In good spirits
Eventing legend Mary King is recovering at home after a nasty fall. The 61-year-old multiple medal-winning rider was riding a young horse at home when wind caught the arena gate, which caught the horse’s quarters. She was found to have fractured vertebrae, ribs and a shoulder blade, but daughter Emily King said she is “100% in herself and is already looking at the event calendar and threatening to pick up her tennis racket (!!)”
“Times like these remind us how precious life is”
Cross-Channel issues
In his H&H column, former top showjumper Graham Fletcher speaks out on the equine health and welfare risks caused by red tape at customs since Britain left the EU. “Brexit hasn’t brought about delays for people crossing borders,” he says. “And, just like human passengers, our horses still have the same passports as they’ve had for years. So why should they be made to suffer, risking colic and dehydration by being held up at customs? And, yes, I’ve heard of quite a few cases. I’d like to see the pen-pusher who sold us down the river sit in a hot tin box in a four-to-eight-hour queue every time he wanted to travel to Europe.”
Find out what Graham thinks those who are concerned should do
A pregnant, one-eyed pocket-rocket showjumper
Michael Duffy made a winning start at Hickstead, taking the grade C championship on his girlfriend Amy Inglis’s ride Luidam’s Flame.The eight-year-old chestnut mare is 15hh, blind in one eye and has just been scanned in foal to Freestyle. “She’s Amy’s ride normally, I’m just the owner,” Michael said. “Amy jumped the under-25s at Olympia with her and she’s taking her to Bolesworth next week.”
“I was just short of a horse so I pinched her for the weekend”
You might also be interested in:
Graham Fletcher: ‘Competition horses are still facing horrendous delays waiting for paperwork checks at customs’
‘Her spirits are unbroken’: Mary King sustains fractured vertebrae, ribs and shoulder blade in fall
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