Future of Imperial Cavalier undecided
The future of Mary King’s top event horse is undecided after he was retired from the cross-country at the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials this weekend (8-11 May).
A local newspaper had reported that 17-year-old Imperial Cavalier, known as Archie, was going to be retired. However, Mary told H&H this was not necessarily the case.
“I am meeting with his owners at Aston-le-Walls on Wednesday (14 May) and we will make a decision then,” Mary said this afternoon (Monday 12 May).
“He is very well in himself.”
Mary and Archie had a very sticky moment at the Outlander Bank Owl Hole on Saturday (10 May) but managed to recover. But Mary then retired him 3 fences later when he had a refusal at the second element of the Mirage Pond.
Badminton final scores
“I really thought the relentlessly big cross-country course was right up Archie’s street, and I am sure it would have been if the ground conditions hadn’t been so energy sapping, and if he had been a few years younger,” Mary said on her Facebook page.
“He felt a bit flat and I had no hesitation at retiring when he stopped at the 2nd part of fence 16.
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“There were so many problems throughout the day with only 23 out of the 87 starters going clear, and no-one getting the time. Luckily there were no horses or riders badly hurt.”
Archie was a member of Britain’s silver medal winning team at the London Olympics and had been on great form this season — winning the advanced intermediate at Aldon (14 March) and finishing 3rd in the CIC*** at Belton Park (4 April).
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Sophia Heath joined Horse & Hound in July 2013 having previously worked for the Daily Telegraph's Olympics website, CNN International and Omnisport. A Durham graduate with a Masters in journalism from City University, Sophia has evented, showjumped and hunted. Sophia left Horse & Hound in early 2015 to join an international boating website.