THE SEIB/ROR SHOW JUMPING ELITE PERFORMANCE AWARDS FOR EX-RACEHORSES
Wednesday 16 January 2013
The Ballroom at the Grange City Hotel, London, was packed for the glittering British Horse Foundation Breeders dinner and Awards Ceremony held on Saturday the 14th January. The evening incorporated the South Essex Insurance Brokers (SEIB) and the charity Retraining of Racehorses (RoR) Elite Performance Awards for ex-racehorses. This year these valuable awards have a total prize fund of £17,000 donated by RoR. Leading equine insurance brokers, SEIB, instigated the awards over 10 years ago.
The awards provide a focus for ex-racehorses competing in the disciplines of Eventing, Dressage, Show Jumping, Endurance and Showing and have encouraged more riders to recognize the talents and versatility of the thoroughbred and their potential for success in another sphere. The winner of each award was presented with a cheque for £2,500 and the runner up in each section received £500.
Jabeena Maslin’s, Quel Ange, ridden by Kathryn Ellison won the Elite Performance Award for Show Jumping. Both the showjumping winner and runner up were previously trained as racehorses in Somerset with Ron Hodges.
Quel Ange ran on the flat and was placed a couple of times. After he retired from the racecourse, event rider, Sophie Hawke took him on and evented him up to intermediate level. Jabeena then purchased him to take show jumping. She said “he is an absolute fireball and wins everything, Kathryn rides him brilliantly. He is still a stallion – I have been forbidden by several judges from having him cut as he has such a phenomenal jump”.
Jabeena trains the Olympic British Modern Pentathlon team in showjumping and Quel Ange was one of the horses used for the showjumping phase of the Modern Pentathlon at the London Olympics. He was ridden by competitors from Latvia and Poland and completed his two rounds successfully.
Quel Ange is currently competing at 1.25m and Jabeena hopes he will start competing at 1.35 and 1.40m this year.
Vite Etoile took the runner up Elite Performance Award for Show Jumping for Nicola Braidwood. Nicola bought the now 22 year old mare, Vite Etoile from the sales as a four year old after she had been campaigned on the flat and over hurdles by Ron Hodges. Nicola then retrained Vite Etoile as an eventer and competed her very successfully to advanced level and the pair completed the three star Bramham three day event. Sadly, after Bramham, Vite Etoile had to have colic surgery and whilst she subsequently competed at two star level Nicola never did the top level events with her again.
Nicola said “She is such an enthusiastic horse, she only competes in Show Jumping now, but she loves it. Vite Etoile hates to be left behind if we go to a show - I don’t think she will ever retire”!
Equine Insurance brokers, South Essex Insurance Brokers who provide cover for horses, horse boxes, yards and much more, instigated the former Racehorse to Riding Horse Performance Awards in order to support the retraining of the thousands of racehorses who come out of training each year. “The Performance Awards also provide a platform to show how a correctly re-schooled ex-racehorse can be successful in a new career and continue to have a bright future, competing successfully in many different disciplines. This year’s competition has proved yet again the versatility and resilience of the thoroughbred”, says Nicolina Mackenzie, Marketing Manager of SEIB.
RoR is British horseracing’s official charity for the welfare of horses who have retired from racing. It raises funds from within racing to provide facilities for the care, retraining and re-homing of former racehorses, and to promote awareness of the suitability of the retrained racehorse for other equine careers.
Di Arbuthnot, RoR director of operations, said “This series provides a focus for ex-racehorses competing in the disciplines of Eventing, Dressage, Show Jumping, Endurance and Showing, and I hope it will encourage more riders to recognize the talents and versatility of the thoroughbred and their potential for success in another sphere.”
To find out more about the ROR and SEIB Elite Performance Awards visit www.racehorse2ridinghorse.co.uk. Or, www.ror.org.uk
To be eligible, horses must have run in the UK and be registered with ROR, details of the 2013 competition will be available soon.
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