In partnership with Petplan Equine
A rescued tricolour gelding once bought for £250 and described by his rider as “the underdog” is being aimed at the Petplan Equine Novice Area Festivals. Queensdown Safari (Leo) was originally found in a field of around 200 horses near Reading by his owner Victoria Blanchard and the horse was destined for slaughter. Last year, he qualified for the Petplan Equine Area Festivals with an impressive 71.47%.
The horse was backed as a three-year-old before going to a Pony Club home and found his way to current rider Felicity Carter after she saw him while teaching at Victoria’s yard.
After doing some showing with Victoria, she planned to sell the horse until Felicity suggested trying some British Dressage with him. Two classes later, Leo was undefeated.
“I love being the underdog; when I bring Leo out of the box people think he’s just a coloured cob and then they see him in the ring,” said Felicity, a mother-of-three and a full-time counsellor who also piloted Leo to fourth place in the prelim and third in the novice at the Summer Area Festival held at Bicton Arena last weekend (13-14 August).
“On paper, a non-dressage horse shouldn’t set you back. Get out there and enjoy yourself; go and do your thing with the horse that you’ve got. As long as you love it, keep going!”
‘It was a complete shock’
Felicity had qualified a different horse for Petplan Equine Area Festivals two years in a row, but injury meant they missed out on a championship outing both times. After back-to-back victories while chasing qualifying points, the pair headed to Speedgate in Kent for the Area Festival.
Confessing that she had “no expectations with scores of high to mid-sixties” — Felicity was even booked to work that afternoon — the rider was “shocked” to finish second on 71.47%.
“I smiled down the whole centre line; it was horrendous weather, but Leo was so focussed and really pulled it out of the bag,” said Felicity. “On my way home my friend messaged me saying, “have you seen your score?” I quickly looked at it and it was a complete shock.”
The Area Festival Championships was only Leo’s fourth outing and Felicity described the whole experience as being “incredible and so overwhelming, but he was amazing — it was more about the experience rather than the result”.
The duo were subsequently picked for the inter-regional senior team at Bishop Burton, where they came seventh in the prelim.
“For a little [horse], he’s fantastic and proves himself every time. He’s got such a good attitude and is always on point, he never says no,” added Felicity. “Leo can be quite insular, but he takes it all in his stride, and although he’s nervous inside, he’s coped really well.”
‘He’s proof that you don’t need thousands of pounds’
As well as aiming for a ticket to the Petplan Equine Novice Area Festivals, Felicity hopes Leo will be chosen for a team for the Home International, and will focus on novices for the rest of the year.
“Victoria is so proud of him and loves being part of his journey — especially when you consider his start in life and where he could’ve ended up,” said Felicity. “It could’ve been so different for him.”
Victoria added: “Leo is proof that you don’t have to have thousands of pounds to do well at dressage. When he is walking round the showground, you can see people looking at him and thinking just put him back in the lorry and take him home — but then they see him move!
“Felicity and I are super proud of what we have achieved with a meat-market mongrel horse.”
