1. A charity riding school may be heading back home
It was heartening to hear that, after many twist and turns along the way, the horses and ponies of London charity riding school Park Lane Stables may be heading back to their spiritual home in Teddington, southwest London. As you might recall, back in January the stables launched a crowd-funding campaign to raise £1m to buy their premises. The target was quickly reached, but then negotiations stalled. This led to the temporary relocation of the charity to Richmond, while it sought a permanent base. But things are now looking up after the charity confirmed it had “agreed a price for the Park Lane Stables site, and the funds are with our solicitor to proceed to exchange”. After negotiating some very turbulent waters, we hope it will be smooth sailing for the charity from this point forwards and they will be able to move back in to their historic premises very soon.
2. Will Ben Maher make it three in a row in Slovakia?
Olympic gold medallists Ben Maher and Explosion W are back in action this week trying to top the Longines Global Champions Tour (LGCT) rankings for a third consecutive year to be crowned LGCT champion of champions. The pair have only been seen in action once since that momentous gold medal-winning performance and will be up against current LGCT leader and Olympic team gold medallist Peder Fredricson of Sweden, who will be bringing out his Olympic partner H&M All In. With 21 points separating the two, there will be all the play for.
Find out how the stars needs to align for Ben to win
3. What’s happening when at the show formerly known as Olympia…
The London Internationa Horse Show’s Christmas finale
If you’re already excited about heading into the capital for your festive fix of top-class horse sport just before Christmas – we certainly are – then make sure you’ve planned your trip to London International Horse Show carefully as if you follow tradition and head to Kensington, Olympia, you’re going to find yourself disappointed. The show is being held at the ExCeL center this time and it also has a new timetable. For the die-hard dressage fans among you, you may want to book a local hotel on the Wednesday evening and get cover for your own horses as the grand prix is getting underway at 8am on Thursday 16 December, while the freestyle is taking place on the Friday evening. The popular puissance is on Thursday evening, with the FEI World Cup driving on Saturday evening and the FEI World Cup showjumping on Sunday afternoon. The show concludes on Monday with grand prix.
Check out the full London International Horse Show timetable
You may also want to read…
The Horse & Hound Podcast 73: SEIB Search for a Star winner | Maryland review | Managing competition nerves | News update
‘People like us don’t win things like this’: Former racehorse takes elementary title at national dressage championship
Female jockeys under-estimated by punters, research shows
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