A grey Household Cavalry horse who was seen galloping through London is back with his regiment after making a complete recovery. Vida was one of five horses who broke loose on routine exercise, after being spooked by a sudden noise from construction work. “We’ll so miss having him around, but we all wish him every success in the rest of his service career,” said Jeanette Allen, chief executive of The Horse Trust, where Vida spent time recuperating, as did the other injured horses, and enjoyed a summer holiday before returning to duty.
Legendary pony eventer Noble Springbok, who won nine medals with three riders and launched Laura Collett’s career, has died aged 27. “Going to my first Europeans and winning team gold and individual bronze would be my favourite memory of him,” said Laura. “I went there not expecting anything and was very naive about the whole thing.” He also achieved success with Libby Solely and Grace Walker, retiring in 2014 and spending his twilight years with the Walker family.
Leading French event rider Maxime Livio is taking a temporary break from event riding to focus on other projects. Maxime, who won Pau CCI5* in 2016 with Qalao Des Mers and has many top placings at the level, will be “hanging up [his] boots” for a while at the end of the 2024 season. “The idea is to take a bit of distance from the intensity of life as a high-level rider and have some time to dedicate myself to many other projects that are currently happening at the stables, which we will talk about soon. And to ask myself questions about how I want to continue, if I even want to continue,” he said.
Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now
Horse & Hound Newsletter
Never miss out on the latest happenings in the equestrian world
Lucy is an experienced news journalist, reporter and presenter. Since joining the Horse & Hound team in 2015, Lucy has reported from major global sporting events including the Tokyo Paralympic Games and multiple European Championships, as well as Badminton, Burghley and London, to name a few. She has covered current affairs and sports news across the full spectrum of equestrian disciplines and racing, as well as human and equine welfare, industry news and court cases.
