A former Pony Club rider representing Great Britain in Paris, and other things the horse world is talking about

Former Pony Club rider representing Great Britain in Paris

Charlie Brown, a former member of the Ludlow Hunt branch of the Pony Club, has been called up to the British modern pentathlon team, following Myles Pillage’s withdrawing on medical grounds. Charlie, who won the Pony Club national tetrathlon championship in 2022, said “to compete at an Olympic Games this early on in my career is something I am very proud of” and that he’ll “give it all I’ve got for the team”. The modern pentathlon got under way in Paris yesterday (8 August).

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A new world number one

Fresh from securing his second Olympic team gold medal in Paris, Tom McEwen has taken the number one spot in the eventing world rankings for the first time. The rankings remain a British 1-2-3 with Ros Canter in second, and Oliver Townend in third. Tom, who finished fourth individually in Versailles with JL Dublin, said it “wouldn’t be possible without some incredibly important people and horses in my life”, and thanked his team, family, owners and sponsors.

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The loss of a medal-winning mare

German para dressage team horse Nautika has died weeks before she was due to compete in the Paralympics with her rider Martina Benzinger. The 18-year-old mare had been found “not in her usual form”, and a CT scan revealed “serious complications”. Martina and Nautika had been together since 2020 and had 28 international wins together. They were part of the silver medal-winning team at the 2023 Europeans, where they also claimed silver in the grade I individual test, and bronze in the freestyle. “We will never forget you, in my heart Nauti will always have a very big place,” said Martina.

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