Musical horse at Addington showjumping show

Commentator Matt Millin and his fiancée Amanda O’Neill were awoken in the early hours of the show’s final day by a rather unusual commotion.

Normally, a 3am alarm call at a show would be the result of partygoers staggering back through the horsebox park, but not this time.

“Someone started ringing bells outside our lorry,” said Matt. “But when we went out to take a look, there was nobody there.”

Matt and Amanda investigated further and went into the stables to try to locate the source of the noise, but were not expecting what they found.

Denter, the winner of the PCA qualifier two nights earlier, was swinging a lead rope round and bashing the metal clasp against the bars of his stable. This made a sound that could easily have been made by the Addington campanology team.

Apparently, this is completely normal for Denter, who will use anything available in his stable for midnight jamming sessions.

The full report from Addington will be in next week’s Horse & Hound (7 April, 2011)