I was not aware of the high incidence of colic but found some numbers quoted on the internet of 10% of all horses annually will get colic and it is the biggest cause of horse death.

Given these statistics, I think I have been very lucky to not have a known problem with colic among my horses for the 40 years I have looked after them and am only aware of a few cases of my friends horses. However I understand that the symptoms for mild colic can pass with a few hours so they may have had this and I’ve just not realised. I would advise anyone looking after horses to read up on the causes of colic,  to try to prevent this, and its symptoms, as the best chance of recovery is if the colic is treated at an early stage.

Another experienced lady rider was killed recently in an eventing competition in Ireland and this was about a month after an American male rider was seriously injured eventing. I am very sorry for Karen Rodgers family and hope that Darren Chiacchia makes a full and speedy recovery.

The statistics are that nine riders were killed in competition in 2007 and twelve in the last 12 months. In my view this is far far too many and this problem has been allowed to continue for far too long. I would like to think this number could be reduced to zero but don’t think the sport can realistically be made totally safe. It was also reported that a common theme does appear to be rotational falls.

Stroller was a famous pony who successfully competed in showjumping events in the UK and Europe at major international level in the late 60s. I decided to look up his history after a pony Theodore O’Connor recently won awards for 2007 after several international eventing successes.

Stroller was a pretty bay pony with a white star. His breeding was a mix of Irish Sport Horse (Thoroughbred crossed with an Irish Draft) and a Connemara. He was ridden and owned by Marion Mould. I’m unsure of his early history but his major successes were in his late teens.

They won the Individual Silver Medal at the 1968 Olympics and they produced one of only two clear rounds in the Individual Championship. He is the only pony to have ever competed at the Olympic Showjumping events. They won the 1967 Hickstead Derby and is the only pony to have ever won this event. He won the 1970 Hamburg Derby at the age of 20. They won 61 international competitions across Europe and is the only pony to have consistently been successful at such a level. He died aged 36 after 15 years of retirement.

The weather is starting to warm up but you can always tell the start of the spring season from the horse racing calendar. The Grand National, one of the biggest UK steeplechasing races of the year, was held last weekend. The first big flat-racing event in the UK, the Lincoln Handicap, took place the week before. Both mark the end of winter and the beginning of spring for me.

I couldn’t help but notice the story about a horse visiting an ailing owner in a Hawaii hospital. Apparently a friend thought it would help his ill friend to have a hospital visit from his favourite horse. Cats and dogs are prohibited from visits but I don’t think anyone had thought to include horses in such a ban. They managed to make it to the second floor before they were turned back. If that wasn’t bad enough, the friend had taken the wrong horse.