The owner of a cob who was bred “by mistake” and is now excelling at prix st georges (PSG) dressage, on the hunting field and team-chasing has paid tribute to his ultimate all-round ability.
Sarah Vousden is succeeding with two “exceptionally versatile” horses; 12-year-old Harley, a cob with no recorded breeding, and 15-year-old pure Connemara George, who also competes at PSG and inter I level dressage.
Sarah told H&H she lost her cob Medwyn this week aged 29.
“It all started with him,” she said. “I’ve had horses most of my life, tried eventing in my early 20s and ended up over-horsed, and I got Meddie on load to get my confidence back. I bought him 18 months later and owned him for 21 years.”
Sarah showjumped Meddie to 1.10m, but as he was “14.3hh on a good day”, the distances proved an issue, so she turned to dressage.
“Having been an eventer, dressage wasn’t my thing!” she said. “But we started doing quite well at unaffiliated, and that started my love of dressage. He hunted too and was a proper all-rounder, and I realised I loved natives, and the variety. But he got me into dressage.”
Sarah and Meddie competed up to elementary, then she bought Harley as a five-year-old.
“His breeding’s unknown; the lady I bought him from, who’s a friend, got him at six months old, he was a mistake in the field,” she said. “She got him to keep her youngsters company but later backed him, and she said ‘I’ve got a cob who would be perfect for you’. He was going to be my hunting cob but because of Meddie, I started schooling him and we’ve just kept going.”
Sarah had already bought George, as a just-backed four-year-old who had his very challenging moments, but he has also turned out to be versatile, she said, and what she learned from him and Meddie has helped Harley’s progress.
Sarah and Harley did their first team chase last spring – “I was going to sit at three or four but the others were a bit sticky so we ended up leading for half the course!” – and she is a Bicester subscriber. “He loves a hedge,” she said.
They also do beach rides, as well as recently coming fourth at advanced medium level dressage, and 10th in the PSG Addington Area Festival qualifier.
“He adores his hunting and I’m very pleased we do dressage as I think that gives me the control I might not have otherwise!” she said. “I think he enjoys dressage too; he just loves life and whatever he’s doing, he’s got his ears pricked. He always wants to do his best for you and he loves a crowd.
“I love country music so my PSG freestyle music with him is a country mix including Take me Home, Country Roads, and when we did a demo to that, the crowd was clapping and laughing, and he loved it.”
Sarah said Harley is an advocate for “being the underdog and doing it anyway”.
“We don’t have a medium trot, and I think some people get stuck at novice for that reason but I’ve got to PSG without it, it’s only one movement,” she said. “I just go to get a qualifying score and a point or two, and if I do, I’m thrilled.”
Sarah believes the word is spreading about how much cobs are capable of and how versatile they are.
“But at PSG you don’t see many cobs in the classes,” she said. “I think people are concerned about competing against warmbloods, but don’t worry about what they’re doing, just try to better your last score, or improve that movement. I had to change my mindset, or I was constantly comparing myself to the big-moving warmbloods, which you can’t do. To me, he’s worth his weight in gold.”
George was the first horse Sarah competed at PSG; she said she became despondent having scored 63% on him at novice but trainer Tom Graham encouraged her to try the higher moves, so she moved up, and is now scoring the same at PSG level.
“We found he could do the movements, and 63% at PSG is something to be proud of!” she said. “I’m so proud of producing these types of horses to this level; they’re my life.”
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