InFocus

Your love of horses and all that is associated with owning them often means the necessary involvement of many people, including vets, dentists, physios, breeders, trainers, coaches, close friends, owners, and not least of all, a groom or two or three or four.  While lots of people are inherently involved in keeping your yard running smoothly, perhaps none are as close or more privy to private information as a groom can be.  How then, when a groom is so very important and so very close can professional and personal boundaries be kept intact and secrets be guarded?  Is it possible to have a situation whereby when a groom leaves your employ they....

When I received a message from Cherie Robinson, the breeder of James Arkin’s, fabulous, Rosthwaite Vigilante II, (aka Robbie) I had not prior to this moment given the horse’s breeder a thought.  I am vitally interested in and keenly following the starry successes of James and Robbie.  I smile at the idea of Vaughn Jefferis, once again having that innate talent and instinctive intuition that can never be taught, to spot the potential in a young horse and quietly keep an eye on it, for several years in this case, with one of his pupils in mind.  But I did not give a thought to the breeder. 

As chance would have it there were mistakes in a....

After reading a recent intriguing article on ‘Changing the name of Eventing’, it prompted some thoughts of my own, as articles should I guess. It got me thinking about the meaning of eventing and what we, as the eventing fraternity, have built it up to be. Eventing first began in France 1902, with it becoming an Olympic sport somewhat later in 1912. Originally known as ‘Combined Training’, the aim was to test the Cavalry Officers’ ‘chargers’ (horses) fitness and stability levels. The dressage phase was designed to demonstrate the horses’ ability to perform, exhibiting a level of elegance. Cross-Country, as we now know it as, tested the....

As professional athletes in the world of equestrian we must push ourselves in short bursts, look back and acknowledge how far we have come, whilst challenging ourselves to take those extra steps. It’s about exceeding what we think are our limits but through both physical and mental strength, we prove otherwise. If we didn’t push our horses, and ourselves, we’d never get anywhere. Pippa Funnell would never have won the Rolex Grand Slam, John Whitaker would never have won 14 team medals and Michelle Payne would never have been the first female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup. Exceeding limits is a must in order to succeed.

Climbing 2518m above sea level seemed....

It was third time lucky for ULTRA•MOX World Cup Qualifier winner Tash Brooks and her horse Kapattack today at the Central and Southern Hawke’s Bay Showjumping and Show Hunter Championships in Dannevirke. In their third start in the prestigious league, 21-year-old Brooks was just happy for a clear round and hadn’t even realised that would give her the win until it came over the loud speaker. Nine started the class, with four on four faults after the opening round of the Roger Laplanche designed course. Brooks, Katie Laurie (Mystery Creek) on Dunstan Breeze, Olivia Robertson (Christchurch) aboard Ngahiwi Cisco and Sam Morrison (Tauranga) on Biarritz.

We all have that one horse who we think is one-of-a-kind…but Toddy is a horse who really takes this to the extreme. Out of Ireland by unknown parentage and standing at only 15.1hh his appearance strikes more as an over-sized chubby long backed pony, rather than the sports horse he was bought to be. I guess we should have seen the warning signs that this horse wasn’t quite right when we originally had him vetted, and the vet quipped that “this isn’t a horse - it’s a dachshund!” Although visibly shocked and upset at the time by the vet’s harsh words – this horse after all was going to be my newfound Olympic hopeful - hindsight might suggest....

Katie Laurie and Dunstan Breeze are on a roll, taking their second consecutive Ultra•Mox FEI World Cup class, this time at the Fiber Fresh Taupo Christmas Classic. The 10-year-old bay mare just edged out Helen McNaught-McFarlane (Taupo) and Carnutelabryere by .34 of a second in the 12-strong class. New Zealand’s two top female riders were neck and neck, both with double clear rounds and very close in their times. Laurie also placed third on Dunstan On The Point Eve after picking up a single time fault in each round to finish on two faults in their first-ever World Cup start. Laurie had plenty of praise for the opposition, as well as her horses.

Just as certain breeds of horse often fall under negative stereotypes - the most common being the ‘crazy’ Thoroughbred – so too do orphan foals. Typically, these motherless creatures are assumed to be rude, ill-mannered and pushy. Furthermore, it is commonly believed that their growth is stunted and they will therefore not reach a desirable height. While these stereotypes certainly do exist for a reason, as is usually the case, there are exceptions. Not all orphan foals are disrespectful and hard to handle, and nor do they all suffer from stunted growth. If reared correctly, these precious young animals can be just as well-behaved and physically developed as their....