A pony known as the “comeback king” – and “a walking vet’s bill” – has beaten kissing spines and a serious illness to qualify for the LeMieux Grassroots Championships at Mars Badminton Horse Trials, at his first attempt.
Lauren Wiggins thought she would have to let her 14.2hh Irish pony Cookie Clover go, early last year, as vets did not know what had made him so ill. Hoping just to have him back to retire him, she brought him home – but he returned to competition in style about 12 months ago.
Lauren told H&H she wanted to share Cookie’s story to give hope to anyone in a similar situation.
“He’s had a tough few years, bless him,” she said. “He’s bounced back like a miracle.”
Lauren’s parents bought Cookie for her 10 years ago, when she was a teenager who had outgrown her beloved 11.2hh pony Pepper and he was a six-year-old who had come over from Ireland.
“I cried when he first came because I didn’t want another pony; I only wanted to ride Pepper!” she said. “He was a bit of a handful; I’d gone from a Welsh section A to him, which was a bit of a jump as I was a stick, a tiny child.
“He was very strong, and I was petrified of him; I’ve got old film somewhere of him rearing. But then it just clicked one day, and we started doing a bit more.”
Lauren said the aim had been to showjump but then she did a bit of cross-country.
“I was lucky enough to work on an eventing yard after college and that was a turning point; I thought ‘cross-country is quite fun’ and ‘Maybe I do want to event’,” she said. “We started doing British Eventing in 2020 and he was great; clear across country every event. He just wants to go and go. People have said conformationally, he shouldn’t be at the level he is but he loves it.”
But then Cookie seemed to be struggling to balance in the lorry, which “led us into a massive minefield of what might be wrong”.
Arthritis was found and treated, then vets discovered he had kissing spines. Cookie was medicated and underwent a comprehensive rehab programme, and was eventing again in 2022, jumping clear and finishing in the top 10 at BE90 and BE100 level.
Picture by Aiden Upward
Then in March last year, when Cookie was fit and ready for the season, he became very ill.
“He was falling over; he looked like he was colicky but he wasn’t,” Lauren said. “It was like his legs wouldn’t hold up, and he was very wobbly so he went into the vets’. When we got there and opened up the trailer, there were inches of water where he’d sweated so much. The vets took him away as they didn’t think he would recover.
“We all prepared ourselves for the worst while the vets were completely baffled by Cookie’s symptoms. We had been told to prepare to not ride again, and I was completely devastated but also just wanted Cookie to be home safely.”
Test proved inconclusive and Cookie went home with box rest advised, but this was a struggle for a pony who had been fit and ready to event.
Thinking that she “might have to consider a kinder option”, and having rung the vets, Lauren turned Cookie out, and he seemed to recover.
“He was ok so I tried to ride him in walk and he was dragging his legs, so I thought he wouldn’t come back,” Lauren said. “I turned him away but in about September, I was watching videos and knew how much I wanted him back. I called an animal communicator and asked if she would ‘talk’ to him. A lot of people thought I was mad but she gave me a lot of information and recommended a Bowen therapist near me.
“I had nothing to lose so I contacted her. And she literally worked magic. I don’t know how – I don’t even really know what Bowen therapy is – but as a team, with chiropractors, saddlers and dentists, by December he was cantering again – and loving it.”
By the start of this year, Lauren was competing again, winning and placing in dressage and showjumping, so in the spring she registered with BE again.
“His first event was Munstead BE90 and he came third,” she said. “He’s been consistently amazing since, with BE100 double clears and clear across country all season.”
But the big one was the Little Downham regional final in October.
“We had a really good dressage, then went clear showjumping; I had tears in my eyes coming out of the arena because cross-country is his thing,” Lauren said. “My mum rang from Turkey and said ‘Whatever you do, don’t go too slowly’, and I ended up seven seconds too fast! I was really cross with myself, came fourth and thought it was all over.”
But last week, she got the news that the top 15% in the class had qualified, so she and Cookie had their place at Badminton.
“It’s incredible, from where he was last year,” Lauren said. “I want people to know his story because I know I’m biased but he’s the most amazing pony. People at the yard call him the comeback king because he’s made the impossible possible. I call him a bit of a walking vet’s bill! No one knows how he’s come back or what was wrong with him, but he’s done it, which is crazy.
“It’s a horrible feeling when you don’t know what’s wrong so I hope sharing our story might help inspire others who might be having a difficult time.”
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