Breaking the mould
Racing cob
“INCREDIBLY FAST FOR A SHORT-LEGGED PONY”
A RACING cob might sound like a bit of an oxymoron but – as Rebecca Harvie points out – “cobs can be very fast over a short distance, but they run out of steam very quickly”. The cob in question here is Arthur (pictured, main image), a 14.1hh cob who belonged to her son, Oscar. Rebecca was looking for a safe pony that Oscar could hunt and came across Arthur on Facebook.
“They clicked from day one,” she says. “Arthur hadn’t done a lot of hunting, but he just gave Oscar so much fun.”
She suggested to Oscar that it might be fun to take Arthur to do some of the Pony Club racing, and together they competed at Ascot, Lingfield and Wincanton, as well as at Parham point-to-point.
“The first race he did was Wincanton which was for ponies and children who had never raced before. He did quite well – fourth out of eight.”
After that, things stepped up a notch.
“At Lingfield and Ascot, Arthur came last. I thought, ‘Oh no,’ but both times Oscar came back with a massive smile on his face and said: ‘That was the best
