Hartpury Farms have recently collaborated with International Event Rider Tom Woodward. Based in Hartpury, he competes up to advanced level with 2* and 3* wins. For Tom Woodward, the 2021 eventing season looked to be over at the end of March when he suffered a bad break to his leg.
Remarkably, the 20-year-old defied expectations by returning to the saddle 10 weeks after the accident. He was back competing in affiliated horse trials in July and finished the season by picking up his first three-star win – in the youth CCI3*-S section at Cornbury – and going clear cross-country round his first advanced.
“I’ve known I wanted to pursue horses since I was 12 or 14,” he says. “I’ve ridden all my life; my parents are horsey, and I was put on a pony at a young age. I loved it from day one.
Tom’s top horse is Low Moor Lucky, who will be 15 the year. Bred by family friend Richard Dennis, he had been given to Cherry Coward and was at her yard when Tom and his mother went to try another horse.
“They said he wasn’t for sale, but I was welcome to have a sit on him as I was just getting a feel for different horses coming off ponies. I loved him and thought, ‘This is the one’ so they said to make them an offer.”
The family ended up buying Lucky and another horse, also bred by Richard, in one deal.
“We didn’t pay a lot for him as he hadn’t done brilliantly in his early career,” says Tom. “He was only broken aged nine and is called Lucky because he was a nutcase as a young horse and was nearly disposed of. You wouldn’t know that now as he’s the kindest horse and very sensible. He’s a brilliant horse across all three phases and I always feel I’ve got a chance to be competitive on him.
Toms a regular user of our Cosyflake bedding, he told us our bedding is ‘top quality bedding, absorbent, dust free and reasonably priced’.
