Mister Softee

GREAT riders win with dozens of wonderful horses, but there is usually only one so loved by fans he becomes part of the rider’s identity: in this case, David-and-Mister-Softee.

“Softee” was a gift for the early days of televised sport. He was named after the nation’s favourite ice-cream, and had a blaze and white bandages over his stockings all round which, says David Broome, made him look good on black and white TV. He became much in demand for personal appearances, and is probably the only sport horse to “visit” a coal mine.

But even without his celebrity status, the triple European champion and Olympic bronze medallist inspired awe.

“Softee had the most phenomenal technique – the front end just disappeared and you could keep riding forward at these big fences,” says David.

MISTER SOFTEE’S story really begins in 1864, with the arrival in Nottinghamshire of penniless Italian émigré Giovanni Massarella. Within three generations the Massarellas built a vast food business, their