Rising star event horse dies after developing meningitis aged 10
Lauren Shannon has paid tribute to her promising three-star event horse, who has died aged 10.
Kilcannon Crunch, known as Crunch at home, was put down on 9 November last year after developing meningitis.
British rider Lauren bought Crunch as a five-year-old and brought the Hermes de Reve mare up through the levels.
Most recently, the pair were placed 13th at Hopetoun International (25 June, 2015).
“She was being treated for sinusitis and due to complications developed meningitis, which is incredibly rare in horses,” Lauren told H&H.
“I can’t fault the hospital though — it came on very quickly. She was showing neurological signs and had to be put down within six hours.
“Sinusitis is becoming more prevalent in horses as they are fed in mangers and travelling a lot.”
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Leicestershire-based Lauren purchased Crunch from Mark and Tony Kyle and competed her in the young event horse championships in 2012 and moved up to three-star competitions by 2015.
Lauren was confident Crunch could progress to the highest level.
“She was showing a lot of promise,” she said. “I had no doubt in my mind she was going to be a four-star horse.
“She was an easy horse, one that everyone liked and was very cuddly. I was very lucky to have her, she taught me a lot and I met a lot of people with her moving through the levels.
“She was a proper servant — she would have done the job no matter what you told her to do. She would have jumped a house.”
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Rachael joined Horse & Hound in 2014, initially as a digital sub editor then became part of the news team as a writer in 2015. The philosophy graduate studied journalism at the Press Association before working as a local reporter at the Brentwood Gazette. Rachael is now a mum of two and still loves all things equestrian, including hacking, dressage and jumping with her cob Bert. Rachael left the H&H staff to go freelance in June 2019, but still contributes to our magazine and website, as well as our sister magazine Country Life, among others.