A partially blind international eventer who touched countless hearts – and bucked off countless people – has been put down at the age of 23.
Tributes have poured in for Georgie Dalton’s (nee Davies) Orlando, known to his friends as Ginge, who won and was placed up to three-star (now four-star) level, and only missed out on Badminton as it was cancelled the year he was due to compete there.
Georgie told H&H the tiny Dutch-bred superstar had recently shown all the signs that his age was catching up with him, and that although vets could find nothing specifically wrong, all concerned agreed that it was “better a month early than a day late”.
“Everyone who knew him completely adored him,” Georgie said. “The number of people who have messaged me saying ‘Ginge was such a legend’; it’s lovely when you read things like that, so nice to know how loved he was, by so many. He touched so many people.”
Georgie was looking for a horse when Selina Elliott (now Milnes) competed Orlando at the 2007 Young Horse World Championships.
“She said she had one who was super duper; small but mighty, and that’s absolutely what he was,” she said. “We went to see him before he went to France and he set the bar so high, there was nothing out there that compared to him. We knew what he was and what we wanted, and that was that.”
Georgie said Ginge was officially 16hh but did not stand that tall.
“He had quite high withers, so you could have thought he was 15.2hh – but when you were on him, he certainly didn’t feel it!” she said.
“We all said good job he wasn’t any bigger; we all hit the deck a fair bit riding him. He did get marginally better behaved as he got older, but only marginally. Nick Burton part-owned him and he went to Nick’s to do a bit of dressage in the very early days; at the first few competitions I did, quite a few people who’d worked there came up and said ‘Is that him? He bucked me off’ Brilliant, thanks!
“He was famous for it – but never malicious. When he did get people off, he’d look at you as if to say ‘That wasn’t my intention, I was just having a bit of fun’! He just had some serious shapes.”
Georgie learned when the shapes were likely to be thrown, such as after his first clip. She also learned to ride her dressage in a jump saddle at the first few events of each season, “because I never felt quite secure in a dressage one!”
“Then once he settled, he was brilliant,” she said. “We always said he was the sharpest donkey ever, because when he wasn’t sharp, he was a real donkey, but when he was sharp, he really was. But so loveable.
“He was brilliant across country; he only had one speed and if you didn’t land with leg on, he’d pretty much land in trot, but he was the most honest horse ever.”
Orlando only had the sight in one eye for most of his higher-level career, but this never affected his performance.
“He knocked it in the stable and lost sight in it very early doors,” Georgie said. “He could only see on one side but it just didn’t matter to him. He was so straight and honest, if he saw a jump, he’d never run out. As long as he had time to see the fence, it wasn’t a problem.”
Georgie and Orlando finished third at Burnham Market and Hartpury three-stars (now four-star) and in the top 10 at Houghton, Saumur and Chatsworth at that level. He went on to win Waregem at the same level with Izzy Taylor, then went to Harry Meade.
“He was on the original list for the 2012 Olympics but I was injured, and actually the course at Greenwich wouldn’t have suited him,” Georgie said. “But he accumulated a lot of points. He was mega talented but never quite got his day; Badminton cancelled the year we were due to go. He wouldn’t have had the speed of some of them but he’d have done a good test and he was very reliable showjumping; it was an absolute pleasure with him.
“He went to Harry but was starting to slow down a bit by then, then he had some younger riders who he could show the ropes.”
These included Zoe Embury, whom he took from BE90 to the junior national championships, then to friends of Georgie’s with whom he competed in dressage.
“They adored him and he won everything with them,” Georgie said. “He was in his 20s and still showing everybody how it was done, but he was always going to end his days here.
“He was such a lovely boy; such a dude. My girls adored him; Florence said she could ride him as he was small and I said ‘No chance, unless you’re prepared to get bucked off’! He would still throw some shapes in the field.
“He was out in a field with a couple of Chewy’s [Georgie’s Badminton ride Fachoudette] grandchildren and he probably told them a few stories. He was part of the family and we knew we’d done the right thing by him.”
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