Patches of rubbed hair under the back panels of your horse’s saddle can be more prevalent at this time of year — here’s what you need to know…

It’s not unusual for owners to leave an unclipped area of hair under the saddle to give the horse some protection, particularly if they are thin skinned, but sometimes bald patches appear anyway. This could just be a coat change issue, says Joe Mackinder, a vet with Rainbow Equine Hospital near Malton, as the horse loses its winter coat — but it may also have a more sinister explanation.

“Sometimes the bald patch can be caused by dermatitis. This can be as a result of poor management, for example riding the horse when its coat is wet; there are also some quite nasty forms of staphylococcal dermatitis which cause painful bald patches,” explains Joe.

“It can also be symptomatic of an asymmetry caused by lameness, or even a kissing spine issue. But more commonly it is due to issues with the saddle or other equipment. We recommend that owners with new horses get their saddles checked every six to eight weeks as the horse can change shape a lot and this has an impact on fit,” says Joe.

Georgie Webb is a Society of Master Saddlers qualified saddle fitter based in Yorkshire, and agrees that bald patches beneath the back section of the panel are often an indication there’s a problem with the saddle.

“Saddles are all about balance — if you’re getting a rubbed patch beneath the back part of the panel, it usually means there’s movement at the front, or that the saddle is a little too wide. We will sometimes see clients who have noticed an issue and tried to pad to the back but actually this makes the problem worse,” says Georgie. “Saddles need to be checked regularly and flocking adjusted to prevent this kind of issue. If you’re getting a bald patch on one side but not the other, this can point to asymmetry of the horse, rider or saddle — often, saddle asymmetry is caused by asymmetry of the horse or rider, and proper flocking can rectify this so long as the saddle is symmetrical in every other way.”

In other cases, it’s not the saddle which is the problem but the numnah or pad used beneath it. McTimoney equine chiropractor Dani Paizis says this is one of the first things to rule out when bald patches appear.

“A numnah which is too short can cause this kind of problem, as the saddle applies pressure. Once this is ruled out, I’m looking at three possible problems: rider symmetry, saddle balance and finally musculoskeletal injury.

“If the rider is crooked, riding with uneven stirrups or carrying a back or pelvic injury of their own, it’s unlikely they will be balanced in the saddle. Also, any musculoskeletal injury or imbalance no matter where in the body can cause referral problems affecting lumbar and pelvic balance, which in turn creates uneven stride patterns and affects saddle movement.

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“In my experience, it can be all three causes in play and all three need addressing. If the saddle rubs don’t improve within a few weeks, however, it is important to seek veterinary advice for a thorough investigation, as there could be a serious underlying musculoskeletal problem, such as overriding dorsal spinous processes (kissing spine) or a sacroiliac strain,” says Dani.

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Hannah Francis’ legacy has helped an inspirational rider overcome huge challenges to achieve her goal of taking part in a British Eventing competition.

Clare Reeves had had a 20-year gap from horses when she bought her 14.2hh mare, Frankie, in March 2017 — and she believes the mare saved her life.

“I fell in love with her,” Clare told H&H. “From day one she would nuzzle my shoulder — of course they do it when they are looking for treats — but this was always in the same place.”

Clare added one day her shoulder was particularly sore after Frankie’s nudges and she found a lump, which she thought was related to the knock she had taken from the mare, but booked an appointment with her GP to have it checked out.

Her GP referred her to the breast clinic, where a biopsy revealed she had triple negative breast cancer.

“If it wasn’t for Frankie, I would not have found the lump and the cancer would not have been detected early enough — my prognosis would have been very different,” she said, adding the mare has not been interested in her shoulder since the tumour was removed

“I’m very lucky she drew my attention to it, I owe her my life.”

After surgery to remove the lump, Clare went through seven months of chemotherapy. During her treatment she decided she wanted a challenge, so signed up to join the Wobbleberries.

“It had to be something with Frankie because we have such a bond and started this journey together,” she added.

Hannah’s Willberry Wonder Pony Charity granted Clare a wish of 10 lessons with eventer James McIlough, plus a trip to Nick Skelton’s yard.

“He was brilliant and we trained all the way through my chemo, even when I was throwing up over Frankie’s shoulder and had to have someone help me tack up,” she said.

In January 2018, Clare visited Nick’s yard, which she said gave her the extra boost to complete her challenge.

“I never thought I would have the chance to meet anybody like him,” she said. “The riders in his arena were jumping fences that were absolutely huge — he showed me around the yard and just being there, soaking up the atmosphere, meant I came back with this newfound confidence and I felt that I really needed to get a grip over 60cm!”

Clare discovered she was a carrier of the BRCA1 gene and opted for a double mastectomy and hysterectomy to reduce the risk of the cancer returning.

That summer, Clare and Frankie undertook their first unaffiliated one-day-events before heading to Solihull BE80(T)in October, where they completed.

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Clare also raised close to £15,000 in the process, which she split between Willberry and Breast Cancer Care.

“My horse saved my life and the Hannah’s Willberry Wonder Pony Charity saved my sanity,”she said.
Clare is currently cancer-free and continuing to enjoy riding and competing Frankie.

Willberry’s Wishes grants horsey wishes to seriously ill people of all ages, or an immediate family member of someone suffering from a terminal condition and is welcoming applications.

For more information, visit: www.willberrywonderpony.org/pages/willberrys-wishes

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In his new book, Red Rag To A Bull, author Jamie Blackett arrives home from the Army to take over a small family estate on the Solway Firth in Dumfries and Galloway, and finds a rapidly changing countryside.

In a humorous and occasionally moving tale, he describes the return of the native to grapple with the intricacies of farming, conservation and estate management, telling the story of founding a pack of foxhounds and a herd of pedigree beef cattle. Part childhood memoir, part biopic of rural life, readers are transported to a remote and beautiful part of Scotland and acquainted with its wildlife, its people and its customs.

Set over the first two decades of the 21st Century, through the Scottish independence referendum, Brexit and the hunting ban, the result is an enlightened review of the challenges threatening a vulnerable way of life and an emerging philosophy about the directions Scotland, farming and the countryside might take in the brave new world of Brexit.

In this book extract, Jamie is keenly following his pack of hounds on a day’s hunting, when suddenly, disaster strikes…:

Then from the depths of the wood there comes a single, deep, excited note, and then another. Then a breathless pause and several more as other hounds hit on the scent.

‘They’ve found.’ The field goes quiet as we all strain our ears. Paddy is dancing on his toes now, waiting for the off. We edge closer to Piet, the Field Master, so that we can get away in the first echelon.

The scent must be as good as we dared hope. The woods now echo with a riot of noise that goes first this way then that, as it hurtles around the covert like an express train.

Moments later we see hounds tumbling clumsily out of the wood and then back in again. They appear to be heading uphill onto a long bracken bank.

‘Come on, we’ll get round the other side,’ says Piet, as he kicks his horse into action and we speed towards a gap in the wire fence where there is a solid timber hunt jump. Paddy takes it in his stride and I let him have his head, so that he flattens out rhythmically into a fast canter across the springy turf, and I stand in the stirrups, crouched forward to keep my weight off his back. Above us, still in cover, hound music soars and crashes like the 1812 Overture.

Next comes a wall – a tall, solid, unforgiving Galloway dyke made of granite boulders. I check Paddy so that his hocks come underneath him, and we bounce twice before I let him go two strides out. He clears it by a foot and at the top of our flight, in a burst of exuberance, kicks his hind legs up behind him like Nureyev, so that I am nearly pitched out of the saddle. Our blood is up now, as we race away downhill towards the next fence, a low rail down onto a steep bank of bracken and whins.

We need to do a small, neat jump here, so that we can immediately turn right-handed onto a sheep track that runs along the top of the bank. Battling with Paddy on the run in, I shift my weight from side to side to unbalance him and slow him down, but we are still going too fast. I should circle him away from the jump and come back in at a trot, but I hold him, seemingly motionless, as he pauses, then jumps.

We take off like the 11.30 New York flight from Heathrow and go up, and up. Below us the ground falls away with alarming rapidity. Then we are coming down again and I feel him stumble on landing; his head seems to disappear from in front of me, and I am being scraped over the pommel of the saddle and down his neck. The ground rushes up towards me.

‘Oh God, this is going to hurt.’

Darkness.

‘Is he dead?’

‘I don’t like the look of it, he’s not moving.’

‘Has someone gone to catch the horse?’

‘Yes, Malc’s gone.’

Fragments of conversation come and go as if overheard in the street.

‘He’s got a pulse anyway.’

‘Don’t move him, in case he’s broken his back.’

I can’t tell whether this is a dream or whether it is real, and I just can’t wake up.

‘Can you hear me, my love?’ An angelic voice. ‘Can you open your eyes for me.’

I open my eyes and promptly close them again; the world seems confusing and I want to go back to sleep.

‘Listen, Jamie, I want you to wiggle your toes. Can you do that for me?’

Good idea. I wiggle my toes and nod. Thank God, I am not paralysed.

Gradually I come to and my rescuer, fortuitously an off-duty nurse, says, ‘Just lie still, poppet, the ambulance is on its way.’

Soon Malc appears with Paddy. I start scrambling to my feet.

‘No, you are not getting back on, you were out cold for several minutes. You are going straight to hospital,’ says my rescuer.

‘Well, I might as well ride Paddy then,’ ventures Malc, ‘so at least he doesn’t miss out. Can you pass me his hat?’

I told you the Bells are descended from horse thieves.

‘Might as well pass me his flask as well. They will only confiscate it in hospital. And better have his car keys.’

Shameless! Malc and Paddy set off and I go back to sleep again.

The ambulance crew want to know where my hat is.

‘We would have cut the straps on it if you had it, so that you couldn’t wear it again.’

I nod and think of my mother. In the vanity of youth, I had always hunted in a top hat until I got married and then Mum and Sheri had ganged up and forced me to buy a jockey’s crash hat. Maternal instinct is a wonderful thing; I would be dead had they not done so.

When we arrive at the Dumfries Royal Infirmary, the ward sister wants to know what I have had to eat and drink.

I rack my brains.

‘Porridge at about eight, then a few sausage rolls and a slice of fruitcake at elevenish.’

She nods, ‘And to drink?’

‘A couple of glasses of port at about eleven.’ A slight frown plays across her features. ‘Then just the odd swig after that: bramble whisky, cherry brandy, damson vodka, maybe some sloe gin, that sort of thing.’ She looks concerned and scribbles something down on a clipboard.

I have my brain scanned and then I am put to bed and sleep like the dead. Hours later, Malc comes to pick me up. The same ward sister discharges me.

‘Now you are to go straight home and have a good night’s sleep.’ Then her eyes seem to moisten and a gooey maternal look comes over her. ‘And do try and stay off the alcohol, if you can, dear.’

Price: Red Rag To A Bull can be purchased for £20 from Quiller Publishing. It is also available to buy via Amazon.
Published by: Quiller Publishing, 2018

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The 2018 Retraining of Racehorses (RoR) Heart Awards saw 24 former racehorses, from over 300 nominations, reach the shortlist. Over 3,000 online public votes were counted to pick this year’s 12 finalists in the four categories.

Here are the winners…

Native Caption

This versatile 23-year-old (aka Donald) was triumphant in the 2018 RoR Healthy Heart category for owner Karen Harrison — an award given to the best all-rounder.

Native Caption was trained by Tom Tate, running unsuccessfully in hurdles under Rules before going point-to-pointing.

Cheshire-based Karen was diagnosed with cancer 12 months ago and she describes Donald as her rock, who made her treatment more bearable. Karen has had Donald for 16 years and together they have successfully competed in British Eventing (BE), winning 15 times and placed a further 38 times.

Donald also has British Dressage (BD) points and British Showjumping (BS) prize money under his belt. He has also taught Karen’s partner to ride.

“During my chemotherapy, I felt so ill and was completely bald. My treat before each session was a ride on Donald around the local farm,” said Karen. “He was so good with me, my balance and strength was at an all time low and he always behaved perfectly. I don’t think I will ever find such a versatile horse again — he is my horse of a lifetime.”

Elsie’s Star

The 10-year-old is owned by County Durham-based Helen Corner and was crowned the 2018 RoR Biggest Heart Award winner, which is awarded to the horse that has shown the best temperament.

Elsie’s Star raced once on the Flat in 2010 for trainer Tim Easterby.

Following a riding accident earlier in the year, Helen credits the mare’s calm and trusting nature for rebuilding her confidence in the saddle.

The pair went on to win at the NAF Riding Club national showjumping championships, described as a “dream come true” by Helen.

“Elsie’s Star is loved by everyone who knows her — she lets my 11-year-old daughter ride her,” said Helen. “She has excelled in showjumping, dressage and cross-country and brings home the ribbons. I honestly can’t put into words what she has done for my confidence, I wouldn’t have jumped 70cm before.”

Stilo Blue Native

The eye-catching dappled grey topped the 2018 RoR Heartthrob category for owner Samantha Osborne.

The 10-year-old ran under Rules for trainer Rebecca Menzies and only finished his racing career in summer 2017. His retraining started in 2018 and he qualified for the Aintree novice final at Doncaster on his first outing. He followed this up with multiple red rosettes, including three wins at NCPA Pony of the Year Show (POYS) Championships.

He has become a heartthrob on social media and with the judges, earning him the name “Blunicorn.”

“He has blossomed in the past 12 months going from a severely lean and distant 16.2hh frame to a loving tank, who adores cuddles, grooming and friendship,”said Samantha. “He is beautiful both inside and out, and I couldn’t imagine life without him.”

Danish Blues

The 15-year-old won the 2018 RoR Heart Stopper award, which is given to a horse that has overcome adversity.

“Blue” was brought from a field five years ago and has slowly been nurtured back to full health thanks to his rider Stacey Barr, who loans him.

Described as underweight with abscesses and rain scald, Stacey took time to build and gain his trust before working on his confidence under saddle.

Five years on, Blue and Stacey have qualified for area festivals, the BD Championships, the Thoroughbred Championships and RoR Championships. This year, Blue achieved a second and third at the RoR Championships for both prelim and novice level.

“Blue has grown from rescue to reserve champion — he is an amazing horse with lots of grit,”said Stacey. “He constantly raises the bar to new heights with each new challenge.  He really is a diamond in the rough.”

A livery yard and competition centre has re-opened to the public seven weeks after it went on lockdown owing to strangles.

Richmond Equestrian Centre in North Yorkshire announced on 13 August that all upcoming events, including its British Eventing fixture (30 August to 1 September) were cancelled. The centre reopened yesterday (3 October).

Co-owner Abigail Turnbull told H&H five of 26 horses on livery at the centre were diagnosed with the disease.

“Within 10 minutes of receiving the first diagnosis, we went on lockdown,” she said.

“Two days later a second case was confirmed. We have five different yards which we isolated; we knew which horses had been in contact with the initial one and sure enough they were the ones who went down with it.”

Abigail said all horses at the venue are now clear of the disease.

“It’s been quite intense and we’ve been really belts and braces about it,” she said.

“One horse was no longer showing symptoms of strangles and looked fine to the naked eye, but we did a guttural pouch procedure to make sure he had definitely got rid of the infection and it took multiple procedures to get rid of it. Had we not done that he would have turned into a carrier.”

Abigail wants more people to be aware of the facts around strangles.

“It’s about educating people who don’t understand it,” she said. “People can take simple steps like when they go to a competition, giving the temporary stable a quick spray down with disinfectant and not grazing at venues – it’s common sense things, but they’re so important.

“Since having strangles we’ve learnt so much and people need to realise how easy it is to get the infection. Some think if a horse has had it once they can’t get it again – but they can. Or if a horse has had strangles and looks over it, but the owner doesn’t realise it can still become a carrier.”

Richmond Equestrian has taken the Redwings’ pledge to ‘Stamp Out Strangles’. The campaign asks owners and yards to make an online pledge showing their commitment to prevent the disease by taking good biosecurity practices and agreeing to communicate openly about the disease. Richmond has also joined the SRUC Veterinary Services Premium Assured Strangles Scheme, an initiative for yard owners, gaining gold status which means they agree to testing all horses at the yard for the disease annually.

“We’ve been quite vocal about having strangles and have gained respect for doing it that way and for taking a stance. What’s been difficult is the amount of people who said we should have covered it up which I’m gobsmacked at,” said Abigail.

“If we’d opened to the public and let horses come and go the disease is so highly contagious it would have spread like wildfire. Financially it’s been a huge loss, but we’re trying to turn a negative into a positive now.”

The centre is holding an unaffiliated hunter trial on 19 and 20 October with classes from 70cm to 100cm. Entries cost £30 with a starting fee of £10 – discounted for owners who make the Redwings pledge.

“We’ve decided to reduce the start fee from £10 to £5 if people take the pledge and bring their certificates with them. We will also be collecting money for Redwings in donation buckets and hope to make it an annual event,” said Abigail.

“We can’t wait. We’re building cross-country jumps and getting the course ready. All the classes are sponsored and we have £800 in cash prizes.”

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Abigail said public support for the centre had been “massive”.

“We announced on Facebook we were re-opening and the comments have been brilliant. We’ve been inundated with people offering to volunteer at the hunter trials,” she said.

“People are glad that we’ve been honest – it’s horse welfare at the end of the day, it’s not always about making money. We’ve also had fantastic support from our vets, Redwings, the British Horse Society and the British Equestrian Veterinary Association.”

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The government is to address “best practice” on tethering following a debate at parliament yesterday (20 February).

MPs raised concerns about the risk of neglect and welfare issues in tethered horses at the adjournment debate in the House of Commons.

MP Luke Hall, who opened the debate, said as tethered horses can be moved quickly it is “virtually impossible” to monitor their welfare.

“This debate follows the Break the Chain campaign run by the excellent HorseWorld trust, a leading equine rescue charity in the southwest, just next door to my constituency,” he said. “The Break the Chain campaign aims to amend the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to include restrictions on the tethering of horses.

“We are seeing horses being tethered all across the country, potentially leaving them open to neglect, cruelty and abuse, and potentially posing a danger to the people around them, too.​

“Tethering is not deemed enough of a breach of the Animal Welfare Act to allow horse charities to intervene. A tethered horse also does not have the freedom to interact with its own species, as the Act says it should. Leaving horses isolated has been shown to increase stress levels and stress-related hormones, which can cause them to display stereotypical behaviours that cause physical and psychological harm.”

Mr Hall added that long-term tethering is in “direct conflict” with legislation.

“In many instances authorities have not felt that the Animal Welfare Act is strong enough grounds to rescue [tethered] horses, despite the obvious suffering. It is therefore my belief, and the belief of the charity that initiated this campaign, that the Act needs to be amended to state explicitly what constitutes inappropriate tethering,” said Mr Hall.

Parliamentary under-secretary for Defra David Rutley responded to say the aim of the government’s work in this area is to “hightlight that tethering should be for the short term”.

“I should clarify that tethering is not a banned activity, as there are circumstances in which tethering may avoid a greater risk of harm arising—for example, if a horse strayed into a place of danger,” said Mr Rutley.

“The 2006 Act is backed up by a number of statutory codes of practice, including the code for the welfare of horses, ponies, donkeys and their hybrids. The code provides owners and keepers with information on how to meet their animals’ welfare needs and includes a specific section on how to tether horses and other animals covered by the code.

“Although tethering is not prevented or illegal under the code, the code does include detailed specific advice on tethering and how it should be done properly. It details which animals are not suitable for tethering and provides advice on a suitable and appropriate site—for example, a site should not allow the horse access to a public highway or public footpaths.

“The appropriate tethering of horses is an important issue that the government is taking action to address. We have put a number of protections in the 2006 Act, the code for the welfare of horses and the 2015 Act. The strong arguments made today and the concerns that have been raised mean that I shall call for a meeting with key stakeholders in the months ahead to see what more can be done in sharing and documenting best practice on horse tethering and ensuring that messages on best practice are more actively disseminated to horse owners.”

Tethering to be debated in parliament as charity highlights risks of ‘severe’ suffering

The charity received more than 5,000 complaints last year about tethered horses

Bright future for injured filly found tangled in twine

The youngster has returned to World Horse Welfare’s Penny Farm Rescue and Rehoming Centre to continue her education

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HorseWorld fundraising and communications manager Stephen Poole told H&H the debate marks a “major milestone” in the charity’s campaign to end the practice of tethering a horse for long periods of time.

“It’s significant progress and the best possible outcome from this adjournment,” he said.

RSPCA equine welfare expert Mark Kennedy said: “We are pleased to hear the government plans to hold a round table with key stakeholders to discuss the issue further and consider options, and we look forward to contributing to this.”

The birth of a rare zebra at a British zoo has been described as a “miracle” by staff and academics.

The healthy filly is the only surviving Hartmann’s mountain zebra female foal to be born in the UK since 2002.

She is also the sole healthy foal of either gender to be survive since her brother Jabali was born in 2015.

The filly, named Wakanda after a fictional country in the Marvel comics, was born overnight at Blackpool Zoo on 5 September.

Her arrival is crucial to the European Endangered Species Breeding Programme as there are only 9,000 individuals left in the wild and 235 in captivity. Of these, 11 are housed in four zoos across the UK.

Her dam Helene and sire Fernado are the most established breeding pair in the country.

Assistant head keeper Johnpaul Houston discovered the newborn foal when he arrived for work on 6 September.

“We knew Helene was pregnant but with stillbirth rates high in this species we never quite know if the pregnancy will result in a healthy foal,” he said.

“So imagine my joy when I first saw this gorgeous little one contently feeding from Mum on a rainy September morning.

“Of course, once we established that the youngster was healthy the wait was on to see if we had a girl or boy and it wasn’t long before we could confirm the news we had all been waiting for — a baby girl!”

He added Helene is an experienced mother and is doing an “incredible job” of looking after the filly.

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“[Wakanda] is a massive cause for celebration as she is the only surviving female foal born in the UK since 2002,” said Mr Houston.

“After a fantastic summer here at Blackpool Zoo this momentous birth means we have all ended the season on a huge high.”

Hartmann’s mountain zebras are native to Namibia and are most commonly found in the Kunene region in the northwest of the country, which experiences harsh environmental conditions.

Studies indicate that numbers could decline by more than 10% in the next 25 years due to increased hunting and loss of habitat to agriculture.

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Caroline Moore, former four-star eventer and British Eventing national under-18 coach and junior team coach, explains how you can use this exercise to develop your horse’s hoof/brain co-ordination

The aims of the exercise are to improve:

• Hoof/brain co-ordination
• Accuracy
• The hind-leg through the transition
• Rider posture
• Preparation

This is an exercise I regularly use when warming up for jumping or I teach it to a young horse to help the elevation in its work and to also improve the hoof/brain co-ordination.

To show you this exercise, I’m using dressage boards to trot over, distanced one metre apart from each other, but you can also use raised poles. Around 10-12m away, I have an area where I’m going to ask the rider to ride a transition, so there is a lot of preparation to work on. We can use the energy created from riding over the dressage boards to help the hind leg with the walk and halt transition. We then move on to some boards out of the exercise again — this is all about the transition forward into trot and gaining balance and rhythm as early as possible to successfully negotiate the second half of the exercise.

You can see with the first horse in the video, who is four-years-old, how this exercise encourages her to use her eye, and you can see that she is raising her toes just enough. This helps improve the core stomach muscles and raising the shoulder, so it’s a great exercise for a young horse — it’s like taking them to the gym.

Then in the downwards transition, you want to get four-five good steps of walk with the horse staying relaxed — it’s important to prepare this transition as early as you possibly can. Then move forward back into the trot and this is where you really have to work at regaining the energy to ride through the second set of boards.

This is a fairly difficult exercise but a really useful one. This exercise also shows how important it is to look where you’re going and stay in symmetry with the horse so that you stay in perfect balance, allowing the horse to soften.

Next we will make a downwards transition to halt, so you will need to do a bit of preparation using some half halts and thinking forward into the transition. Think of riding forward from behind so that you finish the halt off square.

Then you will ask the horse to move forward into the trot and it’s really important to get activity here. This is quite tricky to do because if they’ve halted, they often just relax a little bit, so it’s very important to ride forward here. The poles or the boards afterwards help with this because it focuses the horse on going forward.

Points to be aware of:

• Maintaining rhythm
• Energy levels
• Fatigue
• Praise and reward

More expert training advice from Caroline:

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As a Cheltenham Gold Cup and dual Champion Chase-winning jockey, Nico de Boinville has been fortunate enough to ride — and win — aboard some of the most eye-catching racehorses, including the Nicky Henderson-trained duo Sprinter Scare and Altior.

But on Sunday (26 August), he swapped a jockey hat for a bowler to be on the judging panel at the Retraining of Racehorses (RoR) Goffs UK National Championships.

A self-proclaimed “amateur judge learning the ropes”, Nico judged the supreme champion alongside his wife, Serena, a Connemara pony breeder, and experienced judge and showing breeder Jonathan Geake.

The trio adjudged 15-year-old former hunter chaser What Of It, ridden by Hannah Horton, as the winner of the coveted supreme champion of the show, to reserve champion Jack The Giant, who was shown in-hand by Clare Poole. Their show ring rivals included the 2016 Gold Cup victor Don Cossack, ridden by Louise Lyons.

“As soon as the horses entered the arena, you could see straight away how much presence What Of It had,” said Nico, whose showing background saw him ride at Horse of the Year Show and the Royal International as a youngster.

“He stood out from the start. We hadn’t seen them stripped beforehand, but his way of going was impressive — he looked exceptional.

“Judging is very subjective, ultimately you are comparing horses to each other and deciding which one you like best,” said Nico.

“There were some lovely horses on the night, but What Of It caught the eye from the start and fortunately all of us on the judging panel agreed!”

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For any racehorse, going under the lights in an arena is a totally different environment to what they are used to when in training, but how important is temperament in the show ring?

“Manners are still important, after all it is called the ‘retraining’ of racehorses,” said Nico. “As a judge, you like to see them trained appropriately — particularly when being ridden under saddle. The in-hand veteran Jack The Giant, who was our reserve champion, was certainly showing his enthusiasm of old, but minor things like this can be forgiven I think.

“As a jockey, I ride a lot of different horses and I would not say I have a particular stamp of horse that I favour,” added Nico. “Although, I do like horses with a classy and intelligent head, who have a nice way of going — a horse that is nice to look at!”

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