Eventer Georgie Goss has paid tribute to the horse she bought as a 15hh three-year-old when she was a teenager, who went from an “absolute lunatic I couldn’t stay on” – to her “horse of a lifetime” who completed Badminton and Burghley and was shortlisted for the Olympics.
Wii Limbo (Woody) had to be put down aged 23, as his age had caught up with him, after a happy retirement with Georgie, still jumping out of every field and passing his expertise on to the next generation.
“He’s been an absolute horse of a lifetime,” Georgie told H&H. “He’s been my everything.”
The Dutch-bred gelding, who matured at barely 16hh, was placed at three-star (now four-star) level with Georgie and completed Badminton twice and Burghley four times, coming 12th at the latter in 2015.
Georgie bought “Woody” from a dealer in Wigan, 20 years ago when she was 18.
“Laura Collett had bought one recently from the dealer and said they had some nice young unbacked horses,” she said. “So I went up there with my dad, and we actually bought two three-year-olds, and a four-year-old, and he was one of them. When I got him home, Mum said, ‘Oh my gosh, what have you bought? He’s tiny’!
“I was so naive; we saw them loose and I was very impressed because of course when they’re loose they jump very high. I think I was very naive; bought one because he was pretty and he jumped high! A very naive choice – and a very lucky one.”
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Georgie said she had some “what have I bought” moments, starting straight away.
“He was always a character; he jumped on top of the tack lockers on the way home and put his foot out of the window,” she said.
“He always jumped out of his field. We built the fence at 2.20m, and he still jumped out so he was free range in the end. For about two years he was an absolute lunatic that I couldn’t stay on.
“I went down for some training with William Fox-Pitt and he said ‘I can see why you can’t sell him’; we’d tried for about two years and no one wanted him. He was very, very sharp.”
But Wii Limbo was also a very good mover, with a particularly good canter and hind leg.
“And he was one of those horses who just wanted to do it,” she said. “He wanted to jump, he wanted to jump between the flags. So as difficult as he was – and when we were competing at five-star level, he could still put me on the ground, but he wanted to do his job, and I think that’s what made my life very easy.
(Image credit: Nico Morgan)
“He was a phenomenal horse, a very, very talented horse.
“It was a feeling like no other; he had the most exceptional scope. I’ve never sat on a horse with so much jump.
“He was actually about 60% blood; often the Dutch horses are more 20-30% blood, but he was quite a blood horse, and always very quick. If anything, he was a bit too strong, which is often why we’d end up with time-faults because I was trying to hold him.
“But I’ve had other horses at Burghley, and when you come to those white rails and things you sort of hope, whereas with him scope was never, ever an issue. He would just jump the moon.”
Georgie said some of her highlights with Woody include success in the Blenheim eight- and nine-year-olds, then the three-star long (now four-star) the following year when he was nine.
“Hitting those milestones in age classes when you are still reasonably young yourself is an amazing achievement when you start,” she said. “He was the first one I’d started myself, produced from scratch, so every step along the way was a highlight. But I think jumping round his first five-star double clear was pretty amazing.”
Woody was retired after the 2019 season; Georgie withdrew him from the cross-country at Burghley as he rolled and appeared to have pulled something in his back. He did go to Blenheim shortly afterwards, and jumped clear across country, but afterwards appeared slightly sore again.
“We never really found what it was, but because he was older, we thought ‘Let’s finish him on a high’,” she said.
“He had a bit of a holiday, then my sister actually did a bit on him for about a year – he helped her learn to hang on as well! – then we just decided to have him have him as a pet. And he’s been jumping out ever since.
Wii Limbo: teaching the next generation
“He went out last year with one of my young horses called Monbeg Nico, who I bought as a three-year-old as well. He always had a nice jump but it wasn’t phenomenal. He went out for his winter holiday, jumped hedges all winter with Woody in the field, and came out as a five-year-old, absolutely exceptional, one of the nicest five-year-olds I’m going to have. So actually, Woody’s kind of taught the next batch of young horses for me!”
Georgie said she had thought last year that that winter would be his last and after long discussions with her vet, knew this was the time to let him go.
“It’s awful when you've had them that long, it was a very tearful time,” she said.
“I’d had him over half my life and he’s taught me so much. He’s made me the rider I am today.”
Georgie thanked all those who have owned Woody: Nessa Jamieson, Lucy Fleming, Suzanne Doggett and Sam Wilson.
“The results on paper aside, 20 years of my life you have been my baby and for that I will remember you until the day I die,” she said.
Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.
