NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE 18 November
catherine.austen@futurenet.com
@cfausten123
North Staffordshire, Staffs
IT has long been suspected that great horsemen have a streak of madness in them and the latest Retraining of Racehorses (RoR) Racing to Hunting Challenge final, hosted by the North Staffordshire, proved it. The winner was sporting a broken foot and the runnerup a broken collarbone, but both skipped around the hedges and rails without the slightest hesitation.
The four finalists – two had to pull out at the last moment – made a smart picture in their green RoR saddlecloths against the mellow red brick of the farmyard where we met, hosted by senior master Ann Hartley. She, too, was defying injury, not long back in the saddle after breaking her knee in an innocuous but nasty accident at the end of last season.
“I dropped my phone after taking pictures of a trespassing dog walker,” she explained. “When I got on a bank to get back on, my horse joined me on the bank and my foot slipped.”
Returning to her family farm
