Top rider back on board
British five-star event rider Bubby Upton is back in the saddle following spinal surgery. The seven-time under-21 medallist was injured in an accident riding on the flat in August, which led to a complete burst fracture of vertebra L3 and a horizontal fracture of L2. She had six hours of surgery to stabilise the spine, decompress the vertebrae and fuse L3. “I never needed confirmation of the love I have for what I do, but when it’s temporarily taken away from you and for a time you don’t know if you’ll ever get to experience it again, it definitely made me miss it and love it more than I thought was ever possible,” said the 24-year-old.
New dressage tests for 2024
In this week’s exclusive H&H column, rider Anna Ross welcomes news of new dressage tests, which are set to be introduced in July 2024. “I’m looking forward to these, as some of the current tests were in use at the start of my career,” said Anna. “I’m pleased to hear some will have the paces mark co-efficient reduced as collective marks make no sense to me, equating to double counting, and were dropped by the FEI years ago. I’m also glad the number of tests is going to be capped at six per level – the system needed simplifying.”
Find out what else Anna had to say
Impact of fireworks
Redwings Horse Sanctuary has released video of its horses during Bonfire Night celebrations to show the distress fireworks can cause. The equine welfare charity shared the footage taken on 5 November, of frightened ponies galloping about, as it calls on people to contact their MPs to ask for a review of firework legislation. Three Redwings ponies have died in recent years as a result of fireworks’ being set off near the charity’s centres. Redwings chief executive Lynn Cutress said: “We are grateful to our neighbours who let us know about firework displays nearby but as you can see from this footage, which clearly shows the distress caused to our horses from firework displays, it isn’t enough.” She added that with many fireworks displays rearranged due to wet weather this year, the charity is “very concerned that the awful impact on animals is going to be prolonged”.
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