A 20-year-old horse going out on a high, and other things the horse world is talking about

1. A brilliant horse’s career ends on a win

French eventer Karim Florent Laghouag called time on his former team horse Punch De L’Esques’ competition career after winning the indoor cross-country competition in Bordeaux last Friday evening (3 February). The 20-year-old’s achievements included two top-10 places at five-star – he was seventh at Pau 2015 and 10th there in 2016 – as well as being part of the French team at two European Championships, at Malmö in 2013 (where he contributed to team bronze) and Luhmühlen in 2019. Karim said: “We’re going to celebrate his farewell to competition without crying because there’s nothing sad here. He is retiring and will live many more beautiful days hacking with me, with my son and especially with my wife. He is going on holiday and we will see each other every day.”

Find out what else Karim had to say about his special partner

2. ‘He was taken far too soon’

Dressage rider Gemma Owen is “heartbroken and in complete shock” after her junior team horse Sirius Black III died suddenly on Friday (3 February) aged 18. The Stedinger gelding, who was known at home as Siz, died following a “sudden and severe illness”. “Words can’t describe how much this horse meant to me and my family. He was truly one in a million,” said Gemma. “Everyone who met Siz will know how amazing and caring his temperament was. He was taken far too soon. He has left us all heartbroken and in complete shock.”

Read more tributes to this much-loved horse

3. Swapping Pony Club camp for the Vietnam jungle

Hats off to coach and rider Anne Grindal who has been representing the equestrian world in Channel 4’s SAS Who Dares Wins: Jungle Hell. When she isn’t being put through “the SAS’s secret selection process – the ultimate test of physical and psychological resilience” by a crack team of former special forces, Anne team-chases, competes up to 1.30m showjumping and has evented to intermediate level. She is also a farmer’s wife and the mother of two teenage sons, and some how also finds the time to run a rug repair business. We think she’s done herself – and the equestrian world – proud!

Find out how Anne came to take part in the TV show

You might also be interested in:

British team success, teenage horses shine and a mare with a ‘weird canter’ proves unconventional horses can win too

Horses who have had fewer owners are more accepting of novel tasks

‘But he’s still eating’: experts warn against judging horses’ welfare based on food intake

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