‘Most good training looks dull’

Anna Ross on London, young horses and why good training is rarely flashy

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AS the horse world moves through the darkest, shortest days of the year and starts to seriously question its life choices, the perfectly timed glitz and glamour of the London International (LIHS) thankfully comes along to remind us why it’s all worth it.

Glamourdale and Lottie Fry appeared to have taken their fluency, power, and movie-star quality to a new level. “Glammy” has always been special, having won the dressage World Breeding Championships for Young Horses en route to grand prix greatness. But not all grand prix horses start out like that.

By their riders' admissions, neither Swanmore Danitina nor Jagerbomb - the rides of Sadie Smith and Becky Moody - stood out as young horses. But with three solid paces and superb training, both have become megastars, inspiring in a different but equally compelling way.

Some of the best horses I've worked with were, quite frankly, underwhelming early on. They did, however, turn up every day, stay sound and quietly become very good while flashier horses were busy having “a few issues”.

Young horses can be a particular danger zone for human enthusiasm. “He finds it easy,” they say, but so does a child riding a bike downhill - it doesn’t mean we remove their brakes.