Horse & Hound catches up with current world eventing champion and recent Aachen SAP Cup winner, Yasmin Ingham to find out more about her top horse, her plans for the summer, how she celebrates the good days, and which young horses she’s particularly excited about…
They say you never stop learning in horse sport – what’s the last thing you learned?
“If you’re not winning, you’re learning,” is a quote I like to live by. You’ve got to take good out of bad experiences. So if you make a mistake instead of getting down in the dumps and upset, you take lessons out of it. What went well? What can we prevent from happening next time? Try to move forward in a positive way. Dealing with down times is a huge part of our sport – that and how you come back from a bad result. It makes you a better person and athlete. I had a bit of a mistake in Kentucky this spring on [2022 world champion] Banzai Du Loir in the five-star. I remember someone saying to me: “You’ll just come back stronger from this.” After we won at Aachen in June, they sent me a message saying: “What did I tell you?”
What is your World Championship gold medal-winning partner, Banzai Du Loir, like at home?
Banzai is a huge character – the main man of the yard and he knows he’s the king. He’s definitely the favourite child, which is quite funny. Something I really love about him is that he’s got a beautiful, kind eye – I think that’s so lovely and important. It’s the first thing I notice when I look at him. And he just has so much presence. I feel very lucky to be able to partner with him.
Which are your other exciting prospects fans might not know about yet?
Goliath Du Loir and Gypsie Du Loir are my two up and coming seven-year-olds. We are aiming them for the young horse championships at Cornbury in September, both in the seven-year-old three-star class. Goliath is by the same stallion as Banzai De Loir (Nouma d’Auzay) and he has similar characteristics, which is so exciting for the future. We are hoping he will qualify for the World Horse Young Championships at Le Lion in October so fingers crossed we can get all our qualification boxes ticked and he is in the mix to be selected for that. Gypsie is a lovely mare; very flashy in the dressage and super brave cross-country, so she is also very exciting for the future. After the European Championships we’ve got another couple of events, including Frickley, where hopefully we’ll do the three-star with both of them. It’s so exciting to have such quality young horses in the string.
What does a post-win celebration look like for the Yasmin Ingham team?
We definitely start with the horses – they are half of my team! When we come back from events my incredible team at home all arrange a great celebration – balloons, banners and flags outside the stable. There are carrot hearts on the stable floor and more carrots in the hay nets. It’s amazing. The horses get back and they are like: “OMG – it’s all for me! All this fuss is for me.” We’ve got a really close knit team who are a huge part of the success and afterwards we’ll go to our local pub restaurant and have a meal. We make the most of the good times – we know with horses it comes and goes. It makes it even more special.
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What is news at the yard?
I’m riding for The Sue Davies Fund, which Sue set up before she sadly passed away in January from cancer, so I could continue riding her horses. Her daughter, Janette Chinn, is still very involved. It’s amazing I can still have Sue’s name on the horses and when we go to the big events it’s nice to hear her name on the speaker.
Have you got a favourite bit of kit you are using?
I am a huge fan of anything that makes our horses perform better. I am sponsored by Bemer and their therapy rug is a staple. The horses wear it both before and after work.
What are you looking forward to this summer?
The eventing European Championships. We are heading there with Banzai, who has been selected for the British squad, and training very hard, so hopefully we will come home with some medals. Whatever I’m looking forward to, it’s always something to do with the horses – they are my life!
Does Banzai know when he wins?
Absolutely. When everyone is surrounding him, patting him, cooing at him he loves it. I think he knows he’s pretty important!
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Luz is a freelance writer who has worked for a number of national newspapers and magazines including the racing section of The Sunday Times. As a horsewoman, Luz enjoys having a 14.2hh project on the go and has ridden out for a number of National Hunt trainers including Gordon Elliott and Colin Tizzard. She currently lives in London and looks forward to weekends when she can shake off the big smog, return to her parents’ house in the country and ride. Her favourite part of the job is chatting to riders and hearing how much they love their horses.
