Mr Bass

This eventing star recently returned to competition for the first time since an injury at Badminton last year. Pippa Roome finds out why he’s so special

- Pippa Roome

RIDER LAURA COLLETT

“I WAS at Peter Thomsen’s yard in Germany, looking for young horses to produce to sell on, the day Mr Bass arrived, pretty much unbroken. I was lucky – I asked the price before we loose jumped him and Peter said the price would have been quite different the next day.

“I sold ‘Chuck’ to an owner halfway through his five-year-old year, but he failed the vet on X-rays, so my vet told me to have fun on him until something went wrong. We did things like the indoor Derby in Stuttgart. Touchwood, the points flagged on the X-rays have never caused an issue. When he was seven, Keith Scott and Nick How came on board to help me run him and it’s gone from there. I still think of him as my fun horse – he’s like my best friend and owes none of us anything.

“Chuck knows he’s special and always wants to be the centre of attention. He has the ability to make you feel like you’ve never looked after a horse before. If he does something naughty, he gives you a look as if to say, ‘It wasn’t me,’ and you forgive him.