Olympic hero Skelton quickly back in the saddle for Nations Cup tilt

He is a member of the five-strong squad that will be representing Great Britain in the final leg of the Nations Cup which is being held at Dublin Horse Show.

Skelton will be riding Beverley Widdowson’s 11-year-old grey gelding, Carlo 273.

At the Olympics he rode Beverley Widdowson’s other top horse, Big Star.

It was Britain’s first Olympic showjumping title for 60 years, and arrived after Skelton, Ben Maher, Scott Brash and Peter Charles beat Holland in a thrilling jump-off.

Skelton is now the second-highest ranked showjumper in the world. He has risen from fifth place to second in the FEI world rankings with Sweden’s Rolf-Goran Bengtsson still in the top spot.

Joining Skelton on the Nations Cup squad is Huddersfield’s John Whitaker, who was at Greenwich to cheer the British team on. He will be riding his wife Clare’s 10-year-old British-bred bay stallion Argento.

Other members of the squad are Tina Fletcher, riding Lady Pauline Harris’s 13-year-old gelding Hello Sailor; Will Funnell with Julie Slade’s chestnut gelding Billy Angelo and Robert Smith with his own bay mare, Voila.

The Dublin Horse Show runs from today until Sunday. The Nations Cup competition is on Friday with a Grand Prix being held on Sunday.

Germany, shock first-round casualties in the Olympic team competition, have already won the Nations Cup series following their success at Hickstead last month.

They are an unassailable 10 points clear of France, with Britain in third, just half-a-point ahead of Sweden and Switzerland.

The Irish team for Dublin includes Olympic individual bronze medallist Cian O’Connor and London mount Blue Loyd 12.

The world rankings place Swiss rider Steve Guerdat, the newly-crowned Olympic individual champion, in third, just above his countryman Pius Schwizer.

Britain’s other Olympic gold medallists, Maher, Brash and Charles, are ranked 16th, 33rd and 70th, respectively.

An increasing number of owners and equestrian businesses are being targeted by thieves, according to a new report by insurance company, NFU Mutual.

There has been a rise of six per cent in “agri crime” over the past two years at a cost to UK agriculture of £52.7m last year, say NFU Mutual.

The figures, based on claims received, show that as well as targeting farms and people who live in the countryside, thieves are also targeting horse owners and equestrian businesses.

Tack and horse boxes come top of the list as the items stolen the most often, followed by hay and feed.

Carriage driving equipment, trailers, horses and electric fencing are also popular targets. An average claim now costs £4,700, more than triple the amount claimed in 2010.

Saddles and bridles are often unmarked and therefore easy to sell on at car boot sales, markets and on-line action sites, says the NFU.

But rugs, electric fencing and even wheelbarrows – used to transport items to a waiting vehicle – are also stolen.

“On a positive note, horse owners and those who run equestrian businesses are taking steps to prevent theft by improving their security, joining and setting up crime prevention schemes and even taking their tack home with them,” said Nicki Whittaker, from NFU Mutual.