All-round horsewoman Nicky Hanbury’s journey from the hunting field to the showjumping ring hit a new level when she finished first and fifth in the Hyde Park Stables CSI2* 1.15m on her London Longines Global Champions Tour debut.
Nicky switched disciplines three years ago with her home-bred hunters Two To Tango and Park Polo, who she says have “always had to be careful jumpers as I cut a dash hopping gates as field master of the Quorn!”
She set an early lead in this table A class on seven-year-old Tango, only for three riders to bump her down the rankings. But she snatched back her advantage jumping from final draw on Tango’s half brother, 12-year-old Park Polo, to beat Ireland’s Aisling Byrne to the win with 0.88sec to spare.
“Tango was born with his neck bent backwards and he later developed arthritis, he throws the most amazing jump and never touches a pole but he’s not so quick at turning, as he’s a bit like riding a plank. He has shockwave, injections, a massage rug, a heat rug and physio once a week and he’s worth it!” Nicky said.
“Polo is out of the same dam but he is very different, he’s like riding a pony, and I knew I could do really tight turns on him.”
‘I wanted a real jumping machine’
Both horses were out of a mare Nicky bought for her husband, who was a field master of the Quorn for 35 years, after he broke his neck on the hunting field.
“I wanted a real jumping machine to make sure he was safe and I found her,” Nicky said. “She was only 15.3hh and he’s 6’3” but he field mastered off her for three years.
“Malcolm Pyrah, who I rode for 20 years ago, said to me one day that he had some semen from Talan I could have if I had a mare who was good enough, which she was as she was a grade A by Quidam. I had to say to my husband that I was taking the mare back!
“These two are what I bred [Tango is by Esteban]. I am a very lucky girl, I love them, they are like my children!”
‘Di Lampard has made a tweak here and there’
Nicky’s transition to the show jumping arena has been made smoother as she’s had some “very good guidance” over the years from both Malcolm and her close neighbour, British team manager Di Lampard.
“I’ve known her all my life and she’s helped me with a tweak here and there,” she said. “I’ve had a message from both of them since winning!”
This year Nicky made her British team debut when she took Tango to Italy as part of the veteran European squad, returning home with a team silver medal.
“We were jumping in 40 degrees and he got heatstroke and I had Covid, although I didn’t know it at the time, we had two down in the final round which was uncharacteristic,” she said.
“He came back quite poorly and it’s taken six weeks to recover, although he’s back on fire now, he nearly smacked me off in the collecting ring!”
Fifty-six-year-old Nicky decided to make the trip from Leicestershire to London for the LGCT on the recommendation of Judy Pyrah.
“She said it’s got your name written all over it, have some fun,” she said. “It’s very beautiful here and a bit surreal!”
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