HorseScout.com has proven to be the marketplace of choice for advertising top-class event horses for sale and is used daily by world-class, professional event riders, and amateur riders alike. Now in 2020, HorseScoutGroup.com has evolved to become the largest equestrian distribution channel in the world exceeding 10.5 million users! The Horse Scout marketplace is a globally respected business platform for all things equestrian: riders, grooms, coaches, breeders, industry professionals, and horsey enthusiasts.
HorseScout.com has a range of key features which makes the platform the obvious choice to market top quality horses, these include:
Automatic bloodline connections.
Extensive search functionality.
Networking tools.
A global equestrian marketing agency leveraging social media platforms, email campaigns, and good old fashioned word of mouth through the world’s best international agents.
Horse finder service allowing clients early access to horses that meet their search criteria.
A recent success story..
“Heartbroken to say goodbye to RHS Lady Willoughby but so excited to follow her progress in the USA. Couldn’t wish for a better home for her! Thank you to Horse Scout for matching the client!”
Laura Monkman,
Affiliated British Eventing rider, July 2020.
An equestrian marketing platform designed for riders by riders
Founder and CEO of the Horse Scout Group, Lucienne Elms is a competitive 4* event rider herself with 18 years of experience in the professional equestrian industry. This knowledge of the needs and demands for riders has enabled HorseScout.com to become the leading marketplace for equestrian business.
“I am still in contact with buyers and sellers daily myself, for some of the larger international sales, I love working with clients sourcing their perfect horse in my downtime from the other Horse Scout business demands.“
Billy Alberto, 16.3hh, lightweight bay 8 year old gelding bred by The Billy Stud, sire Tangelo van de Zuuthoeve. Oozes quality.
Berty is a stunning-looking and genuine bold, careful horse. He is loving and fun on the yard as well as having all the necessary aptitudes across all three phases of eventing. He has three super paces and is established across all of them.
This young mare is a seriously exciting prospect for the future as not only does she have the movement and a faultless jumping technique, she is as brave as they come and ready to take on the world.
Mature and wise beyond her years, La Chunga stepped up to Novice & Intermediate level effortlessly showing so much scope and boldness across country yet so naturally athletic and careful show jumping.
Imposant ‘Impy’ is a 17.1hh bay KWPN 7 year old gelding. He is the sweetest and kindest horse on the yard as well as being extremely talented across all three phases of eventing.
Can be viewed with current rider, Emily King at her base in North Wales. More photos and videos available on request.
“We use HorseScout.com to source our quality young stock from Europe”.
Waylon Roberts,
Canadian 5* Event Rider
“I have had a lot of success selling our horses through Horse Scout both in the UK and abroad, gaining access to an impressive global network. Horse Scout attracts both the amateur as well as the professional rider, with a huge database of clients it covers all aspects of connecting the equestrian community. I couldn’t recommend their services more highly.”
Jodie Amos
GB 5* Event Rider
“We use HorseScout.com to advertise our top event horses for sale to attract a quality, competition minded audience.”
Badminton Horse Trials has been a highlight in most equestrians’ calendars since its original conception in 1949, where it was proclaimed ‘the most important horse event in Great Britain’. Since then it has certainly lived up to expectations. The winners have become legends, the fences are now iconic, and lifting the trophy has been the lifelong dream of those riders that strive to qualify each year.
Now in what would have been its 71st year, the world’s most famous horse trials have been cancelled for only the sixth time in its entire history due to the Coronavirus outbreak. Equestrians’ dreams of attending this year whether it be to compete or just to watch, eat great food, shop till they drop and soak in the atmosphere, have been shattered. Instead of moping around and sulking that we are unable to go, the team at Horse Scout have instead decided to have a look back at the shows history to bring you a few interesting facts and some of its greatest moments of the past seven decades. After all, it’s only another 365 days until the 2021 trials, so we may as well start looking forward to it!
Age is just a number
Unlike most other sporting events, the equestrian sport holds no bias over age or sex. The pinnacle of a rider’s career could come at any time whether they are an eventing veteran or a fresh young talent, and victory at Badminton Horse Trials would arguably be a career highlight for any professional rider. The youngest competitor to win Badminton was Richard Walker, aged 18 and 247 days, when he rode Pasha to win in 1969. Whereas the oldest rider to lift the trophy is Mark Todd aged 55 in 2011. With an impressive 37 years between these two champions, there is clearly no winning formula when it comes to youth over experience.
The youngest horse to have ever won at Badminton, believe it or not, was five-year-old, Golden Willow, ridden by John Shedden. The pair rode to victory in the very first trials in 1949. Nowadays, seven is the minimum age for all competing horses. Even that seems like a remarkably short amount of time to produce something as well tuned and fearless to take on the challenge. Most horses that compete nowadays are rarely under ten years of age, which makes this even more of an incredible feat on a horse with half the experience. The horse was very quirky and hot, so much so that Shedden would tie a piece of string from the saddle to his belt in the hope that if he fell off, he might still have some control of the horse!
The oldest horse to win Badminton is ‘Nereo’, who won the event in 2017 with Andrew Nicholson at the age of 17. Previously, the oldest horse was the 16-year-old Horton Point, ridden by Mark Todd 33 years earlier in 1994.
Size doesn’t matter
The smallest horses to win at Badminton were Our Solo (Bill Roycroft in 1960) and Our Nobby (Jane Bullen in 1968). Both stood at a meagre 15hh.
The biggest horses to take the Badminton title have been Durlas Eile (Major E.A. Boylan in 1965), Columbus (Captain Mark Phillips in 1974), Custom Made (David O’Connor in 1997) and Word Perfect II, (Chris Bartle in 1998). All were 17hh.
The Horses
There have been countless outstanding horses that have ran in the Badminton Horse Trials over the years, from the small and mighty to the giant powerhouses. Some of which have claimed their own records. Four horses hold the joint record for the most completions of Badminton, Ballycotton with Andrew Harris from 1990-1995 and with Sarah Longshaw in 1997, Comanche with James Robinson, 2003-2006 and 2009-2011, Lenamore with Caroline Powell 2005-2011, and Over To You with Jeanette Brakewell in 1998, 1999 and 2003-2007.
Chilli Morning took the title in 2015 with his Rider William Fox-Pitt, and he remains the only stallion in the history of Badminton Horse Trials to win the event.
What is it worth?
The prize money for the first event in 1949 was £150 to the winner and the prize fund came to a total of about £500. Since then, the interest in the sport has grown exponentially. Along with its rise to fame thanks to some outstanding sponsorship, the prize fund for the notorious event had made a dramatic increase. A special mention should go to Mitsubishi Motors for its record breaking 28-year reign, whose final year was 2019. Last year, Piggy French took home an astonishing £100,000 for first place. In doing so, she denied Oliver Townend the win and stalled his hopes of becoming only the third person ever to win eventing’s £270,000 Rolex Grand Slam (a highly coveted prize for winning the 5* at Kentucky, Badminton and Burley within the same year).
But is it really the prize money that draws these riders to tackle the infamous cross-country course? Personally, I’m not sure there is an amount in the world that could convince me to aim any horse at the Vicarage Vee, or take the leap into the lake, but these competitors are cut from a different cloth. Winning Badminton to them is much more than a substantial pay day, it is the accomplishment of being victorious at the pinnacle of the world’s 3-Day-Event calendar. Realising the fame and glory that comes with mastering the ultimate test of stamina, power, obedience, and accuracy, and cementing their names in the history books.
The Greats
Ian Stark – In 1988, Stark became the first, and to date, the only rider to claim both first and second prize in the same year. He won on Sir Wattie and came second on Glenburnie. Having led on both horses after the cross-country phase, he was so busy giving interviews that he missed the course walk for the show jumping and had to rely on a description given by his trainer, Dick Stillwell. ‘Typical Stark’ proclaimed the commentator, but Ian’s famous one-two remains an event record and has yet to be beaten.
Lucinda Green – The current record holder for the most wins at Badminton. Lucinda has won the horse trials on six separate occasions. She won in 1973 on Be Fair, in 1976 with Wide Awake, 1977 on George, 1979 aboard Kildare, 1983 on Regal Realm, and in 1984 riding Beagle Bay. The two riders who have come closest to her record to date is Captain Mark Phillips and Mark Todd both with four wins. With both riders now retired from sport it is uncertain who will be the rider to challenge her record, could Pippa Funnell be the one to claim the title having three wins to date and a quality string of horses in her yard? Regardless, Lucinda Green’s record is unlikely to be broken any time soon.
Pippa Funnell – Funnell’s first win at Badminton came in 2002 aboard the legendary gelding Supreme Rock. The combination had previously landed two individual European titles in Luhmuhlen in 1999 and in Pau in 2001 and a team silver medal at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, so were clearly in great form and a favourite to win at Badminton. The same horse and rider combination claimed victory for a consecutive year (2003), the success of which, along with that of her other ride Primmore’s Pride, paved the way to Pippa becoming the first rider, and one of only two riders to have ever claimed the coveted Rolex Grand Slam for winning at Kentucky, Badminton and Burley in the same year.
Sir Mark Todd – In 1980, Mark Todd, a then dairy farmer from New Zealand, attempted his first ever Badminton Horse Trials, to claim victory aboard Southern Comfort III. His win came as such a shock that a newspaper cartoon pictured The Duke of Edinburgh saying, ‘Mark who?’ The now seven-time Olympian, proved his worth on countless occasions since. He took his second Badminton victory in 1994 riding Horton Point, a horse that he had never ridden before due to the owner, Lynne Bevan breaking her collar bone at Bicton the weekend before. He is also well remembered for riding two-thirds of the cross-country course in 1995, on Bertie Blunt with only one stirrup. Sadly, the horse was eliminated at the final horse inspection the following day. Un-deterred, the pair came back the following year to win the Badminton title, Mark’s third victory. He retired from eventing in 2000 after taking individual bronze at the Sydney Olympics. In 2008, Todd completed arguably equestrian sport’s greatest career comeback to win the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials for the fourth time aboard NZB Land Vision. Sir Mark is now one of New Zealand’s most celebrated sportsmen and was voted rider of the 20th century by the FEI.
Andrew Nicholson – Another New Zealand rider and prodigy of Sir Mark Todd, Andrew Nicholson holds the event record for most completions at Badminton since his first completion in 1984. However, victory here had always seemed to elude the six-time Olympian until 2017 on his 37th attempt. He was riding the 17-year-old Nereo, a horse that he had since a four-year-old. His victory here came only 18 months after a fall at Gatcombe where he suffered a severe neck injury that had left him nearly paralysed.
“The feeling of winning here is different to Burghley and I think after waiting so long for it, and a few times to be so near and not make it, it’s just an unbelievable feeling.”
The Horse Scout team catches up with Ben Maher at the Longines Global Champions Playoffs in Prague this weekend.
Ben Maher has had a cracking season in the Longines Global Champions Series. After winning three Grand Prix, he was crowned as the overall winner of the LGCT after winning Rome in September. His horse, Explosion W is just nine years old. The seemingly unstoppable pair went on to Doha, the final leg of the Series to win both the Grand Prix and captain his team- the London Knights to another victory in the Longines Global Champions League.
The Global Champions League has really taken off. As team Manager of the London Knight’s, what has been the strategy behind your success for most of the season?
A lot of thought and planning goes into it. We will have a meeting in January to find out what horses everyone has available and work out where to aim those horses and what everyone’s commitments are. So it’s a 90% plan for the first half of the season. There’s a text group and most of the time it stays serious but the guys sometimes fool around a bit. We have a very strong team spirit.
This year I’ve been lucky, there has been a very strong team bond and they have all taken it very seriously and that’s why we’ve managed to be so successful.
What is the significance of the Global Champions Series to the sport and how has it changed it?
It has been great for the sport. We ride every weekend for 100,000 euros to the winner. It was only five years ago that we were riding for 20,000 and thought that was a big weekend. It’s pushed the level of prize money monumentally. I never thought I would see prize money come to our sport this fast.
With that, the horse values have increased. It’s brought more sponsors in and hopefully, there will be TV right from big broadcasters. Maybe, in the end, we can get it back on mainstream TV because it is a great sport. There are lots of kids who have ponies or dream of having ponies. They have a connection with what we do. Like people who play tennis at the weekend, love watching Andy Murray. I Hope that within my career it can come back to what it was because I really believe it’s a great sport to watch.
The GCT and the GCL are continually trying to improve and grow the sport. It’s brought some colour to the sport. We’ve been very lucky to ride in these unique venues and now fans can actually follow a team and we have team colours to make it stand out. Slowly it’s building momentum and I really think that in ten years time, it will be huge.
Does the attractive prize fund detract you from competing at other significant competitions and making team appearance?
Obviously, the prize money is increasingly growing in the GCT but it’s not growing comparatively at other competitions. I’m still committed to my country and supportive of the Nations Cup Series and the Championships. My decision not to be available for Championships was based on the fact I have a younger team of horses and Championships are a lot harder on a horse than one Grand Prix on a Global Champions Tour so it was in the best interests for my horses’ welfare.
We still have not qualified for the Tokyo Olympics, so you think there is a chance we may not get there?
We have two chances next year at Rotterdam in the European Championships and then Barcelona for the Nations Cup Final and I will do my best to make that happen.
I will never forget riding for my life in Aachen to qualify for the Rio Olympics. It was harder getting to Rio than it was in Rio and I never want to get to that point again. It’s a sport where we are always moving, some people who may not have helped to qualify still make it on to an Olympic team because they have the right horse at the right time and you have to have that in consideration. I also have owners that own my horses and it’s not always my decision.
How do you think it will grow the sport?
The GCT and GCL, runs at a slightly higher pace so that keeps the interest. Rather than 40 horses with riders all dressed the same, I agree it can be like watching paint dry- like Formula 1. Where the sport is interesting is looking at the tactics, the training and what goes on behind the scenes before those 60 seconds we spend in the ring. I think this is how we can really draw the audience into what we do and then they can bond with the horses as we do ourselves.
It looks like an incredible life from the outside but what is the reality?
I’m incredibly lucky to do the sport that I love and enjoy. But I’ve been on the road 50 weeks this year. I barely know what home is. I’ve also had the best season of my career and I wouldn’t change it for the world. We lose more often than we win and I just try to enjoy it as much as I can.
Whilst you are now winning big, the overheads must be enormous?
The expenses are huge. It’s travel for both horse and rider and we are living in hotels most of the time. There are 40 horses within our team with 20 members of staff, planes, trucks. The reality is that the prize money a horse can win now and the value of the horses, it’s now in keeping with what it costs to run a horse.
With these horses, there is no expense spared. They are treated like high-level athletes. They are better looked after than I am. They live in the Four Seasons hotel lifestyle every single day. They have physios, specialist care and in many cases have one groom per horse. They are the athlete and that is how we take care of them. Thankfully the sport has now developed enough to help make it financially viable for investors and owners to be part of the sport
Highlight of your career
Competing at the Olympic Games in London where we won team gold. It’s a moment that won’t be repeated in my lifetime at a home game. I would like to go to another Olympics and the dream is to win both a team and an individual gold medal. A double gold would be the ultimate!
Do you think we could win a medal at the next Olympics?
I think anything is possible. This year I didn’t think it would be possible to win the Global Champions Tour Final on two young horses.
What do you think of the state of British showjumping at the moment?
We have a lot of good young riders in the UK but I don’t think it’s a sport where riding is just enough anymore. I think you have to be a very rounded person and you have to be able to communicate with sponsors, owners. I think it’s looking bright, I believe We are just a few years off being very strong. Myself and Scott have had a very good year and I hope we can be a part of that and lead the way for young riders like Emily Moffit, Jack Whitaker, and Harry Charles but we don’t have a lot of time before the next Olympics so we need to accelerate and get things moving quickly.
