With husband-and-wife dressage duo Richard and Gill Davison both riding at the top level and their sons competing in showjumping, Horse & Hound looks around the family’s multi-discipline yard in Staffordshire
Don't miss the full feature about Richard and Gill Davison's yard in today's issue of Horse & Hound magazine (20 July 2017)
A former dairy farm dating back to 1790, the beautiful red-brick buildings ooze character and charm and have been lovingly and thoughtfully restored into the equestrian jewel the property is today
Richard Davison and Gill Davison riding Alfresco at Richard and Gill's stables in the village of Combridge near Uttoxeter in the county of Staffordshire in the UK on 3rd July 2017
Richard and Gill took on the farm 32 years ago after buying it from “a farmer who had put in some stables and a grass gallops to train his racehorses, but not much else”
A private set up: the yard is set up purely for the use of the Davisons — there are no liveries, and Richard only mentors a select few riders
Richard and Gill with their two sons: Joe produces and competes showjumpers from the yard and lives in an apartment on site, whereas older son Tom spends his time between the USA and Europe doing a mixture of riding, training and producing showjumpers
Keeping an open mind: both Gill and Richard evented back in the day, so their equestrian experience isn’t simply limited to inside the white boards
The flashy indoor school: aside from the mirrors, light-flooded windows, and an indoor sound system, there is also a cosy viewing room with ornate gas fire, kitchenette, dining table and lounge incorporated into the building
Richard jumps Elgento in the outdoor school. “We deliberately had different surfaces put down in the indoor and outdoor arenas,” explains Richard. “The indoor has a waxed Martin Collins surface to keep the dust levels down, whereas the outdoor has an Andrews Bowen surface that is only lightly waxed to allow the jumper’s hooves to slide after landing from a fence"
Richard and his exciting 11-year-old grand prix gelding Bubblingh
Richard Davison and Bubblingh at Richard and Gill's stables in the village of Combridge near Uttoxeter in the county of Staffordshire in the UK on 3rd July 2017
Tom aboard Boris: "There are advantages and disadvantages of children following in their parents’ footsteps," says Richard. "I think it’s about finding your cog in the wheel and they’ve done that”
Another passion: the paddocks are co-grazed by Richard’s sheep, which roam freely
Plaques and medals from various championships and Olympics are suspended from the viewing gallery walls that overlook the indoor arena
No shortcuts: the family employs two full-time and two part-time grooms, a travelling groom and their secretary Christine Dyche to keep the show on the road
An idyllic setting: the farm is set in around 20 acres, some of which is sectioned off into individual paddocks that the horses are turned out into every day throughout the year
Bubblingh in the pristine but practical stables, where you won't find a single haynet. “Feeding from the floor represents the natural grazing position, stretches their back and lifts their core," says Gill
Richard and Joe go through the horses' schedule with Christine Dyche in the stable office
Aside from the original stable block opposite the farmhouse, an adjacent barn houses the lorries, feed room and a saltwater ECB equine spa
