SUNBURY, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 27: Harry Skelton riding Nube Negra clear the last to win The Ladbrokes Desert Orchid Chase at Kempton Park Racecourse on December 27, 2020 in Sunbury, England. Owners are allowed to attend if they have a runner at the meeting otherwise racing remains behind closed doors to the public due to the Coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Alan Crowhurst/Getty Images)
A Facebook group that started as a way to share laughter over equestrian fails has become a force for good, in more ways than one, despite the original group being deleted. S**tEventersUnite was set up in 2019 by Cressida Kitchin-Townshend for people to “share their crapness without judgement”. It is not to everyone’s taste – what is? But the group encourages niceness, bans unkindness, and is now raising money for charity – including creating a 2022 fails calendar, with unfortunate mishaps like the below image by Mane Memories Photography, to raise money for World Horse Welfare. That’s a lot to like.
In 2008, the hugely popular five-star event horse Little Tiger won the best mare award at Burghley, and her prize was to have embryo transfer (ET) at Twemlows. One of those ET foals, Mr Fahrenheit, has gone on to make his CCI5* debut at Pau Horse Trials with Simon Grieve last month. Simon said: “I was grooming for Phoebe when she won the best mare prize with Little Tiger at Burghley, so it’s really wonderful that I was involved in that, and then he’s the horse that I’ve managed to carry on to five-star with.” Mr Fahrenheit belongs to Polly Taylor, who also owned Little Tiger. What a lovely success story.
3. The unusual background of this Cheltenham contender
The Dan Skelton-trained Nube Negra is a far-from-average contender for one of the 2022 Cheltenham Festival’s flagship races, the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase. Nube Negra was bred in Spain by six-times Olympian Luis Alvarez Cervera, who represented his country in both showjumping and eventing. The colt raced seven times on the Flat in Madrid, being placed three times. Luis rang Dan’s father, showjumper Nick Skelton, and said “I watch the racing from England every day and I love watching Dan and Harry — I have a horse which is quite good on the Flat in Spain, but he’s a big horse and he jumps well so I think he’ll make a jumper”. And here he is, gearing up for Cheltenham as one to watch.
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Sarah has worked at an equestrian journalist and editor since 2004 and has held the position of Horse & Hound Editor-in-Chief since 2014. She has reported for Horse & Hound from major championships including Europeans and World Equestrian Games. She has co-written books on horses and horse sport including The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of Horses & Ponies. She has owned and ridden horses since 1993, and worked for and trained with Olympic gold medallist event rider Leslie Law prior to going to university. While studying for a BSc at London School of Economics Sarah also worked for top British dressage rider Louise Spate.
