THE LAW’S AN ASS!
Rider told there’s no place in dressage for her mount... because he’s a mule
HE can trot elegantly, leap prettily over jumps and is as glossy and poised as any of his rivals.
But it doesn’t matter how magnificently Wallace The Great performs dressage, he won’t be allowed to compete... as he’s a mule.
Abandoned as a youngster and rescued by a donkey sanctuary, Wallace had a tough start to life.
But he has come on leaps and bounds since he was introduced to Christie Mclean who has discovered his talent for the most exacting of equestrian sports.
But although he shines at low-level dressage competitions, his chances of competing at a higher level have been thwarted.
The sport’s governing body insists only horses and ponies are allowed. And there’s nothing more stubborn than officialdom.
Miss Mclean, from Stroud, Gloucestershire, argues that because Wallace is 14 hands high, riding him is ‘exactly the same’ as riding a horse. She is calling for a change in the rules so he can compete.
‘He’s very sweet and laid-back, and he never brays when we’re out,’ she said. ‘He just looks like a nice New Forest pony – the only difference is his ears are pretty enormous.’
Wallace, now 11, was brought to England by a charity after he was found wandering around a village in Ireland. Residents used to feed him hay in a bus stop to prevent him eating all the flowers in their gardens.
His new owner Lesley Radcliffe, a friend of Miss Mclean, asked if she would try riding Wallace. ‘I thought it would be fun and a bit different, and we did a couple of tests and got high percentages,’ said Miss Mclean, a horse yard manager, who has been training him for a year.
Wallace scored 70 per cent in unaffiliated intro-level dressage tests. Miss Mclean then applied for British Dressage club membership for him to compete at official competitions.
‘They just said no, and I really want a valid reason why,’ she said. ‘I only wanted to compete at club level, which is just walking and trotting. It’s the very lowest level of British Dressage. I didn’t expect to be turned away so quickly.
‘I was told that other horses may not take to him being there – but I’ve never had a problem. Most other horses just second-look him and are fine.
‘He’s so intelligent it’s incredible. He’s got a sharper brain than my own competition horse.
‘It’s just a shame – he could turn out to be the most amazing little diva.’ British Dressage’s head of sport operations Di Harvey said she sympathised with Wallace’s situation.
‘But our rule book refers specifically to only horses and ponies within our affiliated competition criteria,’ she said.
‘We take our lead from the Federation Equestre Internationale which also doesn’t permit mules under its rules.’