THERE ARE QUITE a few kinds of combinations. A young, green horse teamed with an experienced rider, or maybe a duo where both horse and rider have years of mileage under their belts and are smooth operators. Then there is the duo in which the horse is the schoolmaster/ teacher — a been there, got the T-shirt model who has been around the proverbial block and can therefore teach his pilot a thing or two.
In the masterclass today with former eventing World Champion Ros Canter, the duo receiving instruction fall into the latter category, with Loren Bowen having only recently teamed up with the very knowledgeable 18-yearold mare Leadon Highway (Perky).
Ros kicks off by asking Loren what she is hoping to achieve from the session. Loren explains that as she has been riding Perky for less than three months and that there is a considerable gulf in terms of their respective experience levels, that when they go across the country the mare can appear to be in
