{"piano":{"sandbox":"false","aid":"u28R38WdMo","rid":"R7EKS5F","offerId":"OF3HQTHR122A","offerTemplateId":"OTQ347EHGCHM"}}
Trending:

Nurse’s 20-hour round trip pays off with super Hickstead win

Eleanor Jones Eleanor Jones

    • Nurse Gillian Anderson made her week off work –and her 10-hour drive from Scotland – worth every minute as she took the Hickstead RIHS amateur championship at the Agria Royal International Horse Show.

    Gillian and Linda Anderson’s JJ’s Prince Chaccomo triumphed by half a second over Arysha Kanda and Creeveroe Cody in the two-phase competition, for Gillian’s first win in the International Arena.

    Gillian said the 14-year-old Scottish-bred gelding, whom she has had since he was four, had jumped at 1.30m but had lost some confidence so she dropped him down.

    “I gave him some time off, did some working hunters, and this is him having a good life and enjoying himself,” she said. “Nothing happened, I think he just didn’t want to do it as much for a bit but he’s feeling good now.”

    “He’s the character at the stables,” she added. “He’s been there since he was four so he knows he’s the boss; he runs the place!”

    The pair jumped a beautiful smooth round for the win.

    “He lit up a bit with the atmosphere,” Gillian said. “I didn’t expect him to come back so confident but he’s obviously feeling great.”

    Gillian added that she had taken a week’s annual leave from her nursing job to make the 10-hour drive to West Sussex.

    “This will make the journey back much better!” she said.

    You might also be interested in:

    Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the Paris Olympics, Royal International, Burghley and more with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

    Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the Paris Games, Burghley, HOYS and more with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

    Eleanor Jones
    Eleanor Jones

    H&H news editor
    Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.
    Eleanor Jones

    You may like...