A British-born rider and coach who “shaped Swiss equestrian sport like no other Amazon and was considered a global icon” has died at the age of 59. Lesley McNaught, described as a “true legend of showjumping”, won six Olympic, world and European medals. She went on to become a top coach, training the Swiss eventing team in showjumping. “Losing Lesley is a big loss to the equestrian world – she was a very, very clever, knowledgeable, top horsewoman and great company,” said Andrew Nicholson, who was instrumental in getting Lesley on board with the Swiss eventing team.
More than 150 horses from the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment and Kings Troop Royal Horse Artillery are enjoying their Christmas holidays in Leicestershire. Juno and Apollo, the Household Cavalry drum horses, were the first to arrive at the Defence Animal Training Regiment (DATR) in Melton Mowbray, but their equine colleagues from the two regiments were not far behind. “Just like our soldiers, the horses need a well-deserved rest,” said equine veterinary officer Captain Bowman.
Olympic champion Julia Krajewski has announced the retirement of her Tokyo individual gold medal-winner Amande De B’Neville who made her “dreams come true”. The 14-year-old mare was last seen in international competition at the 2022 World Eventing Championships in Pratoni, where she secured individual silver and helped Germany to the team title. Julia, who owns the Selle Francais mare with Bernd Heicke, said Amande De B’Neville (“Mandy”) will not return to sport owing to an “undramatic” hoof issue, which has failed to improve as hoped despite “all sort of approaches in treatment”.
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Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.
