Jumping squad 2023
Harry Charles
- Age: 24
- Based in: Alton, Hampshire
- World Ranking: 1 (U25) / 22 (Senior)
Harry is the son of Peter Charles, who was part of the gold medal-winning jumping team at London 2012 – alongside Harry's Milano team mate Ben Maher. A successful youth rider, Harry made his senior championship debut at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games with Romeo 88, where he was one of the youngest riders in the field. Since then, he has continued to impress, with results including winning the London leg of the FEI Jumping World Cup and the London Grand Prix at the London International Horse Show in 2021, and finishing fourth at the FEI Jumping World Cup Final the following year.
Last year, Harry was part of the team that headed to the FEI Jumping World Championship in Herning, Denmark, where Great Britain won bronze – our first World Championship medal since 1998.
Harry has been a regular face on the FEI Jumping Nations Cup circuit this year, taking part in six legs across the season and jumping double clears at Falsterbo and Hickstead. At the latter, he was part of the winning British team, who took the title after a 13 year drought.
Casquo Blue
- Known as: Casper
- Owners: Stall Zet
- Colour: Bay
- Sex: Gelding
- Age: 13
- Bloodlines: Chacco-Bluex Carthago Z
- Breeder: Gestuet Lewitz (GER)
- Groom: Georgia Ellwood
Casper joined Harry’s string at the start of 2022, having previously been competed by Douglas Lindelöw of Sweden. Just five months later, they won the second round of the CSI5* Global Champions League CSI5* class in Hamburg. This was soon followed by a runners-up placing in the FEI Nations Cup leg at Hickstead in July and again in the FEI Jumping World Cup leg at La Corũna in December.
This season, Casper has joined Harry for three legs of the FEI Jumping Nations Cup, jumping impressive double clears at Falsterbo and Hickstead.
Tim Gredley
- Age: 37
- Based in: Newmarket, Suffolk
- World Ranking: 109
The son of racehorse breeder William ‘Bill’ Gredley, Tim began riding at age 10. Although his first foray into competition was with working hunter ponies, the focus soon turned to showjumping. In 2004, he was selected for the Junior European Championship in Vilamoura, Portugal, taking team gold and individual silver with the talented Omelli.
Two years later, Tim and Omelli found themselves making their senior championship debut at the World Equestrian Games in Aachen in 2006.
Tim took a step back from jumping in 2016 to focus on the family business for a few years, while also enjoying time on the racing circuit as an owner, breeder and amateur jockey. He returned to jumping in 2019 and has spent the subsequent years climbing back up the rankings. The hard work paid off when he made his long-awaited return to the British team for the FEI Jumping Nations Cup invitational leg in Abu Dhabi in January, where the team finished second. Tim has since appeared in a further three Nations Cup legs, including on home soil at Hickstead when the British team lifted the trophy for the first time in 13 years.
Medoc de Toxandria
- Known as: Medoc
- Owner: Unex Competition Yard Ltd
- Colour:
- Sex: Gelding
- Age: 11
- Bloodlines: Der Senaat II x Kelvin De Sainte Hermelle
- Breeder: Werner Dierckx (BEL)
- Groom: Paul Drew
Medoc joined Tim’s string last summer and is the horse that brought him back onto the British team. They’ve jumped in four FEI Jumping Nations Cups legs this year, where they’ve been runners up at CHIO Aachen and winners on home soil at Hickstead.
“Medoc is unique,” says Tim. “Now I’ve got to know him I find it easy, but he has a special way of doing things. He’s got personality like I’ve never seen.”
Samuel Hutton
- Age: 34
- Based in: Antwerp, Belgium
- World Ranking: 279
Originally from Surrey, Sam’s love of horses began when he attended a friend’s riding party as a child. He was quickly hooked, spending all of his weekends and school holidays at the yard and begging his parents for a pony. They finally relented when he was seven, after which he joined the Pony Club.
He was inspired to compete by watching events such as the Hickstead Derby and Olympia on television as a child. He began in eventing before moving on to jumping.
Sam and Dutchman Kevin Witteveen set up Burhill Sporthorses in Valkenswaard, Netherlands, in 2016.
For the past few years, Sam has been based with Egyptian showjumper Abdel Said at his base near Antwerp in Belgium.
Sam has been a regular face on FEI Jumping Nations Cup teams since 2016, and this year was part of the team that finished second in Falsterbo, Sweden. Milano will be Sam’s first championship appearance.
Oak Grove’s Laith
- Known as: Laith
- Owner: Caramello Company
- Colour: Chestnut
- Sex: Stallion
- Age: 12 years
- Height: 16.2hh
- Bloodlines: London x Quaprice
- Breeder: S.C.E.A. Riverland (FRA)
- Groom: Lindsay Decottignies
Sam took over the ride on Laith from Valentyna Kukova of the Czech Republic in 2022. They competed at the Valkenswaard Rome and New York legs of the Global Champions Tour together, before Valentyna took Laith back for the winter – including a spell in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.
Laith returned to Sam in April of this year and, since then, they’ve been targeting the Global Champions Tour – enjoying trips to Madrid, Cannes and Paris – and the FEI Jumping Nations Cup legs in Falsterbo and Dublin. A clear in the second round from the pair at Falsterbo helped Britain take second place on the podium.
Ben Maher
- Age: 40
- Based in: Bishops Stortford, Herefordshire
- World Ranking: 9
Ben started riding at the age of eight, competing on the local showjumping circuit and joining The Pony Club. He went on to represent Great Britain on Pony, Junior and Young Rider teams, which saw him take team gold at the Young Rider European Championships in 2004. He was the first British showjumper to be ranked world number one in 2013 and was awarded an MBE in the New Year’s Honours List in 2013.
Ben made his Olympic debut riding Roulette at Beijing 2008, then was part of the gold medal-winning team with Tripple X III at London 2012. He rode at Rio 2016 with Tic Tac, before winning the coveted individual gold at Tokyo 2020 with Explosion W.
Milano will be Ben’s sixth FEI Jumping European Championship - he’s previously won one team gold medal, two team bronzes and two individual silvers. With such a long and successful career, it’s surprising that his first FEI Jumping World Championship appearance came last year, when he and Faltic HB helped Britain to a historic team bronze medal.
Ben has been a regular on Nations Cup teams this season, taking part in six legs including the win at Hickstead.
Faltic HB
- Known as: Faltic
- Owners: Charlotte Rossetter, Pamela Wright, Ben Maher
- Colour: Bay
- Sex: Stallion
- Age: 13
- Height: 16.1hh
- Bloodlines: Baltic VDL x Concorde
- Breeder: H.A.Brinkman (NED)
- Groom: Derren Lake
Ben took the ride on Faltic HB in November 2021, while he was a breeding stallion for Oakingham Stud. Their first taste of competing on home soil was at the London International Horse Show that year, where they jumped a double clear in the FEI Jumping World Cup qualifier. Since then, they’ve certainly clocked up the mileage – Faltic has been a familiar face on the Global Champions Tour in the past two years, producing a number of top-10 results in locations such as Rome, New York and Riyadh.
In 2022, the pair competed as part of bronze medal-winning British team in the Mercedes Benz Nations’ Cup at CHIO Aachen, finishing eighth individually, followed by a team appearance on home soil at the FEI Nations Cup team at Hickstead.
Ben took Faltic to the FEI Jumping World Championship last year as part of the team to win a bronze medal. They went on to finish just off the individual podium in fifth place.
Donald Whitaker
- Age: 30
- Based in: Dagobertshausen, Germany
- World Ranking: 199
Originally from Barnsley in Yorkshire, Donald is a member of the famous Whitaker showjumping dynasty – his father is Stephen, brother to John and Michael. Like the rest of the family, he starting riding as a child and has been competing – and winning – in showjumping classes for as long as he can remember. Early successes came at the Horse of the Year Show, including in the puissance class. In 2018, Donald took silver at the Young Horse World Championships in Lanaken, Belgium with the mare Chilli.
Donald's first CSIO5* Nations Cup appearance was in Abu Dhabi in 2022, where he jumped an impressive double clear with Di Caprio to held Britain finished third.
Currently, Donald is based at Hofgut Dagobertshausen equestrian centre in Germany, which is the family home of his partner, German showjumper Nicola Pohl.
Di Caprio
- Owners: Reitsportanlange Dagobertshausen GmbH and CO.KG
- Colour: Bay
- Sex: Stallion
- Age: 12
- Breeding: Diarado x Cassini I
- Breeder: Harms Carsten (GER)
- Groom: Johanna Burtsoff
Di Caprio and Donald began their competitive partnership in 2021, prior to which the stallion had spent a year being ridden by Donald's partner, Germany showjumper Nicola Pohl. Di Caprio's first outing for the British team was in 2022, where a double clear helped Britain to finish third the invitational Abu Dhabi leg of the FEI Jumping Nations Cup. The pair also finished top of the individual standings. This was followed by an appearance at the Rome leg of the series a few months later.
This year, Di Caprio and Donald have competed at a number of top venues, including St Gallen CHIO Aachen and Hickstead.