Standing at just 12hh, RSPCA George may be small but he certainly is mighty – especially when he’s sharing the LeMieux National Dressage Championships collecting ring with horses of a far bigger stature.
The duo attended no less than nine championships last year. As well as adding two intro titles to their trophy cabinet, Theo and George also made the step up to novice. A trip to the unaffiliated Carnival of Dressage at Aintree this year paid off, as they came home with the novice sash.
Speaking at the National Dressage Championships on Thursday (12 September), where Theo and George scored a respectable 69.14% in the The Centre Line preliminary silver championship, dad Paul Charnley told H&H it’s been a race against the clock to reach Theo’s dressage milestones.
“We thought Theo was going to grow out of George at the end of last year and he wouldn’t go much beyond intro. But then we realised Theo wasn’t growing too much and kind of hit the reset button. We said ‘OK, we are actually going to do novice next year. We needed to put a lot of work in. You really have to step up.’ A lot of hard work has gone on behind the success.”
At home, Theo’s been working on getting George “more supple and active” in his way of going. The young rider once again impressed all three judges with his riding position, achieving his highest scores in those collective marks.
After he took the National Dressage Championships centre line today, Theo told H&H he “wasn’t worried”.
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“It was nice to ride down there and to achieve coming here – we’ve been very busy,” he said.
Having gone further in dressage than they thought possible, Theo and Paul have been looking ahead to the future with George and are gunning for success in an entirely different discipline – driving.
“Theo started driving with the British squad and did a couple of camps at the start of this year,” explained Paul. “At some point we’ll have to say Theo is too big, so it is time to come off George. The European Driving Championships are in Romania in two years time, so we’re really hoping to qualify, but we’ll see.
“I don’t know if anyone’s ever been mad enough to go from dressage to driving. But Theo’s represented England in the British Dressage Youth Home Nations Championships – I certainly think he’d be the only one to go on to represent Great Britain in driving too.
“So, let the amazing story continue!”
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A horse owner and rider with more than 20 years experience, Bethany has been writing for equestrian publications since 2017. Over the course of her career, she has reported from major British Riding Clubs and British Dressage championships, covered Badminton Horse Trials and interviewed equestrian sport’s best athletes. Her work can also be found in Country Life, The Field and Breathe magazine.
