Horse & Hound

JUDGES and officials must have better insurance cover to protect them, shows and the sport as a whole – as they are “putting their lives in competitors’ hands”. This is the message from leading figures in showing calling for better accident cover for

EMBRACING the concept of “progressive traditionalists” and challenging ourselves to “be better and do better” can help ensure horses have both good lives and good welfare. World Horse Welfare CEO Roly Owers spoke about how equestrians must look at th

Edited by Eleanor Jones Share your news story Call 0330 390 6386 Email [email protected] @ jones_eleanor_ MANY domestic horses’ needs for space, forage and socialisation are not being met, a survey has shown – but this provides opportunity

HORSE simulators could help boost participation and break down barriers in the industry. Aberdeen Riding Club's (ARC) new simulator, “Murphy” was bought by the Seven Incorporated Trades of Aberdeen and a private donor as a “community asset”. It is av

JOCKEYS north of the border can now benefit from services provided by the Injured Jockeys Fund (IJF) in Scotland. The Ella MacGregor Centre in Galashiels offers physiotherapy and “injury management”, convenient for the Borders area community. “This i

THE first successful use of frozen sperm to create IVF equine embryos has been recorded in the US, in a “milestone” for breeding. Researchers at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, California, hope their findings will be useful for clinical a

Email to [email protected] Name and address must be included. Letters may be edited. @ horseandhound instagram.com/horseandhound facebook.com/horseandhound FROM the rugged mountains of Wales, this pony has no posh lines running through his bloo

Edited by Jennifer Donald [email protected] @ jen_donald OPINION IT'S been a tough year for those of us involved in equestrian sport with incidents including the footage of Charlotte Dujardin and recent fatalities at Cheltenham meaning we

THERE are certain things you expect to hear when interviewing an event rider, but “I love bones” isn't one of them. In fact, you'd probably wonder if auto transcription had had a moment. I love horses, perhaps? I love cones – as something to steer ro

I didn't come from a showjumping family and we made do with what we had. All my riding was hacking out or in a grass ring, and my mum got me to Pony Club when she could. My first proper jumping pony, Nugget, was a chestnut Welsh section C. He'd been

“I WASN'T sure about ‘Diana’ to start with, Henrietta Cheetham tried to persuade me to try her for a while. I first rode her as a four-year-old and she was very sensitive to the leg – she's still hot now – but you could see how elegant she was. We de

WE all find relief in scratching the odd itch that occurs for no particular reason, and horses are probably no different. But in the majority of cases in horses there is some skin irritation that provokes the itching response, in an attempt to reliev

TWO species of lice infest horses; one bites the skin and the other feeds on its surface. Lice are almost entirely a winter and early spring problem when the coat is long, and the horse is unclipped. They may persist unnoticed in low numbers in the s

RUBBING of the face, mane, rump and dock, and in some cases the midline of the belly, are the main signs of sweet itch (vet clinic, 30 June 2022). In severe cases the skin may be broken and weeping, eventually resulting in thickened hairless skin in

THERE is a concern that pinworms, a significant cause of tail and rump rubbing (pictured, below), are becoming more common. This is either because the worming treatments most commonly used for redworms are largely ineffective against this specific wo

THERE are also a number of less common causes of itching in horses. INFESTATION with red poultry mites (pictured, right) is common in free-range poultry, and many poultry keepers struggle to control these blood-sucking parasites. As the mites will ha

Easton, Woodbridge, Suffolk For you: a six-bed house with four further en-suite guest rooms, plus four one-/two-bed cottages. The moat surrounding the house dates back to the Domesday Book. Leisure facilities include pétanque and tennis courts, croqu

IT is a truth universally acknowledged that where you find horse people, you'll find a dog or two in tow, and nowhere is this more apparent than on the yards of top riders and trainers. From eventing to dressage, these celebrity canines can be found

IN the grounds of Sir Alfred Munnings’ buttercup-yellow former home, Castle House in Essex, you might spot a perfectly staged World War I tableau, with immaculately behaved cavalry horses standing patiently with soldiers on board. On another day it c

AT the Cheltenham Countryside Day this month, the parade of hunt staff was led by a dark bay horse who looked in his element. This was Joey, ridden by Bicester huntsman Gareth Bow: “He just said he'd be at the front!” Nowhere else will do for this Ir

CAPTAIN CHARLIE BARCLAY was master of his family pack, the Puckeridge in Hertfordshire, from 1947 until his death in 2002. His father, Major Maurice “Mo” Barclay and his grandfather, Edward Barclay, each completed 52 years as masters and three of his

“DON'T give your son money; as far as you can afford it, give him horses. No one ever came to grief through riding horses. No hour of life is lost that is spent in the saddle. Young men have often been ruined through owning horses or through backing

RIDING to a disco soundtrack, Jonathan Canty scored an elementary freestyle win at Newbold Verdon EC, Leicestershire, with his 11-year-old Oldenburg mare Fabelwelt (pictured). Started late after producing a foal as a four-year-old, the lofty “Grace”

Bicton College, Devon AFTER scoring outright wins at medium and advanced medium with Constancia Reve De Mon Coeur, Kayleigh Yelland praised the Relevant gelding's trainability and temperament. “He loves to work and learn and has light-bulb moments –

LGCT RIYADH PLAYOFFS 20–23 November Edited by Jennifer Donald [email protected] @ jen_donald LGCT Riyadh Playoffs, Saudi Arabia ON a night of true champions, 34-year-old Luxembourg rider Victor Bettendorf burst out of the pack to land the

THE GC Playoffs, the end-of-season finale to the LGCT series offering €11m (around £9.2m) in prize-money, moved outdoors to the Saudi capital of Riyadh for the first time. “With record prize-money in showjumping, this is the most important weekend th

THE showjumping story of 2024 has been the remarkable comeback of 15-year-old Quirex (Quirado x Concept). A former top horse with Ireland's Cameron Hanley, he suffered a “careerthreatening” injury in 2018. After being allowed to recuperate quietly, s

MORRIS EC WINTER CLASSIC 14–17 November Morris EC Winter Classic, Ayrshire JONATHAN DIXON and the ever-improving Jack JL claimed their second big win in a month when they set the lead from first to jump in the 1.40m winter grand prix. Seven combinati

DECLAN IRVINE went home with wins in the Blue Chip Dynamic B&C qualifier, the winter grade C qualifier and a Foxhunter with the Diamant De Semilly seven-year-old Duplicate II (pictured), who was a late starter after having a foal. “She's caught up pr

HIGHLIGHTS 18–24 November Edited by Jennifer Donald [email protected] @ jen_donald Haydock Park, Merseyside WITH a gritty display of tenacity, Royale Pagaille joined the greats of the sport as a back-to-back winner of the Betfair Chase. A

HAYDOCK'S big handicap, the £100,000 Betfair Stayers’ Premier Hurdle, went the way of 22/1 chance Shoot First under 5lb claimer Alex Harvey for Irish trainer Charles Byrnes. “He's a dinger of a horse,” said the 21-year-old jockey (pictured, leading),

BILLED as a clash between two rivals, the dual Gold Cup-winning Galopin Des Champs and his old adversary Fastorslow, anticipation sizzled ahead of Punchestown's John Durkan Memorial Punchestown Chase. In the end, it was Galopin's stablemate Fact To F

HIGHLIGHTS 18–24 November HARRY COBDEN and the Paul Nicholls-trained Pic D'Orhy (pictured) lifted Ascot's Grade Two Copybet 1965 Chase. In the past three years, the de la Hey family's nine-year-old son of Turgeon has not finished out of the top three

Kim Bailey's “adored” Trelawne is not for passing in the mud, beating top weight Iroko to land the Betfair Exchange Graduation Chase. “There's no bottom to this horse, he has a seriously big engine,” said jockey Tom Bellamy of the “quirky” chaser.■