A baby on the way
Multiple medal-winning dressage rider Charlotte Dujardin has announced that she is expecting her first child, a girl, with her partner Dean Golding. “A new chapter in our journey will begin; one that we have always hoped for, and we cannot wait to welcome our little girl into the world,” Charlotte said. “I just hope she already knows, how much she has been wished for and how much love awaits her, from ourselves and our excited families.”
Read more about Charlotte and Dean’s announcement
Precious days
A rider who is living with terminal cancer, and who has qualified for the Petplan Equine Summer Area Festival Championships, said the condition “will not stop me doing what I want to do, while I still can”. Louise Lea and her own Fanucci finished second in the advanced medium at Field House Equestrian Centre on 16 August. Louise had recently been told her remaining treatment options are “limited”. “You can’t waste those precious days,” she said. “I did cry last week when they told me there wasn’t a lot they could do but I’m going on. It can’t be ‘Woe is me’, it has to be get off your arse and go and do something.”
The end of an era
Emotions ran high as the iconic East of England showground hosted Equifest 2022 last week (17 to 20 August), the final equestrian event to be held at the Peterborough venue. The gates have now closed for good to make way for a new housing development. Memories flooded back last week, taking in the glory days of the ground-breaking Ponies of Britain, Ponies (UK) and British Show Pony Society (BSPS) championships held here, as well as the once-mighty East of England show – for many years one of the premier events in the country, which moved to this permanent site in the mid-1960s.
“It’s been a sad and emotional day”
You might also be interested in:
‘I won’t let this cancer stop me doing what I do’: rider with terminal diagnosis qualifies for national championship
‘A new chapter in our journey will begin’: Charlotte Dujardin announces pregnancy
‘The end of an era’: tearful farewell at final event as showground goes for housing
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