The latest edition of our occasional “Lucinda rides…” magazine series saw six-time Badminton winner Lucinda Green visit Carol Bardo’s yard near Maidenhead to ride HOYS supreme horse of the year Comberton Clancy.
See how Lucinda got on in our exclusive video, and pick up a copy of the magazine (24 November 2011) for more of Lucinda’s fascinating insights into riding this “happy, balanced champion”.
View more pictures of Lucinda Green riding Comberton Clancy
Read about Lucinda’s ride:
“I’m at Jayne Webber’s with a lovely horse called Comberton Clancy, who’s just won the supreme horse of the year show and he’s a riding horse and I don’t really know what a riding horse is so I’ve learnt a lot this morning.
“I don’t think you could have much better conformation if you tried, it’s very hard to fault.
“I believe he got 20 out of 20 in the working show horse class which is a fairly new class where hacks and cobs and riding horses all jump and get judged accordingly and he got 20 out of 20 for his conformation and I can quite see why.
“He’s really, really is as perfect as they need to be has got a perfect amount of white – a couple of white socks and a little bit on his head.
[Speaking to Jayne Webber] “What makes you make the decision to say he is a riding hose and not a light-weight hunter?”
Jayne Webber: “It’s right really, he would be very quality but he is got the limb to be a light-weight hunter but he moves so well that he probably actually would out do them all and look almost too much of a showman, there would possibly be some of the old-school that would think he wasn’t quite workman-like enough.
“It’s a difficult thing but it’s trying to place your horse in the right division.”
Lucinda: “It’s an interesting ride because he rides beautifully balanced and obviously as you’d expect – extremely well-trained.
“I thought I’d do a flying change and he said, ‘no I’m not trained to do that’, so we stayed in counter canter so that made me laugh.
“He’s very good behind and a little bit more like a show pony in front, a little bit more flicky. That’s how he felt until you asked for a little bit of lengthening and then you started to feel things would move.
“I got on him and I got on Silverstream, the heavy weight champion and my admiration of Jayne knows no bounds.
“I can feel how it would take me a long time to get them to go as beautifully with one hand as she gets them in a main arena and I probably never would manage.
“She has got an incredible skill to settle a horse and make him feel happy in his skin.
“She’s really talented and also very relaxed. I got on him and the stirrups were about three holes unlevel and I said well either you need a chiropractor or I do.
“She said I expect it’s me but I don’t really worry just get on and put my feet in whatever stirrups are there.
“I thought what a lovely relaxed attitude to someone who is used to doing things so perfectly and I bet, much the same as why Richard Hannon’s racehorses run so well for him, I bet that’s one of the secrets of her success – that she has got a great ability to be relaxed even though I’m sure there are many times when she is worried and wanting to get everything perfect and she can go into that main arena and just feel that relaxation because this horse could be sharp.
“We haf a little jump and he was quite fun and quite pleased to do that and quite sure how to do that actually but you could see he would easily get wired.
“I’m full of admiration for her and her wonderful owners Carol and Jackie.”
