IF efforts being made to support riders’ mental health can save even one person’s life, it will be worth everything.

Support service Riders Minds released a documentary on World Suicide Prevention Day, on 10 September, almost seven months after co-founder Matthew Wright took his own life.

Presented by journalist Lizzie Greenwood-Hughes, the film included an interview with Matthew’s wife Victoria, who set up Riders Minds with her husband.

“Whenever anyone’s saying they’re going to take their own life, or it becomes normal living with someone with a mental illness, don’t ever think they’re not going to do it,” Victoria said.

She had told Lizzie she had met Matthew through horses, how her husband was a great father to their three children, who had achieved so much in eventing. She said he might have appeared tough but was insecure, taking comments to heart, and that he had attempted to take his own life several times.

“We’d got help for him and he improved for a couple of years,” Victoria said, adding that before his death, Matthew seemed “probably the happiest he’d ever been”.

“Whether he’d planned it and had decided the time was right, I don’t know,” she said. “He sent me a message that morning that said ‘Today is the perfect day’. I look back now and think, the perfect day for what?”

Matthew spent the morning with the children on Valentine’s Day, then cooked Victoria dinner. She said he seemed normal, if reminiscing about good times, when she put the children to bed.

“I read them a story, then flicked on Facebook, all normal things you do. I came back upstairs and he was dead. He was dead. I found him, and you kick yourself; why was I on my phone, why did I not go upstairs 10 minutes earlier. I could have stopped him.”

Victoria said telling her children Daddy had died was the hardest thing she had ever done, and probably will ever do.

She explained how Matthew’s blogs on HorseandHound.co.uk, in which he was very open about his mental health, had led to many other riders’ getting in touch to relate similar stories. The British Grooms Association (BGA) then asked him to write a similar blog, and Matthew, seeing the Grooms Minds and Employers Minds services provided by the BGA, proposed a similar resource for riders.

“He was really passionate that there should be a Riders Minds,” Victoria said. A meeting with the BGA followed and Riders Minds was set up.

“We set it up and funded the start of it, because the equestrian world needed this service,” she said. “We’re adding services, so there are more things there to help people.”

Matthew’s best friend Matthew Heath, another top eventer, said the phone call about Matthew’s death was “one I won’t forget”.

He said professional riders are lucky enough to do their hobby for a living, but that while the riding itself is “the best job in the world”, the added pressure of its being a career, and “everything that goes with it”, is tough.

“I think it’s massively important to have a system riders can turn to, anonymously,” he added. “That’s really important because most of us are quite arrogant and don’t want to be seen as weak. The fact there’s someone there on the phone, and the awareness they’re doing on social media to make people realise it’s ok to come forward.”

Clinical psychologist Duncan Law, who works with the Injured Jockeys Fund, said studies have shown almost twice as many people within racing suffer from mental health issues than the general population.

Asked why riders may be more susceptible, he said: “That’s a really important question, but a hard one.”

He added that the industry is a tough one, and a “losing one”; even stellar successes like AP McCoy have lost more times than they have won.

“The earlier we can get to people, the better we can do,” he said. “But also to start the conversation, at the start of their careers, so mental health is on the agenda. It’s a good thing for you to do, but also for your career.”

Equestrian influencer Kate Lewis, who shared her mental health issues online — she was bullied at school, then home-schooled – had reached a point where she was having “nasty thoughts about doing things to myself”. She called her GP, received the help she needed, and is now a “different person”.

“It’s nice to realise it’s possible to get to the other side,” she said. “I’d encourage anyone else to do the same as me; speak to someone and start that journey because you never know where you are in that dark tunnel; you could just have one corner left till you see the light.”

Riders Minds director Sylvia Bruce, a former very successful banker who had tried to take her own life more than once, also went to her GP and has since been “transformed”.

She said horses had always been her therapy, as did Lizzie, who asked whether, for equestrian professionals, the fact horses are not then an escape has an impact.

“I think there is an element of that,” Sylvia said. “Even when something is your passion, there’s a balance, and a tipping point, where it can go into something else and loses the passion.”

Sylvia added that she wishes Matthew could see how well Riders Minds has done, “and the fact we’re still pushing forwards for him”.

“I want Riders Minds to be the go-to for all equestrians,” she said. “If we can stop one person doing what Matthew did, then wow.”

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British breeding comes together to support mental health in Matthew Wright’s memory

Matthew, who was open about his mental health struggles, died last month, and was well known in breeding circles as

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The British breeding community has come together to raise funds for the mental health initiative Riders Minds, in memory of one of its founders, eventer Matthew Wright.

Matthew, who was open about his mental health struggles, died last month, and was well known in breeding circles as he stood three stallions at his Caunton Manor Stud, in partnership with his wife Victoria.

A silent auction of stallion nominations has been set up by British Breeding’s Sacha Shaw, assisted by fellow stallion owners Hannah Thomas and Nicola Dyson. The auction, which ends today (20 March) has already raised £10,000 in bids for the charity.

Owners have rallied to offer the services of stallions across all disciplines, with almost 40 to choose from.

“Hannah sent me a message when we heard about Matthew passing away, saying it would be really nice to do something to raise funds for Riders Minds and continue to get the message out there that there is somewhere you can contact for support if you have mental health concerns,” Sacha told H&H.

“We thought a stallion nominations auction fitted in quite well as we are all breeders and it also offered an opportunity to promote British-based stallions.”

The stallions’ semen available in the auction includes world number one eventing stallion Grafenstoltz, showjumping stallions including Kannan, Carl Hester’s dressage stallion U-Genius, international pony dressage stallion Rembrandt and showing and native stallions.

“One of the stallions to attract the most bids so far has been (Irish draught) Avanti Amorous Archie — he’s booked out this year so it’s the only chance to use him, which has made it really competitive,” Sacha said.

“We have breeders offering natural coverings, chilled and frozen semen, so there really is something for everyone.”

The auction is being hosted by Sacha at the British Breeding website with bids by email. More information can also be found on the auction’s Facebook page.

The British Hanoverian Horse Society (BHHS) is also hosting an online auction of stallion nominations, alongside other lots, in aid of Riders’ Minds. The auction opens today (20 March) on Jumblebee and will run for one week, closing at 9pm on Saturday, 27 March.

Continued below…

Thousands donated to mental health support in Matthew Wright’s memory

The service is available to all those who ride and love horses

Five-star event rider Matthew Wright dies age 38

Subscribe to Horse & Hound magazine today – and enjoy unlimited website access all year round

“When we heard the sad news about Matthew, the committee decided we’d like to hold an auction to raise money for Riders’ Minds, and all the lots have come from BHHS members,” BHHS studbook manager Kate Eaton said. “Victoria has a licenced Hanoverian stallion, Dankeschön, and the stud is local to the BHHS office, so we really wanted to show our support.”

One of the first lots donated was a painting of Totilas by artist Mari Wilson and there are also photography shoots from Jess Photography and Claire Lowe. Stallions available include Flammengold, Don Ricoss, Fontainebleau, Amiro Z, Dream On and GF Deville.

Riders Minds spokesman Liz Daniels said: “The amount raised so far through the auction is incredible and we are so grateful. Riders Minds seeks to give support and create a more open, compassionate atmosphere surrounding mental health in the equestrian sector. The funds will allow us to continue to develop the services we offer and increase the number of people we can reach and support.”

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Over £2,000 has been donated to the service set up to support riders’ mental health by eventer Matthew Wright, since his death on Monday (15 February).

Riders Minds, which was set up to support the mental health and wellbeing of the equestrian community, will use the funds to support any rider who needs it.

Matthew, who had always spoken openly about his mental health issues, created Riders Minds with his wife Victoria. The aim was to provide information, help and understanding, and to raise awareness of and promote conversations about mental wellbeing.

To donate or access support, visit the Riders Minds website.

Founding director Lucy Katan told H&H Riders Minds was Matthew’s vision.

“I was overwhelmed by his and Victoria’s passion to help other people,” she said, adding that the money raised will go towards improving the service and developing the helpline, which is available for all riders to call, 24 hours a day.

“The idea was to create a safe place for all equestrians to come to if they need some mental wellbeing support. Matt was adamant that the phone line had to be available 24 hours a day, and he always said that if it helped just one person, it would be worth it.”

Continues below…

Five-star event rider Matthew Wright dies age 38

New service to support all riders’ mental health

Lucy said: “Riders Minds was created by Matt to help everyone who rides and loves horses and I hope as a sector, we will make sure everyone knows it’s there.

“Matt — I promise that we will make Riders Minds just one of your many legacies; it will achieve your ambitions of helping others to battle mental health issues, and you will always be in our thoughts.”

Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade to access our H&H Plus online service which brings you breaking news as it happens as well as other benefits.

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Five-star British event rider Matthew Wright has died at the age of 38.

His family announced the news today (15 February) “with great sadness”.

“Matthew has always been open with everyone about his own battles with mental health and has worked hard to support others through their own,” his family said in a statement.

“Please could we ask that you respect the family’s privacy and give us the opportunity to grieve at this difficult time.”

Matthew represented Great Britain at young rider and senior European championships, winning a young rider silver medal in 2002 on the homebred Park Pilot. The combination finished 13th at the 2005 senior Europeans.

Matthew first completed Burghley Horse Trials aged 19, and went on to ride at five more Burghleys, completing on five of the six occasions, and 10 times at Badminton, completing the event on six attempts, during his career. He lived with his wife Victoria and three children in Nottinghamshire.

Matthew had always been open about his struggles with mental health issues, which led to his setting up Riders Minds, an online resource dedicated to supporting the mental health and wellbeing of all equestrians.

A spokesman for Riders Minds said all involved are “deeply saddened”.

Continues below…

New service to support all riders’ mental health

“Matthew has always been open about his own mental health battles and has worked hard to support others through their own battles through the formation of Riders Minds alongside his wife, Victoria,” she said.

“Matthew’s family and friends have respectfully asked for total privacy at this devastating time, but wish to thank everyone for their support.”

Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade to access our H&H Plus online service which brings you breaking news as it happens as well as other benefits.

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Many of the world’s best riders in all disciplines cut their teeth at the Pony Club Championships. Catherine Austen discovers some of their memories and the lessons they learnt

If you said the words Stoneleigh, Weston Park, Sansaw, Shelford and Cholmondeley, thousands of adults across half a century of generations would know what you meant. When they were horse-mad teenagers, those were the locations of the Pony Club Championships of their era. While for many those heady weeks were the acme of their equestrian careers, they were also an early testing ground for many of the regular stars of this magazine.

“It was everything!” says Laura Collett, who first represented the Heythrop branch of the Pony Club at the championships as a 13-year-old in 2003. “The areas were such a cool thing, and to qualify for the championships was just amazing. I remember the cross-country course being ginormous. I didn’t know how to get my pony [Noble Springbok] on the bit, but I did jump a double clear.”

In 2004 and 2005, she won her eventing section on the Lucey family’s highly experienced Walnut, who took a series of children safely round the championships. In one of those years, the Heythrop team, consisting of Laura, Ginny Howe, Simon Lucey and Sophie Kirkpatrick, also won.

“I learnt so much about teams – how to be a team player, team morale – and it was so much fun,” Laura remembers. “It was a really big deal, and it was at Sansaw the first time I went that our district commissioner, Celia Plunkett, introduced me to Ginnie Keen, who was the pony chef d’equipe at the time. I went straight into pony trials the following spring, because I’d had enough experience at Pony Club level not to need to do BE100s or anything. Celia also rather rashly promised Laura and her team-mates during team training at Pony Club camp that, if they won the championships, she would organise two days’ training for them with her son-in-law, William Fox-Pitt.

“Clearly she didn’t think we would win,” says Laura. “But we did, she kept her promise and I rode Stunning and Moon Man.”

Championship debut

Matthew Wright was another event rider to make their championship debut very young. Aged 12, on his six-year-old pony Con, he was part of the winning Grove Hunt team in 1995, and finished second in his section. The following year, he won individually.

“I hadn’t done pony trials or anything like that at that stage – the pony and I were as ignorant as each other,” he says. “It was at Weston Park; there were 115 starters and just 29 went clear. I remember it like yesterday. The Grove hadn’t qualified for years and it was a really big deal.”

One year Matthew won the horsemanship award for both the eventing and the showjumping championships, and his prize was a week’s training with Peter Robeson. “It was the best week of my life,” he says.

He competed against lots of well-known showjumpers’ children at the showjumping finals – Hadleys, Pyrahs, Fletchers. “I felt the pressure to do well; I wanted to beat these famous people’s kids, but I was also in awe of them,” he says.

Alex Hua Tian remembers the pressure of having to jump clear in the second round of the showjumping championships so the Lord Leconfield Hunt branch of the Pony Club could win the team competition.

“I hadn’t had a great round in the first round on Chance Bid, but to be fair he was usually a very good jumper and we did manage to scrape a victory,” he says. “Learning how to jump under pressure teaches you a lot about character and about yourself.

“It was great fun – I am a huge fan of the Pony Club, and was a keen member of the Hong Kong Pony Club before I came to the UK. Four of us from our branch in Hong Kong went on to ride at the Asian Games and two at the Olympics.”

Rolls of honour

The championships rolls of honour are thickly scattered with event riders – Tina Cook won the senior dressage championships, Piggy French was part of the South Norfolk branch of the team that won the eventing championships, Ruth Edge won an eventing section on her first Badminton horse, Ice Dancer II, Harry Meade won an eventing section (and, if memory serves, was the last recipient of the “best boy” prize) in 2002.

And Jane Holderness-Roddam first competed in the area trials for the Beaufort Hunt branch of the Pony Club aged 10, riding a one-eyed pony called Little Robin.

“The championships then were at Highgrove,” she remembers. “Then they went to the Hanburys’ Burley-on-the-Hill in Leicestershire. And in 1964 the Beaufort were second to the West Norfolk, who won everything in those days, at Burghley. I was 16 and rode Our Nobby. We won the junior title, and our team also included Mark Phillips and George Weldon. I was told that if I showjumped clear I would be given my Beaufort hunt supporters’ club tie, and I did. I remember that better than the competition itself!”

A couple of years later Jane rode Our Nobby at Burghley Horse Trials, and in 1968 the pair won Badminton and went to the Mexico Olympics.

But top riders from other disciplines also have fond memories of Pony Club Championships past.

‘I don’t really like dressage’

Your correspondent remembers interviewing a very young Tom McEwen when he was a member of the VWH team that won the dressage championships. Charlie and Pippa Hutton were championship regulars, but the other two cast members varied. “I don’t really like dressage,” he announced on that occasion.

Now, with a CCI5* win under his belt, he says: “I had a lot of lessons with Pammy Hutton when I was young, and I remember we were made to do displays in various places dressed up as cats, which was very embarrassing.”

He was rather more comfortable as a member of the VWH team that won the eventing championships in 2006 and 2007. He first went on Con – quite a few years after the legendary grey pony had made his debut with Matthew Wright.

“Con looked after me for the first few times and sorted it all out for me,” says Tom. “I was lucky enough to be part of a branch that had a lot of boys in it, which was amazing and very encouraging. Lots of us are still riding, such as Felix de Giles and Peter Mason, who are both jockeys.”

Dressage rider Becky Moody was on the Rockwood Harriers’ dressage team every year from the age of nine to 19, and went to the championships five times. Her sister Hannah was team trainer.

“By the time I was around 14, I had done ponies and the junior Europeans, but the championships were still a very important event and a really big part of the year,” she says. “I never won, but one year, at Weston Park, I rode a four- or five-year-old stallion of Hannah’s and got into the prize-giving. There were 70 or 80 horses all galloping round together – I would die if I had to do something like that now.”

Becky did the showjumping and eventing area trials as well – “I was even on the area quiz team, which shows how keen I was.”

“The friends I made in the Pony Club are still some of my closest friends now,” she says.

A big deal

Showjumper Holly Smith was on the South Trent team that qualified for the showjumping championships when she was 11 or 12.

“My mum’s a midwife and she was working a night shift, so it was the first time I had ridden and bathed my pony and put everything in the lorry all on my own the day before, and I remember that I did a really good job,” she says. “I’d done some British Showjumping at that stage, but nothing serious, and the championships were quite a big deal. I did jump clear, on my section D pony Homer J.”

The tetrathlon championships have produced several future Olympic pentathletes, such as Georgie Harland, Kate Allenby and Arthur Lanigan O’Keeffe. Aly Vance, now a sports television presenter, was a member of the Monmouthshire Hunt branch of the Pony Club’s winning tetrathlon team in 2002, and won as an individual in 2000. Something of an overachiever, she also won her arena at the dressage championships in 2002 – and won a section at the eventing championships in 2005.

Even racing has its representatives. Three-times champion National Hunt jockey Richard Johnson was on the Radnor and West Hereford branch of the Pony Club team at the eventing championships at Weston Park, alongside eventer Louise Harwood. And trainer Charlie Longsdon was on the VWH team that won the eventing championships back in 1990.

“I was 14 and a typical boy whose mother did everything for him,” he recalls. “I had a lovely, cool old horse called Ben Nevis. We thought we had done OK, but while we were waiting for the prize-giving I read my dressage test sheets and realised that there were 20 marks difference between the two – they had been added up wrong. We had to put in a last-minute objection, and those 20 marks were the difference between finishing fifth and winning.”

If you didn’t ever manage to qualify for these hallowed occasions, do not despair. You might make it as a rider yet. After all, Mark Todd, a member of the Cambridgeshire Hunt team on several occasions, never qualified for the Pony Club Championships either.

Ref Horse & Hound; 2 July 2020

I usually feature some current subject or topic in my blogs, so as I sit here writing this in what is considered to be the quiet season for an event rider, I thought it was time to keep my promise and give you a true account into the mental health issues I’ve experienced in my life and how I’ve dealt with them. After all, as we reach the festive period and a general election looms, what we need to remember is that there are still a lot of people out there suffering with mental health issues.

Where do I start?

When I look back at my life, I achieved a huge amount of success from a young age that I don’t think I ever really processed or appreciated at the time. I’d represented Great Britain at junior, young rider and senior level and earned my senior team colours when I was just 23 years old. I’d won international events and was ranked in the top five of the British Eventing rider rankings, as well as winning The Goldman Cup for the leading British under-21 rider one year. The majority of what I’d won was also on a home-bred that we backed and produced ourselves. Playing it all back in my head now it seems completely surreal — a lot of what I achieved is a lifelong ambition for a lot of people and I completely took it for granted at the time. I know there are other professional riders out there from different disciplines who have achieved success from a young age, and I often wonder if they too went on to experience some of the issues that my mind kept throwing at me.

The trouble was, not only did I take these achievements for granted, I never appreciated them at the time and it gave me a false sense of what normality was. A lot of the people I was competing against were a lot older than me and had been doing this sport for a long time — most of them were my idols. But weirdly, I saw myself as the same age as them and rather than seeing myself as having so much more to learn. With horses you don’t learn true experience until you’ve been doing this job for many years and even then you’re still learning. But there I was at 23 years old, strutting around like Billy Big Bol***ks, not really mature enough to understand any of it. I was on a hamster wheel that I couldn’t get off.

Now we all know with horses, ‘when your luck’s in, it’s in’ and when it’s not, you’re on the effing ground! My luck seemed to last until my late 20s, which to me felt like I was already in my late 40s and having a mid-life crisis. I felt like I needed a sports car and a Paul Hollywood-style hairdo and I was constantly having a ‘my di*k’s bigger than yours’ competition in my head. I’d been in with a shout of winning at five-star on what I felt were the most talented horses I’d ever ridden, and then on three separate occasions, three separate chances and, ironically, three away from home… CRASH! I’d broken most things by this point so my body felt like I was 90 years old and my mind quite honestly was fu*ked. I had physical and mental health problems, and above all, I’d lost my love for the sport I once loved so much, and in hindsight, loved for all the completely wrong reasons. I chased anything to try and change my luck, to feel wanted or to get a bit of success. But the expectations in my head were so unrealistically high as to what I thought I should be achieving, nothing was ever going to suffice. And until you can step off that hamster wheel and take a step back and look at your life, you can’t change.

I’ve made some pretty bad decisions and choices I didn’t need to make in my life. To go into detail about it all would take too long. But when I was in a bad place and people mocked me, regarded me as being unsuccessful, keyboard warriors and troll comments used to make me rear up and lash out. I let all of this continue to get on top of me. But the reality is people like that will only be brave enough to put you down at low points in your life. Why? Because they either want to keep you there or to stop you progressing any further because they fear not progressing themselves. Bullies, narcissists and trolls are all usually fear-driven by their own egos. And when fear is driven by ego, caring what other people think is its main ally. The main enemy of these people is somebody who has a growth mindset to keep improving, to keep progressing.

Depression became known to me as ‘the black cloak’. When my head was fu**ed, it was like a black cloak wrapped around me and every thought I had was clouded by a fear of my own past failures. I had no recollection of any of the good things I’d done, past achievements or happy thoughts, only things that were bad.

To people on the outside I think I appeared lazy and ungrateful because the simplest of tasks seemed difficult to do. And to be honest, I didn’t want to go back onto the yard feeling a fraction of the person I used to be. There were some days I couldn’t bear to speak to anyone. I’d contemplated taking my own life and I know people who have felt no other option than to actually go through with it. The question I had to ask myself and the discussion I wish I could have had with them is this: at what point do you feel like you lost control of your own mind? What was driving your fear of failure so much that you couldn’t take the control back?

I didn’t have counselling, I didn’t take antidepressants, things which I know help a lot of people, but for me it was about understanding my own mind and what was driving my fears. We are all afraid without knowing it at times of failure. It’s just the things that drive the fear for each and every one of us is different. In my early years, my fear of failure was driven by ego which isn’t good. This encourages you to make decisions that are not a true reflection of the real you. Then it turned into fear of failing as a father, fearing change, fearing my past, fearing not being as good as I used to be. The truth is, the person you were 10 years ago, two weeks ago or two days ago doesn’t need to be the person you can become today.

Anybody feeling depressed, anxious or stuck in a rut, have a think about what fear of failure is driving those negative thoughts. I would highly recommend reading a book called ‘The Fear Bubble’ by Ant Middleton, which is a book that really helped me to understand my own mind. Take a look in the mirror and tell yourself you CAN do this and start by taking small steps towards doing something tomorrow that you didn’t think you could do today. It can be something as simple as setting your alarm clock, getting up and taking a shower. If you’ve lost your confidence jumping, start again with poles on the floor in a course format and just get used to cantering over them, the height is hardly ever the real root of problem anyway. For those that have the fear of not being good enough, set yourself realistic goals towards achieving what you think you couldn’t. And for those with confidence issues, stop thinking about what other people are saying about you — if they need to judge you in the first place, it’s only because you’re doing something more courageous than they would do themselves. Irrespective of your past, if you put your mind over matter, you will never stop developing and improving as a person. Even the person I was a couple of years ago I now want to punch in the face and give him a shake.

Article continues below…

You might also be interested in:

Matthew Wright’s eventing blog: I should have listened to fate and my gut instincts

Matt has endured a pretty up and down past few weeks

Subscribe to Horse & Hound magazine today – and enjoy unlimited website access all year round

Anyway, enough of me going on, but I hope you can all understand why I’m so passionate about promoting the importance of good mental health. For me the winter is about concentrating on my younger horses and getting some jumping practice in and myself in good shape for next year. And most importantly, spending some quality time with my family. I have big ambitions for 2020 with the horses and also ways of progressing the Time To Talk campaign with other riders and the fears they’ve faced.

As we soon will say goodbye to 2019, I would like to take the opportunity to thank my sponsors, owners, team at home and friends and family for the unbelievable support they’ve shown me this year. Thank you also to the people who’ve read my blogs — I hope in some way you may have found them useful.

Matt

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We seem to have had a few weeks of the greatest highs, followed by a few weeks of the greatest lows. It hasn’t quite been the end to the season I was looking for and it has been a real true test of character for myself that I wasn’t prepared for. But then again, even though we know it’s the sport, I don’t think we ever are fully prepared for those tough moments!

After winning the five-year-old Burghley Young Event Horse final with Caunton First Class (Amy) and then having a win and some promising results with horses at Keysoe, I headed to Burnham Market, feeling very positive for the three-day events that awaited us. I thought Burnham Market was a strong track in each of the classes and rightly so at this point in the season, so for Redwood Autumn to take a win in the novice section was really promising. I was pleased with all the horses’ way of going, so was looking forward to heading over to Ballindenisk in Ireland, despite the weather warnings.

How wrong was I? It was a week bloody doomed from the start! We had a couple of things go wrong before leaving that gave me that eerie feeling of “things always come in three’s… what’s next?” But reassured with “don’t be so superstitious, I’m sure it will be fine”, we pressed on. It seems I should have listened to fate and my gut instincts.

Poor Rapide ended up with an allergic reaction which left him unable to run. OBOS Colombus and I had a miscommunication error at the double of brushes at the influential fence 16, which resulted in me crossing my tracks. At least The Corn Crake managed to make the trip worthwhile, finishing in ninth place in the CCI2*-L, which in all the mud gave us something to smile about. I have to thank my owners who, in that situation, were brilliant and ironically also had the same feeling of doom while travelling to the event, but didn’t want to say anything. Maybe gut instincts are usually right and if in doubt, say something.

After a 12-hour trip home, it was then time to repack the lorry for Osberton and prepare for the British Eventing Young Horse Championships. I don’t think washing mud off every item of clothing and footwear and surviving on very little sleep was quite how my wife wanted to spend our wedding anniversary, but she seemed very satisfied when she had the washing machine on full blast at 4am. It was also an important week for us coming up as it was our first year supporting the British Eventing Young Horse Championships through Caunton Manor Stud, something we have worked very hard on this year. It was a great sense of achievement driving in and seeing the signs and flags up at the entrance, and the BEDE team did an amazing job preserving the ground in the testing conditions we had to deliver a fantastic event.

Amy finished second in the five-year-old championships (pictured top) and proved all of her class yet again. She was leading the dressage on 27.4 until near the end when she was beaten by only .4 of a penalty on 27. The leader jumped double clear as did we, leaving us in second place overall. What a horse Amy is proving to be and I’m excited about the future of all the young horses I had running at Osberton, who, despite green first-time mistakes at two-star level, are looking really exciting for the future. I think the main disappointment was not being able to keep a Caunton Manor Stud winner’s rug, but as Victoria pointed out, that was not the point. I can’t be disappointed with Osberton — it’s given us a lot to look forward to in 2020.

During a pretty hectic couple of weeks, I have to give full credit to the team at home who have held the fort in equally testing circumstances. Hayley was on her honeymoon and, in all fairness to her, took a share of some of the bad luck — she booked the lot through Thomas Cook. As soon as she was back, true to Hayley form, she dragged her new husband to Osberton to give us a hand. Richard broke his leg falling over at home, but it was sweet to see him tracking the horses results from the hospital. Paulina had also left to go back home (and the team are missing her lots), so were already a man down. Then, not satisfied with all of this, new girl TJ broke her foot (but is now a dab hand at tack cleaning and washing).

Emma, Lee and George over the past few weeks have held the fort and kept the show on the road. Without them, we couldn’t have done what we’ve done and I’m extremely grateful to have such a hard-working team who adapt to whatever situation is thrown at them. Thank you! Also without the help of parents, great friends and mum coming out of retirement this past week, we couldn’t have got through it all. There is certainly no I in team!

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It has just been World Mental Health Day and it was great to see so many people raising awareness and supporting the Time To Talk campaign. We have something in the pipeline to launch next year that will offer support and hopefully better the mental well-being of all riders. More details will be revealed soon and we have some great people on board. In the meantime, you might remember earlier in the year the campaign myself and Niall Fergusson did to raise awareness and answer your questions on mental health. To continue to raise awareness, my next blog will be an honest account of my own battle with mental health. What I suffer from, how it affects me and what I do to combat it. Always remember it is ok to not be ok and as I’ve learnt, always trust your instincts!

Matt

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Well what can I say, the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials was truly eventful this year on all counts and I managed to fulfil a long term ambition of mine, to win a Burghley Young Event Horse Final. I never usually bother with the Young Event Horse qualifiers unless I think I’ve got a horse that is capable of winning, and when I first saw Caunton First Class I always believed she could win it from the start.

I’ve been privileged to sit on some very good horses in my time who I maintain are the best I’ve ever ridden, and I never thought I’d ever find another one who I would put in the same category or be able to have a comparison with at the same age. I know anything can happen, horses can break down, you can end up on your arse looking like an idiot and your judgement be totally wrong. But at present, the mare makes me feel very excited about the future. She’s more of a pet really and I have a huge soft spot for her. I won’t let myself get my hopes up too much after unlucky stints in the past, but I really do believe in her and I’m proud to have her as my teammate.

We also had some of the stallions at the British Breeding stallion parade at Burghley, which meant an outing for my other pet, Comfort. With only a few minutes to warm up after the five-year-old prize giving, he remained true to his usual easy going self and had a quick pop in the warm-up before taking to the arena completely unfazed by the last-minute rush (pictured top). If he was human, I swear he’d be a hippie. It was also nice to catch up with some of our great sponsors, Bates Saddles and Bailey’s Horse Feeds before we headed back home, which was nice. Conveniently, we allowed just enough time to visit the Pol Roger champagne tent too for a quick celebratory drink. It’s been an amazing journey this year so far — myself and Victoria have worked hard to put in a lot of foundations for the next few years of the business. And I think when we got home and shut the door, it was quite emotional for us both to realise we were on the right lines and to read the Caunton Manor Stud article in British Breeding magazine.

The day after was another Burghley-fest, which meant sitting in front of the TV in the afternoon and watching the cross-country live on the red button. I have to say the course looked a seriously tough five-star track and did when walking a bit of it the day before. I know it had mixed reviews from some of the riders, but the one thing I’ll say is that for the past God knows how many years in my experience, Burghley has always been stronger than other five-star competitions — it’s Burghley! It’s always fu**ing big! It’s the highest level you can possibly event to, it’s always going to be tough and will always require a certain type of horse. Yes, there probably could have been a few more let up fences in between some of the questions so they weren’t continually coming up thick and fast, and I’m never a huge fan of upright gates, especially on an angle. But what do people expect when they enter a five-star event? At that level, even the experienced horses can fall victim because the level leaves very little margin for error. But for first-time five-star horses it’s down to the feel of the rider to know if the horse is ready or not and has the capability. Some horses can cope with any type of track, while others suit some tracks better than others. I do feel some of the events people use to qualify for the top level should take some of the blame. There are always a few softer options in the spring to gain qualifying results in CCI4*-S and advanced classes that are no more challenging than an open intermediate, making it quite easy to plan a route to get to a big event. But with this soft approach, horses are then not prepared as whichever five-star you go to, it’s tough.

Since my last blog we’ve had two trips to Keysoe, one with the older horses and one with the younger ones. All the horses went well and the young horses certainly excelled themselves with all four finishing in the prizes and jumping immaculate double clears. That was officially recorded as a good day at the office.

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During the school summer holidays we seem to have started accumulating ponies as my kids and daughter especially have become very keen. We’ve been lucky enough to find a couple of the sweetest ponies you could ever wish for, who also seem to have taken over and now be stabled on the main yard. They conveniently blend in with the eventers in their own miniature Shires Tempest rugs. I’m just waiting to find out what else of mine has become ponified! Although I’m not complaining, I’ve loved every minute of riding with them while they’ve been off school and it made me sad when they all went back. Nothing has given me greater pleasure than cross-country schooling with them and taking them to shows.

September gets a little crazy for us now as we head back across the Irish Sea to Ballindenisk with four horses, and when we get back from there we go straight to Osberton with another four. I’m loving it though, I have some gorgeous horses to ride and I only hope I can do them justice.

Matt

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What a July it’s been! A heat wave, torrential downpours and flash flooding. I’m just waiting for the snow showers next — nothing would shock me any more.

On a more serious note, we’ve had a good few weeks with the horses. It started with a trip to Aston-le-Walls to run the older horses in the advanced, and The Corn Crake (Herbie) definitely won the gold star and Blue Peter badge that weekend. Herbie put in a personal best dressage performance and jumped a super double clear to finish 11th in a strong section. But if I’m honest I was pleased with all the horses’ performances, especially as it was their first runs since Tattersalls in June. They all jumped great so certainly blew away any cobwebs.

The following week it was time to get the old Jumping boots out and head to The All England Jumping Course at Hickstead ahead of the MS Amlin Eventers Challenge. It’s been a good few years since I took part in the Eventers Challenge and I’m very grateful to the owners of Rapide GII (Pele) for letting me take him so I could have another go (pictured top). We may as well have gone to the South of France as the South East was literally just as hot. “Hotter than Hades”, to be precise, as my owner very accurately pointed out!

Also along for the ride was Caunton Manor Stud’s young six-year-old stallion Comfort for a steady educational jump around the Foxhunter. I don’t know if I’ve become more soft as I’ve grown older, but the fences looked bloody huge when they all of a sudden go into the second phase and become 1.30m. I think by this point they looked about 1.50m in my mind when I was walking the course. When it came to our turn, Com made them feel pretty easy and it was great practice to get my eye in.

The day of the Eventers Challenge arrived, which also happened to be the hottest day of the year so far, so it was important to keep the horses as hydrated, shaded and cool as possible. We made sure we tipped buckets of cold water over the horses every hour when temperatures soared above 35℃ and gave them plenty to drink, plus electrolytes. In that heat you don’t need to warm the horses up for too long and remember to let them stand in the shade wherever possible. The problem is the weather is so variable in the UK, the horses never get chance to acclimatise to anything. When our turn came, I couldn’t have asked any more of Pele in the main arena — he tried his heart out and coped brilliantly in the conditions. It was great to have sponsors Shires Equestrian Products with us too. Louise and Jennifer came along to show their support and make sure we had everything we needed and managed to take some awesome footage of Pele jumping round. We waited until 6.30pm to leave Hickstead that night to avoid the risk of having to stand in stationary traffic on the M25 in the heat, which worked well as we had a pretty smooth run home.

It was a good job really as we had a quick turnaround to Frickley Park the following morning, which meant that it was time for the younger horses to come out to play. Up first was Caunton First Class (Amy), who was competing in her first BE100. I don’t think Amy could have done much more than the 26 dressage and double clear she produced to win the section easily — certainly not bad for five-years-old. Next it was the turn of Crazy Du Loir, who also put in a good dressage score of 29 and jumped a steady double clear to finish eighth after a few time faults.

It then started to rain heavily over the weekend at Frickley, meaning that after the heat wave, the going became extremely slippery. I thought it best to leave the young novice horses at home on the Sunday as I didn’t want to frighten them at this stage in the season, with them running the risk of sliding into fences. They don’t stand much chance showjumping at their best either, and I know and appreciate everyone has different opinions, but I personally don’t find this educational for my young horses.

One subject that seems to keep popping up at present and that is certainly noticeable, is a lack of entries to some events and a decrease in entries to some of the bigger events.

I usually find that the way the entries fall is that the ballot dates tend to be either on the same day or within the same week of one another. This means that you usually end up having to pay within the space of a week for two or three events at a time, which isn’t cheap. Usually if you enter but don’t pay straight away, your entry will be rejected. I think when people then look online and see the event is not full, therefore entries won’t close, they hold back on entering until it is a more convenient time for them to pay. Skipton Horse Trials highlighted this with what they did on the Twitter Eventing Facebook page. I thought it was a great idea when entries were down and the general consensus was that people were waiting for payday, that Skipton told people to put their entries in even if they couldn’t pay that day. As long as they paid before the event, their times would be released.

I appreciate it is also expensive organising and running an event and can see the argument on both sides, but it was amazing how many more entries went in when this message was put out there. I agree when events are nearly full and entries are going to close, the paid entries should take precedent over the unpaid ones. But perhaps when a series of events all require entries putting in within the same week as the ballot dates are close, a deposit could be placed confirming the entry instead of the full entry fee needing to be paid straight away. Then the final balance could be paid before section lists go out or times. It is an expensive sport to do as a professional and also as an amateur.

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We now have a pretty busy August competing and I’m looking forward to establishing a good relationship with some of the new younger horses I have. We’re also making the most of quality family time at present while the kids are off school on summer holidays. I am loving having riding buddies who are enjoying hacking and cantering across the fields with me all the time. Groom training is going exceptionally well too with my daughters, apart from Niamh who likes applying hoof oil to the body at present. Must try harder.

Matt

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It’s been incredibly busy for us since the end of May. Crossing the Irish Sea was fun as usual on our annual trip to Tattersalls, which has to be right up there as one of my favourite events. The atmosphere is always so welcoming and the facilities are great, which is perfect when you have a young family in tow.

It was the first time we haven’t had anything running at Houghton Hall International Horse Trials the week before Tattersalls for quite a few years, so we thought we’d take advantage of this and leave on the Monday morning, instead of doing the usual drive in the middle of the night. Victoria thought it would also be a good idea to book a cabin on the boat so the kids could rest after the long hike up to Holyhead. But if I’m completely honest, she may as well have bought two tickets to Captain Jack’s soft play area, considering the bunk beds in the cabin turned into a make shift slide and climbing wall.

Unfortunately we had no winners at Tattersalls this time around, but the horses had good, confident runs which left me feeling really positive for the rest of the season. OBOS Colombus surprised me the most, feeling much more rideable and like he’s really starting to understand his job and our partnership together. The Corn Crake finished on a double clear around the CCI3*-L (pictured top competing there last year) and Monbeg Maximus didn’t disappoint in the two-star and finished in the prizes for ninth place.

We had a quick turnaround as soon as we got back in preparation for Bramham and left on Wednesday afternoon with Rapide GII for the CCI4*-S and new ride Comfort for the stallion parade. Niall Fergusson very kindly brought Caunton First Class up to us for the Burghley Young Event Horse qualifier on the Friday afternoon, which she only went on to win despite the testing conditions of torrential downpours that lasted all afternoon. I have to say a huge thank you to Lorna and Sarah at Baileys Horse Feeds who have really helped with the feeding plan of Caunton First Class, which has got her looking in great condition. She’s a fussy eater so we really had to find something suitable for her.

The rain didn’t stop that night either and continued into the Saturday, leaving the ground on the slippery side, which caused Rapide GII (Pele) to have an uncharacteristic two fences down in the showjumping. As it was obvious luck wasn’t on our side and Pele wasn’t favouring the conditions, it seemed pointless to risk something silly when there is always another day. The most important thing is that the horse remains confident to enable us to build a good partnership together. He’s not going to have my back if I’ve not got his, and some days if they’re not feeling it, you have to respect that when they are usually very good.

I’m feeling incredibly lucky to have some super young horses coming through again — it certainly gives you that fire and competitive drive. A couple of years ago I was ready to retire, but there’s nothing more exhilarating than producing a young horse through the levels. I never thought I’d sit on the class of horses like L’Aristo Du Lado or If You Want II again, but it’s now becoming a reality. I’m so very grateful to the people who believe in me and keep supporting me, even when I don’t believe in myself.

Last week we brought the three-year-olds in from the field to start their education under saddle, which I find is always a good time of year to do it. This way they can come in during the day and live out at night. We always start them off with plenty of work on the long lines and laying across them first. I think it’s important that the horse learns to go away from you and walk confidently on the long lines before you do this with a rider on their back. Same goes for jumping them loose too — allow them to find balance and make mistakes on their own and certainly never make a judgement on them within the first two weeks of being in. Young horses need time, and some more than others. They will then have another holiday for the rest of the summer once they’ve learnt to walk, trot and canter with a rider on, before coming back in after Christmas in the New Year as four-year-old.

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It has also just been that very important date in the sporting calendar — the school sports day ‘dad’s race’! Due to the over-competitive nature of this particular race, school decided to change it up a bit and make it the ‘mums and dads’ relay. They even brought out the school nurse for precautionary measures. I am pleased to report our relay team remained victorious. I also learnt according to the wife, that it is okay to shout and cheer on your own child embarrassingly, but not other people’s children that are in the same team. And most importantly to not shout and cheer on my son when running, as he looks over to me instead of concentrating and completely misses at the hurdle.

We have a busy few weeks now getting all the horses running again with three-day events in mind for the back end of the season. I’m also really looking forward to heading to Hickstead at the end of July for the MS Amlin Eventers Grand Prix.

Matt

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So much has happened over the past few weeks, it’s been crazy! I can’t believe we’re at that part of the season already where the first big ‘B’ has finished. It certainly made for entertaining viewing all day and kept everyone glued to the edge of their seats. It makes me really proud to look at my Armada dish for five Badminton completions, although it feels like a lifetime ago now that I was last there.

My first Badminton was in 2003 when I was 21 on a horse called All The Best. It was still the long format then, which included the steeplechase and roads and tracks. There is nothing like the feeling of completing at Badminton and riding back into the main arena at the finish, the adrenaline rush is intense. I’ve also had some years I’ve fallen or retired too, so I also know that feeling as well. I’ve certainly seen it from both sides of the fence. I think that’s one of the most nerve-wracking things, knowing that anything can happen and also trying to keep the horses in one piece to get there and throughout the duration of the competition.

My best Badminton result came in 2004 on board Mallards Treat where we finished ninth, and I think my most heart-wrenching moment has to be with If You Want II. ‘If’ gave me a great ride in the dressage as he often did being very reliable, leaving us sitting in the top 10 going forwards to cross-country. I was having a class ride and the most incredible feeling until we got to the houses three away from home — it was like somebody just turned off the light. I jumped off him straight away, knowing something was wrong. It turned out that he was a bleeder, meaning under physical stress his lungs would fill with blood. He was always fine previously at three-star level (now four-star) running over a slightly shorter distance, and hadn’t shown any problems galloping and interval training at home. It was only when he faced the real task itself of taking on Badminton that we realised he had a problem and they always say that after they bleed badly once, it’s hard to come back from that. He was an incredible horse and it took me a long time after trying everything to come to terms with the fact that he would never be 100% at that level again.

Over the years I have learnt that you never truly know if you have a proper five-star horse until they manage to complete more than one. Usually if they’re tough enough to complete a couple, they will keep going, but it’s difficult to keep fragile ones right at that level. I would love to earn my second Armada dish in the future and gain another four completions, so for now I will keep that dream alive.

When I look back at how young I was when I started, it makes me realise I’m still only 36 and hopefully will have plenty more cracks at it over time, but it all comes down to horsepower at the end of the day. I will never push a horse beyond its capabilities and I’m always one for making sure everything is properly prepared to be competitive or gain qualifications rather than going just to be there, which I’m sure can also hold you back because you have to get your eye in somewhere. But I’d rather be remembered for being a good horseman rather than just being known as a good rider. And the best horsewoman won Badminton on the day, nobody deserved it more than Piggy. She’s an unbelievable rider, works incredibly hard and remains so humble and kind throughout.

Since my last blog, which ended with us preparing for Burnham Market, it’s been pretty full on at the yard. We trekked along the wonderful A17 three days in a row there and back, to take a total of eight horses to strut their stuff at Burnham. Sunny Norfolk was not so sunny, in fact we managed to encounter most of the elements including snow, hail, wind and rain. It was bloody freezing! This didn’t seem to put any of the horses off their stride though, as all put in good dressage scores and jumped really well. Rapide GII (pictured top earlier in the year) jumped double clear around the CCI-S4* and put in a personal best dressage mark, so I’m hoping he’ll improve and gain in confidence from that. We’ve had some exciting new arrivals to the yard and some lovely young horses to produce for the future too. It’s always nice to be able to take horses progressively through the levels and sharing the journey as a partnership.

Then after a hectic weekend, we took the kids away for a few days over the Easter Bank Holiday for some much-needed family time. Although it feels odd when I spend a weekend at home, I’m so used to eventing most weekends and even if I’m not I’m usually preparing for one, so it’s nice to have a weekend when I’m just being dad. The school run in the afternoon is always the highlight of my day. The kids ask me what the horses have done and what their little sister has been up to. It seems to be a recurring theme though that whenever I ask them about school, they usually always answer with “I can’t remember.”

“What did you have for lunch?”

“Erm… don’t know.”

This is however a little person con, so don’t be fooled that they aren’t taking anything in. They can usually recite the adult conversation they overheard at school drop off with ease and present you with an in-depth debrief of how two parents reversed into each other in the car park that any insurance company would be happy with. Despite whatever happens with the horses, I can always count on my kids to put a smile back on my face again.

The next event scheduled on the calendar for us was Bradwall in Cheshire. We had two lorries at the ready to take 11 horses in total to compete between myself, Matt Heath and Pete Laidlaw on the Sunday. I have to give a huge amount of praise to my team, who on the Saturday, worked tirelessly to get all 11 horses bathed, plaited and ready to compete. At the same time they were doing the yard as usual, packing the lorry, cleaning all the tack and the list is endless. They managed to have all horses ready by 2pm so they could still finish other jobs in the afternoon. It was an incredible team effort and they pulled together brilliantly! Unfortunately due to the amount of rainfall at Bradwall, the event was sadly abandoned on the Sunday. Again a massive amount of credit has to go the organisers. As the weather had been so bad, I called on Saturday evening to ask if there was any uncertainty over the event running on the Sunday. It would have been a two-and-a-half hour trek for us, which would have meant leaving at 3.30am to be there in time for the 8am dressage. The organisers said they were 50/50 and would let me know if anything changed. At 3am on the Sunday morning I received a text telling me to hang fire setting off as they were unsure now if the event would go ahead. This was an amazing thing to do and saved the horses an hour-and-a-half worth’s travelling to have to only turn around and go back again. We will definitely be back to support the event. The only brave thing we had to do on the Sunday morning then was break it to the girls that the event was now cancelled and all 11 horses needed un-plaiting!

Two days at Richmond was next on the agenda with the young horses, so it was only a short trip for us up North. The long trip up North came the following week to Floors Castle International Horse Trials, but it was well worth the four-and-a-half hour journey. Prince Mayo took first prize in the open intermediate section, followed closely behind by Rapide GII in second and OBOS Colombus then in third place. A one-two-three was a nice way to start the day. It was also the first big track the novice horses have had to face yet and they coped brilliantly. Young Caunton First Class had her first experience on grass in the Burghley Young Event Horse class and it was pleasing to see her take everything in her stride. On the plus side this year, the lorry didn’t break down on the way to Floors, which was probably because I managed to bring mum out of retirement for the week and also persuaded her to drive a lorry load of horses up for me. The bollo*king I’d have got for letting it run low on fuel meant it wasn’t worth playing fuel roulette. All in all, it was a pretty full on few days again for the team who had horses to get ready for Aston and Floors. Without the support of them, my parents, Victoria’s parents, owners and some of our great friends, it wouldn’t be possible to make everything work having three children in tow as well. So to have a good result and a successful day is great credit to all of them too! It also is an enormous credit to our incredible sponsors who are helping to keep the horses in the best form they could possibly be in by feeding and supplementing them right and providing the best possible equipment and tools for the job!

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Eventing a tough sport mentally and physically and support is key. It’s such an emotional rollercoaster with so many ups and downs and as many of you know in February this year myself and Niall Fergusson championed for Mind’s ‘Time To Talk’ campaign. We answered questions that people had sent to us very bravely relating to their own mental health issues. So we feel that this time, it is only right that we open up honestly and discuss our own battles with them. Please watch our next video this week, which we hope will again encourage people to know that it is ok to talk.

Matt

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Great Witchingham was the first event of the season for us, and what a start it was. It’s always nice to have a winner in the open intermediate first time back out, but I think what I was most happy about with this one, is the fact that seven weeks prior I actually broke two metatarsal bones in my foot. And the worst part about the whole foot saga was that it happened in a completely non-horse-related incident. It involved a John Deere gator that wouldn’t start, a man with an idea that wouldn’t work and a man that thought it would be a good idea to try it out regardless of the fact it wouldn’t work. A man’s recipe for disaster!

It didn’t completely stop me in my tracks, but it restricted the amount of horses I could ride each day, leaving me relying massively on the team on the yard. I couldn’t have done it without them, and to run at the first event of the season with the horses looking great, feeling great and exactly where they should be fitness-wise is great testament to them. They have all done an amazing job and I’m very lucky.

We had two trips to not-so-sunny Norfolk back-to-back to get all the horses out for the first time. Day one consisted of three open intermediate horses; Prince Mayo (Mayo), Rapide GII (Pele) and DHI Paparazzi (Pom).

Pele excelled himself and took the win, which was nice for his owners who have recently joined the yard and are extremely fond of their horses. I think this was also special for the team, as Pele has certainly become one of the firm favourites on the yard. Mayo was in as equally good form finishing sixth in a competitive section with a steady clear, followed not too far behind by Pom, who took 10th.

Day two was chance for The Corn Crake (Herbie) and OBOS Colombus (Obie) to have an easy run around an open novice to hopefully give them confidence for the rest of the season. I’m hoping I’ve had a bit of a ‘eureka’ moment with Obie, who I think last year I rode completely wrong for his way of going and was interfering way too much. I’m trying now to just leave him alone and let him get on with it in his own way, however unique his style may be. The problem I’ve always found is that when you’ve ridden a bad or un-genuine horse, you try and ride other horses in the same way that aren’t bad but more tricky than others. But by riding on survival the whole time, you interfere and hook way more than you should, rather than letting things happen naturally. I’m very lucky to have some lovely horses to ride now and I think when you’re in that position, you can’t afford to ride the ones that give you a mental block. My advice to anybody with a horse that makes you doubt yourself, lose confidence and ride for survival, is that it isn’t a healthy relationship to keep. It will only penalise your riding and mental frame of mind in the long run.

It was then onto Belton (pictured top on Prince Mayo) for another fact-finding mission and some steady clears for the horses’ fitness and mine. Burnham Market will be the next outing for all our campaigners and the first serious question before a short break and then heading off to some three days — Houghton, Bramham and Tattersalls are all on the agenda.

I can’t thank my sponsors enough these past few weeks building up to the season. They have all been on hand to make sure we have everything we need. It was great to have a visit from Down Under from all the team at Bates Saddles — they did an amazing job taking the time to make sure all the horses have a custom fitted saddle. This helps to ensure the best possible performance from the horses and that they are totally comfortable to carry out the job. They have even taken the time to make sure the kids’ ponies have the best saddles, considering the kids all managed to wangle their own personal pony saddle. I definitely draw the line at my daughter’s blingy brow bands though. Myself and Victoria went to visit the Shires Equestrian team in Herefordshire, who have some exciting plans for 2019. It was great to be able to visit their HQ and see what products and ideas they have moving forward — the rugs have certainly majorly advanced in the past few years and fit our horses brilliantly. Our last sponsors visit came from Lorna and Sarah at Baileys, who checked all the horses over and made sure that each of their individual diets were nutritionally balanced. I still don’t know why some people think that they need to have their event horse thin and streamline, or in other terms like a hat rack. They can still look great with good condition on them and to have something that can be turned into muscle. I’m not saying they need to look like nearly laminitic show ponies, but you certainly don’t want them looking like a run up greyhound.

We were supposed to be visiting TRM, who have already geared up our supplement collection ready for the season ahead. But this plan was scuppered after the chicken pox epidemic hit our house with mighty force. Not only just the children, but Victoria too, who never had chicken pox as a child. She looked like she’d contracted some kind of weird plague, so we couldn’t let her out in public for a while. We tried to brave the outdoors the week after she wasn’t contagious any more, but following dodgy looks at the petrol station, it was apparent the spots could still be mistaken for a dot to dot, so we felt that she still wasn’t quite ready for the world yet.

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The next plan for us is to prepare everything for Burnham Market this week, which will involve some canter work and schooling in preparation for the horses’ dressage tests. They will also have plenty of hacking with a jump around a course of showjumps a couple of days beforehand. I try not to jump my horses too much at home when they are eventing. Once in the swing of things, I think the horses only need to leave the floor once a week or with the older ones once every couple of weeks. I’ve always found you can maintain them for longer this way.

It’s nice to have fellow eventer Matt Heath stabled with us at present with his string of horses, while awaiting the development of his new yard that is under construction. Matt’s hoping to be Badminton-bound for the first time in a few weeks with his old five-star campaigner, The Lion. The kids have currently been helping desensitise Lion in preparation for the big Badminton crowds by riding ponies and their remote control tractors in the arena at the same time. It’s a theory I truly believe works, considering most of our horses are now well and truly child-proof.

Matt

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Well that’s the 2019 eventing season now well underway. We haven’t started yet, but the horses are all ready to go. I think everybody at the yard is looking forward to Great Witchingham when we “officially” kick off. I think the end of January and February are sh*t months for any eventing team. The horses all need to get fit and turn into smooth and sleek athletes — a much needed conversion from lairy, hairy mammoths. Those days seem to never end, but I think everyone can now see the light at the end of the tunnel and know that spring is just around the corner.

Following on from the last blog where I broached some controversial subjects, I didn’t want to move on without the mention of staff, which seems to be a huge worry at present in many yards. I must say I have been very lucky to have had a lot of great staff that have worked for my family and I over the years — even during the times when I wouldn’t have been particularly nice to work for. Of course, there has been the odd one that hasn’t been so great, or the occasional nut job that thinks that they should be riding all of the horses, but on the whole, it’s been good.

I also feel I have lost a lot of people over the years by not being overly nice or a good person and not giving people the chances they needed to learn and develop. We were very guilty of that because we always had somebody that could do everything — it was easier to just let that person do it than try to and educate anyone else. We would then always go into panic mode when that person left, but in hindsight it was us that was being short sighted. I have learnt a huge lesson!

You have to treat people fairly and you also have to pay them properly to be able to live in today’s very expensive world. I appreciate how expensive yards are to run, the costs we now face are extortionate. But a successful business doesn’t work without a motivated team. You should get up and work with them and help them progress up the ladder if they genuinely have the desire to want to do so. I was always told: “Skills can be taught. Character you either have or you don’t.”

I’d rather have somebody with the right attitude for the job who knows absolutely nothing and can learn the way we do things professionally, than somebody who has just been to a college and thinks they know it all. I think the old working apprenticeship schemes are very sadly missed in some industries where you truly only learn by being hands on. When some people leave these protective bubbles like the colleges, they are usually not ready for the real industry and have very unreal expectations of how it really works. But equally you can have some very good ones too. I often wonder why student loans are just given out in universities for a degree. If they were offered for general apprenticeship schemes as well, I wonder if this would give young people a better chance to progress through industries that favour hands on experience.

I’ve been spending quite a lot of time working on cavaletti exercises with the horses recently. I like this because it helps improve suppleness, balance and self-carriage. It also gives the horse an athletic workout without pushing them too much and keeps them very confident in their way of going. They can be used in so many different ways and are so versatile, that I find them a really useful training tool. They appear to be a firm favourite too of my daughter Niamh (featured in the video below trying some cross-country), who loves jumping down them. It’s the human equivalent of dog agility though for me, who is usually running alongside being told to “turn, jump, wait!”

I had to take my wife’s stallion for dummy training last week — he has never been collected from before and this is his first year of breeding. We took the old Caunton Welldone (Mickey) mare down as a teaser to try and give him a helping hand. It didn’t bode well though when heavily in season Mickey was merely offered a back massage instead. I think the human equivalent of a cup of tea and biscuits in bed rather than a bloody good night. He got there in the end, in his own unique way. I don’t think I can make a comparison to that one though or my blog will be banned.

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We’ve had some exciting new additions to the yard that I’m really looking forward to working with. It would be impossible to do this job without the trust and support of owners and I’m very grateful that they have given me a chance to work with their horses. Quite a few of these new additions are younger horses, which also taught me a very important lesson this week. When you think “should I take some of the older horses on the lorry as well with the babies cross-country schooling to make the job easier?” But then you think “No… it’ll be grand!” You should reconsider that thought, as five babies on a lorry together is like transporting the Velociraptors in Jurassic Park.

Thank you to everybody that shared and viewed the Time To Talk campaign that I did with Niall Fergusson. I hope we’ve raised awareness of mental health issues that affect millions of people every single day.

Matt

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I remain impartial on a lot of things nowadays in comparison to my controversial younger self. But I feel the need to discuss subjects that are becoming a growing concern in the eventing and general equestrian world.

I’ve seen a few people sell up recently and decide to get a job or change disciplines. I would imagine because renting or running a yard, paying all your bills, staff and funding a house is hard work, especially in the past couple of months with Christmas. I think gone are the days where you can just have owners’ horses to earn enough of a living — that’s now enough to cover just your bread and butter money. You need to have your fingers in other pies as another source of income to really make a business sustainable in horses.

When I was young, my parents and I did anything we could to generate more income, mainly because at the same time we were building the yard brick by brick and adding bits to it when we could. We ducked and dived to survive at times and it was very hard. I remember buying 2,000 blankets from Butlins when it had gone bust for just £2 a blanket. I re-sold them for £12 for a single and £20 for a double and even to this day all the clipped out horses still wear them when it’s cold. I generally did anything I could that would turn a pound because I had to.

We were also dealing in large quantities of horses and I had 60/70 horses in at any one time. I would never do that again given a choice — I’d always go for quality over quantity, but we had to to survive. It definitely devalued my riding though in the long-term as I was always the rider people thought of to send tricky horses to.

We’ve sold some good horses over the years too and dad also sold many Olympic horses. I had a great pony, Con, who I had as a three-year-old. He took me to the pony European championships and then we sold him — he went on to launch Tom McEwen’s career too.

I remember buying Park Trader as a five-year-old, doing a few events on him and selling him to the USA. He has gone on to complete many CCI5* (I can’t get my head around the new FEI levels) to date with Buck Davidson Jr. Even Burghley winner Lenamore passed through the yard when he was four, and these are just to name a few! But in those days it was a much easier task to sell horses — nowadays you’re always up against litigation and people who feel they need a top horse to ride. In reality, they need a £2,000 cob and £10,000 worth of lessons! But the thing that drives me insane is that there’s nothing wrong with the £2,000 cob — an amateur rider would have equally as much fun on it.

A few years ago, people would also use reputable dealers and agents that had been recommended to them by word of mouth. I guess social media changed all of that, as people would now much rather message than pick up the phone and really ask about the horse in question. But it pi**es me off when I see someone looking for a horse that moves like Valegro, jumps like Big Star and goes cross-country like Arctic Soul and stands like a rocking horse — what’s their budget? Under £5k.

And there’s nothing wrong with taking a chance on something or buying something cheap, but you should then be fully aware that at that budget what you’re going to get is not the finished article. Yes, the seller needs to be honest and tell you the ins and outs, but if you’re buying something with a vice or that’s green, you have to accept it.

There also used to be a real demand for good one- and two-star horses, but as the sport has become increasingly more expensive, the middle market has slowed down dramatically. I also think that the young riders want something that will go on to do four- and five-star now, instead of learning from a schoolmaster first. Schoolmasters are so underrated nowadays, which is a shame as I don’t know how people learn without them. It always used to give the old boys a job too at the lower levels, as even when retiring from top level they still deserve a purpose if they’re willing.

The market for top horses is still there, but I think if you’re spending serious money on a top one, people don’t necessarily look first in Britain. Like with showjumping and dressage, clients start in Europe because the more proven bloodlines are there. That’s why I think it was great to see what British breeders are trying to do — to breed the quality in the UK so the horses can go on to achieve, thus making British-bred horses more appealing in the long run.

I braved the British Breeders Awards dinner in London earlier in January, which we attended with our good friends and next village neighbours, Martin Schleicer and Niall Fergusson. They are lovely guys and have become great friends of ours.

It was a successful trip, although watching us navigate around London on the tube was a bit like letting the Yorkshire hillbillies out in force. Especially when we had a moment of brilliance thinking we were on the wrong tube, getting off and looking at the underground map, to then realise we were actually on the right one. We had to get on the next tube going in exactly the same direction as the one we got off, much to the amusement of people stood on the platform.

After a great lunch and much wine at the top of The Shard, Martin then had a great idea of us all walking from The Shard to the hotel. A moderate 20 minute walk away, because “we could use the exercise”. With the wife in heels and Niall with his inhaler, when we reached the hotel we looked like we had just tackled the London Marathon twice and needed a little lie down. It was a nice meal and fun evening, but to be honest, most of the business was done in the bar afterwards! We met some great people throughout the night and they were as breeding mad as Martin and Victoria. Dry January had also gone out of the window by this point. The only thing dry about it was the dry gin and dry white wine.

It’s been great having George back from uni this past month. He’s a good lad and helps me with exercising the horses whenever he’s back. Sometimes it’s good for the young horses when I put him on them to let him trot or canter around a sequence of fences so they learn to find their own balance and rhythm without being helped by me the whole time. If you put them on the spot and always help set things up for the more inexperienced horses, they can end up relying on it. Therefore when you make a mistake or end up in the sh*t and need them to find a fifth leg, they look to you because they’ve never had to think for themselves.

There’ll be many amateur riders out there who’ll beat themselves up about missing or not being able to see a stride and making mistakes. It’s good for horses when they’re learning to deal with mistakes over small fences and pole exercises — they learn to think for themselves. As a rider all you should try and do is maintain a good rhythm. If you can keep your horse in a good canter and a good balance, the fence will come to you. A great exercise which I’ve included in the video clip above is to simply jump around a sequence of small fences, in this case cross-country fences, while keeping in a rolling canter on a loose rein. Just keep riding around until the rhythm stays the same and the horse pops over the fence like it’s an added canter stride.

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I would just like to thank the team at home who are doing a great job at the minute of keeping everything going, even though last week we had temperatures as low as -7. It’s very much appreciated.

I think one of the funniest comments I’ve heard all month was when I asked a member of staff to go and break the ice on the water troughs in the field. It had been below freezing again that night.

“It’s ok,” they replied. “No need to, I did them yesterday”.

In that moment I did my best Gordon Ramsay crossed with Alan Sugar impression! Needless to say he doesn’t work here any more…!

Please also remember on Thursday 7 February it is The Time To Talk Campaign run by Mind. Be sure to check out my Facebook page where I will be talking about mental health issues and will invite people to ask me any questions.

Matt

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

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Happy New Year to all! I hope you enjoyed the festive period — the aftermath is never usually as exciting. Dry January, the gym and strapping myself to a treadmill is usually what the New Year entails for me.

My eventers are all back in from their holidays too. They usually have a couple of weeks on the walker and hacking around the village and then start trotting a bit more intensively down the lanes and roads. It seems like a tedious task at the time, but it’s essential for the fitness of the horses. It prepares their bodies and muscles too and gets them ready to start schooling. I also think by the time the horses are fit, the team could prepare an Ordnance Survey Map of Lound and the surrounding villages.

While the horses are getting fit, it’s also my main priority too. I don’t know about anybody else, and before I say any more, I do appreciate that there are undoubtedly some amazingly strong-willed New Year’s resolutioners out there, but I find January one of the hardest and most mentally challenging months. We make all these promises to ourselves on New Year’s Eve that can actually make us feel very low and disappointed with ourselves after a few days or weeks.

I got really quite low at the end of November and during December, which is pretty normal for me at that time of year. I think that because my main job is as an event rider, you kind of feel you have no sense of purpose at that point. Everything’s in the field, the yard’s quieter and March still seems so far away. So when I got to the end of December, I didn’t make any big resolutions or set milestones I could become obsessed about in 2019. Being somebody who is massively critical of themselves anyway, and applies pressure even when there’s no reason to do so, I didn’t think it would have been a very good idea. Instead, I just want to take every day as it comes, good, bad or indifferent, and concentrate on being the best I can be. I know what I’d like to achieve this year and that only hard work, blood, sweat, tears and determination is going to get me there. I’ll have good days and I’ll have sh*t days, so for me it’s easier taking them a day at a time, rather than planning too far ahead as to what I’ll have ticked off come 2020.

My wife has been obsessed about getting the stud up and running this year with the stallions we have. I’m not going to lie, at first I nodded along, pretending to be listening to her while really watching TV. But after a few things were thrown at me which meant actually getting into it myself, I never thought I’d hear the day I’d be looking forward to going to the stallion show at Addington in February. Breeding horses hasn’t always been my favourite thing to do and I’d never paid that much attention to it, but I’m really enjoying the stallions and having two standing at stud this year. The only thing Victoria hasn’t convinced me of yet is that watching the same dressage test over and over again at a British Dressage show isn’t like watching paint dry!

I am going to continue to donate all prize money I win to charity in 2019, and I can reveal the first charity I will be continuing to support is Mind. I am officially a registered champion for Mind’s Time To Talk Campaign, which is an amazing project, encouraging everybody who has been or is still suffering from any mental health condition to talk about it.

On 7 February I will be speaking publicly on social media about my own mental health issues and will openly discuss this and answer any questions people may have. I find it really upsetting how many people took their own lives in 2018, and a number of them have been related to the equestrian world. It’s far too easy to be OK in public, put on a brave face and sweep everything under the carpet. More people can get help if we make what is such a difficult subject OK to talk about.

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We’ve been on a mission at the yard to get everywhere painted and tidied up, which is an annual thing for us to do. I thought I could reduce the typical time frame of two weeks to paint the yard to four days by getting a paint spray gun attached to a compressor. It was a good job I decided to start with the outside of the building as a test run. I managed to cover myself, the floor and had a ‘Massimo’ moment on the wall. After eventually getting to grips with it, and rectifying the ghostbuster-like splodge, we soon had the yard finished.

We’re off to London this weekend for the Breeders Awards Dinner and launch of the Competition Stallions Guide. Then it’s time to crack on and start schooling the horses ready for the first events in March!

Matt

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

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Well it’s official! Horse & Hound has very kindly asked me to continue writing my online blog for 2019. I am so happy to have been given this opportunity again and I’m very grateful to the H&H team for allowing me to share my experiences and adventures with you guys. I’d better make 2019 an exciting year! I’m not entirely sure the hairy mammoth horse creatures in the field are looking overly convinced by this, as the countdown to the final couple of weeks in the field has commenced. Some will come in earlier than others, but I usually work on the basis that everybody gets a good two month’s holiday.

This past month has been busy but incredibly rewarding. When you decide to breed horses, I’m always slightly dubious as I got told from a young age that “fools breed horses for wise men to buy”. I suppose if you want a young horse then buying a smart three- or four-year-old, which is still not guaranteed to turn out as you want it to, as a buyer is a little less risky than trying to breed one. But what I eventually learnt is that breeding will always come through.

We had good mares, who were all proven, and I knew them individually and how they were to ride. This made picking a stallion for them a slightly easier task. It’s something my wife, Victoria, and I have put a lot of time, effort and thought into.

It was a proud moment for us bringing the youngsters in to back and break for the winter — they all showed ability and are trainable (the video below shows a three-year-old, who is out of a three-star mare I had, who was called Noisette Des Pres). They ticked many boxes that any breeder or buyer would have been happy with, and if I’d have seen them in a sales ring, I’d have bought them. But in many respects, it’s much more rewarding having bred them ourselves. I’m looking forward to doing some young horse classes with them in the future.

Former British-based eventer Daisy Trayford recently asked me if I would be interested in teaching a clinic at her beautiful place at Nunda in New York. Having never travelled long haul, nor been to the United States, I thought I needed to check this one out under the supervision of my wife before I ended up like Crocodile Dundee in New York. I survived, but there were a few hairy moments, especially when realising pedestrian crossings work differently over there. I will be returning to New York and will be teaching at the Trayford’s ‘Exmoor Eventing’ base in 2019.

We’ve also celebrated our end of season dinner, which was a great opportunity to say thank you to our owners, sponsors and team. This was also a proud moment for me as it was the day that our donations went to both charities we have been supporting this year, Orchid and Mind — they received £1,561.80 each. But in addition to this, thanks to some amazing prizes that were donated for auction, we managed to top up the total by £3,400. These charities have been a massive help to me and it has given me a great focus this year. The charities we will be supporting in 2019 will be revealed in my next blog.

We will also have all the event horses back in and at the start of boot camp by the time you read my next blog. Unfortunately for me, I will also be starting boot camp and strapping myself to a treadmill. I hate making plans as horses are always so bloody unpredictable, but in 2019 I hope to share with you my return to four-star (or five-star as it will then be known), international travel, international events and some great projects I’m involved with. The ups and downs of the sport in all honesty and a magical mystery tour with fellow event rider and great friend Matt Heath. I hope it makes for some entertaining, honest and interesting reading!

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But for the next couple of weeks, my main role will be the same as most dads’ over Christmas — putting the Christmas decorations and Christmas lights up outside! And after nearly falling off the ladder, pulling a few Mission Impossible style stunts, swinging or hanging past the window, you look in to see your wife and children all warm while decorating the tree and the kids waving at you excitedly. You always feel a sense of manly achievement though when you’ve done it. So much you then call the family outside for the big ‘turning on of the lights’ like it’s Blackpool Illuminations. I had to draw the line at the inflatable Snowman though when William was scared of it!

Matt

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With the 2018 eventing season drawing to a close, Little Downham turned out to be the last event for me. I had two rides, an intermediate and an advanced, who both went well and gave me a great end to the year. I was especially delighted for Keith and Joan Jones, who will have a three-star horse in The Artist Almost Famous next year.

The plan to end the year had changed somewhat, as we never intended to finish the season after Downham. Prince Mayo was supposed to run at Boekelo in the second week of October, giving me another spin around a three-star before the year was out. However on the Sunday of Osberton he appeared sore in his stable like he’d pulled something. We presumed he’d been cast in the night and needed to give him a few days rest. It was great news it wasn’t anything serious, but it meant that he would have missed out on crucial fitness work. Not prepared to risk anything, we decided to withdraw and save him for next year. Needless to say he’s 100% now, galloping around the field giving me the middle finger on a daily basis while he’s on holiday.

Most of the younger horses had already had their last runs by this point too as I’d always rather leave the more inexperienced horses on a good note and try and finish them at the end of September. They’ve usually stepped up a level before the end of the season anyway, and if something goes wrong at that point you still have chance to drop them back down a level and end it on a good one. It mentally does the horse and rider no good to end after a bad run.

On reflection, although there’s plenty I would like to have changed and improved on this year, I don’t think I can be too disheartened. Going into 2019, I’ve got horses qualified for four-star, have completed four three-stars clear, celebrated another international win at Tattersalls, giving me a total of 18 to date, and I’ve also had a good few wins this year, giving me enough British Eventing points to put me back into the top rider rankings. All this has also helped me to raise near on £3,000 for the charities Orchid and Mind. Although I always think what could have been, I’m actually quite happy with how the comeback has gone.

I think I learnt the most about myself at Osberton this year. The old me wouldn’t have just walked away smiling and shrugging it off congratulating Izzy Taylor after losing what could have been a second international win of this season. I’d have spent a month getting over it before over-analysing everything I did wrong and what I could have done differently. Now after knocking jumps down and realising we weren’t winning anything, all that was going through my head was that I had two hours to spare before jumping my two-star horse to take the kids on the bouncy castle. It’s not that I’m not competitive any more, as I still want to win as much as the rest of them, but you have to be able to put things into perspective to be able to cope with the amount of pressure, that you mainly put on yourself.

In a joint-decision some of my owners and I had to move on a couple of the older horses that we purchased in 2017. Realising that all your geese aren’t swans, nor are they suitable for you, is a bitter pill to swallow. But a couple of the horses were talented as schoolmasters for people wanting to jump bigger tracks. So instead of being pushed beyond their capabilities by me, it was the right thing to do to let them go and be superstars for someone else. There is always a purpose for any kind of horse. I think when anybody is trying to build up a string of horses, not all of them will turn out to be exactly as you expected. Some will go on beyond the expectations you had for them and the mega stars you thought you had will turn out to be middling ones. You have to be able to be honest about this with their owners and in your own head so you can also give the horse the best chance in the future, even if they just turn out to be a hunter or a BE90 horse. They can still be a horse of a lifetime for somebody else.

I’m feeling very lucky going into next year. It’s nice to actually be excited with the horses I’ve got for next season. I’m looking forward to jumping some big tracks with the ones I’ve built up a relationship with this year and to see the younger horses we’ve produced move up a gear and progress on through the levels.

I don’t think you can make an exact plan when it comes to horses, as they are always so unpredictable, but I have some goals that I hope are achievable for the future. I’d like to tick the box with riding round another Badminton and Burghley, and if I could add Kentucky and Pau to the bucket list, that would be great. If I had the opportunity to ride on a team again, it would be amazing, but I know that comes with consistent results and being on top form, so I have to just hope the horses and I can step it up a gear over the next few years.

I honestly don’t think coming back to the sport this year at top level would have been possible without the support of some amazing people. Firstly my friends and family for giving me the confidence to get back up there again and keeping me grounded. My parents have always been there for me and I wouldn’t have achieved anything without the time, help and foundations that they have instilled in me. There really are too many people to thank, but a special mention must go to Charlotte Cole and Sir John Peace. They have supported me as owners for 15 years now, and have remained throughout all the ups and downs. I have some great owners who I love working with. It’s been a pleasure to ride lovely horses for some great people this year. As for sponsors, the support I’ve had has made everything possible. TRM have been with me for nearly 15 years now and have become great friends along the way. And I hope to build an equally great relationship with Baileys Horse Feeds, Bates Saddles, Shires Equestrian, Venn Healthcare and LeMieux products. Their support has been amazing and I feel very lucky to have them behind me and the horses. The products are top drawer and really help us achieve every day.

A large amount of credit must go to my team at the yard, who have worked tirelessly throughout the year. I think it is hugely important on any yard to have good people on it. Unless you have a team keeping the show on the road, it makes the job nearly impossible.

I’d also like to thank Horse & Hound for allowing me to do this blog. I hope it’s helped some people along the way and I look forward to continuing.

For now the horses will all enjoy a holiday in the field before coming back into work after Boxing Day, which takes us back to the get fit cycle from when I started my blog in January this year.

Continued below…

Matthew Wright’s eventing blog: I’ve never laughed so much

September has been a month of ‘nearly’ moments for Matt

I’m currently enjoying some family time and giving the yard its annual tidy up and paint job right now. During the winter months we also bring the youngsters in for backing and breaking ready for the following year. Hopefully we’ll have some good ones!

Thanks for all the support so far this year from the readers, it is much appreciated!

Matt

For all the latest equestrian news and reports, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday

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Since the last blog we’ve had a pretty busy September trucking to Blenheim and Osberton — not that we really had to truck to Osberton, it’s only five minutes down the road!

The journey home from Blenheim though was a mixed bag of emotions on reflection of how the week went. I was early to go with Pom (DHI Paparazzi) on the Thursday morning for the dressage and was buzzing after finishing the test. He tried so hard from start to finish and the test was a huge improvement from the one we did at Bramham. Mark-wise I was a little disappointed when I saw I had only scored a 32, having made mistakes at Bramham and coming out with a 30. But you can’t judge your marks based on the scoring system from a previous event. You have to look at the judge’s ranges of marks and the way that their scoring on that particular day — so in hindsight I shouldn’t have been too disheartened.

Obie (OBOS Colombus) was next to step up for his test on Friday and considering we made some mistakes and my flying changes were crap, I was happy to score a 36.

I walked the cross-country course each day, with my final decision making walk with the dog (this is a standard procedure) on the Saturday morning. I’ve thought every three-star course I’ve walked this year so far has been bloody huge, so after walking the Blenheim track my thoughts were no different. It’s been quite a few years since I’ve ridden these bigger tracks, so I was a little out of practice looking at them from a non-armchair jockey perspective.

After feeling quite nervous and, as Jenny and Tor described, “Casper the friendly ghost-like” beforehand, the nerves soon disappeared after jumping the first fence on Pom and he felt class the whole way round. At Bramham I set off far too quickly and this unsettled him early on, which was the wrong way to ride him. He got really quite strong and it didn’t look particularly nice, nor was the feeling, so as a result we ended up with loads of time penalties.

Having learned a lot from him there, I changed my approach and kept him on a loose rein and tried to settle him into a rhythm the whole way around. He was much more adjustable and rideable than before, so knowing I will be able to up the tempo next year and hopefully be closer to the time has left me feeling very positive.

I made a right royal cock up with Obie at fence four, a large parallel table to a right handed skinny corner. I kicked the flag out and was unsure if we’d gone through it or not. Almost certain I’d heard I’d been given 50 penalties, I took my foot off the gas and cruised round at a snail’s pace to get Obie home confidently. He’s had a few eliminations at this level in the past, so the last thing I wanted to do was retire. When I completed and the scoreboard showed I was clear, I felt a right tit.

The final day of showjumping wasn’t perfect for us though either, having four down. We’ve certainly not gelled yet nor found our feet as a combination, but I rate the horse highly and I’m looking forward to bringing him back into work after a couple of month’s holiday in the field ready for next year.

At the start of the year, I think we’re all that keen to get going that the 3am alarm clocks and dark, cold mornings are manageable because we’re all a little bit excited. When it all comes to a close and it’s only the last few events to go, you start feeling like a kid looking forward to the six weeks school summer holidays. So when the horses all go out for their winter holidays, my wife didn’t need to ask me twice to see if I too wanted to go on a little holiday.

We then headed to Osberton with three horses; two in the CCI* and one in the CCI2*. I think it was the closest scoring I’ve ever seen at a three-day and I’m still not overly convinced about the new scoring system.

At the end of the week before Osberton, Jane Duncan’s Treworder (Rocky) arrived for me to ride — she also owns Monbeg Maximus (Mumbles). Rocky had an intensive few days of boot camp before the event to try and get him onto my wavelength. He did a great test on the Thursday going into the lead and holding onto it until the end of the dressage. Mumbles was close behind him with only two penalty marks difference throughout. The Corn Crake (Herbie) also did a great test for Sir John Peace and Charlotte Cole, lying in 15th after dressage overall.

Cross-country day came and both Mumbles (pictured top) and Rocky maintained their positions finishing clear inside the time. I had an ‘oh sh*t’ moment on Herbie taking the first stride I saw to a box, resulting in me having to take a long route and gaining 12 time-penalties, which dropped us down significantly. The final day came and the showjumping was that close that only two fences at the start of the competition separated first to 75th! Luck was not on our side on the Sunday and each of the horses rolled poles dropping us well out of any placings. It did seem a little unfair to move down so much having done so well throughout, and I feel sorry for the owners who must have had their adrenaline pumping, but that’s the sport. Overall I was delighted with how the horses performed. It’s certainly been a September of nearly moments.

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Most importantly throughout Osberton, it was great being so close to the kids’ school which meant I didn’t get to miss the highlight of September… the school singing competition. William stood at the front of the stage scowling on the end of his row like a statue, and very noticeably didn’t do a single action along with the other children. It was even more noticeable when all the other kids laid on the floor. I’ve never laughed so much, along with the majority of the other parents, at my child. The other highlight surely has to be Jonty Evans putting in an appearance at Osberton, one of the most truly inspirational guys I know. I don’t think many could have overcome what he has!

Matt

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Well Blenheim week is finally here! It’s Monday morning and t-minus 48 hours until we arrive at the event as I write this. Vigorous lorry packing takes place for a three-day event, so it’s no wonder the amount of kit taken to WEG (World Equestrian Games) by my fellow equestrians was so much.

Preparation couldn’t have gone any smoother for Pom (DHI Paparazzi) and Obie (OBOS Colombus, pictured in the open intermediate at Richmond recently), who had great spins around Somerford and Richmond as a warm-up. So it’s now just down to hoping that luck is on our side this week and that the horses feel as good as they have been. Both boys had their final canter work on Saturday and will be taking to a bit of schooling today and tomorrow, with a little jump in-between. They also had a final pre-Blenheim physio session this morning, so I hope they feel the benefits.

Our Shires rugs are being packed en masse for every weather eventuality and we also had a special delivery from Baileys Horse Feeds to send us off with. You’re always better to take too much stuff for the horses than have to panic buy when you’re there. The girls usually pack the lorry and worry about the horses’ equipment and wardrobe, while my responsibilities involve stocking the fridge and feeding them for the duration. Usually if the wine fridge is not sufficiently stocked, I come under a lot of scrutiny.

My wife, among other things, holds the responsibility of packing the clothes for the family to wear. I have learnt now that during this stressful time, the kids remove everything she’s packed away neatly into a massive pile of destruction on the floor. This is usually not the time to ask her “have you finished yet?” or to “look sharp”.

My punishment for this on a few occasions has left me resembling a Beatrix Potter character for a week or a New Kid On The Block.

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Matthew Wright’s eventing blog: selections, emotions and why it’s OK to be like Marmite

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I’m excited to see what the horses are capable of and I’m keeping everything crossed for a positive result, but what will be will be and I just hope to bring them home safe and sound. I’m feeling anxious to be at a big event again and I hope it will leave me feeling optimistic for next year. I’m sure the pre-dressage nerves will set in later in the week and I’ll let you know my honest thoughts afterwards, good or bad!

Matt

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It’s been a busy couple of weeks for us at the yard and it’s certainly been a controversial week with the WEG (World Equestrian Games) eventing team selection being announced. I think at the end of the day, everybody who made that short list deserved to be there and should be proud of the achievements they’d had that put them on it. With only five places in total though, there was always going to be heartache for those not selected. The selectors know the horse and rider combinations a lot more than we do, so we should support the decisions made and cheer Team GB on as best we can.

We had 12 horses competing in total last week, some at Aston-le-Walls and some at Bold Heath. All of them did me proud. Charlotte Cole’s Dakotah VII (Daks) had his first comeback run since Houghton and finished second in the open novice, while Amanda and Craig Morris’ Roko Rock (Boots) stepped up to his first novice and finished in 10th place. The Corn Crake (Herbie, see video top) was again exceptional in the open intermediate finishing sixth, as was DHI Paparazzi (Pom) — both just need to polish up on their dressage tests now. And to top it all off the BE100 horses put in pretty grown up double clears. In total all 12 horses had clear cross-country rounds and felt in fantastic form, seven of which were double clear. The other five were also in good form, but had poles down in the showjumping due to jockey error, so we’ll take it as a learning curve and move on.

I sat down with a drink on the Saturday evening, after the final day, feeling completely exhausted. I’d decided though that this was an acceptable type of exhaustion because of the positive results that I’d had. I usually go into one of three phases when travelling back from a competition:

1. I’m so happy with how all the horses have gone, it’s completely worth getting up in the middle of the night and travelling miles to an event for. Cue billy big bollocks feeling. Let’s plan where we can take them all next, we’ve high hopes for them. Let’s post some fab pictures of the magical unicorns on social media!

2. The horses get rubbish dressage marks or something goes wrong, followed by poles rolling due to me making the wrong judgment call and moments of stupidity in the showjumping. Cue the long sit in the lorry. “I’m not sure I should even be going cross-country!” Doubting moments follow. “We may as well just go home now.” “I’m not what I used to be. I’m old and past it.” (Did you not know 35 is the new 70?!). Then cue cross-country start box adrenaline rush… and we’re away and have a storming round. We then leave in the lorry still looking for positives and if we can just get the other phases better, it’ll all be grand.

3. When the event does NOT, and I repeat NOT, go well or to plan. Cue the drive of doom. I want to pack the stuff back in the lorry as quickly as possible and remove myself from the situation literally seething. “I’m useless, I’m not as good as I used to be. I’m past it. I may as well just give up.” But usually far worse than phase two comments on the way home, while thinking of all the other things I could do that are non-horse related or what country I could possibly emigrate to. I then sit sulkily all evening, answering only with a grunt and don’t usually want to look at a horse for the next day, week or maybe even a year. I do this while trawling through everyone else’s social media at the same time thinking the grass is so much greener on the other side.

The hardest part after reaching phase three is dealing with your mindset in general. When competing again when I was in a low place, I at times used to dread riding in front of other people, however big or small the crowd. I used to think most people spectating were totally scrutinising and pulling every aspect of me apart, riding wise and personally.

I’m a bit like Marmite anyway, people either love me or hate. So my way of dealing with it used to be to try and live my life like a wannabe Jordan Belfort, the ‘Wolf’ of the eventing world. It contained however absolutely no helicopters, nothing luxurious and certainly more penny stocks than blue chips. But I hung on to the fact I had the sell, sell, sell, win, win, win mentality, and because I was cocky and determined to be competitive I would be ok. But I don’t think a large ego actually gives you any kind of competitive edge, maybe only temporarily. I have come to learn it’s just a mask for huge amounts of insecurity, especially speaking from experience with myself and having gone through therapy. Until you can accept and deal with your own insecurities and be happy with the way ‘it just is’, it’s difficult to find stability physically and mentally.

The strongest way to be is to know your strengths, your weaknesses and be happy enough to accept and work on them and not be judged by what people think. Some will like you and others won’t — you’re never going to be everyone’s cup of tea. But as long as your performance is better than your last one, you should be satisfied with that.

I have learnt a lot recently from my daughter, Niamh. For a few months we had to go to a number of hospital appointments with her for scans, X-rays and consultations to get to the bottom of her inability to walk. This was a worrying time as a parent. Following a diagnosis she has now been fitted with a splint that inserts into her shoe and eventually has enabled her to walk. She laughs and is incredibly happy and proud of herself at what she can achieve since she’s been wearing it. She has absolutely no idea yet at two-years-old about insecurities, nor is she conscious of people looking at her wearing it. She sets herself goals, first was to walk a few feet from the chair to the coffee table. Then halfway across the kitchen. Then across the full length of the kitchen. She now walks everywhere, even when it was painful, she didn’t give up. That is the determination that as a competitor we need — to set goals to achieve more than we did yesterday and to never give up. I am immensely proud of her and she is a huge inspiration of mine! I know she’s inspired her brother and sister too.

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Matthew Wright’s eventing blog: it’s been a crazy week

Matt talks about some recent good competition form, fitness and a new sponsor...

The next stop was Somerford Park with five horses in the intermediate sections. This proved to be well worth the 3.30am alarm clock as the venue was lovely and the going perfect. The sections were competitive and full of top horses, so I was delighted when Pom held his own against some great campaigners. He put in a 23 dressage and double clear to finish in second place, just one point behind the leader. The others were all good too, some steady away and Herbie again holding his own for seventh in another strong section.

With Blenheim next on the agenda, I was a tad emotional entering as the last time I went was with my old coloured horse Zippy (Park Pilot) at the Europeans in 2005. I’m hoping I have as much luck there as I did the last time, but what will be will be. I’m just delighted to be going back!

Matt

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

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It’s been a crazy week for us with a combination of early starts, ridiculously long days and a number of miles travelled — a pretty standard week really for most event riders.

Having said that, it was hardly a long trek to Frickley Park at the start of last weekend, with a grand total travelling time of 30 minutes from leaving the yard. Amanda and Craig Morris’ Roko Rock pulled out all the stops with a personal best dressage of 31 and yet another double clear to finish fourth in the BE100 section. He will step up to novice level next, along with Peter and Bernadette Harrison’s Cooley Outlaw (pictured top flying around Frickley Park, photo credit to the great up and coming James Brooks Photography), who also put in a PB dressage score and posted a super clear cross-country.

It was then from one 4am start to a 2am one the following morning to head up north to Burgham International Horse Trials. I have never been so happy to drive through torrential downpours, nor have my team ever got so excited to see grey clouds and be so willing to get wet all day. It was well worth the seven hour round trip though.

DHI Paparazzi had his first run since Bramham and felt pure class from start to finish, completing on his dressage score of 29 to come second in the open intermediate section for Sir John Peace and Ian and Heidi Woodhead.

Sir John enjoyed more success with his own and Charlotte Cole’s OBOS Colombus who finished closely behind in third, as did Joan Jones’s The Artist Almost Famous who was fourth on his dressage score of 30, barely even a mark behind the others. Over the duration of the weekend we raised just short of £400 for our chosen charities, so it was nice to top up the kitty.

Now we’ve regrouped and the horses have all had their first runs back following their respective spring three-day events, it’s now time for us to hit the gallops again a couple of times a week. This is particularly important for our Blair- and Blenheim-bound campaigners. When the workload increases and the horses get very fit, a lot of them can become run up and start to look very lean. I have to say since I’ve had the horses on the Baileys No.21 ease & excel and No.2 working cubes or No.11 racehorse cubes, I’ve had absolutely no issues with this problem. In fact, the horses have resembled me in the stomach region at times — more on the comfortable side with plenty to grab hold of, despite being very fit and doing lots of miles. I find that the ease & excel is magic stuff though and has improved every horse on the yard. I think this along with the TRM Curragh carron oil makes a special winning formula. If you decide to try it and your horses do well, you can thank me for that one.

With a harder fitness regime, we try and make it as easy as possible on the horses. Every morning they go on the TheraPlate before exercise and we also use this after a competition and on rest days. We combine it with a treatment from the Venn Veterinary Multi-Radiance Acti-Vet Pro Laser to give them as much help as possible and to treat any tired and sore muscles, like any athlete would get. Along with this, each horse has a regular six weekly treatment with ACPAT physiotherapist Beverley Berns. If you are expecting your horse to be an athlete and ride them in competitions, it is very important that you treat them like one. I’ve certainly had to learn this the hard way over the years.

The horses have also been incredibly spoilt this month and I’m very proud to announce that I have signed a sponsorship deal with Bates Saddles. I originally took the Advanta challenge in April, which I would highly recommend anyone to do. I was so happy with the performance of the horses and the results I got while trying it at Bramham and Tattersalls around some seriously big tracks, I would never go back. The saddles are so light and comfortable on the horses, and allow them to have total use of their bodies and freedom in the shoulders. The easy-change fit solution offers flexibility for achieving an optimal fit and ultimate performance for your horse. Each of the horses are now fully equipped with a Innova Mono+ dressage saddle and a Advanta jump saddle. The only thing that will take some getting used to for me is seeing so much ‘Bates purple’ when I walk inside the tack room. I usually only like seeing purple when I open a box of Quality Street. I am extremely grateful to the whole team at Bates Saddles for the opportunity.

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Matthew has been busy competing over the past few weeks with a wide variety of horses in the very high

We head to Aston-Le-Walls next for a couple of days with the majority of the horses in the open intermediate and novice sections. I have also expanded my fundraising campaign to take it to the end of the year and continue with the fitness goals for next year’s charity race at the same time. Thanks to some encouragement from a friend, I have entered a 5km and 10km run at Yorkshire Wildlife Park. Anyone wishing to join me and Team Wright at the race and raise some money for great causes, feel free to come along. We certainly won’t be setting any Mo Farah-like records, but will highly likely do the MOBOT on completion.

Matt

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

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

Who remembers saying “I hope we have some sort of summer this year, because winter’s lasting forever”? Hands up Britain! Well someone up there certainly took note, or to put it bluntly, is taking the p**s. We are now nearly a month into our British heatwave, and true to form we’re now all complaining about the heat.

Eventing in these conditions though is rather taxing on the horses and ground conditions are not always desirable.

After a short couple of weeks break with the horses, we were back on the grind at Aske Horse Trials with a lorry load of five. Being honest, I was expecting shin splints when I jumped out the lorry and I told the girls not to get the numbers until I’d walked the course and made an informed decision about whether to run or not. But I have to say an enormous amount of credit must go to the BEDE team. Stuart Buntine had done a tremendous job ensuring riders had the best possible ground in very difficult conditions for organisers. I was seriously impressed and will certainly be supporting the event in the future.

Not only was it a great event, it was a successful day all-round. Five horses competed and all five jumped double clears, giving them a super strike rate.

The Corn Crake (Herbie) was a winner in the open novice section (see video top), which was his first run since Tattersalls, so it was great to feel him in such good form. He was followed closely behind by Franzipan (Fran) in second, who was having her first run cross-country of the season so far and I couldn’t have been more pleased with her. OBOS Colombus (Obie), Wanskjaers Carlsson (Carl) and The Artist Almost Famous (Artie) all had nice steady rounds in the open intermediate, which hopefully should have set them up for Aston advanced in a couple of week’s time. We did have a slightly entertaining moment with Carl in the showjumping when the stewards tried to pronounce his name on the tannoy.

“Here’s Matthew Wright on Wan…….k….k….k…..zzzzz Carlsson.” I finished my round and then they shouted out to me “How do you say his name Matthew?” When I shouted back “W**krs Carlsson!” there was a large amount of laughter, followed by “that’s what we nearly said”.

It’s important in this heat to keep the horses hydrated and to have plenty of water on hand ready for when they come back from each discipline, especially the cross-country. Just throw as much water over them as you can followed by a good sweat scrape and keep repeating until the temperature is down. If you can find a shady spot too this helps and try and get them to have a drink.

When they get home, be sure to give them plenty of electrolytes, the TRM Isopro or Superlytes are brilliant. It’s also important to stay hydrated yourself as a rider, groom, official or spectator, so be sure to take plenty of bottles of water.

As a rider you’ll find nothing quite quenches your thirst though like a nice cold beer or G&T at the end of the day. This is scientifically proven I’ve decided and is the perfect solution when back home.

Travelling horses in this heat is hard going too, especially when you don’t want to travel them in a rug, but want to keep them clean. The Shires Mesh Cooler is a good alternative solution in this situation. It keeps the horses cool and doesn’t make them sweat, but keeps covered all the right places.

The following week at Buckminster Park it was equally as hot, and I was supposed to have seven horses running over the two days of competition.

It was time for the young guns to make an appearance again on the Saturday and Class Booze Cruise (Boozy), Roko Rock (Boots) and Cooley Outlaw (Ainsley) all put in excellent performances. Boozy managed another second place rosette and has now been placed in all four of his starts. Boots showed much improvement on the flat and a grown up performance all-round taking fifth place for owners Amanda and Craig Morris, as did Ainsley for his owners Peter and Bernadette Harrison.

We didn’t run any of the novices the next day, who are all entered at Aston. The ground was still a little on the firm side, so we thought best to save their legs for the following weekend. This proved to be a wise choice on all counts as my daughter Niamh ended up at Bassetlaw hospital following a virus she’d had. She broke out in a rash with a fever so it was better to be safe than sorry and make sure it was nothing serious. I’m happy to report that she is now back to terrorising her brother and sister and eating us all out of house and home as per usual.

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Matthew reports back from Bramham and shares an announcement

After the huge relief of Niamh being OK, when we got home it was reported that the lorry had decided she too needed to see a doctor down the yard. Due to the nature of that being only mud flaps that needed repairing, it was time for a bit of a DIY SOS mechanic job!

Aston’s advanced and intermediate classes are the next stop now on the agenda for the majority of the horses, along with the gallops, which we are very much looking forward to. We also will have another exciting announcement to make in the next blog, so I’ll keep you all posted.

Matt

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

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We’re home from a brilliant time at Bramham International Horse Trials and are back on the yard for a few weeks, with just a couple of one-day events in between before hitting the road for some more three-day action.

As I hadn’t competed at Bramham for quite a few years, I wanted to make sure I got there in plenty of time on the Wednesday to familiarise myself and remember where everything was.

DHI Paparazzi (Pom) settled in straight away and was well up for his pampering session to prepare him for the trot-up. I had even remembered to get my best suit dry cleaned beforehand! So off I marched — well, mountaineered (Bramham is very hilly) — down to the trot up in front of the main house, feeling rather dapper.

When we got down there I bumped into Ian Woodhead, who is not only a ‘dressage Yoda’ to many, but also one of Pom’s owners. I leant against a fence to talk to him and it wasn’t until our number was called up that I realised the whole of my back and backside was covered in what can only be described as dust and sh*t. Thank god for the Lemieux ProKit Backpack and baby wipes…not only can they clean your child, they give upholstery and clothing a damn good go too.

Dressage day arrived on Friday and I worked Pom a little in the morning before he needed to get ready for his test. This meant that I didn’t have to give him a long warm up down at the main arena in order to help try and keep him as relaxed as possible.

He wasn’t fazed at all though by the atmosphere and tried his heart out. I was just rather annoyed at myself while riding a canter serpentine. I let the canter get too strung out and lost the rhythm giving him nowhere to go, so we lost the balance and did a flying-change when we were supposed to stay in counter canter. I was peed off at myself for not helping him out more and just doing what I would have done at home, but nonetheless I was pleased to have scored a 32 with teething problems. I’m feeling positive that next time we can improve on the score, especially if I don’t have a ‘oh crap’ moment.

The cross-country course at Bramham caused it’s fair share of problems on the day — it was certainly a tough three-star track. So on the Saturday morning I definitely had a cocktail of adrenaline, nerves and anxiety running through my system.

When I got to the warm up, it was time for business and we both knew we had a job to do. I set off out on course quite quickly, with the intention being to try and get as close to the time as possible. Pom has always been quite strong in the past and I could feel him start to get stronger and stronger as we were going round. But nonetheless he turned when I wanted him to and was incredibly straight to everything. And knowing at that moment how genuine he was, I took my foot off the gas and tried to settle him back down into a rhythm. We ended up with lots of time penalties in the end, but I needed to look after his mind. It was his first three-star and I didn’t want to blow his brains. It was important he had a confidence-giving run. He will be a super horse in the future and will have learnt a lot from that. He came back through the finish with clean legs, not tired and recovered brilliantly.

On the final day he trotted up well having been pampered again. I however didn’t risk the suit for a second time. It was then onto the final phase, the showjumping. Pom is an exceptionally good jumper and likes to leave the fences up, so it was slightly uncharacteristic for him to have two down. But he was still quite strong and buzzed up from the day before and we weren’t our usual partnership, but in many respects we’ve learnt so much about each other and I can’t wait for the next one. Pom will have a short break with plenty of field time, and he’ll then have some steady away runs to settle him again before hopefully completing another CCI3*.

Exciting things have also been happening for us since we returned from our travels and I am literally bursting with pride to announce that Shires Equestrian are our new official rug sponsor for the remainder of the 2018 season.

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After working incredibly hard at their three-day events, thanks to Louise Ainge and the team at Shires Equestrian, the horses were treated to some new pyjamas. They were also so flattered to have a photo shoot wearing some of them, that it took minimum encouragement from Jenny and Clare (just a small bucket of feed) to get them to pose wearing them. The fit of all the rugs are incredible and they look seriously smart too. I have been very impressed by the coolers on the horses — they provide super ventilation and are perfect for after cross-country. I’m really looking forward to working with all the team and feel extremely lucky to have been accepted as part of it.

Next month some of the big boys will come back out to play at Aston-le-Walls before we head back across the Irish Sea to compete at Camphire.

Matt

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

It’s been a whirlwind few weeks in more ways than one for me. Following on from where I last left off, I’ve managed to fit in quite a lot, albeit with life resembling a little bit of a soap opera at points along the way.

It started at Rockingham with a neck strap baby horse day on the Friday. I was delighted with all four young horses, who were all clear-cross country after having not run for a few weeks.

By the Sunday the ground had dried up considerably more and was rather firm by this point — I couldn’t believe the difference since the Friday. Therefore I decided to do my dressage test and a round of showjumping on Prince Mayo ahead of Tattersalls, but didn’t run cross-country. I left the other advanced horses on the lorry who weren’t going to three-day events and thought it best to bring them out another day and not risk them getting jarred up.

Before leaving, we loaded up a new addition to the yard — a new purchase for Charlotte Cole and Sir John Peace that goes by the name of The Corn Crake (Herbie).

It was then an incredibly quick turn around in between events over the next couple of weeks. I thought considering I had entered the new horse into the CCI* at Tattersalls and hadn’t sat on him yet, I should probably go cross-country schooling to make sure I’d made the right decision. I left early Monday morning to Grange de Lings with Herbs before returning to ride Prince and DHI Paparazzi (Pom), followed by all the horses leaving for Houghton on the Tuesday.

My wife Victoria drove all the horses down on the Tuesday afternoon with our fab new event groom Jenny Walker, who has been a god send these past few weeks. They managed to settle them all into their stables and get set up while I stayed behind so I could ride the young ones ready for Shelford the following Monday. It also gave me chance to take Pom, Prince and Herbie to the gallops again. After getting everything I needed to get done sorted at home, I made my way to Houghton with the kids in tow.

Houghton had many ups and downs over the course of the week. It started on the Wednesday when I got a phone call from Horse & Hound asking me to comment on an incident which happened nearly two years ago at Osberton Horse Trials. I declined to comment and said that this was in the past so didn’t feel the need for the past to be dragged up and would prefer it if they didn’t have to bring it up.

I’ve done many a stupid thing in the past, more so when I was younger, which I’ve never denied. I said that I didn’t mind mentioning something in my next blog, as I am doing now, so was livid on the Friday evening to see a story published that I felt was written very negatively. Seeing the comments people put on the link were hurtful and being completely honest, I sent a message to H&H eventing editor Pippa Roome explaining how hurt I was by the whole thing and that I wanted to withdraw from doing this blog.

Pippa, to be fair to her, dealt with the matter exceptionally well and explained that because the news report had just been published on the FEI website, H&H had to report on it and if I had given my side of the story it would have given me the opportunity to explain what really happened.

In conclusion, we decided that I would set the record straight in my next blog. For somebody who suffers from depression, I found this emotionally very tough and was ready to withdraw from Houghton on the Friday night. This changed though when I was overwhelmed by messages of support I got over the duration of the weekend. I owe a huge amount to my Facebook followers and friends for what you did for me that weekend. You all picked me up and pulled me through.

In relation to the incident, which was put down as a passport irregularity. The week before Osberton Horse Trials in 2016 was the week of my wedding. I had planned to have the two horses I was riding taken to Osberton ready for when I got back. One of the things I have always been guilty of in the past is being spoilt when it came to grooms. I’ve always had people who have been incredible grooms and that have evented internationally themselves. They always just dealt with everything for me. In many ways though, this made me very lazy when it came to the paperwork and the office side.

For the few years I was receiving treatment and suffering from quite a few mental issues, I barely had any horses at a level and was only competing at the lower ones so it didn’t warrant me having an eventing groom of this calibre. But stupidly and me being me, I expected things to be done as they would have been before.

The horses competing had been vaccinated in January as per British Eventing rules, but when my yard lad, who I still have to this day, had looked in the passport for the within six monthly vaccine required for FEI events, nothing was filled in. The vaccinations had actually been done for the horses, but at the time, several passports were in the lorry and should have been sent to the vets to fill out. In a panic, he just filled the passport in with the date of the vaccination, which to be honest, I was such a bastard to work for at the time and knowing I’d have gone catatonic, I’d have done that out of fear too.

As there were no batch number stickers in the passport, the FEI steward at the event said they needed the batch numbers for the vaccine. After realising what had happened when I’d spoke to my lad who I felt very sorry for, I told the FEI officials on-site and voluntarily withdrew both the horses from the competition. Both horses were actually fully vaccinated so there was no risk to any other horses at Osberton, but I wasn’t able to provide the FEI with the supporting documents for The Artist Almost Famous, because the horse was no longer in my care and so I wasn’t able to access its veterinary records due to data protection rules. I had to pay a fine to the FEI but received no suspension as the horses were in fact not breaking the rules and I had voluntarily withdrawn.

I learnt the lesson the hard way that I should be responsible for the paper work and passports of all of my horses. I also lost the ride on both horses, quite rightly so, although I am riding The Artist Almost Famous again now. This sport is expensive enough and for the owners to lose a run due to an error on my part must have been rather frustrating for them and I felt justice was served by them doing this. But I also feel I’ve grown up a lot since then and would never make such a stupid mistake ever again. Hence the reason behind the title of my first blog: “If you just behave yourself life is so much easier”. Anyway now we’ve put that subject to bed.

My results at Houghton were perhaps not what I was looking for with a couple of my horses getting a silly 20 penalties across country due to complete rider error on my part. But I was pleased with the overall performance of each of the horses.

Jane Duncan and William Buick’s Monbeg Maximus jumped an awesome double clear inside the time in the CCI* finishing in the top 20 and I’m extremely excited about his future. I felt I seriously let Obie down at the first double of corners, as he could have had a good result, but he was incredible the rest of the way round and most importantly, very good into a strong water, which has been his bug bear in the past. River Warrior and Dakotah VII will come on a lot from their runs in the one-star, despite green mistakes and will have a short break before being aimed at another one-star in August.

We arrived back from Houghton on the Sunday afternoon and got the washing machine working throughout the night to get things ready for the following evening. I had to be up at 3am on the Monday morning to take three young horses to Shelford for a BE100; Amanda and Craig Morris’s Roko Rock (Boots), Lynda Hollinsheads Class Booze Cruise (Boozy) and Peter and Bernadette Harrison’s Cooley Outlaw (Ainsley).

All three jumped fantastic double clears and are nearly ready to step up to novice level. I quickly got packed away and managed to get home for 2pm, in time to take Pom to the gallops ahead of Bramham and give the horses going to Tatts a ride.

It was then time to take a short break before leaving at 9pm to catch the 2.40am ferry from Holyhead. There was not enough caffeine available in the world by this point. So I proceeded to go through my phone book and make random calls to friends who must have thought I’d gone rather mad by this point.

Tattersalls was a week I could never have dreamt of. To win the CCI* on The Corn Crake (pictured top) on his dressage score of 28, giving me my 17th international win was a dream come true. I was more delighted for my owners who have supported me through hell and high water and for the team who work so hard for me to make it all happen. Prince Mayo also jumped his heart out in the CCI3* for me, which is the first big track I’ve jumped in four years. Not going to lie, I was slightly crapping myself, but he gave me his heart and a great spin. To finish in the top 20 after returning to this level after a while made me so happy for everyone involved. It’s been four years since I had tackled a difficult track of a three-star calibre and it felt like a great achievement after everything.

It’s now on to Bramham for us next week with DHI Paparazzi and we’ll be keeping everything crossed for a safe trip.

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I just wanted to finish though by clearing up some of the negativity towards H&H. Let’s not forget that H&H is the oldest standing equestrian magazine in the UK, with the very first edition being published in 1884. I know my parents followed it and I grew up reading it. Anything going on in the horse world is published in there and it’s great for the owners of the horses that are successful to be able to have memories to place in their scrapbooks by cutting out or framing the articles. So I don’t blame H&H for publishing news, despite being very angry at first.

I realise now that with the power of social media, news travels in many different ways and when stories are published online, just as it would have been in the magazine, it allows people to voice unnecessary negativity and is a hunting ground for trolls. So I think I speak for my Facebook followers when we say that why we are actually fed up is the influx of trolling and witch hunts, particularly in the comments. These comments sicken us to continue reading after a while.

H&H also runs lots of success stories and shares campaigns that help the horse world whenever it can, and it’s important to remember this.

But most importantly of all, we have raised nearly £3,000 in prize money for charity so far!

Finally, my thoughts go out to Jonty Evans and his family. Jonty suffered a fall this weekend in the CIC3* at Tattersalls and I hope he makes a speedy recovery — he’s a great guy.

Matt

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

This latest edition (31 May) is a training special, including a look at the world’s top trainers and whether you should have multiple coaches. Also check out our summer clothing guide, interview with showjumper and recent winner of the Hamburg Derby, Matt Sampson and feature on health problems in miniature horses.

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Eventer Matthew Wright has been found guilty of two equine passport falsifications relating to vaccinations and fined CHF1,500 (£1,133) by an FEI tribunal.

The decision, published on 11 May, related to an incident at Osberton International Horse Trials on 28 Sept – 2 Oct 2016, where Matthew had two horses entered, The Artist Almost Famous and MHS Twenty Twenty.

Anomalies were spotted in the vaccination records of both of his entries by the event’s veterinary delegate Alison (Ali) Butler. She noticed that the passport of MHS Twenty Twenty used the stamp of veterinary practice Hall and Lawrence, which was no longer in existence in that name.

There was no vaccination batch number noted, and the name of the vet was crossed out.

The entry was also signed “Ali Butler” — the same name as the veterinary delegate — though she confirmed it was not her signature.

The Artist Almost Famous’ passport was described as in a “very poor state” and the vaccination also had no batch number or veterinary stamp.

While Matthew was later able to provide a letter and a printout of clinical records to confirm that MHS Twenty Twenty had been vaccinated, he was not able to provide records for The Artist Almost Famous, the FEI Tribunal report stated.

According to the report, Matthew “admitted at the time of the event to have written the details in the passports in a meeting with Alison Butler (veterinary delegate), Howard Newitt (assistant veterinary delegate) and Simon Bere (technical delegate)”, but later changed his explanation.

In a submission to the FEI on 13 June 2017, Matthew — who withdrew his horses from the event — claimed that his groom Lukasz Orywal had been responsible for the falsification.

The FEI did not consider this to be a valid defence, however, as the rider is considered the person responsible (PR) for their horses at all times.

“The PR is responsible for the documentation of his horses and also for his support personnel and it is the PR’s responsibility to provide the correct documentation for the horses he competes,” the report explained.

“This case was a bit particular since firstly, Matthew admitted that he falsified the passports in a meeting with the FEI officials. After the notification of alleged falsification of the passports, he came back with explanations that the falsifications actually were made by his groom Lukasz Orywal.

“There are two different versions of how it came about. This makes it difficult to provide strong evidence to impose a sanction. Mainly since the groom is not registered with the FEI and it would therefore be difficult to impose a sanction on the groom.”

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The tribunal, which was presided over by one-man panel Dr Armand Leone, concluded that there were “still two falsifications of passports regardless of who did it,” and that the responsibility lay with the rider.

• Read the FEI Tribunal report in full [PDF]

The minimum sanction that can be applied under FEI rules is a CHF1,000 fine. Having agreed that there were two falsifications, Matthew accepted a fine of CHF1,500.

Matthew declined to comment for this news story, but said he would comment in his blog on the H&H website in due course.

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

In this week’s edition, out on 24 May, don’t miss our “cob special”, including how to find the perfect cob, meet champion cob Our Cashel Blue and more.

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

I’m sure everybody is still recovering from the excitement of Badminton. I can’t wait until I have something to compete there again, which will hopefully be next year.

After deciding I had two weeks easy to recover from my foot injury before Richmond and Keysoe Horse Trials, with a kid’s sleepover when my daughter’s friend came to stay, school runs in the morning and afternoon, followed by numerous Dad taxi runs and playing the tooth fairy, I soon felt that two weeks was a bit excessive and I was very happy to return to the saddle much sooner than I had originally planned.

As I explained in my previous blog, I’d become a bit depressive of late with things not quite going to plan and was feeling extremely sorry for myself. After a much needed and very large kick up the arse from the wife and a few home truths rammed down my throat, it was time to get my head into gear again.

With three-day events coming up at Houghton, Tattersalls and Bramham, I’ve had to make a clear plan of runs for the horses leading up to them. This, combined with plenty of canter work and trips to the gallops. We tend to do as much of the long slow canter work with the horses at home as we can using the natural grass verges around the fields and on the sand tracks that were very lucky to have surrounding us. We are located right next to a nature reserve which gives us a huge variety of bridle paths and plenty of places to canter safely, which makes the job pretty easy. We also have a few lakes on the hack back to the yard, so after cantering we sometimes go and stand the horses in the shallow parts of them.

For the fast canter work we have the Northern Racing College just a 15 minute hack up the road. I always tend to trot the horses to the gallops as a warm-up and give them a steady canter down to the start. I then either take them up the five furlong straight which also pulls up a hill five times or three times each way around the round gallop. At the end they always get their legs iced when they get back to the lorry. I think it’s important to get to know a gallops well when getting horses fit. This way you can really guage how fit your horses are, and also how much canter work needs to be done for each individual one. Obviously the three-star horses will need to go more than those running over a shorter distance round a one-star, but that’s also where the rider should know there horse well to determine how much needs to be done.

It was nice to get The Artist Almost Famous (Artie) our for his first run of the season at Richmond. He jumped a class double clear for his first outing and feels on top form. Obie (OBOS Columbus) also jumped a great double clear, showing he’s growing in confidence with me and we finally seem to be on the same wave length. It was a shame Keysoe couldn’t run on the Monday as all the young ones really needed a run out. But we found a suitable plan B and took them all cross-country schooling over the Bank Holiday weekend instead.

The week leading up to Floors was pretty manic. It consisted of trips to the gallops, 10 horses to cross-country school, fields to top and grass around the yard to mow and tidy up, combined with three kids all under the age of six to run around after.

On the Thursday afternoon we set off to travel four-and-a-half hours up to Floors with the Friday five to stable overnight ready for an early start the following morning. This didn’t get off to the best of starts when I decided to play diesel roulette and risk getting to the next service station which would be significantly cheaper up North I thought. As the lorry spluttered into the services, I wasn’t surprised after filling her up to find that she wouldn’t start. I’d run her that low (yes, my lorry’s a woman) that an air lock had chance to get in the pipe and needed bleeding through. Two hours later after being sat in the services, we were underway again. I said to Victoria, “Do you think something’s telling me not to go?” “No! Something’s telling you to not be so cheap!” was the answer I got, so I just at that point thought best to shut up and carry on.

You really couldn’t write it though, as the following day, owner Peter Laidlaw drove up with the three horses competing on the Saturday and broke down in exactly the same place. He also got underway again though after an impromptu two-hour coffee break at Barnsdale Barr.

It was well worth the journey on all counts. Prince Mayo (Prince, pictured top kitted out by sponsors LeMieux products) won the open intermediate on his super dressage score of 28 for my two longest standing and loyal owners Sir John Peace and Charlotte Cole. I couldn’t have been happier. I was also delighted for Sir John and Ian and Heidi Woodhead whose DHI Paparazzi (Pom) finished closely behind in fourth place. I was pleased with all the intermediate horses to be honest. Obie and Carl (Wanskjaers Carlsson) jumped class clears cross-country and I’m learning more about them all the time.

The novices certainly didn’t disgrace themselves either, all finishing inside the top 10. Peter Laidlaw’s River Warrior (Beau) jumped well for 10th place and will be heading to Houghton CCI* next. As will Jane Duncan and William Buick’s Monbeg Maximus (Mumbles) who was a winner in the novice section on his first run of the season. Dakotah VII finished just behind for Charlotte Cole in sixth place and was class cross-country. It’s amazing when you get off the negative track again how your luck changes.

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The horses have one final run now before there three days at the Fairfax and Favour Rockingham Horse Trials. It’s really exciting for me to have horses back up at top level again, but I’m not going to lie, I’m also a little nervous having not ridden around a decent track for a while. And not because I’m worried about what we’ll have to face out there, but because of the huge amount of pressure I put on myself not to let my owners, sponsors and team down. But I’ve come to the conclusion that what will, be will be — this is as much a learning curve for me as it is for them. As long as I can bring the horses back safe and sound, feeling like they are Billy big boll**ks for what they’ve just achieved, I’ll have done my job!

Matt

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

This week’s edition (10 May) features our full report from Badminton, including in-depth analysis, expert comment, pictures and more. Plus, read our feature on the options for retiring your horse and in this week’s vet clinic we look into the challenges of equine surgery

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

I know most people when they write blogs focus on the positives and highlights of the past few weeks. If I’m honest, I’m not going to gloss over what has been a pretty shite month. But let’s face it, that’s horses! One minute you’re up, next you’re lying flat on your back eating sand. There’s no point making anything seem glamorous.

On the plus side, all the horses recovered well after Great Witchingham and Burnham Market, so I was looking forward to Norton Disney, Breckenbrough and Belton being next on the agenda. A mechanic, however, was not what we wanted to have needed on the first day of the competition at Belton. We’d already had some things go wrong that morning, made a contingency plan and were away, but if there wasn’t such a thing as bad luck, we’d have had none that day.

Everyone tells me everything happens for a reason though, and after walking the courses the following day I couldn’t have been happier that Prince Mayo got moved from the CIC3* to the open intermediate. Although organiser Stuart Buntine and his team had done an amazing job preparing the ground, it was still quite deep and holding in places. In my experience, this is the ground that always causes more injuries, and I wouldn’t have wanted to risk an injury this early on in the season. Especially as none of them were entered for Badminton, it took a bit of pressure off needing to run.

I opted for steady open intermediate clears instead with Prince Mayo (Mayo), Wanskjaers Carlsson (Carl) and OBOS Colombus (Obie). As these are still very new horses to me, I felt we needed the run as there’s still quite a lot of familiarisation to be done between us both.

I have to say though, all three felt awesome, and I was left feeling like I’d started to put the key in the right place with Obie who seemed much more confident compared to his run at Witchingham. I didn’t even take DHI Paparazzi off the lorry for the advanced though that day. He’s like putting on a pair of old slippers and bringing out a pipe for me, and I really want to take him to the three-star in Tattersalls, so I thought it best to bring him out a couple more times nearer the occasion.

The week prior to Belton, was supposed to be a weekend set for some neckstrap action with the young ones again and some novice horses getting their first runs of the season. But in true British weather style, it didn’t stop raining! This forced all events to be abandoned on the BE calendar that week including Norton Disney and Breckenbrough, which we were entered for.

The next scheduled event for this bunch was Solihull. All was looking promising the week leading up to the event — the sun shone and we even managed to get all horses out cross-country schooling. They felt on great form and everything including the youngsters were so straight to everything. What could possibly go wrong…?!

The day before Solihull I was in the school jumping a young horse, who was going really well. So impressively in fact that I jumped the last fence and thought “bloody hell! That’s some jumper. I’ll just jump one more.” Famous last words. The horse came to the fence again, jumped it so big that it almost amazed itself and somehow twisted and shifted sideways in mid air. This sent me in the other direction, and knowing I’d parted company, on landing I tried to jump to the side in case the horse kicked out at me. Stupidly my foot was then the first thing to hit the floor and I went straight over on my ankle.

A trip to A&E was needed for an X-Ray and several hours later fortunately nothing was broken. I was relieved to know it was nothing a bucket of ice, strong pain killers and some laser therapy couldn’t fix. I just wouldn’t have passed the trot up the next morning.

If I’m being honest, I would have kicked on and carried on at Solihull too if I could have got my boot on, but it wasn’t to be. I also had a lorry load of young horses who were green and it would have been pointless to take them out when I wasn’t fully able to help them out. I have to say with regards to that weekend too, full credit to my staff who always help to keep the show on the road. But also to our youngest members of staff, Ella and George who were thrown in at the deep end along with Andrew who is still learning the ropes as he goes along.

I have also had to make an incredibly difficult decision over these past couple of weeks. As many of you all know I was due to participate in the Best Western Hotels and Macmillan Ride Of Their Lives on 16 June at York Racecourse. To be able to do this I needed to get my weight down to 11 stone to comply with the 11 stone 7lb weight limit.

I’m not embarrassed nor am I now ashamed to say that this started to consume my life. I could tell you daily whether I was down or up on pounds. I turned the air conditioning off in the car and wore my padded coat while I jumped 10 horses in succession at home, hopeful that I would be a few pounds down when I got back on the scales at home. After eating a meal, if I was up on the scales I had even resorted to making myself physically sick on a couple of occasions. I was obsessed with weighing myself daily and this also started to have a massive effect on my mental health again.

Since I started losing weight at the end of December 2017, I have lost three-and-a-half stone and feel so much better in myself for it and I hope people can notice. I had a final two stone to lose before 16 June, which I believed I could lose in eight weeks sticking to a vegan and juice diet. Following a medical, I was advised that this was not to be the case. I was told I was doing a lot of harm to my body especially with the health problems I’d had previously.

I hadn’t felt depressed for a long time, but this really got to me. For a couple of days I wasn’t a particularly nice person to be around as I felt like a failure for not being able to take part in the race. For me failure is not an option, but in this case I was defeated. After speaking to race organisers they have decided that I will ride in the race next year, allowing me a longer period of time to prepare. Once I realised that this was still going to happen, just not when I originally thought, I was able to come to terms with it. I also realised that the three weeks leading up to the race was Houghton, Tattersalls and Bramham, all of which I have a couple of horses for. Riding round them on vegetable juice in a snow suit probably wouldn’t have been the most sensible idea I’ve ever had. I have some incredible owners who have invested a lot into me this year, and I owe it to them to give it my best shot.

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I would just like to say a huge thank you to everybody who has made donations to Macmillan. I can’t thank you all enough. My JustGiving Page will stay open and I will continue to try to raise the £10,000 I had set by next year’s race. I am also going to continue losing weight to raise funds for Macmillan and hopefully can inspire people who get stuck during weight loss to carry on while I’m at it. I think people are so quick to make fun at people over their size, I’ve been guilty of it in the past, but sticking at something that is very difficult and can destroy you mentally is a hard thing to do when you feel so stuck.

So that’s my low down of a pretty sh*t few weeks. Taking the positives from it though, I’m alive, I have a great family, I have some lovely horses to ride, a top team of sponsors and some great owners. It was a crap couple of weeks, but I’ve got a whole season to turn into something good. And the start of the year for me has been incredible so there’s bound to be ups and downs. Let’s face it, that’s horses.

Matt

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Well we’re away — finally! The Great British weather just threw in a few curve balls along the way. Snow in spring time is usually quite rare, but clearly not in 2018. The Beast From The East put in a second appearance, wreaking more havoc and forcing more events to be abandoned early on. Stafford and Swalcliffe being the ones to suffer this time around. Oasby, Tweseldown, Poplar and Lincoln all managed to run a couple of days of play, but we’re forced to abandon on the final days. A huge amount of credit must go to the event organisers though, who have done their very best to try to keep the show on the road and give competitors a run, despite the treacherous conditions.

Fortunately for us, we had a couple of entries in on the first day of Oasby, which was able to go ahead. A first-time BE100 and a young novice horse. Cross-country schooling leading up to the event was literally impossible — the ground was waterlogged everywhere and all schooling places were shut. So Michelle Pritchard’s Fathers Compromise (Promise) and Rachel Barringer’s Primitive Dazzle II (Louis, pictured top who is also for sale) were chucked in at the deep end. Despite the bitterly cold wind and rain, both horses produced nice tests and were awarded low dressage marks for their efforts. They both had an unlucky pole down in the showjumping phase, which was frustratingly the same fence for both. I think for most riders that is a Room 101 moment — the same fence on duplicate horses in a jumping round. I was delighted however with them both across country, especially with neither of them having seen a cross-country fence since last year.

Only Louis was entered for Lincoln the following week, and I know the organisers did a fantastic job in even running the event at all. But on this occasion me and Lou didn’t fancy battling the elements so thought it best to withdraw. Torrential downpours is one thing, but snow blizzards, and we definitely weren’t convinced. So while the snow was on the ground for a second time we dropped the kids off with Victoria’s mum and had a night off watching The Dublin Legends with Angus Smales and his partner Harriet instead. It was great craic and our only issue for the night was finding the nearest Kebab shop, instead of worrying about getting snowed in in the lorry. Yes, I’m not going to lie, the diet went out of the window for the evening.

The slog was then on to prepare 10 horses for Great Witchingham Horse Trials, an event I have really been looking forward to. Mainly because it’s the first time that the big boys were coming out to play. I would know whether some of my purchases made at the end of last year were wise choices or moments of stupidity. With all schooling places still shut, I built a full jumping course at home and took most of them the following day to Speetley Equestrian Centre for a jump around the arena eventing course so that we both knew what to expect. Although it was a great help actually getting them out and giving them something else to look at, an 80cm course wasn’t quite the preparation I was looking for as an ideal warm up for an open intermediate.

I have to say though, all the horses that I took over the two days exceeded my expectations. OBOS Colombus (Obie) had a slightly unlucky run with a blip at a step on the cross-country but I wasn’t too bothered about that. The rest felt good and I think I need to try and establish a partnership with him first. Prince Mayo (Prince) and Wanskjaers Carlsson (Carl) put in super double clears with steady cross-country rounds and felt really classy, so I’m hoping that’s set them up nicely for their next runs at Belton. Their owners Sir John Peace and Charlotte Cole were equally as excited about them as I was.

Little DHI Paparazzi (Pom) was awesome, putting in a lovely dressage and scoring a 26 in a hot open intermediate section and finishing second overall. I was especially pleased for his owners, Sir John again and Ian and Heidi Woodhead, who have been very patient and allowed me to give this horse plenty of time. I had a couple of novice horses, Peter Laidlaw’s River Warrior (Beau) and Louis again running for Rachel, who both finished in eighth place in their respective sections. Promise made owner Michelle extremely proud of her at only her second event by winning the BE100 section on her super dressage score of 26, also the best in the section again. So as you can imagine I was happy with how all the horses performed individually.

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It was then onto Burnham Market with a few young horses making their BE100 debuts. I don’t usually ride with a neck strap, but I made an exception on this occasion. After eventually getting Amanda and Craig Morris’ Roko Rock (Boots) up to the dressage arenas (thanks to Pete Laidlaw rescuing me out of the middle of a ploughed field) he did a very sweet test. He jumped a classy double clear and I think he will be a very smart horse in the future, he’s just not for the faint-hearted!

Peter and Bernadette Harrison’s Cooley Outlaw (Ainsley) also had his first run and despite being as green as grass having had no cross-country school beforehand, he tried his heart out with a clear cross-country and only one pole showjumping. Charlotte Coles’s Dakotah VII has also come back in very good form this year. He worried himself a little bit last year after stepping up to intermediate as he’s such a careful jumper. but after the winter off his brain has had chance to catch up and he was class.

I really felt for the organisers and competitors on the final day of Burnham Market after the competition had to be abandoned again due to overnight downpours. I know how much some people will have been needing those CIC2* and CIC3* runs.

We have advanced horses to canter and prepare now for Belton in a couple of week’s time, and we’re keeping everything crossed for Norton Disney next weekend to hopefully get the young ones back out again. Neck straps will be needed again this week as the babies will be going out to some local training shows, however I think the only exception will be Bert and Francis Sheffield’s St Sheri, their dressage mare we have in to sell that is five going on 25 in her brain. Any dressage amateur or professional wanting a nice young horse to produce for the future should consider her, she really is lovely and very easy.

Let’s hope it stops raining soon!

Matt

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I don’t think ‘The Beast From The East’ was the start to the season that everyone was hoping for. But it’s certainly made getting horses fit interesting. All first events Epworth, Isleham and Aston-Le-Walls have been abandoned, which is such a shame for the organisers who put so much hard work into preparing the courses and putting everything together.

It didn’t help that I had a week away in the sun either, where temperatures hit a comfortable 20•c everyday. When I landed at East Midlands and got off the plane, I thought I’d landed in Siberia not Nottingham. It was great though to spend some quality time with my kids (pictured top) before the season gets into the full swing of things.

As soon as I got back, I was very fortunate to get the opportunity to visit the British Racing School in Newmarket and get some jockey coaching from Richard Perham on his RPSimulator. When he said “let’s start with 10 second repetitions” I thought he was either taking the p*ss or not overly convinced by my non-jockey looking physique. But 10 seconds is actually seriously hard work on this thing.

With the Equicizer you have the shape of the horse underneath you, which still allows you to grip with your knees offering some balance and support. On the RPSimulator, there’s nothing. It teaches you to find your own balance, strength and security as well as improving your general fitness. My advice to any riders wanting to improve on their stability in the saddle that also wants to get fit — scrap the treadmill or gym membership and invest in one of these. I guarantee you’ll be more knackered after seconds on this than you will be after minutes on a treadmill.

Top sponsors TRM Ireland excelled themselves again with a nice surprise delivery while I was away. When I got back I was greeted with over a pallet of their products and supplements to see us through the 2018 season. I put a picture on Facebook of the delivery I had, when an old member of my staff contacted me saying that they still have the TRM T-shirt they were given 13 years ago when they worked for me. Despite it making me feel ancient, it also made me realise it’s been over 14 years now that I’ve been using their products. And I can honestly say that in all that time, I’ve still never found anything better. The only supplement missing from their range is a human one for your liver after surviving a night out with the TRM boys.

We’ve also welcomed new sponsors to the team, Venn Healthcare. The company is one of the leading suppliers to the UK of shockwave and laser therapy technology and they also ship their range of equipment globally. I’m extremely grateful to Venn’s CEO Chris Schiel and veterinary operations manager Hugh Fullerton-Smith for their support and generosity. Having access to this equipment has made a massive difference to the maintenance of the horses and treatment of any injuries or conditions.

This is the general maintenance period now with the horses at the start of the season as they all have their pre-season checks from the likes of the dentist to the physio. It’s better to know you are starting with something firing off all cylinders, then if a problem arises later on it’s much easier to detect. I always got taught you should feel your horses legs every day and learn what’s normal or not normal for them individually. Changes can be small but very significant.

If the weather decides to clear up, our first event will now be Oasby Horse Trials, before hopefully heading to Great Witchingham. I don’t envy event organisers right now!

Continued below…

Matthew Wright’s eventing blog: I didn’t expect to be writing this…

Matthew pays tribute to his 'horse of a lifetime'

It’s been a very tough week for us keeping the horses in work in these conditions. But credit to my team who turned up every day and helped to keep the show on the road. Although it did look like I’d employed a bunch of Eskimos at one point when it reached -6 and they all came dressed for the occasion, but they have just soldiered on. Without them my job would not be possible, they really are the backbone of everything.

Matt

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I really didn’t expect to be writing this, but I’m sad to say my horse of a lifetime, Park Pilot (pictured top wearing the Union Jack at the 2002 young rider Europeans), has passed away. He was a very special horse to my family and I — he shaped the future for us all and I was with him from the minute he was born. I backed and broke him in and I was the only person to ever jump him over a fence throughout his entire life. We had some partnership.

Mum was responsible for looking after him and I suppose it was unusual in my parents’ dealing days for them not to have sold him on. I only remember dad wanting to sell him once, which was quite good for him. He was offered a lot of money for him to go to Ireland but mum wouldn’t let him, she adored ‘Zippy’ too much. We all had a special place for him in our hearts as he was one of the quirkiest horses I’ve ever known and probably wasn’t even the scopiest, but he had the heart of a lion.

He still is to this day one of the fastest cross-country horses I’ve ever sat on. I don’t think he ever had very many time-faults throughout his entire career. And he managed to finish in the top 10 of the majority of competitions he completed, including internationals. Of all Zippy’s achievements throughout his career, I think my proudest moments with him were completing our first Badminton together with a double clear, coming 13th at the senior Europeans at Blenheim, being one of only a few clears inside the time, and probably when he came back after three years off with an injury and won at Tattersalls. It was some achievement just getting him back from injury, and most of the hard work was done by mum.

Horse & Hound did a great tribute for him online, which if you haven’t seen yet please do take the time to read. It is great that his achievements have been noticed from his years of service to the sport.

On a more positive note, we took delivery of our new TheraPlate from F & Co Equine who are very kindly sponsoring me for the 2018 season. If you haven’t tried one yet, I would highly recommend it. The kids were our test crash dummies before we put the horses on and following a positive response I can also strongly recommend it for a calming/sleeping effect on toddlers in pushchairs.

TheraPlate uses Zone Vortex Wave Therapy and offers a zero impact experience utilising a low-amplitude orbital motion for rehabilitation and sports conditioning. I already have noticed the improved muscle tone on all of my horses and I can’t recommend it highly enough.

It felt great to have a lot of the horses out cross-country schooling recently. For some of the younger horses it was their first time seeing a cross-country fence and with my new more experienced horses it was my first time over a cross-country fence with them. I’ve been working closely with Bomber bits to try and find the best possible bitting combination for each horse, especially some of the stronger ones. Bomber’s philosophy is great and so easy to work with. With a lot of strong horses, less is always more and a good thing to bear in mind. Sometimes changing the noseband and bridle combination can be more effective than just putting the biggest bit you can find in your horse’s mouth. Working out the reasons why they are strong is a good shout too.

My first entries of the season have been done and we’re on the countdown now to the first event which will be at Epworth at the beginning of March. We will then go onto Oasby with the younger ones the following week and bring the big boys out for open intermediate runs at Great Witchingham at the end of March, which is usually my preferred starting point each year.

I’m pleased to report that Macmillan have raised a combined total of over £4,500 already for the Best Western Hotels and Macmillan Charity race which will take place on Saturday 16 June at York Racecourse between all the amateur jockeys who are taking part. And this is just from online donations made so far.

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Matthew Wright’s eventing blog: I realised I needed to lose six stone and went into panic mode

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Macmillan also revealed the final amateur jockey to take part and complete the line up of the race — Love Island’s Chris Hughes. This is great news for everyone involved and especially great for raising awareness and the fundraising. He might however be a hit with the ladies and used to people moving out of his way to get a good look at him as he passes, but if he tries to go up my inside during the race to grab the rail, I certainly won’t be moving out of his way, but will hopefully get a good look as I pass.

It’s half term week next week for the kids and also the last opportunity before the season gets into the full swing of things to spend some quality time with them. So I’m off to the Canary Islands with the in-laws for a couple days to get some much needed sunshine. The diet and fitness routine will continue each morning despite being away as I have just under three stone to lose now and am making good headway.

Matt

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Matthew Wright has paid tribute to the homebred medal-winning eventer who helped launch his career.

Park Pilot, known as “Zippy”, died suddenly at home aged 24.

Bred by Matthew’s mother Jane, Zippy spent his whole life with the Wright family.

“I remember him being born,” said Matthew.

“I was about 11 or 12 and my dad came and fetched me down at about midnight — I watched him being born.”

He added as the family watched Zippy find his feet, his dad said: “When he is old enough to event properly, you will be old enough to compete him.”

The skewbald gelding, by Pie In The Sky and out of Jane’s thoroughbred hunter, took Matthew to the European Eventing Championships for young riders in 2002, where the combination won team silver and finished sixth individually.

“He was very sharp — you’d be going one direction one minute and suddenly he’d spin round and you’d be going the other way,” said Matthew.

“At Chatsworth one year he saw the crowd on the top of the hill at fence four, spun round and took me back to fence two.”

The pair went on to finish 13th at the 2005 senior Europeans at Blenheim and were rarely out of the top 10 at national and international events.

Their achievements together included second place at Blenheim CCI3* in 2004, wins in the CIC3* World Cup qualifier at Ballindenisk in 2006, Tattersalls CCI2* in 2009 as well as numerous national classes at intermediate and advanced level.

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Matthew added that the Tattersalls win was particularly special as it followed a lengthy break from competition.

“After Badminton [in 2006], he wasn’t quite right and it took us three years [to get him back],” said Matthew.

“Mum looked after him his whole life and it was her that got him back. I had the easy job of riding him, but mum looked after him.

“He was the horse of a lifetime for us.”

Zippy retired from competition in 2012 and enjoyed an active life at home, hacked out by Jane several times a week.

On the evening he died, they heard some banging in the yard and rushed out to see what was happening and found Skippy had sustained a suspected heart attack.

“He was a great horse,” said Matthew

“I got there just as he was going — I saw him into the world and saw him out of the world — I gave him a pat and said ‘thank you’.”

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Hi everyone,

Did you know that the majority of athletes train at an altitude of around 12,000 feet to enhance their fitness and performance? I’m sure the vast majority will now answer that question silently with a smug “yes” in their head, but this was something totally new to me. The highest altitude I’ve ever been at in my life when not on an aeroplane, is at the top of the hill at Blair Castle International Horse Trials.

After hearing about my ‘I’m determined to get fit’ campaign. My owners Craig and Amanda Morris leant me an IHT (intermittent hypoxic training) machine that they acquired after it had been used for athletes at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

After getting medical advice and a science lesson, I was well away. I also now know I would survive climbing Kilimanjaro after Craig gave me a tutorial on using the machine and accidentally put me at 12,000 feet on my first sitting! Fortunately Victoria (my wife) and Amanda noticed me going quite pale by this point and described me as “looking a bit delirious”. After feeling like I’d just downed six pints and learning that I was safer controlling the machine myself, I’ve since got on with it really well. I do five minutes on, five minutes off for an hour every night and it’s making a massive difference to me health and fitness wise.

The horses are going through boot camp at the minute too, hacking and doing plenty of road work. At this time of year with the young horses, we tend to do a lot of gymnastic jumping exercises over poles and grids to educate them and let them think for themselves. It is especially important that an event horse is able to do this. You don’t need to go mad height-wise either — you are better to just keep the jumps small and focus on the horse’s technique over a fence. Concentrate on keeping a good rhythm and letting them learn to stay in a good balance. It will also give them bags of confidence which is important for a young horse.

The video above is of William Buick and Jane Duncan’s Monbeg Maximus jumping a very simple grid. Notice how a straightforward exercise encourages the horse to think and use his body while staying in a good balance. Once you have the horse staying rhythmical over the poles, you can take them away so you eventually come to a single fence again with horse still staying in a good rhythm but making a better shape over the fence.

I got some great news recently from Baileys Horse Feeds. Having originally supported me when I was younger, Baileys have very kindly offered to sponsor me again for the 2018 season. It is great to have them back on board as sponsors and helping to keep the horses in top form.

It was also great to be able to catch up with some of my sponsors at the BETA (British Equestrian Trade Association) conference last weekend. They have some great ideas for the coming year and I’m looking forward to working with all of them.

I can also now reveal one of the main reasons why I have to lose such a large amount of weight — nearly six stone in total to be exact. I have been selected to ride in the Best Western Hotels & Macmillan Ride of Their Lives at York Racecourse on 16 June this year (pictured top with my fellow jockeys). I am so happy to be able to raise money for another great cause and it will definitely be something to tick off my bucket list.

Macmillan help thousands of families and patients battling with cancer every day. They offer support from diagnosis, throughout treatment and during the recovery to try and make life as normal as it possibly can be. When the opportunity came up, I knew I wanted to go for it and that it would give me the incentive I needed to lose a lot of the weight I put on as a result of the medication I was on during my own battle with cancer.

I literally told a handful of people that I had been selected to do the race. I went into panic mode about the target weight at first and read every article, book and guide to dieting I could find. It turns out ‘how do I lose weight quickly?’ is also a popular search term on Google in January. Google did its usual patronising ‘didn’t you mean’ suggestion after pointing out my inability to spell, but soon after sent me in the right direction. My good mate and fellow eventer Matt Heath was straight in there to offer me his support as always. “You could chop your leg off and still not get down to that weight” were the words of moral support being echoed down the phone from his hands free while he was driving. Followed then by raucous laughter.

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I won’t repeat my reply to Heathy, but considering amputation was out of the question, it was time to move the diet that was due to start in January to December.

Over the next few weeks we’ll start to take the younger horses out schooling and will share some videos of their progress. We’ll also move onto the next stages of fitness with some of the more experienced horses too and I can introduce you to them all individually.

Matt

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I’ve been looking forward to writing this blog for the Horse & Hound website for the 2018 season. It’s probably the only time in my life I’ve been excited to be asked to write a number of words — it certainly wasn’t something I’d have done willingly when I was at school. However, I’m genuinely looking forward to keeping you up to date with everything throughout the year.

For the lucky ones that don’t know much about me, I’ve ridden quite a few horses in my time and was lucky enough to win a silver medal at the Young Rider Europeans in Austria in 2002 and finished 13th individually at the Senior Europeans at Blenheim in 2005. All of that was on board my old coloured horse, Park Pilot, or Zippy as he’s known at home, who my parents bred. He’s happily retired now in his 20s at home and he owes me nothing as he made my career and gave me my team call ups. I’ve ridden around Badminton and Burghley six times and completed my first Burghley when I was 18-years-old which seems like rather a long time ago now.

My parents were good horse people and did it professionally so it was inevitable that it would be a career choice for me to follow suit in. I’ve always been fiercely competitive from a young age too and just wanted to win anything and everything, no matter how big or small, which also helped. I think I’d have died trying to win an egg and spoon race. This clearly hasn’t changed that much — I had a close shave with cardiac arrest when I was that determined to win the dad’s race at my daughter’s school sports day a couple of years ago.

For those of you that do know me or have heard the rumours, yes, I was the one that got sent lots of horses that had usually been in the naughty corner at some point in their lives for various reasons. And if I was to describe myself when I was younger, I was probably like 95% of the horses I got sent put together — either bred to do it, had plenty of ability but ungenuine or just not very submissive. Little did I realise as I got older, all I needed was what they did. Having a sense of right and wrong and learning the simple fact that if you just behave yourself, life is so much easier and people are so much nicer to you.

A lot of people think I’m quite hard on horses to make them turn corners. But the truth is my horses actually have a very easy life. I don’t school my horses often, they hack a lot and will often jump ditches and natural obstacles while they are out hacking. They find that far more educational than going round in circles 24/7. The days I do go in the school, I have an objective and if I achieve it within 20 minutes I’ll give them a pat and put them out in the field or back to bed. People have gone mad with having lesson after lesson, week in, week out or going schooling. Yes three-, four- and five-year-olds need the education and experience of going out and about to see things, but once they are at a level, the foundations should be built on at home.

Since 2013/14, life has been much quieter for me on the eventing front. I was diagnosed with testicular cancer and had to undergo treatment for a while. I couldn’t be as competitive as I always had been — at some events I felt that bad I was struggling to breathe around the cross-country. Some of the treatment I was on didn’t help me with my weight either so I got very self-conscious about that. Most of the top horses I had at the time were reaching retirement point through old age or old injuries, which as many people know in horses, is depressing enough anyway. I had reached a very low career point which felt like a black hole for a long time. You certainly work out who your real friends are in those times though, that’s for sure. You learn who’s rowing with you and who’s drilling holes in the boat and trying to rock it.

2017 has been one of the most significant years in my life so far because I actually found contentment which was the starting point to me getting better in so many ways. I always needed the adrenaline rush before. I got that either from eventing, winning or other things that I probably shouldn’t have been doing. This messed me up for a long time.

Having children changed everything for me and made me realise that there was so much more to life, and I got my adrenaline and happiness just from being a father. Doing the school runs or taking my daughter to gymnastics and swimming or my son pony riding was where I found the most satisfaction I’d ever had. I want to be a good father and husband and that is my main goal in life now and will be for the rest of my life. It doesn’t matter to me now if I have a bad ride, bad day or if something goes wrong. When I walk back in through the front door, I shut the day behind me and I have my family around me who keep me in a very good place.

When I got good news health-wise it was like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. I don’t think the fear of the word cancer ever goes away though. But with this in mind and me generally just being in a much better place mentally and in life, I got my competitiveness back. I knew I wanted to ride at top level again so I gave myself a good kick up the arse to want to get some horses running back up the levels.

Fortunately I have some great loyal owners who have supported me for a long time in Sir John Peace and Charlotte Cole. I owe an awful lot to them. Sir John and my mother-in-law Christine have always tried to mentor me in the best way they could and have helped me a lot over the years. Charlotte has been the same and always trusted my judgment whenever I have approached her with potential new horses. Between them they have some very exciting horses for the future. I am also extremely fortunate to have some exciting new owners join the team who have some talented young horses that I can’t wait to produce through the levels. Plus I will continue to ride for my other owners who have supported me by giving me the chance to ride their lovely horses. I’m very lucky to have the support of so many great people and you couldn’t wish for a nicer bunch of people.

Having a good team of people at home is crucial too. I think I’m actually lucky in this day and age to find such a good bunch of staff. I have two guys who do a lot of the physical work around the yard — they can fix things, drive the tractor and are also good with the horses. I’ve got a girl who has worked for my family for nearly 20 years that is great with the horses on the floor and another girl who can lunge, hack and brush them all properly. My working rider Alex Hill is a decent jockey too which makes a huge difference. She’s been dealt some pretty tough hands in life and deserves a break so she will help to compete some of the horses this year and try and build a career for herself eventing.

I’ve got a great team of sponsors behind me this year. Some of them like TRM and Devoucoux have supported me for many years and Fairfax & Favor, Eurobale and Bomber Bits have kindly offered me their support for the future too. I’m looking forward to working with all of them this year and am pleased to have supporters on board.

The younger horses have stayed in work over the winter while the older ones had a holiday in the field — some with us at the yard at home and some of the others went home for the winter to spend some time with their owners. It was great fun turning eight old advanced horses out in a field together all by myself, much to the horror of the girls on the yard. As they were all so sceptical about the idea, I thought it best just to crack on and get the job done while they were all preoccupied.

Having survived, they came back in between Christmas and New Year to start getting fit. It was as eventful bringing them back in as it was turning them out after I had yet again another bright idea. Considering most of them decided they were now feral after a couple of months out, my chances of them just following me in while leading one of them back to the yard were slim. They decided to wish some of the residents of the village a happy New Year first by paying them a visit to their back gardens. All was good after delivering a few bottles of wine later.

The young ones thought they’d also had a few months holiday after a few easy days over Christmas and New Year. They seemed to have had their own competition going on to see who could bury me first when landing from a fence or trying to jump me clean out the saddle. Again all was fine for me after a trip to the chiropractor.

Fundraising is also going to be a big part of 2018 for me. People have always helped me along the way, so I really wanted to give something back. At the same time it was also important to me to raise awareness of testicular and male cancers along with depression and mental health issues. The number of people suffering is constantly on the rise and is not something people openly want to talk about, especially men. I think it’s important people know that there’s help out there should they need it. For that reason, all prize money I win during this season is being donated to two charities; Orchid-Cancer and Mind. Even though I didn’t expect the fundraising to start until the spring, Janette Baker, the owner of two lovely dressage horses my wife Victoria and I have had in for schooling since last year, very kindly offered to donate all prize money won from their BD (British Dressage) winnings over the winter to the two chosen charities.

I was a little sceptical to say the least about doing dressage over the winter. I was dragged by Victoria kicking and screaming at first and I think people were also actually shocked to see me out there doing it. My stipulation was that the venue had to have a good canteen and an indoor if I was to do it in December, but to be honest, I actually enjoyed it and it was good for the horse I’ve been riding. He has been a bit misunderstood in his time so we have a mutual understanding.

For me now, the next few months are about getting myself fit for the spring and shedding a few stone for various reasons that will be revealed later on. I’ve started the “If it looks good don’t eat it” diet and power plate training, which is hard work but all worth it in the long run. The horses are hacking too and will be going on the vibrating floor before their fitness work steps up a level.

I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year and I’m looking forward to you all getting to know me a little bit better. I’m hoping I can keep you entertained with this blog and share with you a true insight into the world of eventing and preparing event horses for different levels.

Matt

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Four-star eventer Matthew Wright has pledged to donate all his 2018 prize money to two charities.

The British rider has his sights set on a return to top-level competition next season and will split any prize money he wins between male cancer charity Orchid and mental health charity Mind.

Matthew told H&H he chose the two charities because he wants to raise awareness of the good work they do.

“About three and a half years ago I was diagnosed with testicular cancer,” he said.

“I was very low and depressed and having been in such a low place I know what it feels like to be down there.”

He added everyone has been very supportive of the idea and links to JustGiving pages, which will be open to others to donate to the causes, will be on his website at the start of the 2018 eventing season. Matthew will also be blogging on the H&H website from the start of the year.

“I have had the all clear and I’m ready to go — I have been lucky enough to go out and buy a few new horses and I’m in a good place mentally now,” he said.

“I have been very lucky with people helping me so I just want to be able to try and help others.”

Article continues below…

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A number of advanced horses have joined Matthew’s stable ahead of next season (Eventing Life, 16 November), including Prince Mayo, OBOS Colombus, Franzipan and Carlsson.

These have been bought by Matthew and his loyal owners Sir John Peace and Charlotte Cole.

Matthew added he also has some new owners on board, including leading Flat jockey William Buick and William’s partner Jane Duncan.

“It is very exciting — I am very lucky to have good people behind me to help me and support me,” said Matthew.

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

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Four-star eventer Matthew Wright will swap the start box for saucepans as he prepares to compete on Come Dine With Me.

The Nottinghamshire-based rider had a call “out of the blue” from producers of the Channel 4 dinner party game show and is due to start filming later this month.

“I think the producers had been looking at my Twitter and Facebook and saw I liked to cook,” he told H&H.

“I cook every night for my family and I like playing with different flavours.

“I love to try quite adventurous things — I’m big into cooking snails and scallops.”

Matthew is not the first professional rider to whip up a storm in the television kitchen.

In 2010, Burghley winner Oliver Townend went head-to-head with Paralympic gold medal-winning dressage rider Lee Pearson on BBC’s Ready Steady Cook.

Meanwhile para dressage rider Natasha Baker, who won two gold medals at the London 2012 Paralympics, cooked a Christmas roast live on television with Gordon Ramsey on 25 December 2012.

Matthew, who has numerous wins and top-10 placings at international level, admitted that he is a “foodie” and has enjoyed meals in Michelin-starred restaurants.

“I would like to think I have a good chance,” he said.

“I wouldn’t be doing it if I didn’t think I could try and win it.”

He added he has had “some thoughts” about his menu and will have a few practice sessions ahead of the main event, but plans to “play it by ear”.

A date for the episode has not yet been revealed.

A member of the silver-winning young rider European eventing team in 2002, Matthew made his senior squad debut three years later at the European Eventing Championships at Blenheim Palace.

He has won the CCI2* at Blair Castle three times with Hugginstown and has competed at four-star level multiple times on different horses.

His list of international victories also includes Necarne, Osberton, Punchestown, Ballindenisk, Ballygraffan, Tattersalls, Hartpury and Balcarres Castle.

Eventers on screen

Junior European team member Sam Ecroyd appeared on ITV’s Take Me Out in January.

Sam, who has won four European medals including team gold, moon-walked onto the show to Roy Orbison’s Pretty Woman.

He was left with eight girls to pick from before jetting off to the Isle of Fernando’s with Joanna.

Related articles:

• Oliver Townend and Lee Pearson on Ready Steady Cook
• Lee Pearson to star in Come Dine With Me on Channel 4
• Natasha Baker cooks Christmas roast with Gordon Ramsay

“It was an amusing experience and I’m glad I did it,” Sam told H&H at the time.

“Maybe I am a little bit young to be going on a show like this, but I enjoyed it none the less.”

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Eventer Matthew Wright retired Charlotte Cole’s grand old campaigner Hugginstown at Blair Castle at the weekend (Sunday 24 August).

The pair had taken the CCI2* at the Scottish event for the third time.

The 17-year-old by Puissance was “only bought to have some fun with” while owner Charlotte Cole’s other horse was off work, but he has a remarkable record in this class: three wins (2009, 2010, 2014), two seconds (2011, 2012) and a fifth (2013).

“He’s as hard as nails and he’s like a pet to me,” said Matthew, who climbed from eighth after dressage. “He’s staying with me to hunt now.”

Blair this year was something of a trial run for the 2015 European Championships at the venue, with plenty of foreign riders competing and checking out the site.

Work is well underway on improvements for the championships, including a new grass dressage arena and two extra waters on the cross-country.

For full report don’t miss this week’s issue of H&H magazine, out Thursday, 28 August

A taste of the Blair cross-country — venue for the 2015 European Championships [PICS]

Check out fences on the 2014 CCI3* course for a flavour of the hilly cross-country track ahead of next year's

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Event riders Matthew Wright and Matthew Heath will serve suspensions at the start of the eventing season (2 March), following their convictions for assault.

They admitted common assault at separate magistrates’ hearings last autumn, in relation to a fight at a party at Houghton Horse Trials (news, 31 May 2012).

Rider Oliver Smith is understood to have been injured in the incident.

In a statement, British Eventing (BE) said Wright and Heath “also accepted that they had brought the sport into disrepute”.

The riders were both suspended for two weeks last summer.

BE said its disciplinary committee had “reviewed all of the relevant evidence” and decided to suspend Matthew Heath for a further six weeks and Matthew Wright a further 24 weeks.

Matthew Wright told H&H he wanted “to draw a line” under the episode.

He said: “I’ve done wrong and I’ve been punished — I just want to put it to bed now.

“I’m very lucky to have some loyal owners and a great family and team,” he added

Matthew Heath thanked his family and owners for supporting him “through a mistake that I made”.

He added that he was looking forward to “coming out and competing and getting some results for the people that stood by me”.

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Two event riders have been suspended by British Eventing (BE), following an incident at Subaru Houghton International Horse Trials last month.

Matthew Wright and Matthew Heath, both 29, were arrested on Sunday, 27 May on suspicion of assault at a party at the Norfolk site the night before.

They were questioned and released on bail.

BE said it had suspended both riders from competing as of 27 May until 12 June.

In a statement, BE added that it was “awaiting the completion of the police investigation before proceedings with its own disciplinary process” and would complete its own investigation.

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Two event riders have been arrested after an incident at Subaru Houghton International Horse Trials.

Matthew Wright and Matthew Heath were involved in the incident at a party on the horse trials site on Saturday night (26 May).

“Unfortunately I was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Matthew Wright told H&H. “I can’t say anything more at the moment.”

Matthew Heath added: “I don’t want to make any comment as yet, but I feel it has been blown out of proportion.”

A spokesman for Norfolk Police told H&H: “Two 29-year-old men were arrested on suspicion of assault. They were questioned and released on bail on Sunday 27 May.”

An investigation is ongoing.

Rider Oliver Smith was reportedly injured in the incident. H&H was unable to reach Oliver.

Full report on all the eventing action at Houghton Horse Trials in Thursday’s magazine, on sale 31 May

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Express Eventing will not hold its final at this year’s Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) following a change to the format that will see the series run from 2012 to 2013.

HOYS hosted the 2011 Express Eventing final, but this season’s first qualifier will not take place until November.

The series – now in its fourth incarnation – will run as a team event for the first time and continue into late 2013.

Jill Gratton-Fisher, director of Express Eventing, told H&H that the decision was due to the London Olympics.

“Many of the athletes and officials will be involved with the Games,” she said. “We felt it was better to put the series back.

“HOYS was a great venue for us and we are looking at our options for the 2013 final.”

This season’s Express Eventing will start at the inaugural Horse World Live event, to be staged at the ExCel centre in London Docklands.

Subject to final agreement, venues will include the Dublin Show, as well as last year’s settings of the CLA Game Fair and Lincolnshire county show.

Ms Gratton-Fisher said the competition would have a new “Formula 1-style” format.

Teams will be made up of two riders who will compete for both the individual championship and the team prize, accumulating points at each event.

Helena Pettit, managing director of HOYS organiser Grandstand Media, said she was “delighted” the series was continuing and hoped the new format would “prove to be a great success”.

Last year’s winner Matthew Wright (pictured) told H&H he liked the new concept.

“It is definitely worth moving Express Eventing forward and if this is their way of doing it, then all well and good,” he said.

But H&H eventing editor Pippa Roome eventing editor felt it was a “huge shame” that Express Eventing had moved away from HOYS.

“The final worked really well there and it seemed to have finally ‘come of age’ , after two rather stuttering earlier attempts,” she said.

Mary King lost her Olympic partner, Call Again Cavalier at the first Express Eventing, in Cardiff in 2008.

It then evolved into a young rider competition at the Royal Festival of the Horse in 2010.

This news story was first published in the current issue of H&H (1 March 2012)

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Favourite Matthew Wright (pictured) won the Express Eventing final at Horse of the Year Show today, taking home £12,500.

Riding Sir John Peace’s If You Want II – on whom he has won three of the four of the qualifiers this year – Matthew was poised in second after the dressage to music phase and he held that position with a fault-free cross-country round.

Matthew took a few flyers in the final showjumping phase and had the first part of the double at fence 9 down, but he cleared the eraser fence – an optional final set of white planks set higher than the other fences. If riders cleared this, they had four faults taken off their score, so Matthew effectively cancelled out his other fence down.

Sam Griffiths was the leader after both dressage and cross-country on Real Dancer – the Australian rider won the qualifier at Gatcombe, beating Matthew. But it was soon over here when he had the first two showjumps down, perhaps not a huge surprise as the 10-year-old Real Dancer has had some disappointing form over the coloured poles.

“It’s a shame the one at Gatcombe got away – it would have been nice to have won all five,” said Matthew. “But that probably kept us on our toes and gave us a kick up the arse for this show.

“It’s a great series and I hope it takes off for everyone concerned. It’s well organised and I hope next year it gets bigger and bigger.”

Alex Hua Tian finished second on the stallion Grafenstolz, with Harry Meade rising through the order for third on Tinka’s Time. Fiona Hobby was fourth on the diminutive grey mare Roma ML, Sam ended up fifth and Oliver Townend – winner of the first Express Eventing competition in 2008 – completed the top six on Brigadier.

Express Eventing – now on its third reincarnation after the ill-fated contest in Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium in 2008 and last year’s young rider competition at the Royal Festival of the Horse – seems to have come of age. Tweaks will perfect the format, but this was an exciting contest which riders enjoyed and which gave a great spectator experience.

Replay H&H’s live coverage of the Express Eventing final

Full report of the Express Eventing and all the other action from HOYS in H&H next week (13 October issue).

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Oliver Townend, Matthew Wright and Alex Hua Tian will be among the line-up of 15 event riders competing at the Express Eventing 2011 Final at Horse of the Year Show on 4 October.

The riders secured their places through a series of qualifiers held around the country this summer. And last year’s winner Flora Harris automatically gets a slot in the final. The riders will be fighting for the first prize of £12,500.

The final will consist of freestyle dressage to music, cross-country and showjumping, all in Birmingham’s LG Arena

Stephen Renouard, from Express Eventing, said: “The qualifiers have been a tremendous success with an approximate total of 250,000 spectators at the various events.

“The 2011 final line-up shows the quality of riders. The senior athletes really enjoy this form of eventing and the younger riders relish the chance to compete on a level playing field with some of the best names in the sport.”

The final 15 are — Matthew Wright, Oliver Townend, Harry Meade, Fiona Hobby, Sam Griffiths, Fraser Duffy, Jo Chipperfield, Alex Hua Tian, Paul Sims, Will Murray, Sienna Myson-Davies, Flora Harris, Shari Butchart, Jess Butler and Georgie Spence.

For more information visit: www.expresseventing.co.uk

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Matthew Wright continued his strong showing in the Express Eventing series with his third 2011 win out of three, at the CLA Game Fair (24 July).

He led from start to finish on Sir John Pearce’s horse, If You Want II, finishing on a score of 21.00 ahead of Alex Hua Tian in second, on Grafenstolz, and Harry Meade with Tinka’s Time.

However it was not all plain sailing for Matthew with a testing cross-country phase and excitement in the showjumping.

Going into the showjumping, Alex was sitting only four points behind Matthew and had the opportunity of jumping the final eraser fence, and knocking four points off his score, to draw level.

However the second fence fell, meaning Alex was still four penalties behind Matthew after jumping the eraser.

And when Matthew knocked a pole out of an oxer he also had to jump the eraser successfully to take the victory.

He kept his cool to clear it and take the £3,000 first prize.

Matthew Wright said: “I’m obviously thrilled to have won the qualifier, it’s a great competition and it’s always good for the crowd when a competition goes down to the wire.

“I’m very much looking forward to Gatcombe on 6-7 August. The prize money is second to none in the Express Eventing series, and fingers crossed that you’ll see me with that winner’s cheque again at the fourth qualifier.”

Both Alex, highest placed young rider, and Harry, highest placed over-25 not already qualified, have qualified for the Express Eventing finals at Horse of the Year Show in October.

David Eckersby, of the Country Land and Business Association, said: “I think that having the Express Eventing Qualifier at the CLA Game Fair has been a phenomenal success.

“It attracted large crowds and brought eventing to a new audience; we’ll certainly be talking about hosting the competition again next year.”

The last chance to qualify for the 2011 final will be held during the Festival of British Eventing at Gatcombe Park on 6-7 August.

For more information about Express Eventing, including footage, visit www.expresseventing.co.uk .

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Matthew Wright claimed his second win of the Express Eventing Series at the Lincolnshire Show on Wednesday (22 June).

He won the top prize of £3,000 finishing on a score of just 4.5.

Wiltshire-based Fiona Hobby finished second on a score of 8.15. But as Matthew had already qualified for the final (which will be held at the Horse of the Year Show in October) Fiona also qualifies.

Matthew led from the dressage phase with an initial score of 8.5 followed by a clear cross-country round. Fiona jumped a clear showjumping round, meaning Matthew had to do the same to secure victory.

“It’s been a tight competition, I knew the pressure was on with Fiona just behind me, I’ve never seen her horse drop a pole so I knew we had to jump well — and the horse really did just that,” he said.

William Murray, who is based in Northumberland, also qualified for the final as the highest placed young rider, finishing fifth overall with the gelding Brightside.

There are two Express Eventing Series qualifiers remaining — at the CLA Game Fair on Sunday 24 July, and the Festival of British Eventing of Gatcombe Park on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 August.

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Read the latest Matthew Wright news

Matthew made his British senior squad debut as an individual at the 2005 European Championships at Blenheim, where he finished 13th with the home-bred coloured horse Park Pilot. He was second at Blenheim the year before on the same horse, with whom he also won a team silver medal at the young rider Europeans in 2002.

Matthew is a regular visitor to Ireland to compete, and among his successes he won the World Cup qualifier and the CCI** at Ballindenisk in 2006 (Park Pilot and Grove Joucas), the CCI** at Punchestown the same year (Singalong) and has done a one-two in the CCI** at Necarne twice (2007 If You Want II and L’Aristo Du Lado; 2008 Caunton Welldone and Hugginstown).

Matthew’s father Roger is a well-known dealer; they are based in Nottinghamshire. Matthew was born in 1982.

Top event rider Matthew Wright has been suspended from competition for running an unregistered horse last October.

At a British Eventing (BE) disciplinary hearing on 1 February Matthew was dealt a 23-day ban for infringing rules 3ai, 8b, 28b and 31. While some of the infringements deal with late/substitution entries and disgraceful conduct, the main breach (rule 8b), applied because Matthew ran an unregistered horse last year.

The suspension puts him out of the start of the eventing season, beginning this weekend.

“I ran Hugginstown hors concours in a novice on the Sunday at Bishop Burton, but BE didn’t receive its registration documents until the Tuesday,” said 25-year-old Matthew. “I was completely up front and told the stewards but BE has, I think, decided to make an example of me.”

The horse competed legally just one week later, at Little Downham, and won.

He added: “BE is trying to clean up the sport and make it more professional, which we’re all for, but the fact that I’ve been banned for something so trivial is annoying.”

Matthew did not contest the suspension, which ends on 23 March, although it means he will miss the first four weekends of the season. Last year he netted four wins and 67 points during that time.

“I can appeal, and begin competing in March, but if I lose, I will have to serve the ban later in the season which I don’t want to do,” explained Matthew.

Matthew represented Britain as a young rider in 2002, securing team silver on Park Pilot. He earned his first senior flag as an individual at the 2005 European Championships, finishing 13th on the same horse. He was 11th in the BE standings last season, and is widely tipped as a future British team member.

The last BE member to be caught flouting the registration rules was Heather Moodie in 2006. She was banned for 12 months, and fined £750 for competing five separate horses under the registration number of one horse called Aspiration (news, 18 May 2006).

This news story was first published in Horse & Hound (28 February, ’08)

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Matthew Wright claimed the open intermediate section at Little Downham Horse Trials, Ely (20-22 October) on Charlotte Cole’s Hugginstown, who had arrived from Ireland only 10 days before the event.

Matthew won the class with 7.4 penalties to spare from Marcus Roberts and Sonate V in second. Hannah Bate and Bromley Mill were third.

Andrew James won intermediate section K on his dressage score of 35.7 riding the Thoroughbred Cudlic Earl. Pippa Funnell, who won two novice classes on Saturday, finished second on Carol Toliver’s Mirage D’Elle.

Intermediate section L went to Francis Whittington on Jo Easton’s 14-year-old Dance Forever. Francis narrowly beat Sarah Bullen on her home-bred Manado. Izzy Taylor was third on Jackie Curtis in this section, and also took fourth place in the open intermediate on Comma Curtis.

Sam Penn had a successful day, with a third place in section K with On A Par and fourth in section L on Fletch.

Read this report in full. plus reports from other end of season events, in today’s Horse & Hound (25 October, ’07)

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Matthew Wright picked up the top two prizes in the CCI** at Necarne (13-16 September) with If You Want II and L’Aristo Du Lado.

Nigel Taylor led the dressage on 44.2 with Oscar Knight, but finished in fourth place on Sunday.

Jolyse Clancey was in control after cross-country on the home-bred mare On Fire, but she racked up 20 show jumping penalties to fall to 12th.

Chloe Newton (General Greenfont) and J-P Sheffield (Riverside James) were second and third on Saturday night, but their 12 penalties apiece dropped them to fifth and sixth.

Ireland’s Declan Cullen was delighted to finish third on his stallion Glenhill Gold.

Lucy Kemplay won her first three-day for 11 years when she took the CCI* on Jonny Five. Irish riders filled the next four places, with Brian Curran Cournane second on Rossbeigh and Eliza Preston, 19, in third on Young Gun.

Ireland’s Peter Hannigan, 17, won the junior CCI* on First Mate, finishing on his dressage score of 53.3. Alida O’Connor was second on Rolling Stone, with Brian Coleman third on Sunny Dun.

Read this report in full in tomorrow’s Horse & Hound (27 September, ’07)

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Piggy French extended her 100% strike-rate this season with an advanced intermediate win on What A Performance (pictured right) at Great Witchingham. Anna Hilton and Mr Dalby were second, ahead of Pippa Funnell and Blue Horizon.

Matthew Wright finished first (Fox On The Run), third and fourth with his three open intermediate rides, while Piggy stole second on San Calido.

Chloe Newton took the top two spots in the intermediate section with General Greenfont and Eva Peron. Zoe Gullett’s Litchanine finished third with the fastest cross-country time of the day.

Read this report in full, including photos and further analysis, in this Thursday’s Horse & Hound (29 March, ’07)

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