‘A bit of a journey’: rider who had two brain surgeries excels at HOYS – with one-eyed horse who was delighted to be back

A rider who jumped double clear at Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) after two brain surgeries, on a horse who had had his eye removed and two years out of work, said she could not put into words how it felt.

Coach Stacey Cook and her own Gigant finished fourth in the NAF Five Star Bronze League Championship, which was only the 19-year-old gelding’s ninth class this year – and since 2023.

“He’s 1,000% a winner in my eyes, and I think he thought he’d won too,” she said.

Stacey bought “Griff” as a five-year-old and has “done everything with him”. They have jumped internationally and won up to 1.25m level, including the HOYS silver league final in 2019.

“Then he had to have his right eye removed,” Stacey said. “He had recurrent uveitis, and had a really bad flare that we couldn’t get under control. But actually, having the eye removed was the best thing for him, and luckily it was only in that eye.”

Stacey took Griff’s return to the ring very slowly to ensure he was comfortable and happy, but in 2020, she was diagnosed with a pituitary cyst, a benign growth in the brain.

“I was starting to get double vision, and they did tests and MRIs and found the cyst was putting pressure on my optic nerve,” she said.

“I had to have two operations, as after the first one, I had a spinal fluid leak so they had to go back in. It was horrible, and the recovery was a bit slow, but they keep checking me so hopefully it’s all OK.”

Stacey joked that she and her beloved Griff “go really well together” as she has some peripheral damage to one eye.

“And it’s my right one too, so we match!” she said.

“I had 11 months after the operation when I wasn’t allowed to drive and I’m a freelance coach so it was a massive hit,” she added. “Plus the headaches after the surgery were really bad so I was on morphine for ages. It wasn’t a pleasant time! But hopefully it’s all well now.”

Stacey also gave birth to her second daughter in late 2023, so when she and Griff went to a show this April, it was a year and 11 months since he had been in the ring.

“He’s jumped nine classes this year and been double clear in all of them, including HOYS,” she said. “I didn’t expect anything this year, not after two years out, I didn’t think we’d make it through the direct qualifier, let alone to HOYS, I just thought we could have a go. Then he won the direct qualifier, and qualified at the semi-final.”

Stacey bought Griff unbacked, attracted to his “really good attitude to life”.

“He’s a big personality and just a really lovely boy,” she said. “He really loves a big atmosphere as he likes to show off and he definitely knew we were back at HOYS. You wouldn’t think they’d remember but when they opened the curtains, he cantered through like ‘I’m back’! The feeling he gives me – I can’t explain it. He loves it.

“The whole day was really emotional and it felt like we’d won it. The whole family was in tears; it was really lovely. It’s been a bit of a journey.”

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