Horse withdrawn from Badminton after strangles scare
Georgie Spence has been forced to withdraw Wii Limbo from the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials (7-11 May), due to a strangles scare on her yard.
The 11-year-old has been given the all clear by vets to compete and there have been no confirmed cases of strangles on the yard. However, Badminton requires the test to be repeated and there is not time for this to be done.
“It’s absolutely gutting, not just for me but also for his owners,” Georgie told H&H.
“Even though he has been given the all clear the time scale didn’t work with the bank holiday and it is quite an invasive procedure to repeat the test. I also didn’t want it to be a concern with other competitors.
“I have produced him for the past 8 years and I wanted our first 4-star to be something I could look back on positively. I just don’t feel the preparation has been right mentally.”
Badminton final scores
Wii Limbo will now head for Bramham (5-8 June) for the CCI*** and then hopefully onto Luhmühlen (12-15 June)
“He is fine and is galloping round the field like a lunatic,” Georgie added.
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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.