BROAD talent

MEET THE RIDER

NICOLA READ is an area sales manager for Saracen Horse Feeds. She owns three Clydesdales and shows them in-hand, under saddle and in harness at county shows and steam fairs. She competes Gharsun in British Dressage at novice level.

MEET THE HORSE

DOWNHILL CASTLETON (‘Gharsun’) was bred in Ireland for a career in logging (forestry management). Nicola started riding him aged five and three weeks later he competed in his first unaffiliated dressage class, qualifying for the Chiltern and Thames summer dressage championships. He has qualified for the British Dressage draught horse championship for the past four years, scoring over 68% in the pure-bred novice final. He is being aimed at elementary this year.

IT’S NOT OFTEN that you witness a Clydesdale in the dressage arena, but it can happen. Gharson, a 12-year-old gelding belonging to Hampshire-based Nicola Read, is inspiring the owners of heavy breeds and cob-types everywhere with the good marks he earns between