The rider of a 19.3hh warmblood who reached two hands bigger than she had expected believes he could still have some growing to do. Oldenburg Dante Weltino gelding Dhisney (Walt) was about 17hh when Paige Ervin bought him as a three-year-old, and does not seem to have stopped growing since.
“We though he might max out at 17.3hh, maybe 18hh,” 5’8” Paige told H&H. “But he just kept going and going. But he’s all in proportion so until you have something next to him for perspective, you don’t know how big he is – and warmblood breeders I know say he might not stop growing till he’s nine or 10.”
He has a custom built trailer, and 7ft3 rugs look like mini skirts on him. We can’t imagine riding a 10m circle…
The horse world has to be open to new knowledge and scientific evidence when it comes to equine welfare. This was the theme of the 25th World Horse Welfare conference on 10 November, as experts spoke on various facets of the dividing line between “use” and “abuse” of horses, and what can be “shades of grey”.
This has become a contentious subject, with many in the horse world desperate to change behaviours to enable the continued acceptance of horses in sport – while others believe that if the conversation stops then the problem will go away.
Roly Owers, the charity’s chief executive, said: “Science is changing the landscape of what good horse welfare looks like. We must wake up to the fact that for all the love and care given to horses by their owners, and many enlightened practices, too often these can be perceived by society as the exception rather than the rule. For many people, what they see is horses being used and abused.”
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3. Racehorse owner and financial advisor to The Queen dies aged 91
Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, the racehorse owner and breeder, died on 7 November, aged 91. Born in London, Sir Evelyn was part of the Rothschild banking dynasty, the son of Anthony de Rothschild and Yvonne Cahen d’Anvers.
He pursued a career in banking and took over as chair of NM Rothschild following his father’s retirement. He was also a financial adviser to The Queen and in 1989 was knighted for his services to the banking and finance industry.
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Sarah has worked at an equestrian journalist and editor since 2004 and has held the position of Horse & Hound Editor-in-Chief since 2014. She has reported for Horse & Hound from major championships including Europeans and World Equestrian Games. She has co-written books on horses and horse sport including The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of Horses & Ponies. She has owned and ridden horses since 1993, and worked for and trained with Olympic gold medallist event rider Leslie Law prior to going to university. While studying for a BSc at London School of Economics Sarah also worked for top British dressage rider Louise Spate.
