Surrey equestrian, Off the Hoof with Alison Bridge, editor-in-chief at Horse&Rider

Every month, editor-in-chief at Horse&Rider magazine, which is based in Grayshott, Alison Bridge brings Surrey Life readers all the latest from the Surrey horse world. Below are abridged versions of our monthly Surrey equestrian column...

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Originally published in Surrey Life magazine March 2012

Transporting your horse in Surrey

We are really spoilt for choice in Surrey with things to do with horses. From friendly local riding club shows and training events to regular competitions at Merrist Wood near Guildford – where the huge equestrian arena is an accredited Olympic training venue – there’s something for everyone, whether you’re a dressage diva or a happy hacker.

But first, you need to get there. Like kids, equines need driving to most party venues, and their transport can cost rather more than a luxury car.

The latest idea we have seen is the Roadload Rampless Horsebox. With this, you load the horses into the box at ground level and it’s then lifted up to drive away. A snip at £42,000!

Originally published in Surrey Life magazine February 2012

Best hacking in the world

With its fabulous common-land, heaths and woods, Surrey is one of the best places in the world for hacking. No, I’m not exaggerating! But at this time of the year it can be cold, wet, muddy and murky – miserable, in other words.

However, it’s really worth wrapping up and getting out into the countryside when the weather permits. Your horse will appreciate a change of scene if he’s stabled most of the time, and you’ll probably rather enjoy it once you’ve wrapped up, tacked up and got going. And just think how great you’ll feel when you get home and sink into a hot bath!

To make riding out in the winter a pleasure, rather than a chilly chore, it helps to remember a few things…

Originally published in Surrey Life magazine January 2012

Top riders share their resolutions

As thoughts turn to New Year’s resolutions, we thought it would be interesting to ask some top international riders about theirs for 2012:

• Top British eventer Piggy French, a hot tip for the Olympics who won the Greenwich test event last summer, says: “The obvious one is to train hard for the Olympics in the hope I’ll be selected. However, I guess that will be at the top of a lot of riders’ resolutions lists this year!”
• She’s right about that! Legendary New Zealand eventer Mark Todd has competed in six Olympic Games and won two gold and two bronze medals, among numerous international championships. After a fantastic comeback to win Badminton in 2011, he says: “My resolution is to win at the 2012 Olympics! 2011 was a good year for me, so I want to continue in the same vein.”
• Our own brilliant veteran eventer Mary King, aged 50, who has competed at five Olympics, is planning to give him a run for his money. “I’ve managed to win a silver and bronze medal – so there is one missing,” she says. “It would be great to complete the set!”
• Surrey-based showjumper William Funnell says: “After all the Christmas festivities, I like to have a bit of a dry-out, so I always give up drinking alcohol for a month until the end of January and I’ve done this successfully for the last couple of years.”
• Top dressage rider Carl Hester, fresh from his gold medal success at the European Championships last year, has health on his mind, too. He says: “I’d like to enjoy great health and cut down on my evening-only smoking habit. I’ve been saying I will do this for too long now!” 

Originally published in Surrey Life magazine December 2011

War Horse: the movie - a Surrey rider's perspective

Originally a book, then a play, War Horse the movie premieres in the New Year, directed by Steven Spielberg and filmed right here in Surrey!

Many people, like me, are already huge fans of War Horse, the book and the play, and when it came to making it into a movie, I couldn’t think of a better director than Steven Spielberg to handle this harrowing yet redemptive, completely brilliant story of the First World War, seen through the eyes of a horse and the boy who loves him.

Having watched the trailer of War Horse the movie, it looks like Spielberg has done it full justice – it reduced me   to tears with just a few brief impressions.

I also got a childish pleasure in glimpsing places where I walk and ride. It’s filmed in Bourne Woods, near Tilford, a popular movie location for films such as Gladiator and Robin Hood, which provides a dramatic backdrop for scenes of trenches, cavalry charges and our equine hero Joey, galloping frantically and poignantly alone through the battlefield.

If you’re not familiar with War Horse and its meteoric rise in the arts world, here’s a potted history.

The book was written by Michael Morpurgo, prolific author and the Children’s Laureate. Born in 1943, he was a war baby who learned first-hand how conflict tears families apart. Years later, he met a First World War veteran in his local pub, and as Michael told the Evening Standard: “It was as if he was taking me by the hand and showing me, passing it on; about living with fear and horror, about how the only person he could talk to was his horse, when he was feeding him at night, alone.”

An estimated million British horses were killed in that war, possibly eight million from all sides. “It took months and years of hideous slaughter, of both horses and men, before the folly of using cavalry like this was realised; before it was understood that a horse was not armoured, was easily blown to bits by artillery, cut down by rifle fire and machine guns, torn on the wire,” says Morpurgo.

The final tragedy for creatures who suffered so much was that at the end of the conflict the British Army sold off their horses, and most of these war heroes ended up emaciated and broken in Egypt or on a butcher’s slab in France. 

Morpurgo was determined to write about the horses’ horrific sacrifice and ultimate betrayal, and in War Horse tells the story of Joey, a horse bought at auction by a brutal farmer and befriended and trained by his sensitive son. Joey is recruited for the war effort, and suffers horribly on the battlefield, but I won’t tell you the outcome – you might want to find out yourself.

An all-round masterpiece
When I heard that War Horse was being made into a play, I thought, ‘how on earth?’ But it, too, ended up as a masterpiece. Featuring amazing models,  sometimes shockingly lifelike, the cane and plywood horses stamp and pant and stride uncannily like real ones, propelled by their incredibly skilful puppeteers – three per horse: the ‘head’, the ‘heart’ and the ‘hind’. You start to virtually not see the humans, captivated as you are by the moving models.

When I saw War Horse the play, I sat in the front row, and after the interval the stage in front of me was transformed into the trenches of France with their horrible smell, groaning men and agonised horses. It was a completely mesmerising, immersive experience.

The play has won numerous awards and is still running in the West End at the New London Theatre in Drury Lane. I can highly recommend it for horse fans and indeed anyone who loves the theatre – and it’s a memorable, Christmas night out in London. 

And now I can’t wait for War Horse the movie! It opens in the UK on January 13, and is on my list of New Year must-sees. All I can say is, take a hanky (or three!).

Originally published in Surrey Life magazine November 2011

Diamond Centre for Disabled Riders in Carshalton

The main magazine that I work on, Horse&Rider, has its offices in Grayshott, a small village on the Surrey/Sussex border surrounded by glorious countryside, making it perfect for horses! However, when I first started working there, we were based in South London – not many horses around at all! So, in desperation for a ‘horse fix’, I volunteered to help out at the Diamond Centre for Disabled Riders in Carshalton … In fact, Horse&Rider has itself been involved with the Diamond right from the start, helping with publicity and fund-raising when the centre was set up in 1974. Run by the Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA), which helps people of all abilities discover the joy of being on horseback, today it’s their biggest centre in the country, with 370 volunteers enabling over 360 people with disabilities to ride, carriage drive or vault each week.

Originally published in Surrey Life magazine October 2011

Surrey’s equestrian emergency services

Having an accident while you’re transporting horses is every owner’s worst nightmare. Imagine crashing a huge, heavy trailer, or even bigger lorry, containing horses weighing an average of 500kg each, terrified, struggling and extremely dangerous; it doesn’t bear thinking about.

Well, here’s your chance to help the gallant professionals who come to the rescue in such scenarios, as Surrey Fire and Rescue Service has appealed for a donation of any old horseboxes to practise rescuing the animals from road accidents.

With four major racecourses across the county, including Epsom Downs and Kempton Park, Surrey’s roads are a key artery for the movement of thoroughbreds and race winners, as well as our population of much-loved local horses.

Originally published in Surrey Life magazine September 2011

Olympic preparations for London 2012

Less than 12 months away, the Olympics are exerting their fascination – so close, so glamorous, so frustratingly difficult to get tickets...

Since Greenwich Park was announced as the venue for the equestrian events, there has been feverish speculation in the horse world about its suitability, its accessibility and its general rideability; surely a traditional venue would be better?

We started realising just how right the decision was, and how spectacular it will be, when Horse&Rider was invited to the Olympic test event there. Watching horses competing in an historic London park, with the futurist backdrop of Canary Wharf’s gleaming skyscrapers, was amazing; almost surreal.

Originally published in Surrey Life magazine August 2011

Perfect summertime hacking in the Surrey countryside

When I first moved to Haslemere, I was told that the hacking was some of the best in the South East.

“Surely not,” I thought, “we’re so close to London, Gatwick, big towns and suburbs and loads of massive motorways.” How wrong I was! 

From Oxshott Common in the north to Chiddingfold Woods in the south, wherever you are in Surrey there is usually brilliant hacking nearby.

You can gallop in the footsteps of racehorses on Epsom Downs, canter rather more steadily where Henry VIII used to hunt in Richmond Park and see all the way to Canary Wharf from the back of your horse in Norbury Park, Bookham...

Originally published in Surrey Life magazine July 2011

Polo brings the stars to Surrey

Polo is one of the most exclusive, expensive and exciting equestrian disciplines, and a fantastic spectator sport, to boot. Top matches attract a glittering crowd of royalty, Hollywood names and the beautiful people – not to mention hunky players and amazingly fast and agile ponies ... Super-glamorous, the polo scene is also relaxed and informal – where else can you rub shoulders with celebs while you tread in the divots between chukkas? For the uninitiated, that’s when you flatten the clods of earth kicked up by the ponies between seven-minute bouts of play. Spectators are expected to wear ‘smart/flat shoes’ for just this purpose!

So where to start? Well, at the top, there is the Cartier International Day, which this year is held on the hallowed ground of Smith’s Lawn at the Guards Club in Windsor Great Park – a beautiful venue not too far around the M25! Fancy a go yourself? Polo4 is based in Grayshott, just south of Hindhead, offering polo lessons for everyone from beginners and kids to those who’d like to brush up their skills.

Originally published in Surrey Life magazine June 2011

Escaping to the seaside for horse riding on a beach

One of my favourite summer riding outings is to take my cob, Harry, to the beach.
We go to East Wittering, less than an hour’s drive south from our yard in Thursley. It’s absolutely fantastic for riding: beautiful, clean, flat and sandy, with breakwaters for jumping.

When the tide is out, it’s huge with plenty of room for horses as well as other beach users, especially if you go now, before the school holidays.

The first time I took Harry to the beach at East Wittering, he was absolutely gobsmacked. His eyes were out on stalks. I don’t think he’d seen such a huge expanse of water before. We went with Harry’s best friend, Red, who was equally amazed by the whole beach experience.

Originally published in Surrey Life magazine May 2011

Pippa Funnell: a very modest superstar

Quite a few top riders live in Surrey, but perhaps the most famous and successful is three-day eventer Pippa Funnell, a very modest superstar.

She lives with her husband, the international showjumper William Funnell, in Forest Green, which she loves for its close-knit village feel – and its great pub, The Parrot.  

She also loves hacking in the peaceful countryside, and if you passed her on a lane, exercising a rangy bay eventer or one of the young showjumpers that she and her husband breed, you’d probably not give her a second glance.

Originally published in Surrey Life magazine April 2011

Godalming's world-class equestrian sculptor, Nic Fiddian-Green

Did you know Surrey has its own world-class equestrian sculptor? Godalming-based Nic Fiddian-Green only ever sculpts horses’ heads,  but if they’re all as beautiful as the ones in these photos, who minds?

His obsession started in the 1980s when he was an art student. “During a visit to the British Museum in London, I saw the Selene horse from the Elgin Marbles. It really inspired me and sparked a life-long passion for sculpting horses’ heads,” he explains.

Working from his studio in Godalming, Nic produces sculptures that appear in major galleries and art fairs in Paris, New York, Sydney, Hong Kong and Dubai, to name but a few.

You can also see his sculptures in the open air at some of the country’s big racecourses, such as Goodwood and Royal Ascot, and at Marble Arch in London. Or, if you’re feeling flush, you can buy one yourself!

Originally published in Surrey Life magazine March 2011

Holidays on horseback

One of the best perks of working on Horse&Rider magazine is the chance, just once in a while, to go on riding holidays all over the world.

I have wonderful memories from such holidays... of riding from a fabulous ranch in Costa Rica through cloud forests and rice paddies to remote Lake Nicaragua... galloping amongst a herd of zebra wheeling across the Kenyan plains... having tuition with the legendary trainer Jane Bartle at the Yorkshire Riding Centre where I finally understood a few of the finer points of dressage.

If you have a horsey dream, there’s likely to be an organisation that can fulfil it for you. It will cost, of course, but it’s well worth saving up for memories that will stay with you forever.

Riding holidays take you to places and to meet people that no other type of vacation can match: private chateaux in France, moonlit beaches in Ireland, bullfighting ranches in Spain and more.

Originally published in Surrey Life magazine February 2011

Surviving the coldest winter: bring on the spring

Riding and looking after horses during the coldest winter since records began has challenged even the keenest horse lovers.

Occasionally, a perfect cold, sunny day and the right kind of powdery snow provides a wonderfully exhilarating riding experience. More often, it’s really dangerous riding on the roads for fear of slips and inconsiderate drivers, and if you venture off-road, the snow balls up into lethal, icy stilts under your horse’s hooves.  

If weather conditions confine them to their stables, most horses start going stir-crazy. Even if you have access to an indoor school to exercise your horse, freezing air on clipped skin usually adds up to a pretty good bucking session. Trying to stay on a skittish, cold-backed horse is certainly one way to fend off the Arctic temperatures!

Then there’s the frozen water pipes, icy yards, putting on more rugs to keep horses warm and simply getting to the stables up and down tiny country lanes… and that’s just a start!

Originally published in Surrey Life magazine January 2011

Horse riding as a fitness regime

Most regular riders are pretty fit, but we’re also ravenously hungry most of the time, too. With Christmas and the party season offering loads of opportunities to pig out, by now we need to get back into shape... the fact is, there’s really no place to hide extra fat in jodhpurs … The best and most obvious way is to get out and ride more. Of course, non-horsey people don’t consider our sport as exercise. ‘Surely the horse does all the work?’ they say. Hah – if only! Riding is only easy and relaxing if you have an incredibly obedient and docile horse, and all you want to do is amble about for an hour or so … If you insist on calorie counting, apparently horse riding burns up 210 cals/hr – that’s if you’re walking. This increases to 530 for trotting and 650 for galloping and all these, presumably, only apply when the horse is behaving. I couldn’t find a figure for mucking out, but farm work, including cleaning barns, came out at 650 cals/hr. So I reckon if you have a normally cheeky horse and averagely muddy fields, you could easily do 2,500 calories in the three hours you might spend each day at weekends – result!

Originally published in Surrey Life magazine November 2011

What the stars of the equestrian world are really like

I cannot help but be impressed by the riders (and horses) who have made it to the top, and stayed there, and contrary to popular opinion, it’s not just about money.

Successful riders, like all elite athletes, work like dogs, are insanely competitive and need huge helpings of luck. In short, competition horses are highly strung animals who can ruin the best laid plans by going lame at the last minute, or just by not being in the mood on the day.

I’ve been fortunate to meet most of the greats of the horse world, including my childhood heroine Lucinda Green (posh but lovely), Kiwi eventing legend Mark Todd (quietly charismatic), showjumpers Michael Whitaker (laconic and funny) and Tim Stockdale (voluble and funny), and dressage stars Nicole Uphof (steely but sweet) and Carl Hester, who’s one of my favourites … In the rarefied world of dressage, where most of the multi-million-Euro equine superstars are wrapped in cotton wool, Carl treats his like real horses: he hacks them, he turns them out in proper fields, and he keeps his retired dressage stars at home, grazing happily into their twilight years.

Originally published in Surrey Life magazine October 2010

This autumn's must-have equestrian fashion

Katherine wears Eurostar clothing and Dublin boots. Doris ladies’ jacket around £165; Hillary shirt around £42; Laura breeches around £165; belt model’s own; Enchant boots, £139.99

Lauren wears Gersemi clothing and Konig boots. Scarf, £34; Blenda jacket, £169; leather riding gloves, £48; Saga breeches, £146; knee-high socks, £12; Konig Grandgesters, £799

Every spring, Horse&Rider magazine sponsors the fashion show at the annual fair of the British Equestrian Trade Association (BETA) – so we get a sneak peek at the autumn collections.

Then, in the summer, when we get all the final samples through, we photograph the clothes for a big feature in the magazine – padded waterproof coats, fleeces, winter boots, the lot – usually in the blistering heat! 

We tend to use local, horsey girls as models for our fashion shoots: professional models just don’t look quite right in equestrian clothing – they’re not athletic enough. Finding a man who looks the part is a challenge as well: most guys look just plain wrong in jodhpurs! 

I think you’ll agree that our models look fantastic in our photos and the clothes are pretty stylish, too – the kind of thing you wouldn’t mind wearing if you were popping into Waitrose on the way home.

Originally published in Surrey Life magazine September 2010

On behavioural issues and thinking like a horse

Horses are fascinating creatures – well, they are to us horse fanatics – and they all have their own individual personalities, just like humans. It can take quite a time to get to know a horse. What you may think is stubbornness or disobedience may be caused by fear or pain, and the horse is telling you in the only way he can.

Our equine behaviour specialist at Horse&Rider, Michael Peace, spends his life helping horses overcome their problems, so he has seen virtually every personality type there is.

For example, there’s what he calls the Trust Fund Horse. This is the Rupert Everett of the equine world: expensive, well-bred and well-built. He’s his owner’s dream horse, he’s treated like a prince and mustn’t be injured or upset. Nothing he ever does is wrong, and guess what? He develops an air of arrogance. “It’s not his fault it’s what he has been led to believe,” says Michael.

A big, arrogant horse can be scary, so what’s to be done? “Trust Fund Horse needs to learn that he is not the centre of attention,” says Michael. “These horses crave attention, after all, the whole world revolves around them, remember?” In effect, they have learnt that they get attention from bad behaviour, such as banging their stable doors when they want to get fed, so their owners need to ignore it.

Originally published in Surrey Life magazine August 2010

The dangers of horse riding and how to protect yourself

Although it is fabulous fun, riding is a risky sport. You discover this when your horse swerves while galloping and you hit the ground at 25mph with a painful jolt. At best, you have a crop of bruises and an impacted spine – that’s what happened last time I fell off my small, safe and sensible cob, Harry. At worst, you can seriously damage yourself. Broken arms, collar bones, necks and backs are quite scarily common. One three-day-event rider I was speaking to recently confessed she had broken virtually every bone in her body, and yes, she is still competing.

Okay, so it is a given that we don’t want to give up riding, but equally we don’t want to get hurt, so it really is worth taking sensible precautions.

A decent riding hat should be number one on every rider’s safety wear list. These are widely available in tack shops and come in all sorts of styles, from lightweight vented ones for long distance riding to velvet with Swarovski crystals, if you like a bit of bling. The choice is yours, except for not wearing one at all. Fall off a horse onto your head on a road without a riding hat, and you’d be lucky to survive.

Originally published in Surrey Life magazine June 2010

Riding on the Epsom Downs

In the racing world, June means one thing: the Epsom Derby, Britain’s top horse race and the one all the trainers, owners and jockeys want to win ... Epsom Downs is Nirvana for those of us who prefer to ride a little more slowly, too! It’s well worth travelling there if you don’t live nearby, as the hacking is superb. You can park a box or trailer at The Downs Lunch Box carpark on Tattenham Corner, or Derby Stables Road at the top of Ashley Road.

There’s a wide choice of tracks on and around the Downs for horses, including sand and grass, as well as hard tracks. There are plenty of nice hills to canter up or down, as well as flat tracks and long gallops to improve fitness. Tracks are wide, so you can also canter side-by-side with a friend.

Originally published in Surrey Life magazine May 2010

The show season begins for riders in Surrey

For most horse people, May is the start of the show season, with its many trials and tribulations, and occasional triumphs. If you’re unfamiliar with our arcane rituals, here’s what’s involved...

Crawl out of bed at crack of dawn to get horse ready – bathing him, plaiting his mane and making him look immaculate. Load him into lorry and take him to showground, driving slowly because horses are sensitive creatures who do not appreciate being thrown about like luggage. Once there, unload and then struggle into show clothes, praying winter’s excess weight doesn’t pop too many buttons. Get on horse and warm up for as long as it takes to stop him shying at all the flags, other horses and spectators. Finally, for a few hectic minutes, compete – the culmination of a whole winter’s training.

If we’re lucky, we might win a rosette. If we’re really lucky, we may also win a prize – a pair of gloves, say, or a £5 voucher.

Originally published in Surrey Life magazine April 2010

Rider friendly pubs and hacking hot spots in Surrey

I keep my horse in Thursley, a tiny village south of Guildford, which must be one of the best places in Britain for hacking – not to mention walking and birdwatching. Thursley Common itself is a well-kept secret: thousands of acres of heathland with winding sandy tracks, hills of heather that glow purple in late summer, shining wetlands, birds, dragonflies, grasses and endless views – think Scotland meets the African veldt! Apparently, the bogland in Thursley was the model for the Grimpen Mire in local author Arthur Conan Doyle’s Hound of the Baskervilles, but it’s anything but grim during spring.

Thursley also has a fantastic pub, The Three Horseshoes, which comes highly recommended for a ‘pit stop’ and delicious meals – local game is a speciality and wood-fired pizzas on Mondays, too. The pub welcomes horses, and has a proper hitching post – though you need to call ahead to reserve it.

• Horse&Rider is the UK’s best selling monthly equestrian magazine. For more details, see www.horseandrideruk.com. For a special £10 discount on Horse&Rider subscriptions for Surrey Life readers, call 0844 4991766 and quote SLHRS.

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