‘You’ve got to do what the horse wants’: eventer turns successful jumper after rotational fall

An eventer who turned to showjumping after a rotational fall across country has been enjoying huge success saying “you’ve got to do what they want to do”.

Trudy Johnson’s eight-year-old Kohinoor won the Foxhunter at Addington Equestrian on Friday (22 September) by three seconds, having won the 1.10 Sportjumping final at Bury Farm the previous weekend.

Trudy told H&H she and “Rocky” were contesting the intermediate eventing at Little Downham on 22 July when they came down.

“He just didn’t take off properly,” she said. “There was a log, then three strides downhill and two on the flat to a corner. It felt like he went for a long one and it wasn’t there, but the short one wasn’t there either, and over we went.”

Trudy was taken to hospital for scans and Rocky was checked by a vet and treated by a chiropractor but neither was injured.

“We were so, so lucky,” Trudy said. “It could have been so much worse.”

Trudy said Rocky was fine, but when she next took him cross-country schooling, he was not himself.

“I think it scared him a bit,” she said. “He was so spooky just cantering across the field; he wasn’t happy.”

Trudy had Rocky X-rayed to ensure no injury had been missed, and he was given the all-clear.

“So we said no more cross-country this year, let’s go and enjoy some showjumping,” she said. “It’s what he’s bred for – and the prize money is much more inviting, shall we say!”

Since the fall, the pair have clocked up two other wins, and places, at British Showjumping (BS) competitions, and also qualified for the Sportjumping final. The competition is billed as a combination of showjumping and racing; combinations at different heights are handicapped according to their BS records, and given additional time accordingly, then take part in speed classes, with time added for poles down.

“If I hadn’t had the fall, I wouldn’t have gone for the qualifiers as I’d have been eventing,” Trudy said. “It’s all speed so you have to go for it from the off and it’s technical, with tight lines you can take. I was midway through the class and he just jumped super, and did a really tight turn between fences, which nobody else pulled off, it was such good fun.”

Trudy wanted to jump the 1.20m classes, and secure her Foxhunter double clears for the 2024 second rounds, before Rocky has a break. She bought the Quality Time gelding as a three-year-old and has produced him herself from scratch.

“I wasn’t going for the time, but I turned a bit tighter than I intended to one fence; it was amazing,” she said of last week’s win. “My showjumping trainer has always tried to get me to switch sport! He’s giving me a lot of confidence because I’ve not done this level before and it’s so easy for him. He can be tricky; he’s not the most straightforward but I don’t think we’ve reached the top of his scope yet.”

Trudy said she misses the cross-country, and will see how Rocky feels about it next year, but if he does not want to do it, he will keep showjumping instead.

“You’ve got to do what they want to do,” she said. “You can’t make them, and certainly not across country; it’s not safe if they’re not happy.”

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