When Adventure De Kannan won last year’s Hickstead Derby with Trevor Breen, the one-eyed champion soared to fame.
To celebrate their achievement, a series of unique photos have been released of the pair ahead of next month’s Derby meeting (25-28 June 2015), where they will be aiming to reclaim the title.
The All England Jumping Course at Hickstead commissioned equine photographer Matthew Seed to create the series of Trevor and ‘Addy’, and the image voted the most popular by Hickstead’s social media fans will be displayed at this year’s show before being auctioned to raise funds for the Mark Davies Injured Riders’ Fund.
“Winning the Hickstead Derby is a phenomenal achievement for any horse and especially so for ‘Addy’, considering he only has one eye,” says Cheshire-based photographer Matthew Seed. “I was delighted to be approached by the Hickstead team and asked to produce these images to commemorate Trevor and Addy’s achievements.”
Matthew spent the day at the Buckinghamshire yard Trevor shares with his wife Caroline, also a showjumper.
“We had a fantastic day with Trevor and his family, and I think the resulting photos really capture the amazing bond between Trevor and his horse. I’ve worked with lots of horses but Addy was one of the easiest equine models — he was endlessly patient and stood beautifully throughout.
As well as winning Hickstead’s most famous class, the Derby, Trevor and Addy have won nearly every major class at the showground, including the Speed Derby, the Elizabeth II Cup, the All England Grand Prix and the Eventing Grand Prix.
And on top of his success at Hickstead, Addy — who returned to top level competition after an operation to remove his right eye in 2013 — has won numerous international grands prix and represented Ireland on Nations Cup showjumping teams.
“Trevor and Addy have an incredible record at Hickstead — no other horse has won such an array of major titles at our shows,” says Lizzie Bunn, Hickstead director.
“We wanted to mark his achievements in some way, so we approached Matthew Seed about creating this very special photoshoot. We think the resulting images are truly spectacular, with each photograph forming a work of art. We are very much looking forward to seeing which of the final seven images is selected to be displayed and auctioned at this year’s Derby meeting.”
