" When I had my daughter in 2006 Ross was an obvious choice to take over the ride on my 12yo Irish thoroughbred Samstar. I had been competing him at Novice level for several years but he was a big strong-minded individual, he had been pulling hard on the cross country and getting very arrogant with me. As well as needing a safe pair of hands to leave him with I was also sure that a stronger more experienced rider might be able to take him up a level and earn some respect from him.
Sam settled at Grange Farm straight away and quickly became part of the Middleton family. Ross worked extremely hard on him and soon had him jumping 1.40m confidently at home. When asked to give a show-jumping demonstration for a local pony club, he chose to take my horse. He was able to show Sam's considerable ability over some big fences to the oohs and aahs of the members.
Ross qualified Sam for the Novice Regional Finals in 2007 and had some great results at Novice and Intermediate level. Unfortunately Sam was retired with ring bone in 2008, denying us the chance to establish him at intermediate level and possibly go further. He still misses Grange Farm."
Jane Wood
Sam doing his first Intermediate at Auchinleck