Olympic rider Spencer Wilton has paid tribute to Super Nova II, his “horse of a lifetime”, who took him to places “I never thought I would ever get to”. The British Hanoverian gelding, known as Neville, was bred by Mrs Kirby and owned by Jen Goodman. He was put down aged 22, having returned to his owner to enjoy retirement aged 18.
Highlights of Neville’s career included team silver at the Rio Olympics and team bronze at the World Equestrian Games in Tryon, USA. The pair were also reserves for the 2015 European Championships, and in 2017 finished sixth individually at the Europeans in Gothenburg, where the team was fourth.
John Whitaker will be sticking with showjumping after all
We hope you all enjoyed our April Fools’ Day story this morning, in which we shared the breaking news that John Whitaker would be switching to eventing with an eye on representing Britain at the LA Olympics in 2028.
And although we are confident that this ultimate horseman would certainly have the ability to make the eventing crowd sit up and take notice, we can now confirm he has no such plans currently.
We would like to thank John for being a good sport and allowing us to make him the subject of our 2025 April fool.
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Congratulations!
Olympic champion Christian Kukuk and his partner Veronica Tracy had “a day we’ll never forget” on Saturday, 29 March, when they celebrated becoming parents for the first time, on the arrival of baby Lila.
To make a notable day all the more remarkable, Christian also won the Rolex US Equestrian Open grand prix at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida for the second year running on the same day.
The euphoric new father and his incredible Olympic gold medal-winning partner Checker 47 won an eight-way jump-off, beating runner-up US rider Laura Kraut (Bisquetta), with pathfinder Ashlee Bond of Israel riding Donatello 141 finishing in third.
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Carol is an experienced journalist and editor, who is also a passionate amateur rider and dedicated horse owner, having ridden since childhood. She has a particular interest in the emotional well-being and ethical training of horses, alongside veterinary matters, having garnered extensive first-hand experience of numerous equine health conditions through more than 30 years of horse ownership.
