The Billy Stud’s stable jockey Daniel Moseley has left the Surrey yard to set up on his own.
The 23-year-old showjumper, who has been based with William and Pippa Funnell for the past four years, is now renting Norwegian former showjumper Morten Aasen’s Brookhurst Farm in West Sussex.
He made the move to his new base on 11 January.
“I’ve had a good four years with William, but now is the right time [to leave],” said Daniel, who in 2011 became the first male rider to win the prestigious Queen Elizabeth II Cup at the Royal International Horse Show at Hickstead.
“I learnt a lot with William — about the business and riding — that I wouldn’t have done otherwise at my age.”
The rider is now on the look out for horses to fill his yard.
“I’m looking to try to build my own team and move on in my career,” said Daniel.
“My aim is to ride at the highest level, but I appreciate that this year will be a building block and that I’ll probably have to take a step back in order to go forward.
“It feels a bit nerve-racking, going out on your own, but it was a step I had to make at some point.
“Obviously, William would have liked me to stay, but he was in my situation once and is giving me his full support.”
William added: “It’s a great opportunity for Dan to build on his own and get his own owners — he’s well known as a rider now and should be more than capable. We’ve sold a lot of our older horses recently and running two strings of international horses is financially prohibitive.”
Two current Billy Stud riders, Lucy Bunn and 16-year-old former pony rider Zac Beasley, will be competing the young Billy horses, said William.
This news story was first published in the current issue of H&H (17 January 2013)
