Richard Davison’s Olympic individual ride, Hiscox Artemis, has been sold to a Swiss rider, the rider has confirmed.

The 14-year-old Westfalian gelding was owned by Lady Derby and competed with Richard at Greenwich last August.

They scored 72.812% in the grand prix.

The Swiss Equestrian Federation confirmed that he has been bought for 22-year-old Swiss rider Philine von Bremen by her mother, Balbina.

Philine, who lives in Bremen is a member of the Swiss U25 training squad.

Richard told H&H: “I’m really happy and excited about this – it’s a combination that really works.

“It was very important to me that he went to the right person.”

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

All four Team GBR horses have today (31 July) passed the trot-up and will go forward to the first phase of the Olympic dressage competition – the grand prix – on 2-3 August.

The riders have also been given their times for Thursday and Friday.

The Dutch and the Germans – the teams most fancied aside from Great Britain – have both chosen to run their individuals on the first day, but the British camp has made the slightly unusual decision to run their individual, Richard Davison, on the second day.

Carl Hester and Uthopia are first to go down the centre line at Greenwich – at 11.54am on day one (Thursday, 2 August).

They will be followed in the afternoon session by Laura Bechtolsheimer and Mistral Hojris at 3.11pm.

On the second day of competition (Friday, 3 August), Richard Davison – competing as an individual – and Artemis are on at 12.15pm.

The third team member, Charlotte Dujardin, with Valegro, will start at 2.10pm, straight after the Spanish crowd-pleaser, the grey stallion Fuego.

The grand prix is followed by the Olympic special (7 August), which decides the team placings. The freestyle to music (or kur) – which decides the individual medals – closes the equestrian competition on 9 August.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Dressage rider Richard Davison tells H&H about his camera-loving Olympic contender.

Fact file

Stable name: Foto

Age: 13

Height: 16.2hh

Breed & sex: Westphalian gelding

Sire: Florestan

Dam: Delphine (by Delphi)

Discipline: dressage

Owners: the Countess of Derby & John Dodd

Rider: Richard Davison

Groom: Jenny Ellis

Best result: Has scored personal bests in all three grand prix phases this year including scoring 74.4% in the grand prix at Munich CDI***** in May

Four things you didn’t know…

1 His stable name is Foto – the German spelling of photo – because he likes having his picture taken.

2 He whinnies whenever anyone walks towards him, then nips them if they go past without stopping to talk to him.

3 His best friend is a sheep. It is untamed and part of Richard’s commercial flock. No one else can get near it, but as soon as Foto is turned out, the sheep ducks underneath the fencing and the pair graze happily together.

4 Every time he was schooled in Richard’s indoor arena, he used to stop and admire himself in the mirror. Richard found this amusing until the day of their first show, when the horse stopped dead at the sight of his reflection in the window of the judge’s box. He has now broken the habit, but still gazes at himself in windows while out hacking.

To read the full interview with Richard Davison about Hiscox Artemis see the 12 July issue of H&H

Do you want to read all the latest dressage news?

Richard Davison‘s purple patch continued in Munich at the weekend when he scooped top honours in the grand prix special with Hiscox Artemis, posting 73.47%.

This was yet another solid result for the pair, whose run of consistent plus-70% form began at the beginning of the year in Amsterdam and Gothenburg.

“His piaffe and passage tour has never felt as good,” said Richard, who opted to contest the grand prix special rather than the freestyle to gain valuable World Dressage Masters points.

“I was asked to ride the special by my team back home. Of course I would have loved to ride the freestyle here, but since this was a request I couldn’t say no to, I agreed. Now I must say, it doesn’t feel bad at all.”

Second behind Richard was Sweden’s Minna Telde with the black stallion Santana. They scored 72.91%.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

A vast sculpture of a horse’s head – which has become a West Sussex landmark – is on its way to Australia where it will serve as a memorial at the grave of the entrepreneur and polo patron Kerry Packer.

The 30ft high bronze, Artemis, was created by the artist Nic Fiddian-Green and has been bought for £1m.

It originally stood on the South Downs, near Chichester, looking across the Selsey peninsula and was moved to Goodwood in July 2010 for the racing festival (news, 17 June 2010).

Mr Fiddian-Green told H&H he was “humbled” that his sculpture had been selected.

“It is quite an honour,” he said. “It is a rather wonderful end to a long journey, as it has taken me 30 years to have the confidence to make this.”

Artemis – which weighs four tonnes – is due to arrive in New South Wales at the end of December. It will go on the Packer family estate, in the Great Dividing Range of mountains.

Mr Fiddian-Green said he had been inspired by a trip to see the Elgin Marbles in the British Museum when he was a student and a horse’s head caught his attention.

“It has obsessed me,” he said. “It embodies a lot of emotions – hope, nobility and dignity.”

This news story was first published in the current issue of Horse and Hound (17 November, 2011)

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Richard Davison and his exciting youngster Hiscox Artemis were in winning form at the weekend, taking the grand prix special in challenging conditions at Munich.

Despite temperatures nearing 30 degrees, the duo looked poised and confident, scoring 70.65% to take the top spot.

H&H columnist Richard said: “I have not ridden this program for a year and I didn’t have the time to practise it here either!

“Artemis is such a strong horse. Not very big, but he has so much muscle that he hardly gets tired. Even though it was so extremely hot today, I felt that he had a lot of energy and a lot to give. He is truly an amazing horse!”

Richard is aiming the son of Florestan l at next year’s London Olympics.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

H&H dressage columnist Richard Davison has been given permission by pop superstar Robbie Williams to use a specially arranged medley of the Take That singer’s music for his kur in the run up to the London Olympics.

“I’m just giving him the break — seeing if it helps his career,” joked Richard to H&H today.

“We’re gearing up for big things — I’m hoping Hiscox Artemis will be ready for European Championships this year.

“The horse has changed a lot in the past couple of years — he’s stronger and his paces are now a different tempo — we needed a new kur.”

Richard told H&H the collaboration came about through Artemis’s owner, the Countess of Derby. “She used her contacts and has come up with the goods — again,” he said.

The songs — including Rock DJ, Love Supreme and Let Me Entertain You — have been performed by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra for Richard’s use.

His kur will be debuted at s’Hertogenbosch in Holland this weekend, with the aim of competing at the World Cup Final in Leipzig in April.

“We’ll make a few tweaks to the routine after this weekend — I’ve ridden it a couple of times at home, but that leaves us a few weeks to get used to it,” added Richard who says he’s long been a big Take That and Robbie fan.

“It’s very exciting. It’s just an amazing sound — it’s very rocky and you can’t get it out of your head. I defy anyone to keep still. It’s brilliant, fantastic to ride to and very different from our old Elton John piece.”

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Richard Davison and the Countess of Derby and John Dodd’s Hiscox Artemis took the final of Germany’s Kampmann Future Trophy. The competition is for young grand prix horses between eight and 10 years old.

The pair took the first day’s intermediaire warm-up class with 65.05%, then won the grand prix with 66.33%, seeing off competition from Germany, Denmark, Holland and the

United States.

Richard said: “It is Hiscox Artemis’ first indoor competition and he, along with other young horses, found it a bit challenging. But that’s what these young horses have got to learn all about. It was an enthusiastic and knowledgeable crowd and the atmosphere had a real buzz about it.”

Hiscox Artemis has won all his internationals this season. His next outing will be at Olympia

in December.

This news story was first published in Horse & Hound (19 November, ’09)

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now