A rider and trainer who first rode at a point-to-point 60 years ago is to do so again – at the age of 75.
Mark Smith, who has ridden under Rules, evented and showjumped internationally and team-chased and ridden in hunt races bitless, is taking part in the hunt race at the Old Berks Hunt point-to-point meeting on Easter Monday (6 April).
Mark is riding for the Injured Jockeys Fund; his JustGiving page showed well over £1,500 by 1 April and he hopes the total will increase.
“I’m incredibly lucky never to have needed them in 50-odd years of riding but it’s putting something back into it,” Mark told H&H. “And it’s not just helping the champion jockeys, the people at the top, they help everyone in the business.”
Mark said the idea for this race came last November.
“It was when it got dark,” he said. “I hate riding horses in the peeing rain and the freezing cold, with nothing to aim for, so I thought I’d have a go with this point-to-point job, plus it coincided with it being 60 years since I first did it.
“I needed a challenge to aim for, and I’m incredibly lucky to be able to do it at my age. I’ve never been this age before! So I don’t know what people my age feel like but they’re not doing what I’m doing.
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“I know if I stop, I won’t start again at my age; I had a knee op last summer and knew if I sat on a sofa for three months, I’d never get on a horse again. I’m incredibly lucky to be where I am and I can do something silly to raise money.”
“And they sure have!” he said, adding that he has had some special silks made, with hoofprints on the front and back.
“When you have a fall racing, it’s the horses coming behind that damage you,” he said. “It’s a bit of fun but obviously I’ve stacked the cards in my favour. I’ve got the right horse, I hope, I’ve done the preparation; I’ve never been this fit in my life. There was a suggestion at one point that I was going to give up drinking but I didn’t go to those kind of extremes!”
The horse Mark will be riding is called Shot Tower, or Bob to his friends, and Mark described him as “the kindest, most lovely horse you could possibly have”.
“He’s a lovely gentleman, and hopefully he’ll be enough of a gentleman to look after me on Monday!” he said.
Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.
