Bubby Upton’s Bramham triumph
Bubby Upton scored her first senior CCI4*-L win by triumphing at the Defender Bramham Horse Trials on nine-year-old Its Cooley Time.
Bubby had a fence in hand in the showjumping but jumped clear with just a rattle of the upright at fence two.
“It means a lot to win this – it’s one of the big Bs and growing up, I’ve seen legends win this. So it feels really special to win it, particularly having won the under-25 championships here as well,” said Bubby. “And I guess the way Finn did it as well – he was really dominant all week, and just faultless, to be honest. He’s all class, and I’m so glad he got the win that he deserved.”
Regarding the nine-year-old’s future Bubby said: “I’d obviously love him to step up to five-star and I’d love to make my senior championship debut. I’ve come close a couple of times and been unlucky with accidents and stuff – one of which was off him.”
Read the full report and find out more about this pair
Piggy March pulls off great test on sensitive new ride
MCS Maverick won the CCI4*-L at Bramham with Pippa Funnell in 2023 and has recently been sold to the Maidwell Mavericks syndicate for Piggy March to ride. He is both super talented and very sensitive to atmosphere. Piggy admitted she was questioning her decision to take him on before her dressage test in the Defender CCI4*-S at Bramham Horse Trials last week.
“I’ve had some hot ones before, but I’ve not had one that feels like his eyes and his brain are spinning that much at 6 or 7pm, with absolutely no atmosphere and a load of your mates walking around,” she said. “I had to get off and I’ve never done that in arena familiarisation before. I thought, ‘This is going to be a nightmare.’
“I did ring Mrs Funnell this morning, because I thought, do I need to put her on a loudspeaker in his stable or something? Do I need to say, ‘Pip, just whisper the stuff you used to whisper to him – Come on Eric, we’re good friends, you could do this today’.”
Despite this, Piggy and the 12-year-old pulled off a great test, scoring 27.5 to lie second at the conclusion of the first phase. They finished in 8th place after having one fence down plus 0.4 time in the showjumping and jumping clear in the cross-country with 2.8 time penalties.
Read more from Piggy on this new partnership
Death of horses in US following feed contamination
State officials in Delaware, US, are investigating after vets in central Kent county reported the deaths of 16 horses that are being linked to contaminated feed. Vets reported neurological disease and deaths in horses housed at different properties during a four week period between 22 April and 17 May.
The Delaware Department of Agriculture (DDA) released a statement on 30 May to notify horse owners, saying: “Many of the cases have been associated with feeding a corn-based feed. Anyone using feed purchased in April is encouraged to contact their supplier to see if they are aware of any related concerns.
“Symptoms from equine cases were recorded by area veterinarians between 22 April and 17 May. The office of the state veterinarian and a local equine veterinarian submitted three samples of feed fed to affected horses for toxin analysis. All samples returned with levels of a fungal toxin called fumonisin. The levels in the samples significantly exceeded five parts per million (ppm), the maximum level recommended by FDA [the US Food and Drug Administration].”
Find out more about fumonisin and this case
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