‘We bought him to go novice… now we’re thinking about five-star’ – Bramham success for a teenager on the rise

A long-term partnership is always special in equestrianism, and when a rider joins up with their first horse at 12 years old and then takes that horse to their debut four-star at 17, it’s a serious thrill. That’s the story of Jago Jackson and Glynndale Prometheus, who recently finished sixth in the under-25 championship at Defender Bramham Horse Trials.

“We have grown and learnt together and it’s been such a fun journey. No one else has ever done an event on him,” says Jago. “Now I can ride him more professionally, but having him from when I was 12, he had to work it out himself and help get us out of sticky situations if I mucked up.”

Jago Jackson was riding a Connemara pony when he went for a lesson with his Pony Club district commissioner, saw the five-year-old Glynndale Prometheus and “fell in love with him”, which led to the Jacksons purchasing the horse.

The pair have moved up the levels together, finishing seventh in the young rider CCI3*-S at Cornbury and eighth in their first CCI3*-L at Ballindenisk last season.

“He is very opinionated and tells you exactly what he wants – you always know what he’s thinking. His brain makes him good. He’s very trainable and loves cross-country. He looks for the flags and makes my job easy there,” says Jago, who credits the late Caroline Moore for mentoring him in the sport.

“Because he’s not the biggest mover or jumper, I didn’t go down the youth teams route with him. Caroline encouraged us to step up once we had developed at a level. We bought him to go round a novice and never thought he’d do something like Bramham, but every time we go up a level he makes it feel easy. At Bramham, I felt he had more, so we could go up to five-star in the future.”

How Bramham played out for Jago Jackson

Jago always had the CCI4*-S at Bramham this year in his sights after his successful CCI3*-L run last autumn and it was fortuitous for him that the under-25 championship moved into this class.

The pair started their week with 36.3 in the dressage.

Jago says: “Dressage has always been his trickiest bit and I work closely with Amy Woodhead, who has been amazing. She focuses so much on making the horses’ bodies feel good and loose and working on relaxation. Things like flying changes that he doesn’t find too hard, he learns quickly. I was super happy with my test and I think I can chop quite a few more marks off.”

They followed up with two down in the showjumping, a phase Jago describes as a “a work in progress”.

“He’s economical in his jump, skimming over the top and not giving the fences any room, so I have to be on perfect stride,” says Jago. “I think he does have a clear round in him at that level and I’ve been working with Chris Bartle, who has given me some really good pointers.

“Mum and I were actually looking up how many poles I could have down without being eliminated before our first advanced at Thoresby and we went clear!”

The cross-county was the pair’s highlight and they finished clear inside the time for eventual 23rd overall and sixth in the under-25 division.

“Cross-country is the favourite bit for both of us and we know each other inside out,” Jago says. “When we come into a combination, he’s almost too on his line – he looks for the flags before he’s even jumped the first part and if it’s a curving distance, he wants to cut it off, so I have to tell him to be patient and not be so keen.”

The pair will now aim for a four-star long at the end of the season, with a view to doing the four-star long class at Bramham next year and then a five-star debut Pau Horse Trials at the end of 2026.

“That would be pretty cool at 18!” says Jago.

Jago Jackson: junior squad hopes

Jago is based in Buckinghamshire. He has four horses to ride from his parents Lucy and Simon’s family farm and is doing an apprenticeship – “to give me a qualification in case riding doesn’t work out”. He benefits from support from The Howden Way and the Performance Mentoring Programme, which continues Caroline Moore’s work with young event riders.

He also works for five-star rider Kylie Roddy four days a week and rides a horse bred by her, Kinda Brunette, who is out of Georgie Dalton’s (nee Davies) young rider team gold medallist and senior European Championship horse Fachoudette.

“Kylie has been really helpful since we lost Caroline, she’s the one I can go to and ask things,” says Jago.

Jago Jackson has been long-listed for the junior European Championships with Barrington Highlight K, a horse who Johnny Hornby offered him the ride on at Cornbury last year.

“It’s cool to have a horse that can get low dressage scores,” says Jago. “He has given me experience of doing the other phases under pressure, which I never had before as I’ve always had young horses stepping up the levels and not getting the dressage marks they can when they get older.”

The junior squad will be chosen after the final trial at Burgham (24-27 July) and Jago is saving and seeking sponsorship to raise the £5,500 for the trip if he’s selected.

“I am aware of how much Mum and Dad spend on our riding, it’s all very expensive, so I wanted to set myself a goal to see if I could find it myself and not put my parents under pressure to get me there,” he says.

• To stay up to date with all the breaking news from major shows throughout 2025, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website

You may also be interested in: