Former top-level eventer Karen Dixon has paid tribute to her “best friend” Too Smart, who was put down on Monday (6 May) aged 33.

Karen said “Barrel” had been well in himself, and looked “amazing” but that the legs that had carried him round two Olympic Games and to three top-five finishes at Burghley had failed at last.

“He was such a laugh and such a character,” she told H&H. “He always had a wicked sense of humour, like me; I think that’s why we got on so well.”

Barrel spent almost his whole life with Karen; she and her mother Elaine Straker bought him as a two-year-old from Peter Dennis, who had also sold them Karen’s other top ride Get Smart. When he was six, Jack and Beryl Brignall became his half-owners, watching nearly every event he competed in.

“We broke him in and he was as cheeky as!” Karen said. “I remember once, a student who was working for us rode him out with my mum on Get Smart and the student fell off three times.

“He was only pint-sized, about 15.3hh, but he thought he was 17.2hh. When I was competing at the top level, I’d ask Gary Parsonage to trot him up as he was tall, and Barrel felt about 18hh.”

He and Karen competed at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics for Britain, finished second, third and fifth at Burghley in 1999, 1994 and 1995 respectively and won the British Eventing Open Championships at Gatcombe in 1994.

“He achieved so much, so quickly,” Karen said. “At eight he won Punchestown CCI3* (now CCI4*-L) and came third at Burghley, but then he went through a naughty phase. We did some fairly alarming dressage tests, and he liked to keep me on my toes, but I got him back.”

At the age of 19, Barrel won a CIC2* (now CCI3*-S) at Floors Castle and Karen did some smaller events on him but without sizable obstacles for him to respect, the horse gave Karen some “wholly alarming” rides, and he was retired, although he continued to be ridden by Elaine until he was 25.

“He had done seven four-stars (now five-star) and was still perfect, with clean legs, but I didn’t want to be eventing him when he was 20,” Karen said.

“It was a hard decision to make when we moved to Ireland about two and a half years ago as he was 30, but bringing him here was the best decision I’ve ever made because he totally loved it here. He was the heart and soul of the place, and he settled us in here and made it a home like we’d had in”

‘Her heart made her’: rider pays tribute to four-star mare

The eventer has said goodbye to her European Championships partner, who would ‘never give up’

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Karen Dixon’s Get Smart, multi-medalled eventer, put down

One of British eventing’s all-time greats, Karen Dixon’s Olympic, world and European medallist Get Smart, has been put down

Karen continued: “I used to treat him a bit like a hen so he’d wander off to do some free-range grazing, come and see everyone, then buzz off for some more grazing. He had the run of the place and all the horses loved him; they’d whinny when they saw him.”

Karen said that although the Olympics were “amazing”, she counted his wins at Gatcombe and Punchestown, as well as the Burghley places, as the combination’s top achievements.

His second place at Burghley came as a new time-penalty system was being trialled; any other year, he and Karen would have taken the victory that went to Mark Todd on Diamond Hall Red.

“I think horses make you who you are,” she said. “They shape your life and they shape you as a person. He was my best friend.”

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The mother of Olympic eventer Karen Dixon, Elaine Straker, has died aged 86.

Elaine was brought up in the Tees Valley, rode from an early age and was a point-to-point jockey before she turned her attention to her children’s riding careers.

Three of Elaine’s five children competed at Badminton — two at the age of just 18, including Karen.

“Her courage, determination and exceptional eye for a horse, underpinned [our] riding ambitions,” said Elaine’s son Matthew.

Elaine also bred Lucinda Green’s 1977 Badminton and European Championships winner George, whom Matthew rode round Badminton in 1973 and 1974.

This news story was first published in Horse & Hound magazine (6 June 2013)

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British eventing legend Karen Dixon is preparing to move her family, horses and business to Northern Ireland.

Karen — who rode for Team GB at four Olympic Games and won silver in Seoul in 1988 on Get Smart — and husband Andrew are house-hunting in County Antrim — his boyhood home.

The couple currently lives near Barnard Castle, in County Durham, in a house that has been in Karen’s family for three generations.

Karen told The Times that she has two “cracking” young eventers — including 7-year-old Classic Moet, who completed her first intermediate earlier this month — and hopes to compete them from Co Antrim.

Karen Dixon’s brilliant eventer Get Smart was put down on 1 March, aged 30 but 25-year-old Too Smart, who partnered her at Sydney in 2000, will make the move with them.

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Karen Dixon’s brilliant eventer Get Smart was put down on Monday, 1 March, aged 30.

“He had no teeth left and was losing condition, but it was an awful decision to have to make,” said Karen. “He was my soul-mate and best friend and did so much for me.”

Karen and her mother Elaine Straker bought Get Smart as a four-year-old, with Jack and Beryl Brignall later joining Elaine as owners.

Karen rode him at the Pony Club Championships when he was five and he was 12th at Burghley as a seven-year-old in 1987. Fifth place at Badminton the following year sealed his Olympic selection for Seoul, where he was part of the silver medal-winning British team.

Get Smart also competed at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, finishing sixth individually. His other team appearances for Britain garnered a world team gold and individual bronze (The Hague in 1994), a world team silver (Stockholm in 1990) and a European team gold and individual bronze (Punchestown in 1991).

Get Smart recorded six Badminton completions, finishing fifth (1988), sixth (1989), ninth (1990), 10th (1991), 18th (1993) and 10th (1994, pictured).

“He always went clear in the time across country, but he got wilder and wilder in the dressage because they paraded hounds across the park,” said Karen. “That’s why his best performances came abroad.”

In all, Get Smart did 14 long format four-star events. He retired from eventing when he was 18 and was hacked out by Elaine Straker. Karen also got back into riding after the birth of her son Rory, now 11, by doing some team chasing and show jumping with him.

Get Smart is the second former top horse to be put down in the past two weeks following the loss of 1994 Badminton winner Horton Point.

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Ambitious plans for the UK’s largest equestrian centre were unveiled by former Olympic eventer Karen Dixon in Scotland earlier this month.

Karen’s husband, Andrew, heads a private consortium that has earmarked 300 acres of land near Lockerbie for the £30m development.

Planning permission for the site is being sought in November and Mr Dixon told H&H that he was hoping a 12-month building schedule would get underway in February 2007. The centre will have three indoor and four outdoor arenas, a cross-country course and 130 stables.

“One of the big questions facing us all is how to take equestrianism further,” said Mr Dixon. “There’s been massive growth in the industry in the past 10 years and there’s so much potential there, but riding schools are struggling due to massive insurance premiums. My idea is for a centre based on the German model and aimed at every level of rider — from the hacker to the serious competitor.”

He said funding would be raised by the construction of 60 houses and 50 holiday cottages around the site.

Both the British Horse Society (BHS) and the Association of British Riding Schools (ABRS) welcomed the plans. ABRS chairman Julian Marczak said: “The building of any new centre is good for the industry and I welcome any project that supports riding at grassroots level.”

The development trend comes on the back of a recent British Equestrian Trade Association (BETA) survey which found the number of people riding in Britain has nearly doubled from 2.4m in 1999 to 4.3m in 2006.

In Essex, Ashfields Equestrian Centre and Polo Club has recently acquired an additional 500 acres to provide new ground for driving events, while a brand new purpose-built yard with 53 acres near Oswestry in Shropshire has just come on the market as a rental opportunity.

• This news story was first published in Horse & Hound (28 September, ’06)

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