Stuart Tinney and Pluto Mio in Normandy
Yesterday Paul Tapner advised that his 16 year old grey Irish Sport Horse Kilronan had been put to sleep due to ongoing health issues. It is always sad when the sport loses horses still in their prime but luckily many enjoy a happy life for many years after their retirement
In 2016 several horses were retired from their careers as top level eventers and, although we will miss them on the circuit, it is a wonderful to know that they will be enjoying life in different ways in 2017. Some top horses we won’t be seeing on the circuit include Stuart Tinney’s Pluto Mio, Tim Lips’ Keyflow NOP, Dirk Schrade’s Hop and Skip, William Fox-Pitt’s Chilli Morning and Jock Paget’s Clifton Promise
Pluto Mio
Pluto Mio has served his country well. The big grey horse by the Australian jumping sire Daley K was the top placed Australian horse with his rider Stuart Tinney at the 2014 World Equestrian Games in Normandy, finishing in 11th place individually, and he was also part of the bronze medal winning team at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Bred by owner Jane Pittard, Pluto had a pretty easy life pottering around Jane’s paddocks and doing a bit of dressage until Ebony Tucker started riding him (Ebony has a knack of starting good horses, having also started Shane Rose’s Olympic horse, All Luck). Katja Weimann then took over the ride and Pluto started to show some real promise, winning at 1* and 2* level but he was also proving at times to be a bit of a handful.
Stuart Tinney took over the ride in 2011 and, even with this supremely talented jockey, it still wasn’t all plain sailing; it took three attempts at the CCI4* in Adelaide before Pluto completed the cross country but, when the chips were down on cross country in both Normandy and Rio, Pluto rose to the task magnificently
However Rio was his last competition and Pluto returned home to Tinney Eventing to enjoy his retirement at 19 years old of age while his sibling continues the family ties. Stuart’s daughter, Gemma, was the winner of the Young Rider Championship at the Australian International 3 Day Event in 2016 riding Pluto’s half sister, Annapurna
Tim and Keyflow N.O.P. win silver at their last event at Boekelo
Keyflow N.O.P.
Tim Lips’ Keyflow N.O.P. is another handsome grey we’ll miss seeing on the circuit this year. Now 20 years old, Keyflow had his last competition at Boekelo in October 2016, helping Tim to take silver in the Dutch National Championship there – a fitting end to a long career
Like Pluto Mio, Keyflow started his career in the Antipodes, ridden by Tim and Jonelle Price in New Zealand and he was on the plane when they headed to the UK to set their new base in 2005. In 2011 Tim Lips took over the ride from Germany’s Anna Siemer and together the pair went on to represent The Netherlands in Nations Cup competitions, two European Championships and the FEI World Equestrian Games in Normandy. They also finished seventh at Badminton in 2014
Keyflow is in competition retirement but will be kept in light work at home for a while as ‘if he gets bored in the field, he will just jump out!’
Dirk Schrade's Hop and Skip - a triple gold medal winner
Hop and Skip
Dirk Schrade’s Hop and Skip has quite a CV with team gold medals from the 2014 World Equestrian Games in Normandy and the European Championships at Malmo (2013) and Blair Castle (2015)
Hop and Skip was bought by owner Freya Rethmeier for Dirk from the Japanese rider Kenki Sato in late 2010 and the new combination soon made their mark with two good CCI4* runs at Luhmuhlen (6th) and Les Etoiles de Pau (11th) in 2011. Hop and Skip missed out on team selection for London 2012 due to an infection but added another good 4* run, finishing 11th at Burghley that year
“Considering that he is 17 already and does not owe us anything, together with his owner Freya Rethmeier we decided to retire him from the big sport of eventing. The CICO3* in Aachen this year has therefore been his last big show. Seeing him complete the cross in such great style was all we could have wished for and we are happy for this to have been his last big outing” said Dirk on his website
The only stallion to win at Badminton, Chilli Morning
Chilli Morning
The 17 year old Chilli Morning may be the one who will be working hardest in his retirement. The Badminton winning stallion is not be competing with William Fox-Pitt any more after his swansong in Rio but Chilli will be working hard at his new stud duties (nice work if you can get it!)
However, it's not all wooing the girls; Chilli too will be kept in light work by none other than British Olympian Gemma Tattersall who has several young up and coming Chilli stars
The first stallion to win at Badminton (2015), Chilli also won Individual Bronze and Team Silver at the 2014 World Equestrian Games in Normandy and Individual Bronze at the Malmo European Championships
Jock Paget and Clifton Promise
Clifton Promise
When Jock Paget came home to New Zealand in November 2016, two horses came with him; Angus Blue and Clifton Promise. But while Angus Blue will continue to be competed in New Zealand, Clifton Promise will be enjoying a life of retirement back in the country where he was born
The 2013 Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials Champion, Clifton Promise, was officially retired at the 2016 event in May. In the Badminton 2013 star-studded field, first-timers Jock and Promise were clearly the underdogs but they came through to win on their dressage score and the only combination to finish with a score in the 30’s.
Owned by Frances Stead, who bought Clifton Promise as a three-year-old in 2002 after he had been trialled as a racehorse, and ridden by Jock Paget since September 2007, Jock felt that Clifton Promise was not enjoying his work in the lead-up to Badminton 2016 and withdrew him saying that “It’s important we retire him a day early rather than a day late”
Clifton Promise is the only full thoroughbred to win Badminton Horse Trials this century and, whilst this was the highlight of his career, it was one of many successes in an exceptional eventing record that spanned 10 years from 2005 to 2015 and included 16 Three Day Events, with 11 of those at 4* level
"Promise is the ultimate gentlemen. He has changed my life,” said Jock at the time of Promise’s retirement “He will retire with me and I will take great pleasure in watching him in the paddock and riding him at home. It is a mark of a successful career to Frances, the team and I to be able to retire him happy and healthy.”
