Sarah Clark with LV BALOU JEANZ at BAREFOOT RETREATS BURNHAM MARKET INTERNATIONAL (1) held at Sussex Farm in the Burnham Market near King's Lynn in Norfolk in United Kingdom on the 17th April 2023
The dream is over for Sarah Clark, after she withdrew before the trot-up at Badminton Horse Trials, presented by Mars Equestrian, on 4 May 2023. Sarah felt that her ride, LV Balou Jeanz, was not 100% and elected not to present him.
“We got dressed up, we went to the party of our dreams, but we didn’t get to dance,” Sarah posted on her Instagram. “I’m more sorry than I can put into words, but Jeanz’s long-term wellbeing must come first and foremost. I know if I asked him to, he’d run forever and jump anything, even if it broke him.”
LV Balou Jeanz had an interrupted preparation in the spring, missing their intended run at Thoresby due to a setback with a bruised foot. They did fit in one advanced run at Barefoot Retreats Burnham Market International, jumping double clear.
Sarah’s achievements with the New Zealand-bred are already remarkable. Last year, she made the journey from Adelaide to Burghley – which she completed with a clear cross-country round. Badminton, she told H&H, was “more icing on the cake”.
Badminton final scores
“If you had told me 20, 10, two years ago, we’d even make it this far I’d be overjoyed,” she said. “Thanks more than anyone to this phenomenal horse, who by saving for another day, I hope will be back out chasing down our dreams before too long.”
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Martha is an experienced journalist who is mad-keen on horses and dogs. Her reporting CV includes the Paris Olympics, European championships, Aachen World Equestrian Festival and World Cup finals. After growing up with assorted liver and white springer spaniels, she enjoyed 14 years with two rescue dogs. Now, her constant companion is Fidget, an extremely energetic and habitually muddy black and white springer. Martha has written on topics as diverse as a top horse’s clone to the best GPS trackers for dogs, as well as equestrian and rural matters for Country Life, The Field, The Times, The Spectator and The Telegraph alongside Horse & Hound.
