Eventing Life
A veteran horse secures his rider use of a car for a year with a win in an accumulator, the under-18 programme chair wins a spot on the BE board and a former young rider team gold medallist ties the knot in Utah
Rider secures car for a year, while another gets hitched in Utah and much more
A 24-YEAR-OLD riding an 18-year-old horse fought off top professional riders to take the SsangYong Musso Accumulator and win the use of a car for a year.
The series ran across the three events organised by Jenny Nolan and her son Tim — the two South of England fixtures and Eridge — with points for partnerships’ placings in the open intermediate (OI), advanced intermediate (AI) and CIC2* classes, plus bonus points for doing multiple events.
Winner Georgie Wood had not intended to run at South of England (1). Because of Sjapo Le Sursaut’s age, she wanted to target events she hadn’t done previously with “Coco” this year. But after the horse came out of Belton on top form, his owner, Georgie’s aunt
Liz Maybury, told her niece to
“go for it”.
After second in the AI there and third in the OI at Eridge, Georgie started “playing silly games” watching the entries for the final South of England fixture and trying to work out in which class she could gain most points.
“I knew I couldn’t compete directly with the likes of Pippa Funnell doing a 20 dressage, but my horse is quick across country. I ended up doing the OI as there were fewer in it,” she said.
Georgie’s plan came off when 10th was enough to secure the use of a Musso pick-up for a year, from event title sponsor SsangYong Motor UK. Pippa Funnell was second, with Chris Burton third.
Georgie finished a geography degree last year and has been eventing full-time since, alongside teaching. She described “Coco” as her “horse of a lifetime”. She took the ride five years ago after Liz decided she wanted to own a horse for her niece to ride.
“We had seen Coco three years before at a showjumping show, where his owner admired my pony and said her horse would be a perfect junior mount in three years’ time,” explained Georgie.
After unsuccessful horsehunting, the rider remembered the conversation, tracked down Georgina Gray and asked if she would consider selling Coco — the answer initially was no, but she rang back the next day with a change of heart.
Georgie attributes Coco’s longevity to help from her mother, equine chiropractor Gill Maybury, a forage diet from Simple System Ltd and using a water treadmill once a week.