The death of a talented young stallion, and other things the horse world is talking about

1. Cupid March

Yesterday (9 March) top eventer Piggy March announced that five-year-old stallion Cupid March had died from colic. The homebred won the four-year-old class at the Burghley Young Event Horse final last year, and this year he was standing at Piggy and her husband Tom’s March Stud. “It’s a devastating blow for Thomas and I, all the team here at Maidwell, and his owners Jane March, Susannah Paybody and Susie Wood. We’d all placed so much hope on his shoulders for the future and it’s incredibly hard for all those dreams to be snatched away so quickly,” said Piggy.

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2. An “exemplary” response

A rider who reported a lorry driver for his unsafe passing of her horse on the road has praised company Carrs Billington for its response after the incident. Jane was riding her 18hh Irish draught Percival when the lorry came round the corner, without slowing and “just drove off”. Jane has been told the company has taken extensive measures to prevent anything similar happening again. All its drivers have been issued with the 2022 changes to the Highway Code regarding passing horses, mandatory online training has been created, and a registered course on vulnerable road users will be included in drivers’ annual CPC training. “It was incredibly proactive of them – a truly outstanding example. I’m going to reply to thank him as he deserved recognition, this was absolutely exemplary,” said Jane.

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3. A chip off the old blocks

The Breens are no strangers in the showjumping world, and 13-year-old Darcy hopes to follow in her father Shane and mother Chloe’s footsteps by winning a major class in the coveted Hickstead main arena. Darcy picked up her first ticket for the Royal International Horse Show when she won the winter JC/JD qualifiers at Arena UK on 4 March with eight-year-old mare Pixie. “Because both my parents have won there, I’d really like to win as well; it would be fun to keep it going,” she said. Dary has had the ride on Pixie for two months, and her next major outing will be at Sentower Park in Belgium at the end of the month.

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