He eats the tack, licks cars and loves a cuddle – meet Ros Canter’s Badminton winner and European champion Lordships Graffalo

Which five-star winner once licked the vet’s car completely clean when she parked it outside his stable while attending to another horse? The answer is Lordships Graffalo, the characterful 12-year-old who has made a huge impact on the eventing scene over the past few years and who is now a frontrunner for the British team for this summer’s Paris Olympics.

“Walter”, as he’s known, leapt firmly into the five-star spotlight when he finished second at the 2022 Badminton Horse Trials under Ros Canter. He went on to land fourth at the World Championships that autumn – on the same score as individual bronze medallist Falco, under New Zealand’s Tim Price. The British pair missed out on an individual medal only because they were faster across country, which meant they finished further from the optimum time.

A year later, Lordships Graffalo really showed his colours as one of eventing’s elite. He won Badminton in the spring and was then crowned European champion. Both competitions took place in tough conditions, with Ros and Walter the only pair making the time across country at the Europeans.

Lordships Graffalo: breeding and background

Walter is out of the same mare, Cornish Queen (by Rock King), as another of Ros’s rides, Pencos Crown Jewel, who finished 11th at Burghley Horse Trials in 2022 and ninth at Badminton last year.

Breeder Pennie Wallace sold Pencos Crown Jewel as a foal to Kate James and Annie Makin, who went to the Burghley young event horse final to pick a rider for her and chose Ros. Because Ros had Pencos Crown Jewel, Pennie decided to send her Lordships Graffalo – who was bred while Cornish Queen was on loan to Lordships Stud – to be broken.

“I loved him from the day I got him and he was always for sale, so I approached Michele Saul, who was looking for a young horse, and asked her if she’d consider buying him,” said Ros of the son of Grafenstolz.

“He’s kind of untrainable on the ground. He’ll rugby tackle you when you try to put the bridle on and he’s not very good at social distancing.

“But he was easy to break in and never bothered about the rider. He was quite lazy to start with – he’d get completely left behind ambling along out hacking – but out of the blue he could buck or rear or do something funny.”

But Ros said Walter’s whole family are performers and always pull their best work out of the bag at competitions.

‘He cruises through life’

After his win at Badminton, Ros described Walter as the ultimate event horse, saying: “It’s what he lives and breathes for. He’s a busy little character when he’s not being ridden, so this job fits him perfectly.”

Following their double gold performance at the Europeans, she added: “It’s Walter’s world and we are privileged to be able to live with him in it. But that, I think, is really what he thinks; he just cruises his way through life.”

Georgie Frow, who is the second rider on Ros’s yard, said: “Walter is always causing entertainment – it’s funny to watch if you’re not trying to tack him up! He eats the tack, throws headcollars across the yard, tries to grab hold of brushes. If you leave him too long in the cross-ties, he’ll dribble and throw it to see how far he can get his spit across the yard.”

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