Dodson & Horrell Sponsored Riders

Dodson & Horrell and Richard have worked together for nearly 20 years. Richard says:

‘Having thoroughly enjoyed my first experience as team captain at the Beijing Olympics, it was quickly back to business at home as we began work on an exciting new Freestyle programme for Artemis. I am incredibly fortunate to have had the input of some very talented individuals and the highlight of the programme is the music – songs by Elton John played by the Royal Liverpool  Philharmonic Orchestra. We debuted our programme, known as Artemis in Motion, at Your Horse Live in November and I was delighted with how he went and how the crowd responded.

Olympia was next up and Artemis performed his Grand Prix Freestyle to Music test for the first time competitively in the FEI World Cup class. His temperament under the spotlight, literally, was amazing and he finished a very credible sixth. This was no mean feat as he was the youngest horse in the class and probably the first to perform this test for the first time in a class of this calibre. He will now head off to Spain for the Sunshine Tour in February alongside stable mates Hiscox Komanchi, ridden by my wife Gill, and Hiscox Aliano. We are really excited about all three horses and they are all aiming for London 2012. My horses compete on the foreign circuit as much as they do on the National one – the winter abroad certainly beats the weather at home in Staffordshire!

As well as my individual ambitions for 2009, I also have the European Championships to look forward to in August. They take place on home ground at Windsor and as team captain, I am excited about our chances and fondly recall being part of the bronze medal winning team the last time the Championships were held in the UK. In addition to the exciting young horses we have at home, we also have the prospect of a third foal for Ballaseyr Royale to look forward to. She was a star as my team horse until her retirement in 2003 and has turned out to be a fantastic mother in her new career. Her first foal was by Lingh, who beat Anky van Grunsven in the World Cup Final when ridden by Edward Gal, her second foal was by Diamond Hit, Emma Hindle’s young Grand Prix Star, and she is now in foal to Don Schuffro, who represented Denmark at the Beijing Olympics.

2009 promises so much in many different ways and I look forward to the various challenges it will bring. With the long term goal being 2012, the road is long, yet we are optimistic and excited with the horse power we have on the yard at present.’

Dodson & Horrell and Boyd have been working together for 8 seasons. Boyd says:

'Whilst the eventers have a clear cut season, mine is more of a 12 month affair. After the National Championships at Windsor in September, we turned our attention to the Indoor World Cup circuit. We were away at shows in November and December with our team of racing camels as they have become affectionately known. These are my team of really good speed horses who know their job inside out and I was delighted to win the qualifiers in Geneva and Budapest. We currently lie in second place in the points standing which I hope will be good enough to qualify us for the World Cup Final that takes place in Gothenburg next February.

In January I will leave the yard in the capable hands of Michelle and Lisa as I head off to Australia with my family for the month. This is something we do every year and I love having the opportunity to go home and see family and friends, not to mention escaping a month of awful English weather! This trip will be all the more special as we will be taking our new baby daughter to meet her Australian family for the first time.

Whilst I am away, the horses will work in singles and pairs under the guidance of the girls who will also ride them as well. It sometimes comes as a surprise to people that the horses work under saddle, but it’s something they really enjoy and I have also had some really good days out hunting on a couple of them, who are jumping machines in disguise!

The National circuit starts again with qualifiers in May and we will once again be aiming for the four-in-hand title at the National Championships in the autumn.'

Dodson & Horrell and Piggy have worked together for a season. Piggy says:

'After the disappointment of losing Boherdeel Champion and Paris to injuries in the early part of the year, I was delighted with how the season eventually turned out. The two star horses were all fantastic and performed consistently well, What A Performance was his usual reliable self and had good results at Bramham and the Festival of British Eventing whilst the young horses came on nicely as the season wore on as well.

After Boekelo, the vast majority of the horses went home to their owners for a well deserved holiday. Stuart, my head lad, headed off travelling for a few months and with some of the other staff having a holiday, it's me and a few others who are keeping the yard ticking over at present. With fewer horses in, our recent move to a new yard was far more bearable and it was made easier by the fact that we only had to go about half an hour down the road! As much as I love the buzz of the season, I do enjoy having the time to catch up with family and friends at this time of year although less enjoyable was having to do my Christmas shopping – I hate shopping!

The horses that are in are mainly youngsters and it's nice to have more time to devote to them at this time of the year. The other horses will come back in to work in January and once they are well into their fitness programmes, some will do some dressage and show jumping ahead of the start of the season, whilst others might also have the odd day hunting. All of this is really good for them and hunting is something they all really seem to enjoy.

Whilst I'm very fortunate to have a great team of horses and owners, I do hope to be able to add to my string ahead of the start of next season, so my time will also be devoted to shopping for horses which is far more fun! With Paris on course to be back for the 2009 campaign and exciting new horses such as Some Day Soon to bring out, I am already looking forward to next season. That said, I do hope to squeeze in a holiday in the sun before March arrives, as there is not time for such luxuries thereafter!'

Dodson & Horrell and Di have worked together for 3 seasons. Di says: 

‘At the end of last season I retired my wonderful hackney mare, Mel, from National competitions and top spot was handed over to my younger horse Matador. Not one for an idle retirement, we took Mel out to several club events over the course of the year and I really enjoyed competing in a less pressured environment. It also gave me the chance to support my local club, the White Horse Harness Club, a bit more.

This year Matador made the step up from the Open to the Advanced class, and all hopes were on him in his first full year of competition. The year started for us at Brighton with a win. Royal Windsor, an international event, was next and then the rest of the season was spent travelling up down and across the country to various events. Our season ended with the National Championships at Windsor where Matador pulled out all the stops in the dressage and had the lowest score of the whole event – 27. By the end of the three days he had slipped down to second place, but I was still delighted with him finishing as reserve champion.

After a bit of a break we started on the indoor circuit but after 2 events disaster struck when Matador managed to break his jaw in his stable. The operation to wire it together again went very well but the stress of the accident and the anesthetic led to gastritis. He was in hospital being monitored closely for ten days but happily he is home now and is able to go out for a couple of hours daily in a small paddock with Mel for company. Hopefully he will have the wires out at the end of the year and be back competing shortly after that.

I am looking forward to next season very much. Matador has matured into a really nice horse and I hope he will come on even more before the outdoor events start again in May. I also have some lovely ponies that I school for clients, one of which was intermediate pony champion last year. He will move up to open next season and we are hoping for great things for him. Before then my husband and I are off to Tobago and the Grenadines for some sun in February. I am really lucky to have my daughter and two very capable grooms living on site so I know all the animals will be fine whilst we are away.’

Dodson & Horrell and Oliver have been working together for the past 3 seasons. Oliver says:

'Whilst the majority of the horses are having a holiday over the winter, there is no let up for me! November was spent moving the whole of the team to our brand new farm in Shropshire and learning my dressage to music test for the Express Eventing competition. Both were a lot of hard work but equally rewarding. After moving ourselves from the old yard in Leicestershire up to Gadlas Farm with only one major hiccup, when one of the lorries broke down, we all got stuck in to painting, decorating, putting up shelves, you name it we did it! It was worth it though as the yard is looking really smart and the horses have settled into their new homes well. 

At the end of November, we made the journey to the Millennium Stadium with Flint for the Express Eventing International Cup. The organisers put together a terrific event, the crowd were great and whilst I felt for Mary like everyone did, I was really proud of Flint and how he rose to the occasion to win the competition. The lessons we had with Ian Woodhead putting together our dressage programme worked wonders and hopefully we can carry on that form next season. He is now having a well deserved holiday and I am concentrating on the young horses, teaching and doing some buying and selling.

The youngsters that are in will be the first to benefit from the excellent facilities we have at the new yard. They are a really nice bunch that I have high hopes for and they will all start at Novice level next season. I hope that they will be joined by some new faces over the winter as we look to strengthen the team and other horses will be sold to accommodate the new arrivals and help pay the bills! I'm already signed up for various teaching days, clinics and demonstrations around the country, plus I have commitments to other events I’m involved with. One of these was the finals of the Oliver Townend Eventers Challenge Competition (OTECC) at Arena UK recently. This is an indoor show jumping/cross country competition and it's a bit like Express Eventing but without the dressage and the big cheque!

All the horses will be back in to start their fitness work in the New Year, along with the staff who are also having a break at the minute. Our season will get underway in March and my main aim is to do enough to impress the selectors ahead of the European Championships in France.'

Dodson & Horrell have worked together for 5 seasons. Ellen says:

'Like everyone involved with show jumping, I always look forward to Olympia, but I couldn’t have imagined I would have such a good show. Kanselier was as reliable as ever and Friday evening got off to a good start when we won the Accenture Stakes speed class. However it was the Puissance class later that evening that was the most exciting. Ladina B and I made it through to the fifth round and we found ourselves up against my cousin William. With the wall at 7ft 2in, everything was at stake but we both went clear so ended up sharing first prize. This was the perfect way to head home to Yorkshire for Christmas.

Looking back on the year, it's been one of lots of ups and downs. Missing out on the Olympics was a huge disappointment and injuries to some of my top horses, including Locarno and Ocolado, have been equally disappointing but that’s horses and the main thing is they are both OK. Our fortunes changed in October as HOYS was a good show. Kanselier won the Speed Class and Ladina B came a very credible second in the Puissance – it was obviously a sign of things to come! These results helped to keep everyone’s spirits up and the good news is that Ocolado should be back in January whilst we hope that Locarno should be back next summer.

In the mean time, I have a new horse called Sefana who I am getting to know. She’s doing brilliantly at the moment and I’m having to use her as my best horse at the minute, so she's been thrown in at the deep end a bit. I have also just bought a 3 year old stallion and one of my owners has also bought a young stallion as well, so I have these two horses to get going as well. 

Whilst I love to ride in front of home crowds, I do enjoy travelling to the international shows as it gives you the chance to visit so many countries. I was lucky enough to go to New Zealand in the early part of this year and I’m hoping to go to America for five weeks in February/March time next year.'