Farewell to ‘one of a kind’ stallion, and other things the horse world is talking about
1. “Goodbye, my best friend”
Top Dutch showjumper Jur Vrieling has paid tribute to his former ride and successful Belgian warmblood sire Dallas VDL, who was put down aged 16 following an accident at a stallion show. “Goodbye, my best friend Dallas,” said Jur, who produced the horse to compete at the at top level around the world, including at Hickstead, Falsterbo, Shanghai and Paris. “It has been a pleasure working with a horse like him. He really was one of a kind, one of the best partners in the ring and loved by everyone at the stables.”
2. Britain’s biggest police horse
Greater Manchester Police’s (GMP) has welcomed its newest mounted branch recruit, an 18.2hh part-bred Shire called Trooper. GMP stable manager Claire Hamer told H&H: “He’s one of the biggest police horses nationally for a long time. He’s a gentle giant, and he likes people.” Trooper is so large that the GMP have taken the walls down between some of their stables to give him more room, as well as having to reconfigure the partitions in the police horse lorry to ensure he’s comfortable in transit. “We’ve had to go up a rug size, and the farrier has his work cut out!” added Claire.
3. John Whitaker has gone viral, plus other jumping news
Interest in John Whitaker’s new ride and potential Olympic hope Arqana De Riverland continues to grow, resulting in the pair’s sublime clear round at CHI Al Shaqab in Doha being shared all over social media over the weekend. The pair stepped up to 1.50m level at just their third show together, and John told H&H the mare was “jumping very well”. He added: “She jumps brilliantly – just sometimes we don’t have that control yet and there’s been the odd misunderstanding, but I think we’re coming together more and more.” In other showjumping news, a 16-year-old British rider cleared 1.85m to win her first CSI4* and a 24-year-old beat two Olympic legends in a World Cup qualifier, where the world number one rider bounced back from a warm-up fall to finish second.
Read this week’s top showjumping news
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