Showing veteran comes out of retirement for Olympia
A showing star has come out of retirement and will be contesting the senior showing and dressage LTD grand finale at Olympia next week.
Prolific veteran coloured stallion Lostock Huntsman is 24 years old.
The former eventer and show horse, known at home as Leo, is still a working stallion and sire to numerous successful competition horses.
His owner Caroline Hamilton hung up Leo’s competition shoes several years ago but has started showing the star again.
“We are so proud to be going to Olympia,” said Caroline.
“We were invited by our local feed supplier Mole Valley to participate in a three-month field trial for Spillers conditioning mix.
“Leo is absolutely thriving on the new feed and we all agreed that he looked so well that he deserved to be taken out to a show.”
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Along with Caroline’s daughter Bethany, Leo qualified for the show in just two outings.
“It was a very great moment for us as a family to watch Bethany and Leo’s partnership achieve such success,” said Caroline.
The pair will be competing at the championship on Friday (18 December) at the London International Horse Show.
Olympia starts on Tuesday (15 December) and runs until Monday (21 December).
The world’s best riders will also travel to London for the show — including three FEI world number ones.
In dressage Charlotte Dujardin will be competing with Carl Hester’s London 2012 ride Uthopia, while Valegro prepares for Rio.
Showjumper Scott Brash and Hello Sanctos — who are currently competing in Geneva — will also be heading to the show.
Scott is looking forward to competing in front of a home crowd.
“I love Olympia,” said Scott. “The atmosphere is always great and the crowd always cheer me.
“I don’t often get the chance to ride in front of home fans as there aren’t many five star events in Britain so it’s always nice to compete in front of the home crowd.”
In driving world number one Boyd Exell will be hoping to claim the spoils once again.
For more information visit the Olympia website here.
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A graduate of Exeter University, Amy joined our news team from Redpin Publishing in 2008 as news writer. She was promoted to deputy news editor in May 2013 and became news editor in April 2015. She left Horse & Hound in March 2016 to take up an editorial position in Dubai.