Louise Bell’s Man On Fire dies after Lincoln Show
Showing producer Louise Bell has lost one of her top working hunter horses — Man On Fire.
The nine-year-old collapsed and died on the journey home to Banbury from Lincoln Show on Wednesday 23 June.
The bay gelding, bred by John Whitaker, was by the coloured showjumping stallion Utah Van Erpekom whom John used to compete.
Man On Fire won £7,000 in his first season on the show circuit, when he was six, and had been a consistent winner for Louise, standing champion at South of England show (10-12 June).
A post-mortem showed he died from a ruptured large intestine.
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A self-confessed newshound, farmer’s daughter and journalist of many years' experience, Charlotte worked on regional papers before joining H&H in 2007. A regular rider, she visited Ireland in 2010 to investigate the fate of Irish horses through the recession, to much acclaim, and reported from the FEI General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro in 2011. She left Horse & Hound in March 2013.