‘I said I had to do something’: rider who lost five stone to compete her horse stands champion and qualifies for London
Danni Harris won the racehorse to show horse qualifier at the Retraining of Racehorse championships, having lost a third of her bodyweight
A rider who lost five stone to benefit her horse’s wellbeing has been crowned a Retraining of Racehorses (RoR) champion – and qualified for the London International Horse Show.
Danni Harris and Shadowfax won the racehorse to show horse title at the Jockey Club RoR National Championships at Aintree (18-23 August). They were also placed in dressage, and the in-hand championships.
“It was amazing,” Danni told H&H. “The week started on a high and I thought it would only go downhill! But it gradually got better and better, and ended on a high as well.
“And it’s nice knowing it’s all my own work. I’ve never had a lesson on him so knowing it’s all what I’ve done means quite a lot.”
Danni used to work for Mick Appleby, who trained “Gandalf” in his racing days, which is how the horse came to her, as a five-year-old, two years ago.
“I’d left Mick’s at the time and Mum rang me and said ‘Gandalf’s coming up for rehoming and going tomorrow, what do you think?’
“I’d always loved him, he’s got such a cheeky character and big personality, but I said ‘We don’t really need another horse, we’ve got two already’. She said ‘Well, it’s too late, I’m telling you to get his stable ready’. She asked me a question but it was really telling me he was coming home!”
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Danni Harris returns to showing
Danni had been in showing as a child but had had a break. But when Gandalf arrived, and having seen the showing opportunities available with RoR, she thought that might be the way to go.
“I took it as it came, to see how we got on, so I started taking him to a couple of local show,” she said. “That was last year, just in hand, then in October, I broke my shoulder. So he got chucked out from October till March.”
After the injury, Danni changed from an active, outdoor job to a sitting-down role.
She had been to the 2025 RoR championships at which, as H&H reported, RoR rider-size limits were to be more actively enforced.
“It was voluntary then; you could go and have your weigh-in, and they’d said it would be compulsory for 2026 but I thought I’d be ok, never really thought any more of it,” she said. “But then I broke my shoulder, changed jobs to an office job and sat down all day, every day.
“I started snacking, and obviously put more and more weight on. After Christmas, I said to Mum ‘I’m going to have to do something or I’m not going to be able to compete him this year, for his welfare, and for the guidelines.”
Danni weighed 16st 7lb, nearly 108kg. At Aintree last year, Gandalf was 481kg, he is now 544kg, so with tack she would have been over the ideal 17% of the horse’s weight, and over the maximum 20%.
She said the will to compete, and benefit Gandalf’s welfare, was a great motivation to lose weight.
“I completely stopped snacking at work,” she said. “I used to be really bad. I never used to have breakfast but now I’m dead strict on portion control and I eat three times a day. I’ve completely stopped drinking fizzy drinks because I used to, in the evening, just go and get a can of pop, and then it would end up being four or five cans of pop a night.
“I just drink water now, I started doing a bit of cycling, playing a bit of badminton and riding more again when I was allowed to with my shoulder.”
Danni said she went from riding 10 to 12 horses, and mucking out multiple stables, to sitting down, not to mention the snacking.
“You have to change things,” she said. “It’s one thing losing weight but if you go back to how you were, it goes straight back on again. It was straight after Christmas I changed a lot, then I was allowed to start riding late March/early April, and when I did I was back up to four a day again, and I noticed the weight loss more again.”
Danni and Gandalf were back out competing again all summer until the championships, at which winning the racehorse to riding horse class earned them a ticket to the London International Horse Show.
“He did try his best to be cheeky all week!” she said. “But that’s him. He got nicknamed Mr Squealy because if you put a bit much leg on or he gets excited, he squeals. We did do the showjumping and every time he jumped a fence, he squealed and bucked when he landed, but that’s just him.
“He definitely hasn’t been the easiest; he’s got such a big personality but I just love him for it.”
Danni also volunteered to be weighed at the championships, with all her heaviest tack and gear to ensure she would always be well within the limits.
“I spoke to the Welfare Stewarding Group people too as they wanted to cover my story at the championships. Knowing they wanted to cover it too meant even more.”
Danni and Gandalf also came third in the SEIB racehorse to riding horse class at Defender Burghley. The rest of this year will include some dressage before they head to the London International in December.
“And then we’ll come back for next show season!” she said.
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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.