Sir Mark Todd with Dusk Till Dawn (potential Tokyo 2020 horse) at Badgerstown, his stables in the village of Foxhill near Swindon in Wiltshire in the UK on the 26th February 2017
Many speculated whether or not the British Horseracing Authority would or wouldn’t act following the circulation of a video of a clinic for an altogether different sport – that of eventing. Yesterday the chair of the British racing Independent Judicial Panel approved a BHA application for an interim suspension of Mark’s training licence while they investigate the viral video that surfaced on social media last week. The suspension means Mark will be unable to race, in Britain or abroad, while investigations into the incident continue.
In her comment this week, Pammy Hutton looks at the newly developed Dressage Circle, a group looking to offer something slightly different to the national governing body for the sport, British Dressage. Different dressage organisations have existed in unison previously – including Dressage Under 21s UK, which has for many years offered a “friendly” alternative for young riders wanting dressage goals and support. But when I think of divided organisations I generally think about showing, and whether or not the sport would be stronger and richer for having one, larger membership and one voice. I also look at the flack the existing governing bodies get and wonder why anyone would want to take that on! It is, as Pammy says, impossible to please all the people all the time. But perhaps Dressage Circles’ founders really can provide what it is impossible for BD to give, and there can be something good for everyone. Pammy of course has her view.
With the cost of living rising at a frightening rate, many of us are looking to save money wherever we can. Of course the vast majority of horse owners will go without good food themselves, and certainly new shoes, before looking to reduce their horse’s five-star care, but there are some sensible ways of saving money without in any way compromising horse welfare. We’ll be taking a look at these more and more over the coming weeks as we see interest rates hit uncomfortable levels and the price of energy rocket. We’d be interested to know your own savvy ways of saving, too – sarah.jenkins@futurenet.com. For those still needing – or indeed wanting – to shop, we’ll be rounding up the best equestrian deals of the week, too.
SEIB have announced a new class for Pony Club members in their Search For A Star (SFAS) series. The SEIB SFAS Pony Club championships will be held at Your Horse Live in November and are designed to be “an introduction to showing for members of all ages.” The championship will offer a lead rein and first ridden championship for children under 10 years old. There will be an open class for older members that will be judged on suitability for all round Pony Club activities, conformation, way of going and temperament open to any type of horse or pony that is both athletic and correct enough to be a show horse.
The New Zealand eventing legend won his fourth Mitsubishi Motors Badminton title with a foot perfect performance in a tense
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Sir Mark Todd with Dusk Till Dawn (potential Tokyo 2020 horse) at Badgerstown, his stables in the village of Foxhill near Swindon in Wiltshire in the UK on the 26th February 2017
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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.
