Author: Suzanne Ashton

Chris Taylor has been appointed as the new President of the Society of Master Saddlers, a position he also held in 2018. Well-known throughout the industry and with a successful career running Saddlers’ Den in Southport, Merseyside, Chris is a Master Saddler and has run the business for 26 years. Chris will work closely with the Chief Executive, Hazel Morley, and the Executive Committee, along with the sub-committees over the coming year. Chris takes over from Helen Reader, with Karen Schlotter moving into the Vice President’s role.   A former computer…

Redwings is celebrating a very special animal hero who helped to save the life of one of his Sanctuary friends.  As a healthy, heavy horse on no medication, Rourke – a 17hh, Irish Draught cross gelding – was the perfect plasma donor when Coral – another resident – fell ill. Coral, a 9.2hh piebald mare, who came in as part of a welfare case, was flagged for losing weight and after staff noticed some redworm larvae in her faeces she went downhill quickly, needing urgent supportive care.  Redwings Veterinary Surgeon…

New online club gives riders access to the tools they need to improve riding performance and confidence in the saddle. A new online saddle club is giving amateur riders access to the expertise and guidance of riding coaches, personal trainers, sports psychologists and professional riders to help them learn and improve. It also provides a support network of like-minded people, all dedicated to improving their riding performance and sharing their ups and downs.  The Saddle Club from Wise Owl Equitation was launched in 2022 to complement the company’s original offer…

Worcestershire-based influencer and event rider, Megan Elphick, has joined The Golden Paste Company‘s team of ambassadors. Best known by her YouTube and Instagram handle, ‘Elphick. Event. Ponies.’, Megan is a big fan of natural supplements and has used TurmerAid™ for quite some time. A successful grassroots-level event rider, Megan produces all her ponies from scratch and they all enjoy the benefits of turmeric when they have TurmerAid added to their daily feeds.  Said Megan: We started feeding The Golden Paste Company’s products after buying a pony with skin and coat…

British Showjumping’s Team NAF announced for the CSIO3* Nations Cup in Vejer de la Frontera in Spain British Showjumping has announced the squad that will represent Great Britain in the Nations Cup show at Vejer de la Frontera (ESP), which will run between 26 and 30 October. Under the title sponsor banner of Team NAF the team members are: Joseph Fernyhough from Gloucestershire, with the 10-year-old chestnut gelding Calcourt Particle, owned by Rowland Fernyhough. Tim Gredley from Newmarket with the 9-year-old black gelding Imperial HBF or the 10-year-old bay gelding Medoc De Toxandria, both…

FEI Eventing Nations Cup 2022 – written by Eleanore Kelly An all-female team from Great Britain led throughout the three phases of the FEI Eventing Nations Cup, which was held in Boekelo (NED) this weekend. The team consisted of seasoned campaigners Laura Collett, who won team gold at the Tokyo Olympics, former World Champion Rosalind Canter, together with Sarah Bullimore and Kirsty Chabert. Their three-phase team total of 95.7 was enough to put them ahead of New Zealand on 101.1 and France on 110.1. Germany wound up fourth in Boekelo but…

Redwings Horse Sanctuary’s ‘Sounds of the Sanctuary’ podcast – which has so far been downloaded nearly 4000 times – has returned for a second series, along with its sister podcast ‘Field Notes’.  Sounds of the Sanctuary offers a behind-the-scenes look at life at Redwings, the UK’s largest horse charity, whilst Field Notes delves further into the equine care issues raised and offers advice on issues from equine weight management to caring for the older horse from the charity’s experienced staff and veterinary teams.  The first episode of series two of Redwings Podcast…

Horse betting is quite a well-liked type of gambling all over the globe. Equine betting alone has been around for centuries and, for a long time, was the entertainment of the upper classes. These days, nevertheless, horse betting has become widely available to all social classes, as online horse racing betting websites provide bettors with the opportunity to place wagers from their own homes. However, with their legacy, horse betting terms can be quite confusing for newcomers to the sport. Say, when you play roulette in online casino, all you need to know is the…

HOYS first timer, Jessica Burke (IRL), secured a hat-trick in wins during today’s afternoon performance at the 2022 Horse of the Year Show (HOYS). Riding Inpulss, whom she won the HOYS Accumulator on, Jessica navigated the mare superbly around the Andrews Bowen International Arena fighting off some of the industry’s best-known names for a win at the Speed Horse of the Year Class.  “The mare is such a sweetheart, not the easiest of courses but she just fought so hard”, said Jessica. You would be forgiven for thinking Jessica was…

Longines FEI Jumping World Cup 2022/2023 – North American League, written by Catie Staszak Expectations of Conor Swail (IRL) heading into the opening leg of the 2022-2023 Longines FEI Jumping World Cup North American League season in Sacramento (USA), were high. Swail not only won Sacramento’s World Cup leg a year ago, but he also led the NAL in points at the season’s end. However, in delighting the crowd, Swail picked up right where he left off, defending his Sacramento title with Vital Chance de la Roque and jumping into a…

Commandant Geoff Curran continued an outstanding week for Irish riders at the Horse of the Year Show by delivering a world-class performance to win the Ripon Select Foods Puissance. A capacity crowd at the NEC, Birmingham roared their approval as he cleared a winning height of 2.19 metres with Bishops Quarter to take a top prize of just over £5,000 and become the first outright puissance winner at HOYS since 2017. It was a masterclass display by a rider who has previously evented at Olympic level, with Mark Edwards and…

A total of 28 horse and rider combinations came forward for Saturday’s Horse of the Year Show 1m60 Accumulator, which boasted a full line-up of showjumping stars. It was Ireland’s Jessica Burke who triumphed as she set and held an early lead, thundering around the Andrews Bowen International Arena on the KWPN mare, Inpulss. The pair claimed a full house score of 44, after soaring over the joker to stop the clock on an incredible 33.77. The eight-fence class offers up to a total of 44 points for riders to…

Lily Attwood underlined her reputation among British showjumping‘s rising talents by landing the Thistledown Cup at the Horse of the Year Show on Friday October 7th. The two-round Longines ranking competition proved a serious test for all 30 combinations, as they faced a test of power-jumping, combined with a need for speed in the latter stages of this £23,600 prize fund class. Slightly different from the other showjumping classes, competitors of the International Jumping Thistldown Cup must carefully navigate the second round, as three points are added to their overall…

The nominations for the FEI Awards 2022 are as impressive as ever, with the online voting opening today for the Peden Bloodstock FEI Best Athlete, Longines FEI Rising Star, Cavalor FEI Best Groom, FEI Against All Odds and FEI Solidarity Awards. The 20 shortlisted candidates from 15 countries include World Champions, highly accomplished up-and-coming young athletes, grooms, inspirational equestrians, judges and charities. Great Britain’s Charlotte Fry, who took home two individual Dressage gold medals at the Ecco FEI World Championships in Herning (DEN), is one of four nominees for the…

Three and a half years after taking the top spot of the FEI Eventing World Athlete Rankings, Tim Price (NZL) claims it once again, replacing Olympic gold medallist Oliver Townend (GBR), who held the position for the last 3 years. The 2019 World Champion won the bronze medal at the FEI Eventing World Championship held in Pratoni del Vivaro (ITA) a few weeks ago. Thanks to his consistency, Price has topped the world ranking with a total of 610 points. But there’s more joy for the Price family as Tim’s…