With the purchase of two further horses from Tim Beecher’s Loughnatousa Farm in Co.Cork, an establishment renowned for high quality selection and production, David Allan’s HINTLESHAM SHOWJUMPING TEAM now has four showjumpers in training with Bernice Cuthbert at Aston Park in Oxfordshire.

LOUGHNATOUSA DIAMOND (7yo grey gelding) won three Newcomers classes and a Foxhunter for the team in 2005 and is now joined by the immensely scopey LOUGHNATOUSA RAVEN (8yo dark brown/black mare) and LOUGHNATOUSA RAFA (6yo bay gelding). The fourth member is a 5yo bay gelding and retired racehorse, SCHOLARSHIP who shows great promise after a year’s rest, retraining and preparation.

RAVEN has impressed all who see her. Whilst seemingly capable of going to the highest levels in showjumping, her trainer has concentrated on achieving improved ground work and consistency of approach. Thriving in a formal but very happy work environment, RAVEN has exceeded expectations by placing 1st, 3rd and 4th in her first three classes (Foxhunter) in April, a level at which she will concentrate for the time being. She toys with Foxhunter fences but will benefit from more miles in such competitions before stepping up further.

RAFA was a wild child but is no longer. Another very happy horse, RAFA is still a naïve young horse but with such scope and attitude that it is tempting to step him up immediately. But the wrong thing to do. In two classes (Newcomers), he has finished 3rd and 6th in amongst several dozen competitors, plenty having international class riders.

SCHOLARSHIP is just embarking on competition experience and showed a high level of application at Windsor Park recently, having only one fence down in a schooling round. It is hoped that he can get into Newcomers – having progressed through the lower classes to that competitive level – within a very few months.

Rider John Crippen’s bio can be found on our Showjumping and Eventing page. John took over this year from the excellent Gail Burchmore who has moved to another part of the country and, bringing comparable excellence, gets on famously with the whole team, equine and human, with results to prove it straight away.