Over this festive season, we are shining a light on up-and-coming talent across the equestrian disciplines. These are riders you really need to keep an eye out for during the 2020 season...
Showjumper Flo Norris may only be 17 years old but she’s already enjoying life as a successful international rider. Originally from Somerset, Flo is now based at the yard of the world number four, Ben Maher, in Elsenham, Essex. Here are five reasons Flo needs to be on your radar in 2020.
1. Having already jumped at Olympia, The London International Horse Show, while on ponies, she qualified to compete in the prestigious Voltaire Design Under-25 British Championship at this year’s pre-Christmas event against the best young riders from all over the country.
2. Flo has been winning since a young age and finished first and second in the under-16 championship at the 2017 British Showjumping National Championships at Stoneleigh.
3. She has been training on the yard of Britain’s leading showjumper Ben Maher for the past 18 months. “It’s great to get to see Ben ride all the time and it’s definitely improved my confidence and my knowledge of how to ride a speed class,” she says.
4. She already has plenty of international experience under her belt, showing tremendous competitive spirit and great flair when jumping against the clock. She was successful at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Florida at the start of 2019, won in the CSI2* classes at the London leg of the Longines Global Champions Tour and most recently jumped at the prestigious Longines Masters in Paris at the start of December where she just picked up four faults in the two-star grand prix.
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5. She has an enviable string of horses, including the nine-year-old Kadance Van’t Lozerhof, who she bought towards the end of 2018. “I won a few 1.40m classes out in America with her,” says Flo. She also has the talented mare Donatella L’Espoir, relatively new ride the 10-year-old Con Pleasure, as well as the 12-year-old stallion Teck De Riverland. Lorielle 2 is an 11-year-old mare who came from top Swedish rider Henrik Von Eckermann in the spring.
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Jennifer is passionate at showjumping and her role as H&H’s showjumping editor has taken her around the world reporting from shows and interviewing riders, connections and those involved behind the scenes. Since joining H&H from BBC Sport in 2005, she has written on every subject across the equestrian sphere — from turnout rugs to stable management — and has interviewed gold medallists, world champions and winners galore. She also has first-hand experience of working in the equestrian industry as a riding instructor and yard manager.
