TEN days before galloping to BE100 victory at Lucinda Green XC Academy Tweseldown (1), Hannah Bailey’s Rosewater Danny Boy was crowned British Dressage advanced medium silver Area Festival champion at Kingston Maurward and finished fourth in the prix st georges.
The two wins were an impressive double feat, especially given that just over a year ago the 15.1hh gelding’s career hung in the balance when he went chronically lame.
“An MRI scan showed he had a huge keratoma in his hoof that had grown so deep and high he could barely walk,” explained Hannah. “I was prepared for the fact that I might never be able to ride him again – or worse – but thanks to my brilliant farrier Chris Pell and my vet Amanda O’Gorman he made a full recovery. After a several months’ box rest we were able to pick up almost where we left off.”
Danny was supposed to be a project horse for Hannah to produce and sell on – “that’s what I told my husband!” – but the now 12-year-old has become a permanent fixture.
“Everything he does from now on is a bonus and my aim is just to enjoy him,” said Hannah, who discovered the gelding’s aptitude for dressage early on. “I used to work in a dressage yard and had competed up to inter I in the past. Danny has such an amazing, trainable temperament and just takes everything in his stride.”
The grassroots championship at Badminton is on the cards for the pair this spring.
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