FAMILY TRAITS
READING your feature (Access all areas, 13 June) about polo player Mark Tomlinson brought back memories.
In 1981, as a young reporter, I was sent to interview Mark’s mother Claire Tomlinson about her polo pony breeding programme.
She gave me a warm welcome and explained that we would have to chat while she did stable duties and exercised ponies.
She was short-handed as most of the Argentine grooms had gone home – the Falklands War was brewing.
As Claire answered my questions between the mucking out and schooling, I noticed that she was heavily pregnant. As the interview ended she apologised for not inviting me to stay for lunch… because she was going into labour. Doing the maths, it’s likely it wasn’t long before Mark entered the world. But whichever Tomlinson made an appearance that day, they clearly inherited their mother’s genes for excellent horsemanship, a strong work ethic and lovely manners.
SAFETY FOR ALL
SAFETY in collecting rings at county shows needs to improve. Some riders are oblivious to their surroundings and uncaring of others; lacking planning and awareness of what or who is about.
We have just started competing our four-year-old stallion under saddle. We are acutely aware of the things that can go wrong with ridden stallions, but others are not. He wears a bright yellow stallion badge on his bridle, yet some riders still get too close and respond dismissively when politely asked not do so. Would this casual attitude not change if there were an accident and the rider was to fall?
I highlight this need for change and accountability because of an avoidable incident that happened to us in a main collecting ring recently.
My horse and rider were struck at speed by a showjumper. The impact forced my horse against the fencing; my rider nearly fell off and my horse suffered a substantial leg injury. We had to withdraw him from his class.
The showjumper had been asked not to ride so fast and cl
