Army horse back from injury
A grey Household Cavalry horse who was seen galloping through London is back with his regiment after making a complete recovery. Vida was one of five horses who broke loose on routine exercise, after being spooked by a sudden noise from construction work. “We’ll so miss having him around, but we all wish him every success in the rest of his service career,” said Jeanette Allen, chief executive of The Horse Trust, where Vida spent time recuperating, as did the other injured horses, and enjoyed a summer holiday before returning to duty.
Farewell to a legend
Legendary pony eventer Noble Springbok, who won nine medals with three riders and launched Laura Collett’s career, has died aged 27. “Going to my first Europeans and winning team gold and individual bronze would be my favourite memory of him,” said Laura. “I went there not expecting anything and was very naive about the whole thing.” He also achieved success with Libby Solely and Grace Walker, retiring in 2014 and spending his twilight years with the Walker family.
Top rider steps back
Leading French event rider Maxime Livio is taking a temporary break from event riding to focus on other projects. Maxime, who won Pau CCI5* in 2016 with Qalao Des Mers and has many top placings at the level, will be “hanging up [his] boots” for a while at the end of the 2024 season. “The idea is to take a bit of distance from the intensity of life as a high-level rider and have some time to dedicate myself to many other projects that are currently happening at the stables, which we will talk about soon. And to ask myself questions about how I want to continue, if I even want to continue,” he said.
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