Home///14-Sep-2017/In This Issue
Horse & Hound|14-Sep-2017Winter life-savers‘No one dares cut in front of her rider into the practice fence; she’ll probably deck their groom’THE BURGER VAN MULTI-TASKERJEAN runs Freezing Farm EC’s burger van on autopilot. She can flip a fried egg, make a flat white and cut a piece of carrot cake simultaneously while calculating your change. This does mean that she always gives you onions, despite you shouting NO ONIONS in answer to her question every time. But the traditional onion scrape-off is a Freezing Farm tradition and well worth it. Jean’s portions of cheesy chips are massive, she’ll do the egg in your breakfast bap as runny or hard as you like, the sausages actually contain meat and the brownies are amazing. She’s the only person at Freezing Farm wearing a T-shirt in January;…4 min
Horse & Hound|14-Sep-2017Bold challenge gives vintage sportAS the debate about the future of four-star events — and Olympic and World Championship status — continues, Burghley feels like the real deal. Mark Phillips, the course-designer, provided leadership through action; he laid down a bold challenge and it came off wonderfully, showing that it’s time to stop reinventing the wheel. With the exception of the Olympic Games, this is what the top level of the sport should be.The course was rewarding to ride, every bit a four-star, but with lines that were clear to horses. Some designers suggest a big fence needs to be a square one, but Burghley offered a variety of profiles. Storm Doris, the Pardubice and the Cottesmore Leap all played to the shape a horse makes in the air, allowing it to jump out…3 min
Horse & Hound|14-Sep-2017Fab four for Grant’s duoRockrose EC, East LothianSEVERAL riders accounted for multiple titles, with Eilidh Grant out in front claiming four championships aboard two horses.Her talented eight-year-old Tuschinski mare Eranda Retto topped three classes, winning the gold advanced medium straight and freestyle championship and the prix st georges (PSG).It was an emotional (though uncontested) finale outing in the grand prix for Eilidh; she was riding Rock DJ for the last time as he has now been sold.“We achieved all our one-time changes to get eights from both List One judges. I’m so proud of what I’ve achieved with him this year, he’s a total star and I couldn’t have ended it on a better note,” admitted Eilidh.Katie James was thrilled to lead the advanced medium freestyle silver with Julie Elton’s 12-year-old mare Pauldarys Zarla…8 min
Horse & Hound|14-Sep-2017SOUTH-EASTHickstead, West Sussex | Pachesham, SurreyDaniel Timson’s Dirty Harry II (Dresden Mann x Diamond Hit) produced a 73.1% winning medium 61 at Hickstead on the nine-year-old’s second outing.Dan revealed: “I’ve had him since he was six months old. I rode Dresden Mann as a four-year-old stallion and he was later competed at grand prix by Ingrid Klimke.“Harry has a hot mind so I wanted to put the training into him slowly. He has technical ability in abundance. As a four-year-old he could piaffe and passage; he didn’t need much training for it. He can do all the grand prix movements now, but he’s still an unknown quantity at shows.“He’s quite an insecure, tense character and for him to perform as he did with no major mistakes was wonderful,” added Dan.Molly…4 min
Horse & Hound|14-Sep-2017Artemis goes bareSapey (2), HerefordshireAFTER years of intermittent lameness, Erica Murphy never imagined that her BE80(T) winner, Welton Artemis, would ever event again, but last year, at the age of 16, the mare returned to competition after nine years on the sidelines.The key? Going barefoot.“I bought her as a five-year-old and started competing her the following year, but didn’t get very far because every time she set foot on a cross-country course, she ended up crippled,” explained Erica.After numerous examinations, vets narrowed the problem down to Artemis’ feet and, in a last-ditch attempt to keep her sound and in consultation with a remedial farrier, Erica took off her shoes.“I started doing low-level dressage and gradually built up to jumping again; she felt like a new horse,” revealed Erica.“I only have a small…8 min
Horse & Hound|14-Sep-2017A serious business, taken lightly‘If the huntsman does not love their hounds, the hounds will not love them and the whole game will crumble’BEING asked for “advice to new masters and hunt staff ” when sitting round a dining room table, or even at a gathering of like-minded friends, might be a welcome opportunity to wax lyrical; something that most of us with a passion for their subject would happily launch into. However, on reflection a magazine article on such a complex subject may not be so black and white.The hunting of a pack of hounds, the running of a country and the behaviour of the different strata of those involved in such a broad church does therefore need to be broken down somewhat. I will deal with the new huntsmen first of all.CREATING…8 min
