The King’s horses, maternity leave, and more things the horse world is talking about

1. The King’s horses

Weatherbys has confirmed ownership of all of The Queen’s racehorses has been transferred to The King. The William Haggas-trained Educator, bred by The Queen, will be His Majesty’s first runner as monarch today (29 September). The three-year-old colt runs in the Radcliffe and Co Handicap Stakes at Salisbury at 4.54pm.

Read more about The King’s runner this afternoon

2. New ride for Joe Stockdale

British showjumper Joe Stockdale has taken on the ride on one of the country’s most exciting young horses, the eight-year-old Ebanking. Barbara Hester’s stallion was previously ridden by Adam Botham. The Etoulon son has made the transition from young horse star to successfully contend ranking classes, including a win at the Rome leg of the Longines Global Champions Tour.

Find out more about the new partnership

3. Maternity leave

A campaign group co-founded by world and European team gold medal-winning showjumper Janne Frederike Meyer-Zimmerman is calling for improvements to the FEI maternity leave rules. Olympic dressage champion Jessica von Bredow-Werndl is the latest high profile rider involved in a dispute with the FEI over its maternity leave rules, which has pushed the matter back into the headlines. Janne’s experience of the impact the rules had on her return following the birth of her son led to her involvement in founding campaign group EqualEquest. The organisation has outlined several small changes that could make a real difference to riders.

Learn about EqualEquest and its suggested changes to the FEI rules

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