1. Young dressage rider Gemma Owen’s return to competition after Love Isand
Gemma Owen has wasted no time in getting back out competing since her summer on ITV’s Love Island. Riding the 17-year-old gelding Sirius Black III, Gemma has already managed to get three shows under her belt and has won at all three at prix st georges. “It’s been nice to get back out competing and doing something I love with a bit of normality,” she said.
2. The showjumper who finished fourth with no bridle
There were dramatic scenes at the CHI Geneva horse show on Saturday night when Irish rider Conor Swail’s brilliant gelding Vital Chance De La Roque lost his bridle.
The pair had completed a scorching round in the five-star class when the gelding threw in a mighty buck to celebrate, as he always does. The bridle came clean off. As Conor told H&H: “I was forward in the saddle, riding through the finish, so this time when he bucked, he threw me up his neck. I was pushing myself back to try and get back in the saddle but that was when his head suddenly came up and I just pushed the bridle right off. Then, with the bridle off, he just started to run, and I almost came off the side.”
British Dressage (BD) has introduced guidelines on maximum rider weight for 2023 as part of its code of conduct for equine welfare. It is recommended that, from January, the maximum load carried by any equid should not exceed 20% of its total body weight “based on a horse with a ‘good’ condition score”.
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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.
