New horsepower for a rising British star, and other things the horseworld is talking about

1. New horsepower for a rising star

Bubby Upton, 22, who made her five-star debut at Pau in 2021 with Cola and Cannavaro, is “pinching herself” after adding three new established advanced horses to her string. Bubby has an exciting year ahead with plans to make her Badminton debut in May with Cola – but that’s only after she completes her sports management dissertation, due the week before the Gloucestershire event.

Find out more about the reigning under-25 national champion’s new horses

2. What is “touching”?

Following former Olympic champion showjumper Ludger Beerbaum’s statement on accusations made about his training methods, H&H has sought clarification from the German equestrian federation on the practice called “touching” – Touchieren in German.

This week Ludger announced he intended to take legal action after welfare-related accusations were made against him in a programme shown by TV broadcaster RTL. The report included footage of a rider labelled “Ludger Beerbaum”, allegedly showing what the report described as the practice of “parallel bars” or “bars”, similar to rapping, which is illegal in Germany and under FEI rules. Ludger said that the video had “nothing to do with parallel bars”; he said it was “touching”, which is allowed under German rules.

Find out more about touching and what the rules are

2. Winter sunshine

Equestrians in the UK can usually be heard despairing in January with the cold and mud feeling never-ending. While we haven’t packed away our warm layers just yet, this week’s sunshine has us optimistically looking ahead to spring. It’s exciting to start planning the competition season ahead and dreaming of warm hacks, but with only two weeks left of January it’s also time to start thinking about those essential jobs that need tackling, such as your horse’s final clip, before winter is out.

Read our guide on what jobs you need to do before the end of January

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