Unlikely eventer adds to her tally

A coloured dressage-bred mare triumphs at intermediate, while a four-star horse with an aversion to buckets scores in an open intermediate

- ELLIE HUGHES

TOM ROWLAND and the “unlikely eventer” Honeybrook Extra Special (Ebony) added another intermediate win to their already impeccable record at the level when they headed section F1.

Tom, like many other pros, rerouted to Tweseldown at the 11th hour when the Hampshire fixture rallied to put on an extra day of competition following the cancellation of Rockingham.

“She’s not a natural event horse; she’s basically a coloured dressage mare who has found her niche eventing,” said Tom of the nine-year-old daughter of Negro, who belongs to H&H columnist Pammy Hutton. “She’s done six intermediates and has won twice, had a second and a third.”

Tom, who lives next door to Talland and trains with Pammy, spotted Ebony last year when he was having a lesson.

“I mentioned to Pammy that I’d love a ride on her and it went from there,” he said. “I don’t think she was broken in until she was six, so she’s learnt a huge amount in a short space of time.”

The mare also competes at British Dressage advanced medium level with Talland student Faye Hepplethwaite.

“Pammy rides her at home and does a lot of her fitness work,” continued Tom. “Ebony can get hot in the dressage when she’s out eventing and can often take a few events to settle, but she really loves jumping. I wasn’t on an ideal line at the ditch to angled brush at fence five, but she picked up the flags herself and took me to the final element.”

Tom is hesitant about tackling a long-format three-day event with the mare given her lack of blood, but has an eye on the eight- and nine-year-old class at Blenheim.