EVENT rider Oliver Townend is on the move. He has been based at Lubenham near Market Harborough for the past four years but has always wanted to buy a place of his own.
Now he has realised his lifetime's ambition rather earlier than expected and has bought a farm in Shropshire where he will shortly be moving, along with his parents and around 30 horses.
Oliver, who celebrates his 26th birthday on November 15, ha
s had a successful year and has sold a number of horses, including most recently ODT Land Vision which has gone to Mark Todd.
Oliver Townend is probably the busiest event rider in the country and always competes the maximum number of horses he is allowed at an event. At a one day event this can mean competing on five horses. He has been placed well on many occasions but this year he won his first three day event, the two star Houghton International, riding Water View owned by Yorkshire's Andrew Cawthray. He won the British Intermediate Championship for the second year running at the Gatcombe Festival riding Land Vision and was on the reserve list for this summer's Olympics with Flint Curtis.
Born in Huddersfield, he inherited his love of horses from his parents. His mother Eve rode side saddle at county level and his father Alan competed successfully in three-day eventing including at Burghley.
His father works with Oliver producing young horses.
He is taking a break from competing until the end of the month when he will be taking part in the new Express Eventing competition in Cardiff which is being billed as an equestrian version of cricket's Twenty20.
On November 12 he will be giving a demonstration at Ledston Equine Centre in aid of the Mark Davies Injured Riders Fund. He will also be a guest at a ball in aid of the charity to be held at Rudding Park on November 14.
Tickets for the Ledston demonstration are £25 and £15 for under 16s. For tickets call 07825 156970 or 0113 2186470.
National Hunt jockey Andrew Thornton recently returned to his roots to talk about his racing career.
Over 70 racing fans from the Hurworth Pony Club gathered at the Hambleton Room at Thirsk Racecourse for a three-course meal, followed by a talk by Andrew.
A former member of the Hurworth Pony Club, Andrew showed video clips and slides of his career illustrating some of the highs and lows of being a top jump jockey.
The evening ended with a charity auction in aid of the Great North Air Ambulance. A total of £500 was raised and members of the pony club later presented the charity with a cheque.
Liz Moore, District Commisoner of Hurthworth Hunt Pony Club, said: "Everyone had a fantastic evening and it was lovely to hear just how far Andrew has come since the days he spent with us, although one thing that hasn't changed is his stickability!
"We were delighted that he was able to help us raise money for such a good cause."
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