Hayley Watson-Greaves’ moving tribute to a much-loved dressage star
International dressage rider Hayley Watson-Greaves has paid tribute to her national champion Rubins Nite, whom she trained from a two-year-old to reach the top of the sport. She developed an incredible bond with the son of Rubin Royal from their first meeting, and partnered him to compete at the World Cup Final – making her dreams come true.
The fabulous character, who could be nervous yet would rise to the occasion of a big indoor show like London International, seemed to grow and enjoy the atmosphere once the home crowd got behind him. “Squeaks” died after suffering from colic on Sunday (26 October) from which he couldn’t be saved. The 21-year-old had been enjoying a happy retirement from competition for the past two years.
Remembering the day she met Squeaks, Hayley said: “He was at a yard down the road to be sold and a couple of months later, the lady rang me and said I could have him for the amount of livery the owners owed, so I paid £3,000 and brought him home. He must have loaded to go to that yard but the lady wasn’t sure he’d go in my trailer. I remember standing in his stable, blowing in his nose and giving him a scratch, then he just followed me on the trailer. And the rest is history.”
Talking of home crowd support, H&H’s dressage editor Oscar Williams has been mulling over ways in which dressage shows could grow attendance figures. From shows dropping out of the calendar to complaints about competitions lacking in atmosphere, plus ticket prices, Oscar delves into the issues the sport is facing – and points out who is tackling these successfully. The cost of putting on events, or even having a tradestand at an event, has made times truly challenging for organisers.
Is having the ability to watch events from your sofa putting people off attending in person? I’ve always argued the more you engage with a sport the more you will want to attend when you can – and live streams help with engagement. The freestyle changed the popularity of dressage significantly, but what needs to come next in its evolution to ensure more bums on seats in future?
“I was very much going there with one aim and one aim only, and that was to have a fun run and a good run,” says Laura. “We didn’t care about the result. I wasn’t going there to be competitive. I was going there to put the wheels back on.
“And for me, that event was the turning point in his career, because he flew around the cross-country. We both had a ball. And I remember him standing in the prize-giving – having stood in the prize-giving 12 months before, shaking and thinking he wanted the ground to swallow him up – he stood there like a really proud horse, like he suddenly realised he was as good as I always thought he was. I think that was the point that he decided he loved crowds and never looked back.”
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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.
