“He’s a very exciting young horse for the future,” enthused 26-year-old Harry Mutch, of his mother Carole Mutch’s nine-year-old gelding Shanbeg Cooley (Jager), who is the youngest horse competing at the 2023 Defender Burghley Horse Trials.
This is the OBOS Quality son’s first time performing on such a big stage, and the atmosphere got to him slightly as Wesko Equestrian Foundation student Harry explained: “He does struggle in the dressage so today was a case of risk management. I know where his weaknesses are, and he’s still very green at this level. He’s a serious jumper, and he doesn’t really want to go and do circles in the dressage arena. But, we now have a score on the board, and I can’t wait to go and see what he does next.”
This season the pair have racked up impressive form, finishing fifth in the CCI4*-S at Alnwick and securing 14th at Bramham in the CCI4*-L.
Jager, who is making his five-star debut this weekend, was bought as a five-year-old from Richard Sheane and Georgina Philips’ Cooley Farm in Wicklow, Ireland. He’d done very little, but as soon as Harry sat on his back he knew he was a serious horse.
“I had a feeling from the get go that he was something special,” Harry said. “We only jumped him over 1m, but I’d never ridden a horse like him.
“He’s not the best on the flat yet, but we take that in exchange for the jumping. His hind legs are so long that he kicks you in the back of the saddle every stride. He’s a tricky horse and he’s opinionated, but he tries so much for me when it matters.
“Richard told me that he would be the horse who would take me all the way, and he was right.”
The gelding joined Harry at his base in Newcastle in 2019 and competed in his first two-star in July 2020.
“That was only his third ever event,” Harry recalled. “As he’s so confident with his jumping we never really cross-country train him at home. We work on the flat, trying to get into his brain and trying to get him to relax. He’s keen and strong, and we just need to guide him in the right direction.”
Today Harry was riding through the pain of a very sore ankle, sustained during yesterday’s trot-up when Jager nudged him into the grass verge.
“It doesn’t matter if I can’t walk, as long as I can ride and do my job; it is what it is,” Harry laughed.
Harry Mutch will also ride his 17-year-old Irish Sport Horse HD Bronze at Burghley this week.
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