A Badminton supercob, a barefoot and bitless five-star winner and other things the horse world is talking about

1. Barefoot and bitless mare’s five-star win

Royal Windsor Horse Show debutant Victor Bettendorf of Luxembourg blitzed the opening CSI5* jumping class from a late draw with his barefoot and bitless mare Big Star Des Forets, who lives out in a herd at home.

The 33-year-old rider has been hoping to jump at this show for several years and after a successful 2022, where he won 54 international classes, leaving him currently 28^th in the Longines world rankings, he was able to make his first appearance.

Find out more about this great partnership

2. Mikey the Badminton supercob

Mikey, the 14.2hh 20-year-old supercob, has gained admirers and exceeded expectations by jumping clear round Badminton. Star X, as he is known for British Eventing (BE), and his owner Morven Ritchie travelled for nine hours from their home in north Ayrshire, Scotland, to compete in the Voltaire Design Grassroots Championships – and it was worth every minute.

All about Mikey’s journey

3. ‘Most expensive horse ever sold’ at young horse auction who won on 5* debut

The much-admired nine-year-old Viper Z took an impressive win for Martin Fuchs [SUI] on his CSI5* debut, topping a thrilling 11-strong jump off in Royal Windsor’s Defender challenge stakes.

The Vigo D’Arsouilles x Grannus gelding, who is owned by Luigi Baleri, was bought in September 2021, and was the most expensive horse ever sold at the Dutch Sport Horse sales. The hammer went down at €750,000, smashing the sale’s previous record of €450,000.

Read the full story

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Sarah Jenkins

H&H editor-in-chief

Sarah has more than 20 years experience as an equestrian journalist and editor. She has reported from major championships including the Europeans and the World Equestrian Games. She has co-written books on equestrianism including The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of Horses & Ponies. Sarah has ridden since childhood, owned horses and ponies for over 25 years, and worked for and trained with Olympic gold medallist event rider Leslie Law prior to going to university.