Teenage showjumper Olli Fletcher has soared into the record books as the youngest ever winner of an Area Trial.

These 1.50m classes are some of the most prestigious on the national circuit and always a highly competitive affair, so when 15-year-old Olli, son of the great showjumpers Graham and Tina Fletcher, was handed the red ribbon at Wales and West last weekend (18-21 May), it was a truly momentous moment for the whole family.

“The first round asked plenty of questions and it wasn’t over until you’d jumped the last, but the jump-off was smooth and flowing,” says Olli, who was riding the 15-year-old former eventer KBIS Caicos.

“He’s amazing, lovely to ride and has so much scope that every fence is like jumping a vertical.”

Olli would love to follow in his mother’s footsteps and win the Hickstead Derby, but his immediate aims are a place on the junior European jumping team and a tilt at the Queen Elizabeth II Cup at the Royal International.

“I’d love a crack at the Derby, but rules say I’ve got to wait three years until I’m 18,” says Olli. “Caicos has already jumped it with [former rider] Alfie Bradstock and although he’s 15 now, he thinks he’s seven.”

Olli’s father Graham reckons he didn’t win his first Area Trial until the age of 16, so son Olli is already giving him a very good run for his money.

“To win a Trial at his age is a great achievement,” Graham told H&H. “Your only hope as a parent is that your children do better than you, and, with the right rub of the green, I think he could go on to do very well.

“I’d say Olli is a pretty similar personality to me – a bit cocky and, like my Dad had to do to me, sometimes I have to keep him in check! But I would say his riding is a lot more stylish than mine was, but I think every rider has to be nowadays just because of the type of horses they’re riding. The courses back then were a fair bit gutsier and tougher, too — you had to ride with a bit more vigour, shall we say!”

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Don’t miss the full report from Wales and West in next week’s issue of H&H, out Thursday, 7 June.

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

From Broomstick the skinny thoroughbred who liked to take off, to the German-bred Kraut, some funny horse names are so bad, they’re unforgettably good…

1. Houdini

Obvious reasons, found wandering around the stable yard.

2. Bunny Killer

Real name Murphy but nick-named Bunny Killer as he trampled some rabbits to death in his field.

3. Badly

Always amusing to hear: “next in, we have Jo Bloggs riding Badly”…

4. Clear So Far

Talk about jinxing every jumping round and being condemned to a life of having the first fence down.

5. Prudence

She opened gates, her stable door, untied ropes, went into the feed room and flipped up lids, and even climbed through electric fencing. But she always weighed up the pros and cons of her actions so she never got hurt.

6. Bandit

A Shetland pony. He was very naughty and always up to mischief. A perfect match for his name.

7. Hannibal Lector

Used to kill rats in his stable. Also one day turned to the horse in the stable next door and bit its tongue out.

8. Snoreen

He actually snores when he’s asleep. It’s hilarious.

9. Puff

This little grey pony farted a lot at Pony Club.

10. Wotsit

We could never remember his name. We’d say “Y’know, what’s his name”, and eventually Wotsit stuck.

11. Lucky Strike

Turned out to be a ringer. Not such a lucky strike!

12. Trauma

He had a difficult birth. Life was a bit of an uphill struggle for him with that name.

13. Heidi

A 12hh Welsh mountain pony. She was palomino with long blonde locks.

14. Nipper

A 14.2hh New Forest/thoroughbred who used to mistake hair for hay.

15. Spirit Of Independence

She was born on 4 July… Independence day. But she was certainly a ‘free spirit’ and would ditch her rider at any given opportunity.

16. Pants

His actual stable name is Smartie, but somewhere along the line this evolved into Smartie-pants, then just Pants. Cue funny looks calling his name at shows.

17. Broomstick

A skinny bay thoroughbred who liked to take off.

18. Frog

He was imported from France.

19. Kraut

She was German-bred.

20. Treasure

A 12hh Welsh chestnut mare and a total pain in every way possible. Banned from Pony Club. Had a nasty rearing habit. Not a Treasure in any way, shape or form.

21. VIP

Which has, bizarrely, been elongated for his stable name into Very Important Peanut — or Peanut if we’re feeling lazy.

22. Hoarse

A Canadian horse with a minor respiratory problem. Bit of a cruel name, but also inspired.

23. OP

He’s ginger and it stands for Orange Pony. He is even freezmarked OP.

24. Horsey McHorseFace

A racehorse named after Boaty McBoat Face. He is now in training in Australia.

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25. Massey

She was hugely fat when she arrived, so she got called Massey (as in Fergurson) before anyone checked the name in her passport.

26. Fab

She isn’t. She’s just generally angry about life and likes to make her feelings plain.

• Does your horse have a funny name? Let us know by emailing hheditor@timeinc.com and we may add it to our list…

A beloved veteran gelding has been put down as a result of injuries sustained while being chased by a dog.

Claire O’Kane’s two Arab horses and loan pony were turned out in their field in Bedfield, Suffolk, when the incident took place.

The dog, believe to be a bull terrier, entered the paddock and chased the horses for around 15 minutes.

Claire was working at the time, but her neighbour spotted the horses being chased and informed Claire later that day (19 April).

Although Claire checked the horses in the dark that evening, it wasn’t until the next morning that the full extent of the injuries became apparent.

Her retired Arab, Mirshid al Nowak, was left very lame and following a vet inspection it was decided it was kindest to put him to sleep.

Claire’s other Arab, Qasaria, and Welsh section A pony, Thistledown Emma, were not injured, but Claire is “worried sick” the dog will get into the field again.

“They’ve only got to be chased and run into a fence and they could be seriously injured,” she told H&H.

“My neighbour said the dog was so out of breath it was drinking from the horses’ drinkers. I don’t know what the owner was doing.”

Claire contacted police and hopes the dog’s owner can be traced.

She said Mirshid was “completely priceless and irreplaceable”.

The pair competed at the Arab Horse Society National Show, as well as enjoying dressage, long-distance rides and jumping prior to his retirement.

“He was a very good all-rounder and a best friend,” said Claire.

“He introduced my two children to horses and was so gentle and kind. I couldn’t have wished for a greater horse, he was the king of our yard.”

A spokesman for Suffolk Police has issued an appeal to trace the dog’s owner.

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“The dog is described as brown/fawn bull terrier and was with a woman, thought to be the owner,” he said.

“Police are reminding dog owners to take appropriate steps to keep their pets under control as they are responsible for them and their conduct when out walking.”

Witnesses or anybody with any information are urged to contact Suffolk Police by calling 101 quoting reference 24194/18 or use the online reporting link http://www.suffolk.police.uk/contact-us/report-something

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.

Chiara is now on a three-week break whereby she enjoys her time in the field with regular grooming and pampering in the form of massages and physio.

One serious issue came to light at Windsor which was that neither her numnah nor her girth was doing her any favours with rubs in strategic places. This is not as easily rectified as it might seem; everything will now have to be checked, the saddle refitted, new numnahs (pure orthopaedic wool, of course) and establishing why her very expensive girth rubs and what the solution would be. She is so fine skinned that perfection is really the only option and these issues only show up after she has covered a considerable distance.

Pretty Chi at Windsor

Last weekend I helped at the iconic Golden Horseshoe ride on Exmoor. This time last year, I was at the same place but the difference was immeasurable. The biggest factor to cause this difference was the weather (pictured top in the rain in 2015). Last year was typical ‘Horseshoe weather’; rain and wind and not very warm. But this year it was like being on another planet with warm sunshine and a light breeze, perfect conditions for endurance.

The largely dry weather leading up to the event meant that the going on Exmoor, often really difficult, wet and deep; was pretty much as good as you can get, resulting in several of the coveted ‘Golds’ being awarded in both the main 160km Horseshoe class and the 120km Exmoor Stag class.

For me this weekend was a chance to give a little back to our sport and do what many of us endurance riders do; volunteer to help the busy, overworked organisers. Actually it was fun! I got to do car parking (again), help with the very large pleasure ride class and actually judge for an award as well as covering the Facebook feed. It was almost a holiday with the aroma of sunscreen prevailing over the usual smell of eau de horse!

The tort-up at the Golden Horseshoe

With being away three weekends in a row, the washing builds up and the heap on the chair gets correspondingly deeper; you know when you have a pile of clothes which you’ve worn perhaps an hour and then needed to change for a different task. These clothes, while not really dirty enough to warrant a trip to the washing machine, are not clean enough to return to the depths of the wardrobe or over-stuffed chest of drawers. This is something I have always struggled with and, as I look at the heap of clothes on my chair, I am beginning to wish that I could just stick to one colour scheme because none of these items can be worn with another one: orange is the competition colour, grey is my sponsor’s colour, red and navy some of my favourite Team GBR kit and deep pink which is my best colour (yes, I have had my colours done, darling!): decisions…

A competitor at this year’s Golden Horseshoe in the sun

Today I was a little short of time and decided to take Dilmun and Fantom out together, riding Dilmun and leading Fantom. About a mile or so from home I had an incident with a horse lorry. These are very narrow, very quiet Cornish lanes and this lorry drove to within a metre of us, tailgating us down the very steep lane even though they could see I was going to pull into a driveway some 20 metres away. We shot in sideways while said lorry roared past hooting and this was a HORSE lorry. What is wrong with people?

Training has now focussed on Fantom in an effort to improve his strength and fitness which, despite his successful completion of a 40km ride, still leaves ongoing work if we are to contest a one-star towards the end of June. This competition in Norfolk is intended to be in part a test to see if he has overcome his ‘tying up’ problem and partly to just enjoy for its own sake and be competitive. I have now added an ulcer remedy to his diet as it is probably the only thing I haven’t done as a tying up prevention. He does, however, appear to be having a little ‘down’ patch at the moment and has reverted to his ‘super slug’ status and training sessions are a bit of an effort. However, it is extremely hot and humid here in the far west and I am hoping this is just due to the weather.

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The dry weather has transformed daily life at Watergate Endurance mainly because there is no mud! However, instead of the obligatory mucking out of stables and field shelters, poo picking is now one of the largest tasks. I had a pleasant surprise this evening when I found that the ‘poo fairy’ had been and miraculously transformed one of my paddock areas into an almost manicured lawn (well, perhaps not quite manicured, but certainly an improvement): thank you Emily (Wiz’s jockey).

Annie

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

In this week’s edition, out on 24 May, don’t miss our “cob special”, including how to find the perfect cob, meet champion cob Our Cashel Blue and more.

Eventer Emily King is looking forward to her move to Cheshire, to base her operation with her boyfriend, fellow event rider Sam Ecroyd.

Since making the decision to ride professionally, Emily has been based with her mother, top rider Mary King, in their Devon yard, but she is due to make the “big leap” this summer.

“He’s got a business up there so I’m setting up at his yard,” she told H&H. “I’m going to be taking on the northern circuit!”

And although Emily said the change will be a big one for her, she explained that she and Mary have always done “everything separately” with their horses in Devon, despite the fact they share the same yard, so it will not be as much of a difference as some might have thought.

“The only real change is that we won’t be travelling together to competitions any more,” she said. “Everything will be the same at home and we’ll still be at all the same events. It’ll be a different location, but everything else very similar!”

Emily said the aim is to make the move towards the end of July.

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Sam, 21, has enjoyed international success up to three-star level, including riding on teams for Britain.

He was on the gold medal-winning team at the 2010 pony European Championships, following this up with team bronze and individual silver the following year.

Emily cited the move as one of the reasons the previous owner of Langford Take the Biscuit had to sell the six-year-old gelding, which sparked Emily’s successful crowdfunding campaign. Donors contributed the £40,000 necessary to buy the horse to allow Emily to keep the ride.

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

In this week’s edition, out on 24 May, don’t miss our “cob special”, including how to find the perfect cob, meet champion cob Our Cashel Blue and more.

For those of you who have been around for a while, you know that Horse and Man has helped The Golden Carrot almost every December.  TGC takes in the old and special needs horses – the group that usually always ends up down the long road to nowhere…  Casey showers the 40+ old timers in her care with love, great feed, supplements and meds, if needed.

Over the weekend, Casey’s home and all the horses’ feed/supplements/medications BURNED to the ground.  It was terrifying. Casey made it out with only the clothes she was wearing.  The fire was so hot, it burned completely before the Fire Department arrived.

The Golden Carrot lost all of the horse feed, the water well pump, all of the horses’ meds (previcox, bute, banamine, penicillin, SMZ, gentacin, etc,,,), supplement, feed, tack, halters, lead ropes, saddles, etc.  EVERYTHING.

If you receive this post via email, CLICK HERE TO DONATE!

The fire was so hot, everything burned to the ground before the fire department could get there. Casey was lucky have made it out.

Burned to the ground. There was nothing spared. She lost all of her personal belongings as well as all the meds, supplements, feed, tack, halters, saddles….

THIS WAS VERY TOUGH TO LOSE ALL THEIR FEED, SUPPLIES, MEDS AND SUPPLEMENTS FOR THESE 40 ELDER AND SPECIAL NEEDS HORSES… LET’S PLEASE HELP THE GOLDEN CARROT GET BACK ON THEIR FEET.

Casey is so devoted to her 40+ elder, special needs horses…  I hate to see her without the means to replace what was lost, and to carry on for these horses.

I believe in what The Golden Carrot does, I believe in helping older horses – and I also believe Horse and Man readers can spread wide arms around TGC at this time.  THANK YOU!!

The post EMERGENCY BUCKET FUND FOR THE GOLDEN CARROT – IT BURNED DOWN. PLEASE DONATE! appeared first on Horse and Man.

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The Horse & Hound Festival of Eventing, run in association with KBIS were a runaway success for the second year.  We’re sad it’s all over now, so to reminisce, here’s just a few of the things we learnt at Keysoe over the Bank Holiday weekend (26-28 May)…

1. The prizes were awesome (again!)

80cm winner Beccy Belcher’s prize haul

This wasn’t an ordinary unaffiliated event, this was an unaffiliated event boasting thousands of pounds worth of prizes. To give you an idea, here’s what you won if you scooped first place in any of the four classes:

£250 from KBIS to be redeemed against an insurance policy
NAF goody pack made up from

• • 1 x Ice Cool
  • 1 x Superflex 800g
  • 1 x Cooling Wash
  • 1 x Show Off
  • 1 x Leather Cleanse and Condition
  • 1 x Recover

Bates eventers pack

• • 1 x dressage saddle cloth
  • 1 x polo wraps
  • 2 x jump saddle cloths
  • 1 x stall guard

A pair of Ariat long boots
A pair of Icevibe boots
Winner’s rug
A pot of Sliverfeet liquid hoof oil
A Likit

Even better, the excellent prize haul awarded those all the way down to 10th place.

2. One competitor was supremely cool in the face of a adversity

One rider was faced with a bit of a problem when facing a bridle malfunction while going through the water complex on the cross-country, but she remained calm and both horse and rider escaped from the incident unscathed.

3. Age? It’s just a number

Whether you are 11 or 72, age really doesn’t matter. Competitors as young as 11, such as Frankie Fox who was second in the 70cm class, gave the grown-ups a run for their money. While Sally Pidsley, last year’s 70cm winner, who finished a highly creditable third in the same class this time around, is 72. Aaron Clark was also another 11-year-old competitor, who is pictured having a whale of a time below.

4. All shapes, sizes and colours of horse and pony were welcome

Large, small, bay, grey and everything in-between — all sorts of horses and ponies gave the competition their best shot. In fact, of the four classes, two winners were riding coloureds and one was on a dun. And then there was this one — a real life My Little Pony!

5. All was not lost if you didn’t make it round the cross-country

Those that didn’t complete the cross-country phase were allowed to trot-up and complete a consolation showjumping round on the final day.

6. The commentator was brilliant…

Nick Woods deserved a medal for his brilliant commentary throughout the competition. He made the event feel like Badminton and so many were full of praise for his hard work — not to mention his unwavering enthusiasm during nine hours (!) of cross-country action.

7. …As was the catering team

There were no greasy burger vans in situ at Keysoe, just delicious, fresh food, all day every day — take a bow, catering team — you were ace (as was your macaroni cheese)

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8. Takeaways do deliver to Keysoe

But if you did fancy half a duck and some crispy seaweed, the sight of one group of riders in the lorry park tucking into a Chinese confirmed the local takeaway does deliver to Keysoe.

9. Fun was had by all

From a drinks party with endless bottles of fizz to a live band and insightful demos, there was never a dull moment at the H&H Festival of Eventing, and the competitors and their supporters sure knew how to have fun!

Don’t miss the full report from the Horse & Hound Festival of Eventing in the 7 June issue of Horse & Hound magazine

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

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

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