Nick Skelton’s amazing stallion Big Star is set to be out of action for a 12 month period, following the recurrence of a leg injury that had the well-known stallion out for the latter part of the 2013 season.
Nick Skelton and the 11-year-old stallion finished third in the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix in Estoril two weeks ago but Big Star was later found to have torn his lower suspensory.
“I thought he was back and he felt as good as ever in Estoril,” Nick told Horse & Hound. “It’s just really annoying. We’ll see what we have to do to get him back but it means a good amount of time off. But with a horse that good, it’s what we have to do.”
The gold medal winning stallion, owned by Beverley Widdowson, was sidelined for nine months, following his amazing Rolex Grand Prix of Aachen victory, with a similar injury. Nick Skelton and his team started Big Star back in small classes in Wellington, Florida as part of the 2014 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival. The team was incredibly diligent to bring the powerful stallion back slowly and carefully.
A blow to the British team, who are looking prime for a Team and Individual gold at this year’s World Equestrian Games. This injury means that Nick Skelton and Big Star will be unable to bid for coming Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Normandy. The Games are set to take place in September, and Skelton and Big Star were prime candidates for a team position.
“If there’s anything good to come out of it, it’s the fact he’s only 11 and he’s already had a nine-month break so, if it all repairs, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be back as good as ever afterwards” added Nick to Horse & Hound’s Jennifer Donald, Horse & Hound’s Show Jumping Editor. Having sought an Individual gold medal through out his career, one can be sure that Nick Skelton will be planning and eyeing up the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Source: Horse & Hound