A rider who jumped double clear at Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) after two brain surgeries, on a horse who had had his eye removed and two years out of work, said she could not put into words how it felt.

Coach Stacey Cook and her own Gigant finished fourth in the NAF Five Star Bronze League Championship, which was only the 19-year-old gelding’s ninth class this year – and since 2023.

“He’s 1,000% a winner in my eyes, and I think he thought he’d won too,” she said.

Stacey bought “Griff” as a five-year-old and has “done everything with him”. They have jumped internationally and won up to 1.25m level, including the HOYS silver league final in 2019.

“Then he had to have his right eye removed,” Stacey said. “He had recurrent uveitis , and had a really bad flare that we couldn’t get un

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