‘One of the best horsemen’: farewell to showjumping stalwart
Charles Edwards, the breeder and stalwart of the showjumping community died peacefully on 8 June, aged 90.
Known fondly to many as “Mr E”, Charles came from a farming background and developed a love of horses from a young age. He and his siblings Roy, Sheila and Gordon, competed in gymkhanas and spent days on the hunting field.
In his early twenties Charles met Sue Poile, and the couple later married. They had two children, Carl and the late Sarah, mother of racehorse trainer Dan and jockey Harry Skelton.
Charles and Sue produced many top-quality horses and the couple established a successful breeding operation, starting with stallions Columbus and Ironoir. The couple went on to breed horses competing across the disciplines at European and Olympic level.
Among those was Bit More Candy, ridden by Carl at the 2000 Sydney Olympics in the British showjumping team alongside Geoff Billington and Michael and John Whitaker. Today, Charles’s grandsons Will and Carmen continue to compete on horses bred by their grandparents.
Charles was known for his horsemanship skills and always remained involved with the horses, assisting Will and Carmen with breaking in the home-breds. He was also known and loved for his character and sense of humour, and was a popular figure on the showjumping circuit.
Geoff Billington was friends with Charles for more than 50 years and said he was “probably one of the best horsemen” he had ever known.
“He was also one of the best salesmen because he got people thinking he was a Shropshire farmer, but he could sell sand to the Arabs,” said Geoff. “I first met him through his late daughter Sarah, we were all good friends and we jumped in ponies together so I probably knew him from when I was 15 years old. He was a great horseman, he had a great eye for a horse and he was good craic.”
Carmen recalled one of his favourite “one-liners” used by his grandfather, who was known for the saying “How do, Master… how do”.
“When we loose-jumped the horses, if one was really careful he’d say, ‘That one’s as careful as a nudist over a barbed-wire fence.’ That was him all over, he was a character. He was fantastic to have around,” said Carmen.
Charles is survived by Sue, his son Carl and daughter-in-law Amanda, grandsons Will, Carmen, Dan and Harry.
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Since joining H&H in 2018, Becky has covered a broad range of equestrian news including welfare matters, veterinary studies, FEI Tribunal hearings and road safety campaigns. She has also interviewed top riders including Scott Brash, John Whitaker and Ian Stark, to name just a few. Becky’s reporting has taken her to Canada for Spruce Meadows and France for Pau five-star, as well as the Royal Highland and Blair Castle International Horse Trials closer to home. She was also a key part of the remote reporting team for the Tokyo Olympics and the Europeans.