Rider enlists a psychic to ‘talk’ to his chestnut mare — and wins three classes
At last week’s Arena UK Major Showjumping Championships (16-22 September) in Lincolnshire, Joss Williams notched up a spectacular winning hat-trick with his 19-year-old “horse of a lifetime” Culmore Prospect — with a little help from a psychic.
“Princess Sox”, as she is known at home, is a typically hot chestnut mare and Joss says he can’t do too much work with her between shows, just “plenty of canter work”. So 27-year-old Joss enlisted the help of a psychic to “talk” to Sox.
“She said Sox doesn’t want to slow down and wants to know how high she can jump,” Joss told H&H of the experience.
Despite her quirks, the mare is undeniably a phenomenal jumper.
“She’s a freak and gets better with age,” said Joss of the White Clover x Knave Of Hearts mare who was bought from Cavan Sales for £3,000 six years ago.
At the championship show at Arena UK last week, the pair headed the speed Derby by more than three seconds before sharing the top honours in the six-bar. They then rounded off with a popular puissance win as the only combination to clear the towering 2.10m wall.
“She’s won more money this week than I paid for her!” said Joss. “I galloped round the speed Derby — she was incredible to come back and jump the six-bar after that and I thought I might have peaked too soon. She then spent the day in the field, had a bath and came back for the puissance.”
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Joss and Culmore Prospect are no strangers to speed Derby success, having won the qualifier at Hickstead this year before achieving a top 10 finish in the class itself.
Don’t miss the full report from Arena UK’s Major Showjumping Championships in this week’s Horse & Hound, out Thursday 26 September.
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Jennifer is passionate at showjumping and her role as H&H’s showjumping editor has taken her around the world reporting from shows and interviewing riders, connections and those involved behind the scenes. Since joining H&H from BBC Sport in 2005, she has written on every subject across the equestrian sphere — from turnout rugs to stable management — and has interviewed gold medallists, world champions and winners galore. She also has first-hand experience of working in the equestrian industry as a riding instructor and yard manager.