Fans of Olympic gold medal-winning showjumper Big Star could be in for a treat if visiting Royal Windsor Horse Show next week (14-18 May).
Nick Skelton’s 11-year-old has been largely sidelined since sustaining a suspensory injury last August. But his entry at Windsor signals his first steps back on the road to the FEI Alltech World Equestrian Games (WEG).
The injury curtailed a fantastic campaign last summer, when the pair had notched a hat-trick of big wins — the CSIO Rome grand prix, CHIO Aachen grand prix and the FEI Nations Cup in Dublin. Since then he has been limited to a few minor classes in the US.
“I took Big Star to Florida for the winter to recuperate and jumped some small classes,” said Nick. “I’m hopefully trying to get him ready for WEG.”
Nick is aiming to take Big Star to the Hamburg Global Champions Tour at the end of the month and feels Windsor would be “good preparation”.
“I will only bring him if he is 100% fit,” he said. “I’m looking forward to getting back in action with him — the past 9 months have been a bit quiet.”
10 nations have entered for the international showjumping — including the £53,000 CSI3* Kings Cup (17 May) and the £35,000 CSI3* Alltech Grand Prix for the Kingdom of Bahrain Trophy (18 May) — including 7 of the top-10 UK riders.
In addition, fans have a chance to watch dressage world number 1 Charlotte Dujardin in the CDI3* FEI dressage evening performances on 15 and 16 May.
For more information visit: www.rwhs.co.uk