“If someone had told me last year that in 2018 I’d be winning a four-star grand prix, become double European [young rider] champion, jump at Aachen and then in a jump-off at the Globals, I wouldn’t have believed it!”
So said 19-year-old Harry Charles after a momentous three days competing in the London leg of the Longines Global Champions Tour (GCT). Not only did the talented young showjumper secure several good placings at this five-star show, he made it through to the jump-off for the prestigious grand prix, where he was competing against the likes of Ludger Beerbaum, Peder Fredricson, Michael Whitaker and victor Scott Brash. With just one fence down against the clock, Harry and ABC Quantum Cruise finished a very creditable sixth. Here, he relives this unforgettable experience with H&H.
“I only had about a week and a half’s notice that I was going to London, so that didn’t give us much preparation time,” said Harry. “But luckily my horses were up and running as we’d come off the back of shows at Aachen and Hickstead.
“I didn’t come to the show with high expectations — I’ve never even been to a GCT show, although I do watch the streaming from the shows every Saturday night, studying these big, careful courses,” said Harry. “I thought I might do OK as my horses had been jumping well, but certainly not as good as I ended up.
“The format of the grand prix really suited Quantum Cruise because the more he jumps, the better he gets,” said Harry. “He’s been close at the last two five-star grands prix he’s jumped at, both at Aachen and Hickstead and there I said to my groom, Dan, ‘I think he’s going to jump clear next week [in London]’. I was very happy to be proved right!
“The way he jumped in the grand prix was like nothing I’ve ever felt before,” said Harry. “To qualify for the grand prix was my goal so to jump clear in it was unbelievable. I pretended it was like any other class but in the back of my mind I was going in to a jump-off against Ludger Beerbaum and Scott Brash!
“We all watched Scott’s round as he was first to go in the jump-off and everyone’s jaw just dropped,” said Harry. “I just made a mistake with an extra stride where he faulted [at the penultimate fence], but he exceeded all expectations.
Ronan Keating at a horse show? A man clearing an Olympic-sized jump? And just how awesome is Bertram Allen’s acrobatic…
“He’ll do one more show then he’s going out in the field,” said Harry of the nine-year-old, whom he only started riding at the end of last year, taking over from father Peter. “We know what we’ve got for next year and that’s a proper grand prix horse and possibly one for the ‘super league’ Nations Cups.
“It’s been the year of my life,” summed up Harry.
Don’t miss the full report from the Longines Global Champions Tour of London, including exclusive comment from John Whitaker, in this week’s issue of Horse & Hound, out Thursday 9 August.
Bespoke hats were stolen from tradestands while the shop owners were sleeping just metres away.
The thefts took place overnight on 21 to 22 June at Dressage at Hickstead’s premier league and dressage masters championships (19-23 June).
Flying Changes Bespoke Jackets & Tailcoats and Tidy Tack Rooms were both targeted.
“It’s very frustrating and disappointing,” said Sarah Cheetham, owner of Flying Changes.
“[The thieves] were very foolish, they’ve taken 20 unique, bespoke hats that are exclusive to us, made up with our own fabrics to match our jackets and tailcoats.”
She added this means they are instantly recognisable if they appear for sale or are worn in competition.
While the dressage competition runs at the same time as the Hickstead Derby meeting, it is at a separate part of the showground and is not under the same organisation or security management as Hickstead Ltd, the All England Jumping Course.
Sarah was sleeping in the lorry behind the trade tent when the crooks cut open the marquee and took the hats.
Among the stolen Charles Owen helmets is the Charlotte Dujardin display hat, which has her Flying Changes tailcoat fabric running through the middle and features red and white piping.
A grey hat with rows of pink crystals on each side of the piping is also among the 20 stolen helmets.
She added the team at Dressage at Hickstead have been “very supportive” and the crime has highlighted a weakness in the security, which they are reviewing.
Four-star event rider Coral Keen provides one H&H forum user with some helpful advice on how to make transitions more…
Cassie Capsey, owner of Tidy Tackrooms, was also asleep in a tent when thieves cut along the zipper tapes of the marquee to steal 10 Scharf UK helmets from her stand.
“They didn’t touch anything else on the stand,” she told H&H. “They took the protective packaging off the hats and left the boxes.”
She added the hats will not be covered by warranty and all have unique serial numbers on them.
Both marquees were locked at the time of the thefts and the store owners are hoping to raise awareness to make the goods “too hot to handle”.
Dane Rawlins, Dressage at Hickstead organiser, told H&Hsecurity will be reviewed.
“We will do our best to do whatever we can,” he said.
He added the team will be looking at improving the CCTV and making changes to the number of patrols on site.
In this week’s Horse & Hound magazine, out on Thursday 28 June 2018, don’t miss our full report from the Hickstead Derby meeting, including all the showjumping and showing action, plus don’t miss our six-page report from Royal Ascot.
We also have a feature on the much discussed whip rules across the disciplines and in this week’s ‘Vet clinic’ we find out how to spot the signs of sand colic.
A young handler made her in-hand class debut a winning one as she scooped the supreme accolade at the North West Championship show with her Welsh section A pony.
Six-year-old Honey Ohara led out her grey gelding Gilfac Zac to perfection to be called top of the 25-stong young handler class before landing the supreme accolade.
“She was the smallest in there by a long way,” said Honey’s mum Chloe, who produces their small team of ponies from their home in Rochdale.
While she is a super keen young horsewoman, Honey’s early years have certainly not been without difficulty. At age two she was diagnosed with hypoglycaemia and has been in and out of hospital ever since.
“This means she can’t tolerate a lot of food and often has to go on a drip,” explained Chloe. “I’ve nearly lost her twice.
“Last June, she was rushed to hospital and had to have a bolt put through her skull as she has chiari 1 malformation [where the lower part of the brain pushes down into the spinal canal].”
“She is on daily medication but despite all this she is so dedicated to her ponies and she has so much enthusiasm. She does her ponies every single day unless she’s in hospital.
Watch out Ruby Walsh, hold on to your hat Shane Breen, because a seriously speedy — and stylish — new
Credit: TI Media
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“When she was in hospital last summer she kept telling the nurses to hurry up and get her out as she had a Horse of the Year Show qualifier to ride in. Three days after she was out, she rode in that very class. She is just incredible.”
At North West Champs, Honey also picked up two fourth places riding her lead rein hunter pony, before netting the top in-hand title with Zac in the evening performance.
“She declared a few weeks ago that she wanted to have a go at in-hand so she’s been practising non-stop,” added Chloe. “The judge told her that she has never seen anyone run a pony out so straight. Honey now wants to compete at the Royal Welsh next.”
For all the latest equestrian news and reports, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday.
An event rider has died as a result of an accident while cross-country schooling in the US.
Mother of one Nicolle Villers-Amatt fell as she was jumping a log fence at Morven Park International Equestrian Center in Leesburg, Virginia, yesterday (8 October).
The 40-year-old was treated immediately by medics and taken to hospital but her life could not be saved.
Ms Villers-Amatt had been eventing since the 1990s, competing up to advanced level (fence height 3’11”). She also rode the diminutive Theodore O’Connor, later ridden at the top level by US rider Karen O’Connor, at CCI* level early in his career.
Her husband Neil Amatt said in a statement: “It is with great sadness that me and my daughter lost my wife and mother yesterday due to a catastrophic riding accident.
“Nicolle died doing what she loved. It was quick and painless, and she was not alone – I thank Katie MacSwain for being with her. She was the best mother and wife any man could ask for.
“Details of Nicolle’s memorial service we will be announced at a later date. Please keep her mother and our daughter in your prayers.”
Mrs Villers-Amatt lived with her husband and two-year-old daughter Zara in Hamilton, Virginia. She ran Five Point Performance Horses, which produced young hunters and eventers.
Morven Park executive director Sheryl Williams said: “The staff and trustees of Morven Park are devastated to hear of the accident.
“We join everyone in the equestrian community in sending our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of the rider involved.”
The horse Mrs Villers-Amatt was riding sustained superficial injuries.
For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday.
“I’m so excited and slightly speechless,” smiled Bella. “It’s the first time we’ve gone inside the optimum time at a CCI3*. She dug so deep for me.”
Bella Innes Ker on Carolyn
The top two remain unchanged, with Pippa Funnell and MGH Grafton Street holding second on 26.7.
“He felt great,” said Pippa. “If you go out there and you’re not thinking about getting the time, it doesn’t put you in the right frame of mind. You need to ride forward to make these courses ride well at three-days.”
Oliver Townend and Ulises complete the top three. They also jumped clear inside the time to finish the second phase on 28.
“He’s very fast and has endless gallop, like [half-brother] Armada [on whom Oliver was second at Badminton],” said Oliver. “He made it feel very easy; he could have gone round twice.”
William Fox-Pitt, who first competed at Blenheim in 1990, is very excited about his CCI3* ride here this year, Oratorio II. They sit in fourth on 28.7.
“This felt so easy for him today,” said William of the nine-year-old. “I think very highly of him and he doesn’t know the meaning of the word tired!”
Australian rider Amanda Ross, who was first reserve for her country’s World Equestrian Games team, is fifth with Koko Popping Candy, while Kitty King and Vendredi Biats are sixth. The top 12 horses all jumped clear inside the time across country.
Kitty’s second ride, Ceylor L A N, who had been sitting in third after the dressage, didn’t seem to lock onto a corner after a table at fence four. After jumping the alternative, Kitty decided to retire.
The final horse inspection will take place tomorrow morning at 8.15am.
Keep up-to-date with all the latest reports from Blenheim via horseandhound.co.uk and don’t miss the full report in next week’s issue of Horse & Hound magazine, out on 20 September
“What a day, what a mare and what a rider – sometimes everything just comes together at the right moment and that’s what dreams are made of,” so said Northern Ireland’s Joanne Sloan Allen after her chestnut mare Suma’s Zorro won showjumping’s richest prize, the $1million CP International presented by Rolex on Sunday (9 September) under Egyptian rider Sameh El Dahan.
“Fourteen years ago, a little chestnut filly was born who believed nothing was impossible, and luckily three months later, fate made her cross my path – another stubborn chestnut mare who believes nothing is impossible and dreams are made,” said Joanne. “Then seven years from that, a revolution in Egypt made the triad complete – Sam [El Dahan] came into all our lives and our journey to this started.”
The scene of this great triumph was the Spruce Meadows Masters in Canada. Sameh and Zorro, an Irish-bred mare by Ard VDL Douglas, produced three foot-perfect rounds to clinch victory in what is considered to be the “world’s toughest grand prix” over fences standing at 1.70m.
“The feeling is indescribable – I need to take a few days to make sure everything sinks in and then I can believe it actually happened,” said Sameh, 33, who studied medicine at university in Cairo but moved to Northern Ireland to concentrate on showjumping.
Zorro was bred at the Suma Stud in Co Kilkenny by Marily Power and Susan Lanigan O’Keeffe. Joanne and Sycamore Stables bought her as a foal.
“She jumped a five-bar gate when she was six-months-old, so they knew she had a jumper!” said Sameh. “Joanne did an amazing job with her – until the mare was seven she mostly rode her, and then I took over the ride. She really trusts us and believes in us.
“She’s very chilled at home and likes her own space – if things are noisy, she will stand in the far corner of her stable with her ears back until it quietens down. Her only real quirk is that she hates the clippers – you cannot get near her legs with them – and if she recognises the vet, she will put her ears back and do tiny jumps in her stable. Other than that, she’s great to do everything with. Joanne does most of the riding on her – I just do the jumping, so I have to thank her for doing such a great job.”
Joanne describes the mare as “an example of all that makes the Irish horse great — a mixture of heritage, breeds and blood and a fighting spirit instilled in our horses down the generations”.
“Zorro, today you have proved that giants truly do come in all sizes,” she added. “You may be small in stature but today you proved to the world you are a champion. To everyone who has ever dreamed, let this inspire you – work hard, dream big and never give up.”
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s Cian O’Connor’s new flying horse Clenur, who boasts a particularly…
This success comes just two months after Suma’s Zorro and Sameh El Dahan received a standing ovation for taking a five-star victory in the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Paris.
The winning pair now head for the World Equestrian Games (WEG), and then will concentrate on trying to win more legs of the Rolex Grand Slam.
You can read the full story of their success in Calgary in this week’s H&H, out Thursday 13 September.
The Warwickshire’s team chase has been cancelled due to the severe impact the extended dry spell has had on the course.
The fixture was scheduled to be the first of the 2018 autumn season on 2 September at Watergall (not pictured), with the exception of the arena team chase at Lands Eventing.
The cancellation serves a further blow to the 2018 British Team Chasing calendar, which suffered a much depleted spring fixture list due to ice, snow and heavy rain.
But the organisers have pledged to turn the disappointing news into a positive, using the time to improve the course and hedges for 2019.
The committee made the tough decision after walking the course last week following “fears regarding the ground”.
Ahead of the rescheduled Skinner’s Pet Foods National Championship this weekend (Sunday 1 May) at the Heythrop team chase, Jane…
“As a result of the extremes of weather that we suffered last winter and have endured this summer, the ground has taken an absolute battering,” said a statement from the organisers.
“Despite being really good, reliable old turf, the drought has really sapped all life out of the course and caused large holes and cracks to appear in front of the hedges and sporadically around the whole track.
“The committee discussed at length the different options that we had regarding the condition of the ground, but ultimately it was decided that the safety of the competitors and horses must always come first and may be put at risk if we were to run the event.”
All entries will be refunded.
“Everyone is absolutely shattered by the decision but we will endeavour to use the year off to improve the course, lay new hedges and let our existing hedges get bigger and better for 2019.
“We hope that you enjoy the rest of the team chasing season as there are many other events on close to Warwickshire.”
The next fixture in the British Team Chasing calendar is the Belvoir at Garthorpe on 9 September.
“Please go and support them and British Team Chasing, it is a great event,” added the statement.
For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday
Paul Kennedy riding Cartown Danger Mouse winners of the CSI4* Grand Prix (Class 52) in the International showjumping competition during the Equerry Bolesworth International Horse Show at Bolesworth Castle near Chester in Cheshire in the UK on 17th June 2018
Ireland’s Paul Kennedy and the home-bred Cartown Danger Mouse (Maddy) scored a breath-taking win in the Equerry Horse Feeds Bolesworth grand prix on the final day of Equerry Bolesworth International Horse Show.
This combination had already scored a brilliant four-star victory in the Watts Commercial Finance competition earlier in the week and when they produced a foot-perfect first round clear in a sharp time to earn pole position, the odds considerably shortened for a grand prix win.
Chasing fast times set by next placed Billy Twomey (Kimba Flamenco/38.65) and John Whitaker (Cassinis Chaplin/40.07) Paul soaked up the pressure like a sponge to bring the daughter of Harlequin Du Carel home in 38.56.
“Maddy has jumped well all week and although she has her own style, she has a massive heart and tries for you.
“I knew just what we had to and didn’t feel any pressure coming down the tunnel, but when I saw the time flash up on the scoreboard, I wasn’t sure we had won; it was so close.
“This is a day I’ll won’t forget in a hurry, as I never thought I would be standing ahead of two of my idols Billy Twomey and John Whitaker,” said Paul, who is based with Dave and Sharon Quigley in nearby Whitchurch.
Billy Twomey was also delighted with Kim Barzilay’s home-bred Kimba Flamenco, a nine-year-old who is by Billy’s former top ride Je T’Aime Flamenco.
“The course proved difficult enough and tested jumping ability and scope. I’m disappointed not to win, but Kimba is just stepping up to this level and he performed really well,” said Billy.
John Whitaker was also moving up Cassinis Chaplin up a gear and was delighted to post one of their best results.
“He’s a big, strong horse with plenty of power,” said John.
Kelvin Bywater set a suitably testing 13-fence first round course which included lots of committed distances and a couple of lines offering riders a choice of strides.
Apart from the 16-jumping-efforts required to post a clear round, the time allowed also proved a stern test with seven combinations finishing over the 68 seconds limit.
Frustratingly, four of those had jumped clear to incur a single time fault, and four of those combinations producing first round clears had run it close by finishing less than one second off that time allowed.
Charlotte triumphs in Mount St John Freestyle’s first grand prix special, with Carl tops the kür.
With the rules of the competition dictating the top 25% of the 41-strong field, or all clear rounds qualify for the next round, two of the fastest carrying a single penalty did progress to the final round to compete alongside the nine combinations finishing clear.
Two other riders also produced double clears, William Whitaker (Illusionata Van’t Meulenhof) and Pedro Junqueira Muylaert (Prince Royal Z MFS) filling fourth and fifth places.
Good second round clears secured sixth and sevenths place for Ireland’s Richard Howley (Dolores) and Mexican rider Eugenio Garza Perez (Pappa Ante Portas 2) who finished on one time fault apiece.
Don’t miss the full report from Equerry Bolesworth International Horse Show in next Thursday’s Horse & Hound, on sale 21 June 2018.
Character building and soul-destroying in equal measure, surviving a naughty first pony is a rite of passage. The Horse & Hound team recounts some of their early memories of life in the saddle…
Pippa Roome, magazine editor
“I had this pony called Fly (pictured above) on loan and he was a total saint except that he did have a wicked buck and drop shoulder manoeuvre which he used to drop me a few times. Mum and I spent a good deal of time chasing him across the common after I’d fallen off and I learnt never to let go of the reins if you fall off, which I’m pretty good at to this day.
“He also wasn’t shod at all when I first rode him and later only in front and he used this as an excuse to walk as slowly as possible at all times when on any sort of hard or stony surface. I remember going to my first show — me, a friend and Mum — and hacking there and back, which took about 90min each way for a pretty short ride.
“At the end of the day we were so exhausted and after we’d left the pony at his home (he still lived with his actual owners in our village at that point although he later came to live with us) we walked to my Gran and Grandad’s and basically collapsed into their house and they gave us drinks and food and drove us home. Grandparents are the best.”
Madeleine Silver, features editor
“Oh it’s all so humiliating, I’ve tactically deleted most of the memories of my childhood ponies. There was the Exmoor who would only reach the other end of the bending poles if his field mate was standing at the opposite side of the ring — a logistical nightmare — the New Forest who would put her head down to eat grass mid-canter so I would slide down her neck in slow motion, and the Connemara whose only reliable characteristic was that we could be certain that every show would begin with the commentator calling ‘loose horse’ as she made another break for freedom from the trailer.
“Piecing all those early ponies together 20 years on, I can’t help now wondering if these recurring blunders might have been more to do with my own Thelwell rider status… On the plus side, by the time I was in my mid-teens and had graduated onto a horse who vaguely did what I wanted him to do, I felt like I had been gifted a Badminton-winning prodigy. He was God.”
Carol Phillips, website editor
“I remember riding a beautiful chestnut pony with white socks and a flaxen mane and tail called Fly, who used to always have to be rear-file in the riding school because if another pony got too close behind him, he would spin round and charge at it teeth bared.
“Being rear file was fine until the exercise required the lesson to do something like cantering from the front of the ride to the back. I remember falling off him four times in one lesson when he spun around before vowing to never ride him again.
“Taking pity on me, my instructor agreed for a while, before deciding to stick me back on him much to my distress some months later. My riding must have progressed so I was slightly less of a passenger at this point, as he proceeded to be a total angle and I had the most brilliant lesson, including jumping a row of barrels for the first time. I was then hooked and asked to ride him every week until it was decided that I really was too tall for him and I had to move on something larger.”
Rachael Turner, news writer
“My first pony, Pippin, was a very pretty 12.2hh New Forest mare. She looked like butter wouldn’t melt but was an absolute minx. Her tricks including dashing out of the trailer backwards, galloping home on hacks and pulling off her bridle in showing classes. I wouldn’t hear a word against her though and was beside myself when I outgrew her.”
Martha Terry, sub editor
“Harlequin was a really zippy 14.2hh, thoroughbred x New Forest. I wish we’d had pony racing in my day because he was so speedy. He used to gallop everywhere, the moment he set foot on grass he’d tuck his pretty head in and charge off, which was great fun, until I took him hunting. I simply could not stop him overtaking the master.
“My hands were rubbed raw with blisters and I was crying with embarrassment and aches. I was finally asked to take my pony home, but couldn’t get him to leave the party, when a lovely master, the late Sir Willie Aldous, came alongside me, and took Quin and me hacking round the fields for an hour to try to get him to calm down so I could rejoin the hunt. He never did, but I remember that kindness 25 years on!”
You suspect your daughter is trying to tell you something. But what on earth could it be….? Let’s examine the…
Alex Robinson, showing editor and features assistant
“After moving from my first pony who was the ultimate little gem (an Irish bog pony called Sydney we bought from a dealer), I got a 12hh chestnut Welsh section A gelding called Cosy, who was anything but.
“He might have been small (and so was I at the time) but he was the strongest thing I think I’ve ever ridden in my life. I will never forget going in the Nursery Stakes at the Ponies UK Summer Championships, jumping the first two fences and then getting tanked off with a flat out gallop round and round the arena. A man who was standing at the side of the ring had to jump under the fence and grab him before leading him out, with me crying.”
Gemma Redrup, online journalist
“My first pony was called Treasure. Never was a pony so poorly named. My late grandparents left me some money, and aged six, I paid £600 for the 12hh chestnut mare. She was wonderful in many ways but had a real ‘character building’ streak.
“Her greatest accolade was being banned from our local Pony Club, the Burghley. The tipping point was at my first mini Pony Club camp in Burghley Park in 1996. Treasure had a fantastic knack of rearing up and falling over backwards (I hasten to add, there was no veterinary reason for this). When she did it twice on the final day of camp, her pièce de résistance being dumping me in a thick patch of nettles, the powers that be said enough was enough. And rightly so. Despite some great days with us and plenty of rosettes (usually for improving/trying rather than winning), she went on to teach countless tots to ride in our local riding school, where she fully lived up to her name.”
Don’t miss this week’s Horse & Hound magazine (7 June 2018) for our pony special, where top riders remember their naughty first ponies, and we find out how to find the dream child’s pony
For all the latest equestrian news and reports, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday
A pub has cancelled its annual firework display and plans to work with livery yards to hold an animal-friendly event next year.
The management team at the Ship Eighton Banks in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, announced on Wednesday (16 October) that the display would not be going ahead.
Event manager Jacob Carr told H&H: “Over the years the pub has always held a Bonfire Night display but we became aware of how many livery yards are nearby as well as a dog shelter and we made the decision to protect animals in the area.
“We’ve had a look online and there are silent fireworks available. They come with more of a cost than normal fireworks which we couldn’t fund immediately so we’ve decided to look at that for next year.”
Jacob said the pub plans to make an animal-friendly display the focus in future.
“We have people from the livery yards, farms and the dog shelter come into the bar and we want their input on what they deem suitable for the protection of animal welfare. I hope we can help get the message out there and it will be a helpful tool in educating people,” he said.
“Our post has been shared a lot online – it’s been brilliant. It shows people want change. Some people can be a bit naïve about fireworks as it’s easy to forget the impact they can have, especially on horses and dogs. It’s not that people don’t care, but there’s a lack of education. Through no fault of their own they might not understand the impact fireworks have on animals.”
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Jacob said the pub will hold an event on 5 November without fireworks.
“In essence we could be missing out as a business by not having the display, it’s a spectacle and people like to take their children, but that’s why we’re going to do a bonfire quiz and some outdoor grilled food and show we are offering something else instead of fireworks,” he said.
“We are going to give everyone a sparkler and take a picture in the dark for social media and show the support we’ve gained from the decision.”
For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday.
