take him over as an eight-year-old. He knows Willem well and trusts us 200%.”

Danielle, who runs Sports Horse Direct, has been sourcing horses from Willem for 14 years and believes Escape Z is the best to have passed through her hands.

“We’ve had a feeling from the horse from the beginning,” she said. “I always believed in him, Harrie believed in him before he rode him and when he sat on him he said he was even better than he thought. He can make power from nothing.

“He’s a simple horse to ride because he’s so balanced and easy in his character. I can collect [semen] off him in the morning and go to a show in afternoon, but in the ring he’s a fighter — he only ever sees the jumps and is totally focussed on his job.”

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Escape Z has some superb competition bloodlines, being out of the mare Promesse (Heartbreaker x Cathargo), who is also the dam of the popular five-star grand prix stallion Untouchable 27.

Escape has already made a mark on the breeding world, having served 70 mares last year. His foal Escape The Opposition was awarded the best show jumping foal at the BEF Futurity, achieving the highest points of any age and any category in 2017.

As well as continuing with stud duties, the AES and Zangersheide-approved stallion will be aimed at newcomers second rounds this year and will also contest the six-year-old classes at Lanaken.

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday.

Sponsorship is getting increasingly difficult to secure for riders at all levels. Whether you’re competing at four-star or just starting to make your way up the grades, sponsorship and its allocation to you relies on many things. It’s not just how good you are in the saddle. A blend of social media prowess, what else you can offer the company and your character are factors too. And, more than this, when the sponsorship is secured, that’s just the start.

Over the years, we’ve seen many brands ‘drop’ riders for various reasons. Sometimes a contract or agreed time simply expires and is not renewed. In other cases something happens and the company is forced into making a decision one way or another. Sometimes, the company may come out in support of a rider, but often they’ll go quiet and wait for the storm to pass or, depending on the ‘severity’ of the issue and/or how this aligns with the brand’s values and customers, they may decide to walk away.

It’s not just how a rider or equestrian behaves in his or her professional career that can cause a parting of the ways. Incidences that are deemed socially unacceptable or illegal can also cause an agreement to terminate, as can a breach of contract.

Marta Kotonska is the managing director of fast-growing brand Eqclusive and supports a number of riders and grooms.

“For us, loyalty is important as is work ethic. We expect our sponsored team to use our products, to wear appropriate branded clothing and be an active part of what we’re doing to promote our brand. These are all written into the contract we sign with the sponsored person before we start. We have a lot people who are incredibly keen to work with us so we have a framework to give people the opportunities to do this.”

As for more serious matters, that’s written into the contract too.

“We have a specific clause stating that we can drop a rider banned by FEI, involved with doping or not fulfilling the clauses above. Luckily we have never had to do this. We came close once, but after a very honest conversation we managed to move forward, and we’re really pleased we did.”

For Annabel Brocks, managing director of Annabel Brocks and Hawkins Organic, welfare also remains at the forefront of her mind.

“For any riders we sponsor, one of the most important things to me is welfare and care of their horses and not just what you see in the public eye. We normally spend quite a lot of time with riders before becoming associated with them to ensure this and it’s a real deal breaker for us.

“We wouldn’t work with anyone who we felt was negligent in any area and would have no issue in terminating an agreement if an incident was reviewed and we felt it was detrimental to our brand. We’re very fair and appreciate there’s two sides to every story, but welfare is essential to what we do and what we believe.”

There’s so many aspects to sponsorship and with social media becoming a bigger and bigger part in many brands’ marketing strategies, the response on social media to a particular event can definitely influence a decision too. Sponsored riders, in addition to all of the above, are selected because the attributes they possess either echo or complement a brand’s, and the reach that that person has, to people with shared views, can be hugely valuable. If something happens to compromise this, whether it’s a welfare issue, being banned, doing something illegal or frowned upon, brands will review how to move forward.

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If something does start to go south, burying your head in the sand is not the best option. Being open and honest, and keeping the lines of communication open is, often, the very best chance of either maintaining a sponsorship or, at the very least, parting on the best terms possible.

The cost implications when a brand decides to support a rider are one thing, but the damage that can be done to a brand if the rider no longer aligns with their customers can cost a lot more, and this is something many brands will consider before parting ways with a rider.

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday.

In the latest edition (24 May), don’t miss our “cob special”, including how to find the perfect cob, meet champion cob Our Cashel Blue and more.

(THANK YOU, EVERYONE for sending prayers, great thoughts and donations to the ER BUCKET FUND for The Golden Carrot yesterday.  We are very, very close to our goal.  Amazing.  Thank you.)

NORMA JEAN is SHEDDING IN MAY! She hasn’t done this in 10 years! I really think Gina is a miracle worker!

Earlier this month, I told you about Gina Vetro and her homeopathic/ayurvedic remedies that have brought my donkey back from the brink (after 3 vets just said she was “old” – I knew I was losing her).  You can read that story here.

Soooooooooo, the next hugely big news is that Norma Jean is shedding!  SHEDDING!  Norma hasn’t shed earlier than August in years.  YEARS!

They say donkeys don’t get Cushings, but they get Fatty Liver Disease, and there is nothing anyone can do.  Well, I am going to say that there IS something you can do… Call Gina!

LOOK at how happy and engaged Norma is now… and she is shedding, trotting around, being loving and defiant, giving her opinion and demanding attention – finally – again!

I am thrilled.

Please, if you have a horse that is ‘off’ and you know it. Call Gina!

GINA VETRO CONTACT INFO:  Gina Vetro, phone: 646-403-7070, email:  Gvet13@gmail.com , Click for FB.

LOOK AT HER SHED! AND LOOK AT HER SMILE!

THE FINAL TEST WILL BE HER SUMMER DONKEY PSORIASIS… but even if it comes back, I’m still thrilled with Norma’s surge in health!

Norma has gotten donkey psoriasis on her legs every summer for the last 5 summers.  I have something that gets rid of it  (MAJOR’S SOLUTION/Fungus Free – no affiliation), but it would be great if it didn’t come at all!

So, we will see… crossing fingers.

The post NORMA JEAN is SHEDDING IN MAY! She hasn’t done this in 10 years! I really think Gina is a miracle worker! appeared first on Horse and Man.

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Riders are invited to donate their brains to help form a greater understanding the long-term effects of concussion in sport.

The International Concussion and Head Injury Research Foundation (ICHIRF), led by Dr Michael Turner, is exploring whether repeated head trauma leads to neurological problems later in life (news, 28 January, 2016).

The project involves in-depth screening of jockeys, riders and other athletes who have had concussion, comparing their results to control subjects.

Dr Turner told H&H the next stage is to look at whether concussion can lead to the neurodegenerative disease, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

CTE can only be diagnosed after death, when the brain can be examined for evidence. This is where the brain donation scheme comes into play.

“It sounds very gory but when you talk to friends, most are organ donors and have already come to the conclusion that they are happy to give up their organs to somebody else to save their life,” he said.

“We don’t need the brain to be active. We’re happy to wait until you’ve finished with it.”

Dr Turner explained that those donating their brains must be involved in the screening process, although those who are screened as part of the concussion project do not have to sign up to donate their brains.

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ICHIRF is looking for controls and those who have been concussed for brain donations, as well as more people, preferably aged over 50 to sign up for the screening process, which is free for participants.

The brain donation scheme is organised alongside the Queen’s Square Brain Bank at the UCL Institute of Neurology. Each brain examination will cost £5,000 and ICHIRF is looking for more sponsors of scheme.

For more information visit www.concussioninsport.org

For further information about the brain donation scheme and the ICHIRF project, including comments from Richard Pitman and Bob Champion, don’t miss this week’s H&H magazine, out on Thursday (31 May)

OPINION

Kentucky designer Derek di Grazia and I have been talking a lot recently about how horses see. We believe increasing understanding of this has big
implications for eventing safety. Horses are prey animals — they have a good range of vision to the sides, but they miss about 10° directly in front and behind them. So as horses approach a fence, they increasingly pull their information from the sides. We can use fence decoration to help horses read the question.

For example, trees around the fence should be placed about one foot in front of the leading edge (the take-off side of the jump), rather than level with it. This will encourage the horse not to get too deep and take off too close to the fence.

The trees should ideally be slightly taller than the fence, to give the horse the impression the leading edge is little higher than it is.

The hardest fence for a horse to read is a spread with the flags on the back — as the horse gets closer, he reads the flags, but misses the leading edge, risking hitting it.

Nothing is a complete solution in eventing safety, but this is a different way of looking at it — if we can help horses understand the question, we might not need so many frangible fences. I have been using this knowledge on my courses at all levels this year and it really reduces the number of fallers.

Changing courses

This was my third year overseeing the CIC2* at Rockingham. Budget is always a factor at one-day events and it takes time to make changes.

The first year you’re basically putting on a plaster — getting rid of the bad fences and making the moderate ones as good as possible. In the second and third years, a designer can start to put in new fences to get close to the course you want. After that, there must be a policy of replacing a few fences each year as the old ones deteriorate. Without ongoing investment, an organiser will suddenly need to replace 10 to 15 fences at once, which is expensive.

Although the ground at Rockingham had a hard crust, it was soft underneath and broke up well when aerated. Horses travelled well on it, so with sunshine and a new title sponsor in Fairfax & Favor, the event came together nicely.

New rules

The FEI is currently rewriting the abuse of the horse rule after the fallout following Oliver Townend’s warning for over-use of the whip at Badminton. The new rule will make it clearer to riders and the ground jury what is and isn’t acceptable.

The FEI also recognises that showjumping is becoming very influential following the change of scoring this year to decrease the dressage influence.

As such, it is looking at bringing in a change to award one time-fault per four seconds commenced over the time allowed in the showjumping (as in the pure discipline), rather than the current rule of one time-fault per second. This will mean three or four seconds over the optimum shouldn’t cost a rider 15 places, again a positive move.

Finally, I am in favour of Mark Todd’s idea of trialling a split of the ground jury role to put separate experts in charge of each phase (comment, 24 May). Having the right people in the right roles can only improve the professionalism of former Olympic team gold decisions in our sport.

Ref: Horse & Hound; 31 May 2018

May turned out to be a great month with the sun finally shining! Alongside shows I also managed to go on holiday and see my friend get married in Italy. For once, both my mum and I went away at the same time which was nice but meant leaving the ponies for someone else to do. This is something that always makes me nervous, although I came back to a spotless yard, immaculate beds and very happy (although a little fat) ponies, so I am not sure why I should have been worried.

Both of my Dartmoor boys have been on good form — well I say both…

Windy has been busy covering and returned for a total of two days before going out to a show and picking up his Royal International Horse Show (RIHS) ticket, so that’s one show, one win — I am counting that as good form! Windy likes to do very little so it is ideal for him. If only getting a Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) ticket could be that easy.

Windy

Leo has been busier and has had a good run of shows picking up his RIHS ticket at the BSPS Area 11 show. I then took him to our local area show where I expected him to be nice and quiet as the show was just in a field, but I guess the thing is to never under-estimate a Dartmoor! After a quick lunge, on I got with my friend leading me forward. Leo decided some airs above the ground were needed and there was a moment of bail or be dumped, so I opted to bail! Thankfully after a little more lungeing he got over himself and went on to be perfect in the class winning a lovely open class and then winning his silver medal too.

The week after that we headed to my favourite show — Royal Windsor. After falling off my ‘veteran’ Jacob last year in the ring, I really just wanted to make it safely round on Leo, which after the week before I was a little concerned about. However, Leo went out and not only stayed in the ring but he even WON his class! I was absolutely thrilled as I have never won Royal Windsor on Mountain & Moorland. The last time I won there was on my old intermediate which must be 15-odd years ago. It was fantastic to be in such a top quality championship — Windsor really does bring out the best of the best and the chance to see The Queen is just the icing on the cake.

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I also was very lucky to pick up a ride on the beautiful Welsh section D stallion, Swchyrhafod Brenin for Megan Hewitt and on my second ride with him we won our RIHS qualifier. What a lovely boy he is. The first time I rode him I’d had an operation two days prior and shouldn’t have really been riding, but I am sure like many of you, it is hard to sit on the sidelines. Thankfully he looked after me and gave me an easy ride around the ring.

Swchyrhafod Brenin

Looking ahead, June brings the start of the HOYS qualifiers, although for me it’s a fairly quiet season with just Windy to concentrate on. I am looking forward to some other lovely shows coming up — South of England (our local) and Lincoln, both who have fantastic food tents! I will update you next time on the best cheese I manage to find at each.

Chloe

Louise Bergicourt-Toolan put in a polished performance on cross-country day of the H&H Festival of Eventing, run in association with KBIS, to become the new leader of the 70cm class.

Riding Melanie Gatt’s six-year-old Connemara x thoroughbred, Woodfield Gold, Louise stopped the clock just one second over the six-minute optimum time, to add 0.4 penalties to a strong dressage score of 28.25 which saw them fourth after the first phase.

“I’m so happy with ‘Phoenix’, he was so relaxed and took everything in his stride,” said Louise, a single mum who helps run a riding school near Richmond Park in south-west London. “It’s our first eventing competition together and his first ever so I wasn’t sure how he would cope, but he flew.”

The 15.2hh dun arrived in Louise’s riding school two years ago and has spent most of his time teaching novice riders.

“Then one day we went cross-country schooling and realised that Phoenix had a real talent for it.”

Louise said she is in disbelief that Phoenix and her are in pole position.

“I honestly can’t believe it — we came here to have a nice time with friends and to give Phoneix a good experience,” said Louise. “I’m quietly confident about our chances tomorrow as he enjoys showjumping. To be honest even if we have a fence down, I will still be over the moon with him — all of this is a bonus.”

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Louise’s nearest rival is 11-year-old Frankie Fox and Rookwood Dundoolie who sit 3.1 penalties behind in second on 31.75, while last year’s 70cm winner Sally Pidsley and Tranwheal Tineth Moon is in third on 32.25.

Don’t miss the full report from the H&H Festival of Eventing in Horse & Hound magazine — on sale Thursday, 7 June and follow online at www.horseandhound.co.uk

Honor Gordon and her eye-catching palomino Made Of Gold have held their place at the top of the leaderboard after cross-country in the 90cm section of the Horse & Hound Festival of Eventing.

The 13-year-old rode a well-judged round to finish just one second over the optimum time of 6 minutes 46 seconds, adding 0.4 time penalties to their dressage of 27.25.

Keysoe’s course, designed by Angus Smales, rode well, with a smattering of problems throughout.

A total of 42 out of 50 combinations jumped clear, but the majority of riders picked up time faults.

Honor Gordon and Made Of Gold tackle the combination in Keysoe’s main arena

Honor, who was celebrating with a Chinese takeaway, said she was excited ahead of tomorrow’s showjumping phase.

“We’ve just got to leave the jumps up,” she smiled.

“I was worried about the brush coming out of the water and the log pile at fence six as it was quite big and she only has little legs.”

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Honor has been riding the 14hh mare for two years and enjoys all Pony Club activities, but eventing is their favourite discipline.

While the time proved influential, there remains little room for error and less than two poles separate the top-16 cominbations.

Honor has less than a fence in hand over second-placed Celia Bellamy and Toptime Taliesin, who added 0.8 time penalties to their dressage score for a two-phase total of 29.05. In third is Sarah Nicholls with CSH Sioux on 30.5.

The showjumping phase of the Bedfordshire event, run in association with KBIS, starts at 9.30am for the 70cm section, with the 90cm class set to start at 1.35pm.

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday

The full report from the H&H Festival of Eventing in Horse & Hound will be in this week’s issue of the magazine — on sale Thursday, 7 June and follow online at www.horseandhound.co.uk

On Friday afternoon, Sarah Nicholls and the seven-year-old 15.1hh CSH Sioux sat in seventh place after the dressage phase of the H&H Festival of Eventing, run in association with KBIS. But thanks to a great clear cross-country round inside the optimum time, followed by one of few clear showjumping rounds, the pair found themselves in first place at the end of the competition.

“I can’t believe we’ve won,” said a delighted Sarah, who hails from near Leicester and works for an engineering company in Rutland. “I knew ‘Simon’ was capable as he can do a good dressage test and is reliable across country, but showjumping is my weakest phase. I was hopeful but I tried not to let my emotions get in the way of how we performed.”

Sarah was competing in her first three-day event aboard the coloured horse, who is by a Grade A showjumper, out of a gypsy cob mare. She bought him as a just-broken four-year-old “for little money” as a project to sell.

“But he just kept getting better and better, so I’ve kept him,” explained Sarah, who also crosses the biggest of Quorn Hunt country with this diminutive gelding. “I couldn’t fault Simon this week — I do this purely to have fun and I couldn’t do it without the support of my parents who have been holding the fort with my other two horses at home this week.”

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Hannah Parr and Tinkers Boy also rose up the placings thanks to a clear showjumping round, moving up from fourth to eventual second. While overnight cross-country leader, Honor Gordon and Made Of Gold dropped to third after incurring four faults.

Don’t miss the full report from the H&H Festival of Eventing in Horse & Hound magazine — on sale Thursday, 7 June and follow online at www.horseandhound.co.uk

A clear round inside the optimum time secured the overnight top spot for Doriel Watson and her own Claude II in the Horse & Hound Festival of Eventing 100cm section.

The pair were lying sixth after dressage on a score of 30.25, climbing five places to take the lead after cross-country.

This was Claude’s first time at 100cm level, but the “opinionated Irish cob” proved unphased by the bigger fences and stormed around Angus Smales’ Keysoe course to finish one second inside the optimum time of six minutes 26 seconds.

“It is very unexpected — he never ceases to amaze me,” said Doriel, who works as a riding instructor at Trent Park Equestrian Centre in north London.

“Jumping the fences is the easy part, but he can be quite nappy and I have to ride him a bit like I stole him out of the start box.

“I thought it was a really good, inviting course with enough questions with enough questions, but nothing that was designed to terrify the horse or rider at that level.”

Doriel has had Claude for three years and the pair have also enjoyed success at British Eventing 80cm and 90cm level.

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Snapping at the combination’s heels are Katy Mousdale and Not The Dun Thing in second, who  0.4 penalties behind Doriel and Claude.

Stacey Page and Armarni Lad added nothing to their dressage score of 31.25 to rise from ninth after dressage to third ahead of tomorrow’s showjumping phase.

Dressage leaders Sophie Wall and Primitive Pronto jumped a confident clear, however a costly 6.8 time faults for going too fast dropped them down to 14th place after cross-country.

The 100cm section will conclude the 2018 Horse & Hound Festival of Eventing, run in association with KBIS, tomorrow.

The first combination is set to start at 3.55pm, with the winner due to be decided by 5pm.

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday

The full report from the H&H Festival of Eventing in Horse & Hound will be in this week’s issue of the magazine — on sale Thursday, 7 June