Covid 19, Charlotte Dujardin and Piggy (French) March onto Glory

Hello to all our viewers and readers of our articles. This is the last ‘news bulletin’ we are to do in 2020, and what a year it has been – really, for all the wrong reasons.  Charlotte Dujardin won the British Dressage national Championship once again and Piggy March has been made ‘event rider ‘ of the year. We have discussed the Covid-19 now till we are blue in the face, and now with a mutation of the virus, it does not look any time soon that we will be out the other side – save for the various vaccines which should have done their work, hopefully before the main summer season in 2021.

In the news, we have to report the sad demise of Totilas, the wonderful dressage horse ridden by Dutchman Edward Gal. The pair broke numerous world records in the arena, particularly in 2009 and 2010. The horse died of severe colic and he was 20 years old.

The final existing World Cup Qualifier at Neumunster in Germany for dressage in Europe was cancelled yesterday which means that all 13 rounds of the competition on Europe have been cancelled.

British Dressage has just staged a form of National Championships at Hartpury which was postponed from September. All the top British riders were entered and competed at Grand Prix and Grand Prix Freestyle. In both the Grand Prix and GP Freestyle, Charlotte Dujardin took the top two places with Mount St John Freestyle and so became the British Dressage National Champion for 2020. She won the Grand Prix with 83.04% from the five judges with Steven Clarke as chairman at C. In the freestyle, she obtained an amazing score of 90.2%, this time with Isobel Wessels in the chair at C. Her second ride with Gio finished on 79.10% in the GP and gained 88.05% in the freestyle. Charlotte’s, mentor, Carl Hester was third in both the GP and the freestyle riding En Vogue, another to watch out for in the future as this ride is really destined as another for Dujardin. This re-scheduled British National Championships sponsored by Le Mieux.

In eventing, Badminton are to move their international ring at the site for next year’s Badminton Horse Trials to in front of the famous Badminton House, where it was for the first ten years of the Trials in the 1950s.It will provide any spectators with a fabulous backdrop to the dressage and show jumping.

The FEI have had a change of heart regarding the Eventing European Championships in 2021 which had been cancelled due to the Olympics. However, after squeals of horror from all the eventing world, the bidding process for the Europeans has been reinstated.

Piggy March (nee French) has been crowned the number one event rider in the UK. She won 27 classes this year including the 4 star (short) event at Little Downham. Piggy has been  very successful, particularly on Brookfield Innocent, her winner at Little Downham and also in second in the only 5 star event in the world this year at Pau in France.

In show jumping, there have been no international competitions at all. Even the re-scheduled winter championships in the UK, has been scratched.

Without any doubt, 2020 has been a quite hideous year. And now, just as vaccines are becoming available, we learn that the covid has mutated into a more infectious illness. Although, confirmed in the UK, it is quite clear that the mutated version is very prevalent across the whole of Europe and probably the rest of the world to boot. Add to that, all the concern of Brexit and no deal being achieved in Brussels, it is already beginning to look a very difficult start for 2021. However, hopefully by the spring, we will be back to somewhere near normal with The Badminton Horse Trials kicking things off for a great summer of sport ahead.

Throughout 2020, we at Horse View UK have enjoyed being able to bring you, all our readers what news there is and other articles which we hope you have enjoyed reading. We now have about 500 readers a day which is most satisfying. We look forward bringing you more articles next year, but we are going to take a short sabbatical until the middle of February. Partly, this is because we do not really believe that there is going to be enough going on to merit comment and secondly, and probably more important, we are supposed to be moving house in January, and I do not think my wife will be too amused if I sit and continually write while she is doing all the leg work for our move – about which I may say, we are very excited incidentally.

It only remains for us to wish you, every one of our readers a very Happy Christmas in these hard times and you have a happy and prosperous, and dare I say it, a more normal and more structured 2021.

See you in February 2020

Bernard Simpson.

Editor of Horse View UK

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