Horse & Hound – 08 August 2019

12 Horse& Hound8 August 2019

Pictures by Julia Shearwood Photography and Farlap/Alamy

NEWSInsider

SIMPLEpettrackerscouldhelp

findhorseswhohavebecome

separatedfromtheirriders.

Followingtwoincidents

ofhorsesgoingmissingon

enduranceridesthisyear,oneat

King’sForest,Suffolk,inApriland

oneatThreeRivers,Hampshire,

inJune,EnduranceGB(EGB)

askedmembersforfeedbackon

trackingdevices.GaryMascall,

whocrewsforhisendurancerider

wifeCamilla,testeda pettracker

hefoundonline.

MrMascalltoldH&Hthe

TK200device,whichcostsunder

£30,attachestothesaddleand

is operatedbya SIMcardto

whicha usersendsa textmessage

andthedevicereplieswiththe

co-ordinatesofitslocation.Itwas

testedagainsta moreexpensive

GPStrackerMrMascall’swife

carriestorecordherrides.

“Isenttextmessagestothe

trackerattachedtothesaddleand

it sent the positions back,” he said.

Thesimpledeviceshavebeenshowntogiveanaccurate

picture of an equine’s location, which couldhelpaftera fall

“Weloadedtheroutefrom

Camilla’sGPStrackertothe

computerandplottedthepoints

fromthetrackertocompareand

theywerespoton.Wetriedthe

deviceattheCirencesterParkride

inJulyandthetrackerfollowed

theroutevirtuallyidentically.”

Thedeviceoperatesovera 2G

mobilenetworkbutcanlosesignal

inblackspotssuchasforests.

“Ifyousendthetrackera text

whenit’soutofsignal,whenit

comesbackintosignalit responds

immediatelywiththecurrent

location;notwhereit waswhen

yousentthetext.Soit couldhave

beenusefulintheKing’sForest

incident,”saidMrMascall.

MrsMascall,chairmanof

theWorcestershireBridleways

andRidersAssociation,saidthe

trackercouldbenefitallriders.

“Many endurance riders train

ontheirownsoit canbequite

isolatedandmoreofa risk.I’ve

comeacrossloosehorsesout

ridingandbeenatrideswhere

ridershavebeenseparatedfrom

horses,”shesaid.

“Somepeoplehavelost

confidencehackingbecauseroads

aresobusyandit canbedifficult

tofinda saferoute.Thethought

ofgoingoutonyourowncan

bedaunting,sothetrackeris a

confidence-giver.Wearegoing

toputa reportonthebridleway

group’swebsiteandinour

newslettertoencouragepeople to

considerthem.”

EGBgroupsdirector

RosemaryHendersontoldH&H

thatwhileEGBcannotinsist

ridersusetrackers,it willbe

makinginformationavailableto

itsmembers.

“We’vehadhorsesmissing

overnightthisyear—it’s

somethingpeoplehavestartedto

thinkabout.FromwhatI’veseen

thetrackerseemsreallygood,

particularlybecauseit’ssmalland

canbefittedtotack,”shesaid.“It’s

uptoindividualswhattheyuse

butwewillbelettingpeopleknow

aboutthetracker.Froma health

andsafetyperspective,if people

wantsomethingthattracksa

horsewhogetsloose,thisis cheap

andeasytouse.”

EGBplanstodiscusstrackers

atitsannualregionalgroups

meetingon 26 October.

“IhaveaskedMrMascallif

he’llcomeandtalktothegroups

andshowpeoplethemapsand

testinghe’sdone;wehopetoget

the word out,” said Ms Henderson.

ByBECKYMURRAY

Basic pet trackers could

help locate loose horses

▲EXCUSES

A riderdeterminedtobeon

timefora lessonforonce

waspreparedwellahead

ofschedule—onlyforher

lorrynottostart.Notonly

wasthisirritatingbecause

ofthemissedlesson,butno

onewilleverbelieveshewas

actuallygoingtobe on time.

It’sa hardlife.

▲SLIPPINGANDSLIDING

Pyecombe’sAugustshow

wasback,andwithit the

famouswatery“Slip‘N’

Slide”forriders.Wasthat

PhillipMillersportingan

elephantmask?Andshow

SupremeMagnificenceCaz

Lightina sumosuit?Anyone

whowenttotheGCTinstead

missedout,clearly.

▲BUSKING

A manseenbuskingtoraise

moneyforanengagement

ringdidsowhilewearing

a horse’sheadmask.Fair

enough,butwhatwashe

playing,a rapbyNeigh-Z?

OrmaybeRedRed Rum?

(Groan, Ed)

WORLDCHAMPIONS

TheIrishfederation

statedthatitsEuropean

Championshipseventing

squadfeatured“Olympians

andworldchampions”.

Bearinginmindtherehas

neverbeenanIrisheventing

worldchampion,we’re

flummoxed.Unlesstheycan

seethefuture,inwhichcase

getbettingfor2022...

COURSE-DESIGNERS

Somenicknamesgivento

course-buildersreachmine

ears,inparticular,Killer

Cole,theSuffolkSlayerand

theEssexExecutioner.Who

couldtheybereferringto,

onewonders?Andif that’s

jumpingandworkinghunter

courses,wemight stick to

dressage...

TV

Lotsofangrypeoplewho,

whilewatchinga show’s

live-stream,wereapparently

treatedtomoreviewsof

thecrowdthanthehorses...

especiallypeopletuckingin.

Wasthecameramanon a

diet, one wonders?

GOODWEEK

BAD WEEK

Andfinally... a truehero

NOTallheroeswearcapes—

somewearbodyprotectors.

JennyGaskellprovedthisat

FrickleyParkHorseTrialson 28

July,whenshesavedthelifeofa

spectatorwhocollapsedwitha

suspectedheartattack.

Jenny,whowaswarming

upfortheintermediatenovice

showjumping,jumpedoffher

horseMycathllyZilandoImage

toadministerCPRuntilevent

medics arrived on the scene.

Oncethespectatorwasin

goodhands,sheremountedand

wentontojumpdoubleclear,

finishingin13thplace.

“I’msoproudofmyhorse,”

shetoldH&H.“Iworkfor

HumbersideFire& Rescueand

I’veusedfirstaid,butdidn’t

expectit tobeanythinglikethat.

“Butyourtrainingcomes

backandyoujustdoit.Itmakes

youfeelproudthatyou’ve been

able to help.”EJ

It is believed

thetrackers

couldbenefit

all riders