British showjumper Emily Moffitt has brought in renowned Irish rider and producer Cameron Hanley as her new trainer.
The 21-year-old Team GB rider has been trained by Olympic gold medallist Ben Maher since they first teamed up in 2016. However, with Ben’s heavy competition schedule, the Moffitt family have decided to recruit 46-year-old Cameron as a second rider and trainer to work alongside the world number five under the Poden Farms banner.
“I am very happy to have Cameron join the team,” said Neil Moffitt, Emily’s father and owner of Poden Farms.
“He has exemplary qualities that we have been looking for, not limited to his riding skills, but also his ability to assist in the training of my daughter Emily. We have a vast array of fantastic horses and look forward to what the future holds for all of us.”
A statement said: “Poden Farms has achieved great success with Ben Maher both as a rider and a trainer. Under his tutelage, Emily has accomplished incredible things, from the GB team win in Dublin to multiple wins for the London Knights [in the Global Champions League (GCL)]. Cameron will work closely with Ben to help Emily continue to achieve her goals for the 2020 season and to develop top grand prix horses for Poden Farms. We look forward to this new partnership and the expanding success of Poden Farms.”
Emily’s new partnership with Cameron, who is based in Germany, has already proved profitable as Emily won the CSI2* grand prix in Valencia, Spain, on Sunday (3 November) riding her “trusty steed”, the 14-year-old stallion Copain Du Perchet CH.
“I think even just in these few weeks, having Cameron here has made a big difference in my riding,” Emily told H&H from the Autumn Tour in Spain where she’s still competing.
“Ben’s really great at coming to shows with me, but he’s so busy so it’s hard for him to be with me all the time so now, between the two of them, we have a good system going.
“Obviously you need a fantastic team behind you to be able to achieve what I want to achieve,” added Emily, who was part of the Aga Khan-winning Nations Cup team in Dublin this year, rode for the title-winning London Knights squad on the GCL and has long had the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as her goal.
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Emily will continue to be based from her Worcestershire stables.
“Ben and Cameron are both quite amazing, I’m very lucky to have them,” she said.
Emily is spending another week competing in Valencia, where she has also been getting to know new ride Kasper Van Het Hellehof, one of a very exciting string of horses owned and produced by Poden Farms.
“I’m taking it easy with him as he’s quite big and chunky and he thinks I’m a little fly on him at the moment! He keeps asking ‘Where’s my rider?’” she said. “We just need to work together a bit more but he’s super talented.”
She then heads to the CSI5* World Cup show in Stuttgart, Germany, before returning to the familiar scarlet colours of the London Knights for the GC Prague Playoffs, where LGCT victor Ben is set to ride Poden Farms’ incredible gelding Explosion W, his European silver medal-winning ride.
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