Equestrian Life March 2018 Issue

YOUR MOST SUCCESSFUL
STALLION IS MILL LAW,
WHAT COMPETITION
SUCCESSES DID YOU HAVE
WITH HIM?
He was Advanced by the age
of 7. My mother had always
had the odd broodmare so we
quickly started using him and
the offspring proved to be lovely.
He quickly proved to be very
popular as a commercial stallion
and has sired some unbelievable
youngsters.
DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE
EVENT OR COURSE?
Osberton Horse Trials has
always been my favourite, for
its stunning venue, closeness to
home and a long list of successes
there. 2002 was the exception
though as on my last horse of
the day I had a horrific rotational
fall resulting in a serious spinal
injury. Two operations later
including a fake vertebra being
inserted into my lumbar spine
and a lengthy stay in hospital,
most people would have thought
I would have hung up my boots.
Not so, and I miraculously made
it back out to start the following
event season. It did take me a
few years to pluck up courage
to go back to Osberton to put
my demons to rest and despite
Nicola negotiating the table on Glencarrig Dolphin (Dougal).
breaking down in the xc warm up
before I was due to start I did it
and thankfully it reverted back
to being a successful venue for
me.
MILL LAW HAS GONE ON TO
PRODUCE MANY SUCCESSFUL
PROGENY, WHICH ONES
STAND OUT TO YOU?
The two that really stand out at
the moment are Coopers Law,
who is owned by my mother’s
cousin and ridden by Emilie
Chandler, his xc record is as
good as it gets, having jumped
clear round two 4*’s; the other
is Jemilla who is ridden by Mark
Kyle, who competed at the Rio
Olympics. Of our homebred
horses my heart always falls back
to Sugar Shack Mill who took
me to the World Young Horse
Championships as a 6yr old, she
literally would jump anything
you put her at. We now have
the excitement that our eldest
offspring by Glencarrig Dolphin,
out of a Mill Law mare is 3yrs old
this year so we are really looking
forwards to getting her broken in
to see how talented she is.
TELL IS ABOUT YOUR
REHABILITATION BUSINESS
The downside of Eventing is
the cost, this is where I am
grateful to my father for making
me get a proper job and not
just do horses. From the age
of 12 I knew if horses weren’t
a full-time option then Equine
Physiotherapy was the way
forwards. The thought of having
to do human physio first scared
me senseless but surprisingly
I really enjoyed it, a three year
degree course at Nottingham
Uni followed by two years
working at Bassetlaw Hospital,
finally lead to me being able to
pursue the career I wanted. I
set up my own business after
finishing an apprenticeship to
get my Category A status with
ACPAT. Twenty years later and
I am happily self-employed in a
career I love; I’ve been fortunate
enough to physio for the British
Pony Driving Team for copious
years and have had the pleasure
of working with some amazing
animals.
DAUGHTER LUCY IS
SHOWING GREAT PROMISE
AS A JUNIOR RIDER; WHAT
PLANS DO YOU HAVE FOR
2018 AND BEYOND?
My life’s pathway changed when
I had my daughter Lucy, I cherish
the time we have together and
love watching her riding. She
has always been a very plucky
rider, not afraid of a tumble and
PHOTO BY JULIA SHEARWOOD PHOTOGRAPHY
very competitive. I knew a few
years ago that with her talent
she may well want to follow in
my footsteps so we set too trying
to build a string of ponies from
scratch. Darwin was a chance
purchase just over two years ago,
a real ‘being in the right place
at the right time’ scenario. My
mother and I then decided we
needed to change track with
the breeding programme, so we
purchased Glencarrig Dolphin,
a pure-bred Connemara, to
put to our mares. I have been
bringing him on over the past
few years and he is proving
to be phenomenal. Despite
combining a busy stud season
with his ridden career, he has
now jumped clear xc round all
six of his BE Novices. We also
have a couple of 5-year-old
Connemaras I purchased from
France as 3-year-olds, (rather
rashly without seeing them
in the flesh!), they both have
outstanding jumping breeding
and are proving to be very
exciting prospects for the future.
It has also been very educational
for Lucy to help bring on these
two ponies and she really likes
riding the youngsters. Charlie
Go Go is the new boy to the
pack, purchased last year, he had
had some previous experience
so was able to show Lucy the
ropes a bit more. What she has
learnt from him she has been
able to feed back into the others.
2018 should be an exciting year
as Lucy is now old enough,
despite only being 11, to go BE.
It is going to be hectic as she
is hoping to combine BE with
continuing with PC and BRC.
She would love to get to the PC
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