A horse who was rescued as a malnourished and wounded yearling has won the 2024 Cotswold Cup 90cm championship. Bethan-May Greave and RSPCA Kastone added nothing to their dressage score to take the title. Bethan-May, who rehomed Kastone when he was 18 months old, said she would never have believed such an achievement was possible, those years ago. “When I took him on, they thought he’d get to about 14.2/15hh and be maybe a companion or a happy hacker,” she said. “We thought he could hack or nanny the babies but he just grew and grew – and he’s turned out to be a superstar.”
Joan Gold, the first British rider to win the Aachen grand prix, has died at the age of 107. Joan defied her parents’ opposition to become involved with horses, and won four other classes at Aachen in 1958. She trained on the Continent and went on to help and inspire riders and judges including Carl Hester, Jennie Loriston-Clarke, Stephen Clarke, Andrew Gardner and David Hunt. Her impact over the 107 years of her life is impressive.
The 2024 Horse of the Year Show kicks off tomorrow, 9 October, at the NEC Birmingham. If you can’t get there in person, check out our guide on how to watch the action. H&H will also have reporters there as usual, covering all the showing and showjumping classes. Don’t miss a minute of the pinnacle of the year for so many horses, ponies and riders from across the country.
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Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.
