Concerns over safety of arena mirrors, storm devastation, and other things the horse world is talking about
1. Arena mirrors safety standards
The owners of a promising young horse who almost severed a leg when he kicked out at an arena mirror have called for better safety standards to prevent a similar accident. Becky Bowman’s five-year-old gelding Tomato had to be put down owing to his injuries. Becky was walking Tomato across her arena to turn him out when he went down to roll. As he got up, a pigeon spooked him and he got free, and kicked out at the mirror as Becky ran to close the gate. “I heard it, it was like a gun going off,” she said. “As I turned round, he was trotting across the school with his foot hanging off.” Becky and her husband John Stark have since found out that the applicable safety standard to which the glass in most arena mirrors complies, EN12600, covers a 45kg weight hitting the glass. They would like this changed, as horses, and riders, weigh far more.
2. Devastation caused by Storm Henk
The Horse Trust has launched an appeal for support after the charity experienced significant damage at its Buckingham Home of Rest for Horses as a result of Storm Henk on 3 January. Fences were flattened, and a field shelter was ripped from its base to land two paddocks away. The charity said no horses or people were harmed, but it is now facing “very costly and labour-heavy repairs”. “The severity of the gusts took us by surprise with the wind warning going from yellow to amber within an hour. I am incredibly thankful to all the team for their skilled and fast response,” said The Horse Trust CEO Jeanette Allen.
3. Drama and judging
Charlotte Dujardin and Imhotep win the grand prix at London International.
International grand prix dressage rider and trainer Anna Ross has shared her thoughts on the dressage at London International and criticism on social media in her exclusive H&H column this week. “I think we have reached the stage where it would be more of a shock if there wasn’t a drama on social media following the dressage,” she said. “But while the online voices appeared intense, the spectator judging, a snapshot of dressage public opinion, was largely in agreement with the international judges, having the first three in the same order.”
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