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!”
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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.
A new facility for services and information on “end of life decision making” has been piloted in Scotland.
The Equine End of Life Service, created by the National Fallen Stock Company, a not-for-profit organisation, is a website offering information on different options for euthanasia, removal and disposal.
National Fallen Stock Company chairman Michael Seals said: “End of life decision-making for any horse owner is emotional and challenging, and we hope that our simple and straightforward information service and facility will help.
“Our intention is to provide a smooth, sympathetic and stress-free service to horse owners and their vets at a most difficult and stressful time. The staff in the office are horse owners and understand the sensitivity. We’re very conscious of the fact its not like dealing with farm animals, and there is a very strong tie to these pets.
“Our strap line is ‘Respectful to the end’ because that’s what we strongly believe in – we want to give owners, horses, and everyone involved respect. It gives a more human approach to it rather then a clinical collection and disposal of an animal”.
The service offers access to “experience, skilled and sympathetic” euthanasia and collection professionals by using a network of independent, licensed collectors that the company works with.
“They abide to the highest welfare standards, and biosecurity levels are strictly upheld at all times. The website platform also acts as a postcode-based quote generating service, with staff helping with the logistics and payment for the chosen service,” said a spokesman for the National Fallen Stock Company.
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Charities are “fully behind” the service including the British Horse Society, Blue Cross, The Horse Trust, World Horse Welfare and the Donkey Sanctuary.
Scotland’s chief veterinary officer, Sheila Voas, said the concept and website are “really good” and she is “delighted” the pilot is running in Scotland.
The company aims to roll out the service to the resk of the UK in summer. Further information can be found at www.equine-endoflife.co.uk.
For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday.
A pony has been used for the first time in a survey by UK archaeologists to unearth a medieval site.
Experts had identified a diamond shaped feature in a field at East Boldre in the New Forest and wanted to investigate further.
The site thought to be that of a medieval hunting lodge had originally been spotted using Lidar, an airborne laser scanning technique.
Such surveys are usually carried out by a magnetometry cart pulled by a vehicle, but due to the sensitivity of the site a pony was considered less intrusive.
The New Forest National Park Authority and Bournmouth University called on the services of Jerry, a pony lent by the New Forest Driving Society.
“This innovative approach to surveying is meant to overcome some of the issues we have to juggle when surveying archaeology in the fragile habitats of the National Park,” said Lawrence Shaw, New Forest National Park Authority archaeological officer
“By utilising traditional Forest skills and knowledge such as pony driving and the latest research from the university, we can look to improve our knowledge and understanding of the Forest’s rich heritage without impacting on the land itself,” he added.
A horse’s skeleton has been discovered beneath the site of Charles II’s stables in Newmarket
Dr Derek Pitman of Bournemouth University said “the ability to combine pony power and cutting edge geophysical survey allowed us to far better understand the New Forest’s rich cultural history than ever before.”
The survey is the result of a partnership between the National Park Authority and Bournemouth University to improve understanding of usual lumps and bumps through the LocATE (Local Archaeologicial Training and Equipment) project.
Geogphysical equipment has been provided to local interest groups within the New Forest to help undertake detailed surveys of buried archaeological sites. Within the New Forest, the scheme has helped map Neolithic long barrows, Iron Age hill forts and Roman pottery kiln sites.
For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday
A “revolutionary” app offers users rewards in exchange for riding.
The Huufe app, founded by Charlie Trietline and Richard Philips, has teamed up with equestrian retailers to offer discounts to users.
Riders can create personal profiles, along with profiles for their horses, on which they can post videos and photographs and share with friends who also have the app.
Key features include the “HuufeCoin” rewards programme, which allows riders to earn “coins” for riding, which can be exchanged in the HuufeCoin marketplace. Half an hour’s riding equates to one HuufeCoin with a maximum of three available per day. Current offers available in the marketplace include 35% off retailers Derby House and Ride-away and 50% off gold membership of the Harry Hall One Club.
Users can track their rides and record vaccinations, worming and farrier visits in their horses’ profiles.
Richard Philips said: “Our aim is to give the riding community the app they deserve. One that makes riding more fun, safer, easier to manage and definitely more rewarding. We have built features that riders have asked for, such as: ride tracking (with photo and video capture), horse profiles, rider profiles, and horse/stable management.
“To capture your rides, you simply download the app, add your horse‘s name, put your phone back in your pocket and ride. The GPS in your phone then captures your location and speed, which is saved for you to keep and share it you want. You can see where you have been and keep this as a record for ever. You can also automatically add pictures and videos of your ride.”
An additional feature available on the app for £1.50 is a safety package.
Charlie Trietline said: “The safety feature ‘SafeRide’ uses motion sensors in the phone to detect when a rider falls and is not moving. It then alerts nominated contacts that an incident has occurred. The exact location is given with directions to the fallen rider. The second safety feature ‘LiveRide’ allows nominated people track a rider’s location in real time.
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“The safety package is proving very popular, especially as it costs less than a cup of McDonalds coffee.”
Owners can appoint administrators and riders on the app to help with their horse’s management and allow them to see when their horse has been exercised. The app also has a group facility that allows riding schools and clubs to create a collaborative area to share news and events.
Huufe, which generates revenue through commission on sales made at retailer websites, is free to download and available on Apple and android devices.
For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday.
