Dressage rider Richard Davison tells H&H about his camera-loving Olympic contender.
Fact file
Stable name: Foto
Age: 13
Height: 16.2hh
Breed & sex: Westphalian gelding
Sire: Florestan
Dam: Delphine (by Delphi)
Discipline: dressage
Owners: the Countess of Derby & John Dodd
Rider: Richard Davison
Groom: Jenny Ellis
Best result: Has scored personal bests in all three grand prix phases this year including scoring 74.4% in the grand prix at Munich CDI***** in May
Four things you didn’t know…
1 His stable name is Foto – the German spelling of photo – because he likes having his picture taken.
2 He whinnies whenever anyone walks towards him, then nips them if they go past without stopping to talk to him.
3 His best friend is a sheep. It is untamed and part of Richard’s commercial flock. No one else can get near it, but as soon as Foto is turned out, the sheep ducks underneath the fencing and the pair graze happily together.
4 Every time he was schooled in Richard’s indoor arena, he used to stop and admire himself in the mirror. Richard found this amusing until the day of their first show, when the horse stopped dead at the sight of his reflection in the window of the judge’s box. He has now broken the habit, but still gazes at himself in windows while out hacking.
To read the full interview with Richard Davison about Hiscox Artemis see the 12 July issue of H&H
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