1. Social media groups being a force for good
A Facebook group that started as a way to share laughter over equestrian fails has become a force for good, in more ways than one, despite the original group being deleted. S**tEventersUnite was set up in 2019 by Cressida Kitchin-Townshend for people to “share their crapness without judgement”. It is not to everyone’s taste – what is? But the group encourages niceness, bans unkindness, and is now raising money for charity – including creating a 2022 fails calendar, with unfortunate mishaps like the below image by Mane Memories Photography, to raise money for World Horse Welfare. That’s a lot to like.
2. Little Tiger’s ET offspring going so well
In 2008, the hugely popular five-star event horse Little Tiger won the best mare award at Burghley, and her prize was to have embryo transfer (ET) at Twemlows. One of those ET foals, Mr Fahrenheit, has gone on to make his CCI5* debut at Pau Horse Trials with Simon Grieve last month. Simon said: “I was grooming for Phoebe when she won the best mare prize with Little Tiger at Burghley, so it’s really wonderful that I was involved in that, and then he’s the horse that I’ve managed to carry on to five-star with.” Mr Fahrenheit belongs to Polly Taylor, who also owned Little Tiger. What a lovely success story.
3. The unusual background of this Cheltenham contender
The Dan Skelton-trained Nube Negra is a far-from-average contender for one of the 2022 Cheltenham Festival’s flagship races, the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase. Nube Negra was bred in Spain by six-times Olympian Luis Alvarez Cervera, who represented his country in both showjumping and eventing. The colt raced seven times on the Flat in Madrid, being placed three times. Luis rang Dan’s father, showjumper Nick Skelton, and said “I watch the racing from England every day and I love watching Dan and Harry — I have a horse which is quite good on the Flat in Spain, but he’s a big horse and he jumps well so I think he’ll make a jumper”. And here he is, gearing up for Cheltenham as one to watch.
You may also want to read…
‘Thoroughbreds are 1,000 times easier than warmbloods!’: trainer Dan Skelton on the merits of rehoming ex-racehorses as we celebrate National Racehorse Week
Embryo transfer in horses: how it works and what it costs
‘Sh*t’ riders take social media by storm
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