‘You can’t put it into words’: rescue pony who shone at dressage wins at first driving show

A rescue pony and a young boy who have taken the dressage world by storm have turned their focus to driving – and won at their first competition together.

H&H has previously reported on RSPCA George, who was born in RSPCA care, and Theo Charnley, who have won countless classes and championships together between the white boards.

But as Theo will grow and 12hh George will not, the plan had long been to try driving once Theo got too big to ride him.

And this has proved a success; although Theo is yet to grow too tall; the pair won their first competition, at Chester Driving Trials on 8 March.

“They love it,” Theo’s dad Paul Charnley told H&H. “Theo was a bit nervous at first but then realised they had the same partnership – their partnership is amazing – and I think they almost feel more together driving than riding.

“You’ve still got feel, down the reins, but you’re seeing the horse from a different perspective. He loves that, and the fact he can trust George and have fun with him.”

Paul said the idea first came when the family went to the London International Horse Show a couple of years ago and saw the World Cup driving.

“Last year, Theo was lent a driving pony for a couple of competitions and someone mentioned that next summer is the junior driving European Championships in Romania,” Paul said. “We thought that was crazy; who takes a dressage pony, turns it into a driving pony and then takes it to the Europeans?”

But the plan took root. Paul said he and his wife Sarah had thought Theo would have outgrown George by the end of last year, which would have given them 18 months before the championships.

“We knew his dressage would be good enough but that he’d need time to get used to the cones and marathon phases,” Paul said. “So we thought we’d stop dressage and concentrate on driving – but Theo hasn’t grown!”

And, Paul added, as George and Theo have been enjoying and succeeding in dressage so much, they changed plans to do both at the same time.

“You’d think they’re totally different sports but the dressage phase is the same, you’re just sitting behind them instead of on top,” he said. “Just before Christmas, we started the process. You start with them pulling a tyre, then we moved on to a carriage. And typical George, he did it all; if he hadn’t been born in RSPCA care, you’d have been sure he’d done it before.”

With practice, and help from international driver Frank Campbell, who lives nearby, George was soon driving well, and Paul took him to his first competition, where they came second.

“He was awesome,” he said. “He was a bit too slow in the cones and marathon as we took it steady but he won the dressage phase. Then with Theo last week, he was fabulous. To no surprise, George’s dressage training was put to good use as they took the award for the best score of the day. In the cones section, the twisty course suited George wonderfully, picking up 10 penalties for going too fast. Come the obstacles phase, they motored around, finishing 83 points ahead of second place.”

And as well as the dressage benefiting the driving, Paul said, it was put into action in its traditional sense between the two competitions, as Theo and George went to the British Dressage Winter Regional Championship at Little Mill EC, where they won in the prelim silver and came third in the novice silver freestyle, securing their tickets to the British Dressage NAF Five Star Winter Championships next month.

“So between the two driving shows, he won at the regionals, then in three weeks he’s off to Addington for the winter championships,” said Paul. “That’s pretty cool.

“We got George as a pony for Theo to hack and pet, no intention of doing any competing. When we were backing him people said ‘You’ll never get anything out of that pony’ as Theo would outgrow him too quickly.”

The aim is for George and Theo to enjoy both disciplines this year, while Theo’s bigger pony Jerry, also an RSPCA rescue, does some in-hand showing as he matures.

Asked to sum George up, Paul said: “Without crying? You can’t put it into words, can you?

“People say ‘pony of a lifetime’ too often, I think. But he is very special.”

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