The retirement of Miners Frolic, the British Team ride of Tina Cook has been announced today.
The retirement of Miners Frolic, the British Team ride of Tina Cook has been announced today.
The 16 year old gelding’s heart unfortunately went into fibrillation (an abnormal rhythm of the heart beat that can occur in horses) whilst hacking out from Tina’s yard in East Sussex last week. His condition was monitored and he was held under veterinary observation, however his heart didn’t right itself.
Following further observation by Celia Marr at Rossdales Equine Hospital in Newmarket on Monday 3rd February, Miners Frolic’s heart was still found to be in fibrillation.
The decision was then made to retire ‘Henry’ by Tina and Miners Frolic’s owners, Valda and Nicholas Embiricos and Sarah Pelham, rather than to go through a corrective procedure which can have side effects and is relatively intrusive.
The fibrillating heart will not affect him in his retirement, confirmed World Class Eventing Performance Manager Yogi Breisner; “Miners Frolic still looks very well and happy in himself. His condition will not affect him in a leisurely retirement and he will still be able to enjoy hacking.”
Yogi paid tribute to Miners Frolic’s career: “Miners Frolic was as close to the ideal type of Event horse that you would wish for. Very few horses make it to Olympic Games yet he made it to two, winning medals for Britain at both. His Olympic achievements combined with his European Individual gold puts him among the hall of fame of top Event horses ever.
“He has been fantastic for the British team in contributing to several big successes in his career. He was a wonderful individual and a lovely horse to be around.”
Tina commented; “I obviously have mixed emotions and it’s very sad that we’ve been forced into this situation. He’s still very well in himself but we felt that at sixteen, the treatment that he would have to undergo to correct the heart would be too intrusive and he owes us nothing other than to have a happy retirement.
“It does feel like the end of an era; I started eventing him when he was five, and we’ve been competing together for eleven years now - everything he has done for both my owners and myself - he’s just been a superstar.”
His last competitive run was for Great Britain at the 2013 FEI European Championships. It is more than likely that Henry will enjoy his retirement with one of his owners.
Tina is supported through the UK Sport Lottery funded World Class Performance Programme.
About Miners Frolic Dark bay 17h gelding Foaled in 1998 (aged 16) Owned by: Valda and Nicholas Embiricos and Sarah Pelham Breeder: Maurice E Pinto Sire: MINERS LAMP Dam: MIGHTY FROLIC (by OATS) Total Points: 1,975 Key achievements 2008 Individual and team bronze at the Olympic Games in Beijing 2009 Individual and team gold at the FEI European Championships in Fontainebleau (FRA) 2010 Team gold at the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky (USA) 2012 Team silver at the Olympic Games in London 2013 FEI European Championships in Malmo (SWE)
