Both Silvana HDC, Kevin Staut’s mount for victory at the recent Longines Paris Global Champions Tour Grand Prix, and Big Star, Nick Skelton’s partner for team gold with Great Britain at the 2012 London Olympic Games, will miss the upcoming Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (France) due to injury.
The French Equestrian Federation released a statement about Silvana HDC’s injury, reporting the 15-year-old Dutch Warmblood (Corland—Donate, Widor) mare was injured while getting up in her stall. Staut hopes to have her back competing by October.
Big Star, an 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood (Quick Star—Jolanda, Nimmerdor) stallion owned by Gary and Beverley Widdowson, recently aggravated a previous suspensory injury jumping in the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix in Estoril, Portugal. He’s expected to be out for a year.
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“I thought he was back, and he felt as good as ever in Estoril,” Skelton 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.”
