‘We all miss him so much’: five-star horse turned schoolmaster remembered for his love of the job

A young eventer has paid tribute to her former ride Up Up And Away and said “it was like he was with us” when she completed her first advanced with her mare two weeks ago.

Cameron and Mary Crawford’s 19-year-old gelding, the former five-star ride of Caroline Powell and schoolmaster for 20-year-old Grace Botterell, died at home this spring, and continues to be remembered fondly.

Up Up And Away was produced by Caroline from a young horse through to five-star, and completed Pau Horse Trials in 2017 and Badminton in 2018, having jumped clear across country at both. Russell, as he was known at home, stepped down from the top level in 2022 and Grace, then 17, took over the reins.

“My mum used to teach Cameron’s daughter and so that’s how it came about. My mum would tell me about Russell when I was younger, so it’s pretty special that I ended up getting to ride him,” Grace told H&H.

“The plan had just been to do some novices on him and have a play, but we had so much fun together and he was enjoying it so we ended up stepping him back up. I learned so much from him, he was so much fun, especially in the cross-country – he loved it. Caroline had done an amazing job, as she does with all of her horses, and he was an amazing horse for me to learn from.”

Grace completed her first advanced with Russell at Aston-Le-Walls last July.

“I was 19 and it was really exciting. It was something I’d always had in the back of my head but I never really knew whether we would do it. He’d been going really well and we thought I may as well give it a shot, and we finished sixth which was really special,” said Grace.

“In the training leading up to it we’d been practising the changes on the flat, and jumping bigger tracks, and it was like he knew what he was getting ready for. He lit up.”

Grace returned to Aston-le-Walls on 18 July with her mare Diamond Pippin.

“It was our first advanced together, a year on from when I did it there with Russell and she was sixth too. It was pretty special, it was like he was with us,” said Grace.

“Pip was his travel buddy and they went to most events together.”

Grace said “we all miss him so much”.

“Just seeing his head over the stable door every morning, and him being the cheeky little character that he was. He was always jumping out of the field, he was always a character,” she said.

“I’ll be forever grateful to Cameron and Mary for giving me the opportunity with him.”

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