Latest from Horse & Hound in Dan-jocelyn

‘Mr Consistent’ delivers, bonanza birthday celebrations – and a lost stirrup scuppers one rider’s chances at Burghley

Martha Terry — Sat, 07 Sep 2024 11:36:58 +0000

The Defender Burghley Horse Trials cross-country is proving every bit as tough as expected, with several high-profile retirements among the early runners. But Tom Jackson posted an eye-catching clear with Capels Hollow Drift to top the leaderboard at this stage, adding just 5.6 time-faults in a copybook round. Tom was lying 13th after dressage on 28.6, and is bound to move up considerably with this fast time.

Tom’s grey is tackling his fifth CCI5*, and lived up to his reputation as “Mr Consistent”.

“He delivers every single time – whatever you ask,” said Tom. “It’s one of the best rides I’ve had on him – he was really travelling for me. These courses always feel tough when you’re doing them, but the terrain here adds a whole new level. I’m so happy with the way he picked up and finished so strongly.

“It can feel like you’re just going through the motions with him, because he is such a special horse. He has not enjoyed heavy ground, but he likes it a bit quicker.”

The 13-year-old finished noticeably full of running here at Burghley, having tired a little over the last few fences at Badminton in the spring. He was immaculate over all the tricky combinations, with Tom just kicking out a couple of flags at the Trout Hatchery corner and the second Fairfax & Favor triple bar with his own leg.

First-timer success over Burghley Horse Trials cross-country

Several first-timers put in decent rounds, including birthday girl Bella Innes Ker, who turns 30 today. She steered another bold-jumping grey, Highway II, to a clear round. They did clock 25.6 time-faults, adding a couple of long routes to their journey round the Lincolnshire turf, but produced a very pleasing picture.

“I’ve always said he is my horse of a lifetime, the best cross-country horse I’ve ever had,” said Bella. “To finally feel like I might have done him justice today is a good feeling and incredible the way he galloped home.

“He’s always had a huge gallop, and it’s actually been a downfall to try to contain it. Everyone says to give them a breather on Winners’ Avenue, but I thought, ‘no, I’ve still got a lot of horse’.”

From a newcomer to one of the most experienced riders in the field, Dan Jocelyn completed on Blackthorn Cruise despite two run-outs – at the brush at Joules at the Maltings and the Dairy Mound house.

Meanwhile it was a hard luck story for France’s first competitor, Luc Chateau riding Viens du Mont. They set out well, but the 15-year-old gelding over jumped the rail into the Defender Valley at fence 5abc, and the horse veered sharply away from the ditch. This caused Luc’s stirrup to detach from the saddle, and with it being impossible to reattach, Luc retired.

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Oliver Townend pulled up by ground jury early on Badminton cross-country day, but pathfinder proves course is jumpable

Polly Bryan — Sun, 07 May 2023 11:28:33 +0000

The Badminton Horse Trials cross-country has got underway at the event, presented by Mars Equestrian, and the first few riders have had their chance to ride around Eric Winter’s course, which has attracted some controversy.

Oliver Townend took an early dressage lead from third draw on Friday with Swallow Springs, finishing in third at the end of the first phase behind Ros Canter and Kitty King. Setting off across country, Swallow Springs looked full of running early in the course, but straddled fence 19b, breaking a frangible device, and started getting visibly tired. At The Lake Oliver opted to take the long route, but scrambled again at the large corner in the water.

The pair were then pulled up by ground jury before fence 25, the Voltaire Design Huntsman’s Close, meaning the combination are eliminated.

“I thought he would get the trip,” said Oliver of his round on Swallow Springs later in the day.

Badminton final scores

“The vets were happy and he recovered very quickly. It was tough today with the ground. He’s not the biggest horse; he’s not got the scope of Ballaghmor Class, but he looks happy with himself in the stable.”

Wills Oakden was first out on the Badminton Horse Trials cross-country course with Oughterard Cooley, riding well as pathfinder to finish clear with 28 time-penalties for being 1min 10sec over the optimum time of 11min 35sec.

“Today was about using skills and horsemanship, thinking about the horse and getting them home as well as you can,” said Wills.

Fiona Kashel and WSF Carthago suffered a rider fall at fence 26, the Jubilee Clump Brush. The 13-year-old gelding was transported off the course, causing holds for Dan Jocelyn (Cooley One To Many) and Pippa Funnell (Majas Hope).

Pippa Funnell produced a fantastic clear round with Majas Hope – the first combination to successfully jump the straight route at The Lake. The 16-year-old gelding coped well with the challenge and still appeared full of running by the end, adding 24.8 time penalties.

Dan Jocelyn and Cooley One To Many added 51 – 11pen for breaking a frangible device and 40 time-penalties. Dan was thrilled with the horse’s performance, but revealed that he had considered “pulling up before being held on course.”

“The little horse tried his heart out. I was thrilled with how he was travelling. He was jumping, doing what I wanted, doing the lines, everything was working well. We jumped the Lightsource bp Pond and coming up that hill the horse changed underneath me and that’s when I realised it was proper endurance.

“I realised I had a tired horse. I was going to go straight at the water, and we had the [frangible device] but for me it was better to have that, and get it all over and done with, then I tried to nurse him round. I was almost ready to pull him up and then I saw the flag [to be held] and thought, ‘Oh this could be useful’ and it was and then he finished well.”

Update: Oliver was given an eventing recorded warning by the FEI in relation to his ride on Swallow Springs at Badminton, for “Dangerous riding/series of dangerous jumps”.

How to watch Badminton Horse Trials

If you are interested in watching Badminton Horse Trials live from the comfort of your home, wherever you are in the world, you will need to subscribe to Badminton TV. To sign up, visit watch.badminton-horse.tv – click the “Sign Up” link in the top right corner of your screen, then follow the instructions. An annual subscription to Badminton TV costs £19.99 and gives you 365 days of access to all of the content in the Badminton TV library, the ability to watch the action live, and the option to replay all of this year’s action later.

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Ros Canter leads after Badminton dressage – but ‘who knows what’s going to happen tomorrow?’

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Laura Collett and Oliver Townend shake up the leaderboard at tail end of Badminton dressage

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Keep up to date with all of the breaking news, behind the scenes insight and the best of the action throughout Badminton Horse Trials with no limit on how much you can read from as little as £1 per week with a Horse & Hound unlimited website subscription. Sign up now. Plus enjoy our full 22-page magazine report on Badminton, including in-depth analysis and exclusive comments from Nick Burton and Mark Phillips, in Horse & Hound magazine (on sale 11 May).

Meet the ‘quirky but talented’ horse heading to Badminton after a slightly unconventional route to five-star

Gemma Redrup — Sat, 29 Apr 2023 15:32:39 +0000

One horse set to make his five-star debut at next week’s Badminton Horse Trials, presented by Mars Equestrian (4–8 May), has had a somewhat unconventional route to the top. Cooley One To Many, a 15-year-old owned by Sophie and Lucy Allison, Franki Clapham and Carole King, who will be ridden by New Zealand’s Dan Jocelyn, has proved that time and patience – a lot of patience – can pay dividends.

“Franki Clapham bought ‘Jack’ in 2014, when he was six, as her first horse and they arrived on my yard as liveries in 2016,” explains co-owner Sophie, who runs a yard on the Hampshire/Berkshire border. “He’s a big horse at 16.3hh and Franki would only weigh seven-and-a-half stone. He tried Franki and her mother Sheila’s patience, with some quirky behaviour, but they persevered, with Sheila even sitting outside his stable for hours with things like umbrellas to try to desensitise him.”

Franki competed Cooley One To Many up to intermediate and CCI3*-S level with some success, but then decided she wanted to sell him as she was heading off to university. But before advertising Jack, Sophie called one of her oldest friends, Daisy Berkeley.

“I asked Daisy if she would come and sit on Jack to see what she thought of him,” explains Sophie. “She thought he was incredibly smart so I bought a leg in him, alongside my mum and Daisy’s mum.”

Badminton final scores

Daisy and Jack went on to compete at advanced and four-star level before Daisy passed on the ride to Dan in early 2022.

“Jack is incredibly quirky and Daisy suggested Dan as a good rider to take him on,” says Sophie. “When she dropped him off with Dan in February last year, she left a list of instructions. And because he’s really laid-back and just a nice person, I think Dan wondered what the problem was, but then Jack managed to deposit him on the floor twice in a week and he realised the need for the instructions!”

Jack and Dan have since gone on to finish 15th in Bramham’s CCI4*-L and jumped clear across country around Blenheim’s CCI4*-L, both last year.

Sophie says it’s just a case of working with Jack’s quirks, because he is a talented horse: “He is amazing across country – he looks for the flags – and he loves his job.”

Ahead of Jack making his five-star debut next week, Sophie says she is “sh**ting” herself.

“When I evented I was twice entered for Badminton and didn’t make it due to last-minute lameness, so it will be lovely to finally achieve it with a horse I have a share in. I’m really excited and I’m really proud of Jack.”

How to watch Badminton Horse Trials

If you are interested in watching Badminton Horse Trials live from the comfort of your home, wherever you are in the world, then you will need to subscribe to Badminton TV. To sign up, visit watch.badminton-horse.tv – click the “Sign Up” link in the top right corner of your screen, then follow the instructions. An annual subscription to Badminton TV costs £19.99 and gives you 365 days of access to all of the content in the Badminton TV library, the ability to watch the action live, and the option to replay all of this year’s action later.

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‘I was hoping there weren’t too many things broken’: five-star eventer recovering from cross-country fall

Becky Murray — Sat, 04 Sep 2021 06:33:05 +0000

New Zealand eventer Dan Jocelyn is hoping to return to the saddle before the end of the season following a cross-country fall in which he broke his leg.

Dan and the 10-year-old gelding Duke of Champions, owned by Joyce Snook and Jo Preston-Hunt and Philip Hunt, were competing in the CCI4*-S at the NAF Five Star International Hartpury Horse Trials (12-15 August) when the pair fell at the corner combination at fences 13 and 14.

Dan, who represented New Zealand at the 2018 World Equestrian Games, told H&H Duke of Champions had been having a great season, and went to Hartpury fresh from Burgham International where they were third in the British intermediate championship.

“Hartpury was supposed to be the build up for Blenheim (16-19 September) and possibly his last event before we went there. He had been carrying some good form and was more than capable of what he was being asked. We had a good solid dressage test the day before, and he jumped well in the morning with just one pole down in the showjumping,” said Dan.

“I was excited for the cross-country having come from a great run at Burgham and thought the style of the course suited him and was very similar. We had a great warm-up and start to the cross-country. There was some big bold fences including the water in the first quarter and some skinny arrow heads down the hill and he felt good halfway round the track.

Dan said he did not recall anything “out of the ordinary” happening as they came down the hill to approach the corners.

“We jumped in and for some reason or another he picked up on two strides instead of three. I didn’t ask him to do that – if I analyse it, I possibly could have been one beat slower in my approach to the first corner,” he said.

“It was only the horse’s second ever cross-country fault in the six years I’ve had him. We certainly got punished quite heavily for whatever mistake it was.”

Dan sustained a broken tibia, partially collapsed lung and severe bruising to his ribs. Duke of Champions went on to jump a number of cross-country fences and a car bonnet before he was caught, but did not suffer any injuries.

“I was in a lot of pain and knew something was broken, I was just hoping there weren’t too many things broken,” he said.

“I think Duke of Champions was probably in a little bit of shock because something like that had never happened to him before. He hadn’t seen crowds of people for a while, and while he’s not a horse usually fazed, I think with all the factors put together and the open space, he was a bit overwhelmed by what happened.”

Dan underwent surgery on his leg and was released from hospital on 17 August.

“It’s a pain as it obviously puts me out for a while, but I was weight-bearing the day after the operation. I had the stitches out and an X-ray on Wednesday (1 September) and the surgeon is more than happy with the recovery,” said Dan.

“I’ve asked a couple of friends to help with a bit of riding of the Duke and Giovanni Ugolotti is going to ride him at an event in a couple of weeks. Certainly my dream of going to Blenheim with this horse is over, but I’m not writing off the autumn season and I have a plan in mind. I’m thinking of an alternative three-day event for us – this is a horse that I am hoping will represent New Zealand in the not too distant future, so we want to keep his mileage going and not let him be too affected by what happened. I’m very thankful to my small group of owners and supporters who have been understanding.”

Dan and his wife Emma have recently moved to a new base at Minety, Wiltshire.

“I spent the first while housebound with my leg up but the last week I’ve been going down to the yard for a couple of hours. I’m quietly itching away now to do a bit more, but it will be more for my leg than myself. I’ve had a lot of injuries and understand the pain and frustration, but I also understand the recovery and allowed myself a bit of time to rest and recover properly,” he said.

“Now the stitches are out I hope to get on a bike and in the pool and build the strength back up. You can lose a lot of fitness and core strength in two-and-a-half weeks and I really want to get back so that I can give the horse the best chance and have a go at the end of the season.”

‘He did things dreams were made of’: farewell to Olympic event horse

Eleanor Jones — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 16:56:19 +0000

Eventer Dan Jocelyn has paid tribute to his Olympic ride Silence – a horse who “did things dreams were made of”.

The thoroughbred gelding was put down yesterday (2 June) aged 30 after a “wonderful life”, travelling the world with Dan to compete at the very top level of the sport.

Dan told H&H he bought “Gus” from his friend Joe Meyer’s family’s Mamaku Stud in his native New Zealand, as a just-backed youngster.

“The stud’s where Mark Todd’s [double Olympic champion] Charisma came from so there was a bit of an aura about it,” Dan said. “I was young and wanted to do something similar.

“We rode two of these youngsters down the drive, and on the way back, there were some telegraph poles, and Joe said: ‘let’s have a jump’. There we were, popping these telegraph poles on these just-backed horses – and I had a grin from ear to ear.”

Dan said Gus could be tricky to ride – he was always a good jumper, but could be hot and tense. Flatwork was frustrating, and hacking not an option.

“They all had to do miles of hacking in those days for long-format competition,” Dan said. “But he couldn’t be hacked so he had to be led from another horse.

“He was very good doing that, until the day the other horse spooked, he went up and over backwards, and broke his wither. But his rehabilitation went well, and the next year he came third at Burghley.”

03.08.08 . BC Open Section D . Dan Jocelyn on Silence . (Image credit: Trevor Meeks)

Dan and Silence also represented their country at the 2004 Olympics, where they added just four showjumping faults to their dressage score, finished eighth at Badminton in 1999 and notched up two more top-10 Burghley placings, and one at Luhmühlen.

But Dan said a real highlight was the third place at Burghley, when all three podium places went to New Zealand.

“It was a very proud moment to go the Olympics but his strength was speed and endurance, and that was an easy Olympic cross-country that didn’t play to his strengths,” he said. “But I’ll always remember that one-two-three at Burghley.

“He was a very brave horse and very fast; he never ran out of gallop and you’d always find another gear coming for home.

“I had some thrilling, thrilling rides with him. The year we placed at Badminton, the cross-country felt in slow motion, although it was so fast, because we were just caught up in the moment and it felt so easy.

“Thinking back, we did so much. We had a great time going to Kentucky, he got a huge number of British Eventing points; and that was in the days you didn’t get as many. I can only thank him for a really good time; he did things dreams were made of.”

Dan said Gus was well suited to the long-format competition, and that the hours and hours of work that went into preparing for such competition meant an even stronger bond between horse and rider.

Continues below…

(Image credit: Trevor Meeks)

‘There was blood all over me’: Kiwi eventer jumped clear after Burghley warm up drama

Dan Jocelyn was jumping a practice fence on Dassett Cool Touch when the incident took place

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Tiny event horse who represented Britain put down: ‘He was a big little person, who stole so many hearts’

Many doubted the skewbald, who stood just 14.3hh, could make it to the top level, but he proved his doubters

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The horse was retired from competition after he came 15^th at Burghley 2008; Dan said for the first time he backed off the speed across country, thinking he should as Gus was 18 by them, and notched up time-penalties.

“But at the end, I realised I hadn’t needed to; he was still going,” he said. “But we picked up a placing, and for me that was thrilling.

“Then Laura Bechtolsheimer [now Tomlinson] did a few events with him; he took her round her first BE100. That was a really nice end to his career, to have someone like her riding him – and it was good she didn’t get better dressage marks than me!”

Gus spent his retirement with his long-term fieldmates, and Dan said it was the right time to let him go.

“He had the sweetest nature ever,” he added. “He’d stand at the back of his stable, happy as Larry, very placid and laid back; until you got on him. Then he had a job to do, and he was very good at it.”

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Tales from Tryon: ‘I hope we get 10 inches of rain, it’s hot as hell and the hill’s a minute longer than anyone realised’

Pippa Roome — Wed, 12 Sep 2018 15:32:24 +0000

The New Zealand team exuded quiet confidence at a press conference this morning ahead of their participation in the Mars-sponsored eventing at the World Equestrian Games (WEG) in Tryon.

The squad combines the vast experience of Mark Todd — making his eighth WEG appearance — with support from comeback kings Blyth Tait and Dan Jocelyn (who both last rode at a championship at the 2004 Olympics) and the on-form eventing power couple Tim and Jonelle Price.

Jonelle said: “We’ve banked on Todd and [Andrew] Nicholson for the last 20 years and Blyth for the last 40, but over the past 15 years Mark and Andrew perhaps haven’t had the support from the team — they were leading the way, but they lacked support from the new generation. Certainly it’s taken Tim and myself a bit longer than some to get to the top end of things, but we’ve done that in the past couple of years. On paper it looks like we can be in with a fighting chance.”

Jonelle was upfront about the fact that her finishing position with the Badminton winner Classic Moet depends very much on how influential the cross-country proves as that is the mare’s strongest phase.

“We brought her here hoping the hill and speed is influential — if not, I’m in trouble. I hope we get 10 inches of rain, it’s hot as hell and the hill’s a minute longer than anyone realised!” she said.

Speaking about his return to the squad, Dan said: “It’s a bit of a thrill and I’m glad to be back here, it’s been a long time in between. I’ve loved all the training and build-up, it’s exciting to be riding with these guys and am looking forward to getting started.”

Blyth echoed his thoughts, adding: “I’m treating it like it’s my first championship as it’s so long since the last one!”

Asked whether his recent Burghley win means he comes into this with confidence, Tim said: “It’s a completely different situation, but I’m definitely trying to wear it as a bit of confidence. It’s only 10 days ago that I was under pressure and put in a good performance, so I keep reminding myself of that. It’s very much a team effort here, it’s not about one performance but about riding with each other in mind and creating a consistent result.”

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Chef d’equipe Graeme Thom said the team’s “intense ability to flip from individual component of sport to team component” makes this group of athletes particularly special.

He added: “I think it’s probably the best group of people I’ve ever met in my whole life. I just sent them a video of cowboys running across the plains herding cats to remind them to be here on time!”

Horse & Hound has two journalists and a photographer in Tryon for WEG. Keep up to date with all the news on horseandhound.co.uk and in the magazine issues dated 20 and 27 September.

Olympic champion returns as fierce Kiwi squad named for WEG

Lucy Elder — Wed, 08 Aug 2018 11:55:37 +0000

Olympic gold medallist Blyth Tait is heading to his first senior championship since “retiring” from eventing 14 years ago.

The 57-year-old Kiwi rider has been named as one of the five-strong New Zealand squad for this year’s World Equestrian Games (WEG).

He will ride the 14-year-old gelding Dassett Courage, with Havanna as his reserve horse.

“I am absolutely delighted,” said Blyth. “It has been a long time. I am very honoured to be part of such a strong team and plan to take the opportunity and give it my all.”

Blyth announced his retirement from the sport after the 2004 Athens Olympics following a glittering career, but returned to competition in 2011.

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‘They are both riding tried, tested and talented horses, so I feel Great Britain will be well represented’

He joins a host of other eventing legends on the seriously competitive New Zealand squad.

Double Olympic champion Mark Todd, 62, is named on the 11-year-old gelding McClaren, with his Rio 2016 ride Leonidas II and Kiltubrid Rhapsody, who finished sixth at Badminton 2018, as reserves. This will be his 16th senior championship.

Both Mark and Blyth were on the New Zealand squad at the first ever WEG at Stockholm in 1990, where they won team gold and Blyth also took the individual title.

“I am delighted to be on another WEG team and excited to be part of this great bunch of people,” said Mark. “Everything crossed now for the next four weeks to get there safely and in top form.”

World number five Jonelle Price, 37, is named with her 2018 Badminton winner Classic Moet. Her husband, fellow four-star winner and Tim Price, is named aboard the 11-year-old Cekatinka, with whom he finished third in Aachen, helping the NZ team to victory.

Tim, 39, who is currently the top-ranked New Zealand eventer in the world at number four, also has Ascona M and his Rio Olympic horse Ringwood Sky Boy as reserve rides.

Dan Jocelyn, 47, has been named aboard the 10-year-old Irish-bred gelding Grovine De Reve, with Dassett Cool Touch and Blackthorn Cruise in reserve.

The non-travelling reserves are Caroline Powell, 45, (Up Up And Away) and 28-year-old Jesse Campbell (Cleveland).

New Zealand has a successful history at WEG — the team won gold in 1990 and 1998 as well as bronze in 2010.

Individual gold medals have been won by Blyth Tait on Messiah and Ready Teddy in 1990 and 1998 respectively, and Vaughn Jefferis (Bounce) in 1994. Mark Todd and Broadcast News won silver in 1998, with Andrew Nicholson and Nereo claiming bronze in 2010.

This year’s Games take place in Tryon, North Carolina, from 11 to 23 September.

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday

‘There was blood all over me’: Kiwi eventer jumped clear after Burghley warm up drama

Rachael Turner — Fri, 09 Sep 2016 05:55:54 +0000

A rider who suffered a cut nose when his stirrup iron broke minutes before he was due to start his Burghley cross-country round has told H&H how he managed to recover to jump clear.

Kiwi event rider Dan Jocelyn was jumping a practice fence on 10-year-old Dassett Cool Touch when his iron snapped in half.

As Dan struggled to regain his balance, his horse jerked his head up, hitting Dan in the face and leaving him with a bloody nose.

“The funny thing was I was warmed up and ready to go and then there was a 20-minute hold,” Dan told H&H.

“When I had the eight-minute call I thought I’d better jump again before I go. As I landed the stirrup iron snapped clean in half.

“It was such a shock I nearly came off. I lost my balance and my horse reacted and smacked me in the head.

“I was stunned. I didn’t know what happened — there was blood all over me.”

Dan had five minutes left before he had tostart and did not have any spare stirrups, but fellow Kiwi rider Tim Price came to his aid.

“Tim ran to get a stirrup from one of his saddles,” said Dan.

“I was riding in a new saddle so it was hard to get the stirrup leather back on once we had the iron.

“We had to take off the saddle off in the end and it was pouring with rain.”

Dan was ready just in time and finished clear with 15.6 time penalties.

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The following day he incurred 12 faults in the showjumping, which secured him 13th place in the four-star.

Dan had been riding in traditional metal stirrup irons and is not sure of their make.

“I might change all my old stirrups,” he added.

“If I hadn’t jumped that last warm-up jump, it could have happened in the cross-country like poor old Sam [Griffiths],” added Dan.

Australian rider Sam was galloping between the third and fourth fences when the bolts holding the bottom of his stirrup iron in place “sheared off” (news, 8 September).

Sam continued for part of the course with one stirrup, but pulled up after clearing the biggest fence on the track, the Cottesmore Leap complex (fences 12 and 13).

Top Kiwi eventers find catch rides for $75,000 US horse trials

Rachael Turner — Tue, 02 Feb 2016 11:04:18 +0000

Tim Price and fellow British-based Kiwi event rider Dan Jocelyn have found catch rides for the Wellington Eventing Showcase this weekend (5-6 February).

The US competition, held at Palm Beach International Equestrian Center, Florida, boasts a $75,000 (£52,441) prize pot.

A call was put out to find horses in North America for Dan and Tim (pictured, top) to ride for the competition and three owners responded.

Texas-based event rider Angela Grzywinski offered her 14-year-old mare Novelle to Luhmühlen-winning rider Tim, who she met while competing at Kentucky Horse Trials last year.

Tim will also ride Classico Z, an 11-year-old gelding owned by Virginia-based Edy Rameika and previously campaigned by Danny Warrington and Sara Kozumplik Murphy.

Dan will also be riding two horses, Win the War and Devil Munchkin.

Win The War is an ex-racehorse owned by a syndicate and Jessica Bortner-Harris, who is based in North Carolina. Jessica has partnered the 15-year-old gelding for 10 years and moved from novice to the three-star level together.

Devil Munchkin is an eight-year-old gelding owned and ridden by Canadian Sable Giesler.

Unique event

“Approximately 20 top riders representing the USA, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand are expected to attend this unique event that highlights the Olympic sport at a premier venue,” said a United States Eventing Association spokesman.

“All riders were invited to ride two horses each, but several have opted to bring only one horse.”

US riders Buck Davidson, Phillip Dutton and Marilyn Little are among the other riders taking part.

View the full list of entries.

Riders injured at Gatcombe Horse Trials

Horse & Hound — Mon, 23 Sep 2013 13:14:59 +0000

Several event riders are on the injury list following falls at Gatcombe Horse Trials (2) (20-22 September), where a ramped up CIC** cross-country test produced only 37% clear rounds.

Dan Jocelyn was taken to Frenchay Hospital with a broken wrist and arm when his ride, Valemount, fell at fence 7, an upright rail to 2 solid corners on a curving right-hand line.

His partner, Tanya Cleverley, who had posted a picture of Dan being wheeled off the course on a stretcher, told H&H: “The horse tried to avoid him when it got up, but didn’t quite manage it.

“He’s got multiple fractures of his left wrist, which will be operated on today [Monday 23 September], a broken right arm and lacerations to his foot. He’s pretty fed up, but we’ve both been struck by all the kind words we’ve received from the eventing fraternity — it’s really touching.”

Gemma Tattersall also hit the deck when Briarlands Birdsong fell at the penultimate fence, which was rails over a ditch. She was taken to hospital with neck pain, but her X-rays and scans came back clear.

She tweeted: “I am ok! On my way home, a little sore but I will live to fight another day! Thank you so much for all your kind messages…”

There was a 45min hold-up at one point during the cross-country when several riders fell in quick succession, including Dominic Ruane, who also paid a visit to A&E this morning after his tumble from Birchcol Rock Idol.

He tweeted: “Sorry, tried to scrape myself off the floor quickly, but haven’t hit the deck that hard for a while!”

The class was won by Kitty King and Persimmon, who also triumphed here 12 months ago. This was Kitty’s comeback event, having been sidelined for 2 months with a broken wrist.

Read H&H’s full report from Gatcombe in Thursday’s magazine (26 September, 2013)

Dan Jocelyn leads Bramham Horse Trials after cross-country

Pippa Roome — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 16:39:41 +0000

Dan Jocelyn put himself right back in contention for the New Zealand team at this summer’s Olympics in Hong Kong when he took the lead at Bramham Horse Trials in today’s cross-country phase.

Dan put in one of the fastest rounds of the day on the 16-year-old Mr Pracatan, finishing only 2sec over the elusive optimum time of 10min. This lifted him from sixth after dressage to the head of affairs.

“I had a lovely ride,” said Dan. “I’d seen the time was hard to get so I knew it was going to be a hard graft. He’s not the biggest galloper, but he doesn’t pull so you can keep travelling to the fences.”

In the last few minutes Louise Skelton has been promoted to second place after successfully appealing a stop at the second water with 2005 Blair CCI*** winner Partly Pickled.

Ruth Edge has now moved up to third with Mr Dumbledore. William Fox-Pitt is fourth on Kaleidoscope and also sixth on Navigator, while Polly Stockton (Estrada) lies fifth. Less than one show jumping fence separates the top four riders.

Dressage leader Tracy Garside bowed out at the most influential fence of the day, the Carter Jonas Rails, Ditch And Castle Birch at fence 21. Her ride Dunauger had an awkward jump over the first rails and then ducked out of the narrow hedge over the ditch, jumping the final hedge element and thus being eliminated.

The course generally rode well, causing less problems than last year, but the optimum time was difficult to achieve, which means the cross-country has been influential in the standings. Heavy overnight rain meant the ground was muddy in places, and several horses looked tired at the end of the course.

PROVISIONAL RESULTS AFTER CROSS-COUNTRY

Senior CCI***

1. Mr Pracatan (Dan Jocelyn, NZL) 48.2

2. Partly Pickled (Louise Skelton, GB) 51.5

3. Mr Dumbledore (Ruth Edge, GB) 51.8

4. Kaleidoscope (William Fox-Pitt, GB) 52

5. Estrada (Polly Stockton, GB) 52.5

6. Navigator (William Fox-Pitt, GB) 52.8

Full results and times from Bramham

Report on under-25 section

Gallery of Bramham cross-country fences

Log back on to www.horseandhound.co.uk for daily reports from Bramham and don’t forget to buy H&H next Thursday (12 May) for a full report, colour photographs and William Fox-Pitt’s comment.

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