I've posted about eventer Peter Atkins and Henry Jota Hampton -- the horse/rider combo with the great helmetcam footage of major events (WEG, Rolex). Bob and I are huge fans and supporters. Well, the news on that front is bad. Henny's owner is attempting to take possession of Henny with the intent of selling him. Her behavior (taking him in the middle of the night) is hard to understand. Henry is back at Peter's barn for now, but it sounds like everyone is lawyering up for a legal battle. A court hearing is 11/29 (about the time you're likely reading this). Please think good thoughts, say a prayer, send positive vibes for a good outcome. Photo by Allie Conrad.
NEWS JUST IN
“HJ Hampton Center of Partnership Dispute
In a dispute surrounding the partnership interests of HJ Hampton, on November 2nd Linda Martin took HJ Hampton from Peter Atkins’ barn without his permission or knowledge.
Atkins was extremely concerned for the horse’s well being. On November 17th, Atkins obtained a court order that required Ms. Martin to surrender the horse to Atkins and further restrains Ms. Martin from selling, transferring, or otherwise taking any action affecting Atkins’ rights to HJ Hampton.
A hearing is scheduled for November 29, 2010 to determine whether the order will be extended pending a trial on the merits of the dispute. HJ Hampton is a nine year-old Argentine-bred Selle Francais gelding. Atkins has been his exclusive rider, trainer, and caregiver since 2007. Atkins and HJ Hampton represented Australia in the 2010 World Equestrian Games, where they finished 24th.”
clipped from eventingsafety.wordpress.com
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horrible, first Totilas and now little Henny. There's no limit to greed.
ReplyDeleteThis woman is a total moron. The horse is who he is BECAUSE of Peter. When Peter got him he didn't even want to walk over poles. He was going nowhere in life until Peter turned things around for him and made it fun again. I don't think a horse can be competitive at that level without really trusting its rider, and that's what made this pair so successful.
ReplyDeleteWow, what a stupid thing for Martin to do! That can only hurt her chances of being allowed to sell the horse legally.
ReplyDeleteWhat??!! You've got to be kidding? Peter loves that horse. How could an owner be so insensitive. If she has to sell for some reason, there is only one person in the world who is a qualified buyer....
ReplyDeleteThat's the trouble in the horse world. Too many people see the horses as a commodity (like Totilas) and fail to recognize the powerful between horse and rider. It's just not fair, and yet, what is an owner to do when offered a huge, all too tempting amount of money for a superstar equine?
Bummer.
This is very sad. Through his website and helmet cam footage, Peter has allowed many of us to bear to witness to powerful bond he and his family have with Henny. I hope they are able to come to a fair resolution.
ReplyDeleteHere's hoping all goes in Peter's favor.
ReplyDeleteIt's the owner's horse. Yeah, Peter rides it. All horses and riders should have a strong bond to be good and no offense 24th in the World is not that great... sorry to say.
ReplyDeleteKohutko, Perhaps you didn't read this carefully,although it is in dispute, Peter claims to be part owner (50/50 split).
ReplyDeleteI don't know, a horse/rider combo going double clear in xcountry/showjumping at fourstars, that doesn't seem to shabby to me. But you must be pretty experienced yourself to make that comment -- perhaps you can share your world ranking with us ;-)
Yah, I'm laughing at the "24th [ranked eventing team] in the world is not that great" comment. I wish I could not be that great myself.
ReplyDeleteI smell a troll. ;)
Anyway, I enjoyed their helmet videos. I'm wondering what more there is to the story..? Not defending the owner (or half-owner), just figuring there has to be a story in there somewhere.
Hopefully the horse's welfare is put first.
Bay Horse, I totally agree. These sorts of partnerships are typically quite "dynamic," it's just the nature of the beast. I am hoping that somehow Henny stays with Peter, but you're right, the animal's welfare is the most important thing.
ReplyDeleteHow dreadful! I love his web-cam videos. Hope he can keep Henny somehow.
ReplyDeleteIf you find anything else out, please let us know through here or FB. This seems really different than selling Toto, more, shall I say, sinister?
ReplyDeleteSo people only listen to one side of the story,and that being Peter's side. The horse legally belongs to Linda, she orginally bought the horse and Peter never bought him from her. So now Peter is trying to steal the horse from Linda, how is that right? So a mechanic works on your car, and test drives it, that means he can take ownership of it???
ReplyDeleteI'm more than eager to hear Linda Martin's side. Peter maintains he is part-owner (and I think that's been on his web site for some time). Hopefully today we'll hear more from LM and how she sees this situation.
ReplyDeleteIn this situation, I'm thinking with my heart and not my head, and my heart, for better or for worse, says peter loves that horse and that horse loves peter, and money or law shouldn't be talking here. I do, too, want to hear LM's side of the story. She's playing the villain role quite well, but then again, the whole story seems to have some gaping holes...
ReplyDeletewow, should prove interesting to hear what the missing parts are. I love the riding we get to do on Henny via webcam....I hope it all works out best for the horse.
ReplyDeleteI'm betting the story is when she brought the horse to him, they made a deal that he would ride and train the horse for a half partnership in him. This happens all the time with horses when either an owner doesn't have the cash for top notch training, or the trainer thinks the horse can do it, and the owner doesn't believe in the horse. (and won't pay for the training/competing)
ReplyDeleteI do hope he has a contract on this...
Training and competitive accolades increase the value of the horse, so it seems dually unfair if the trainer should be made to part with his friend. Such is the problem with mixing financial investments with partnership and art. I have no idea what Peter was paid to train Henny, but the pair together makes the magic, not unlike Edward and Totilas.
ReplyDeleteI wish that the best riders could also own the best horses (for them).
George McDonald once said, "Love makes the only 'myness.'" However, the law doesn't see it that way... unless Peter can prove he is in fact part owner and that's written down somewhere, I don't see that he has a case. I wish it were different. If it were to go Peter's way, it seems like that would be a very bad precedent for other riders and owners. No one would let anyone ride their horses at all if the law established "squatter's rights."
ReplyDeleteWhat people are not remembering is that Peter was not paid a single dime from Martin after the first 4 months the horse was with him. She stoped paying for any expenses, training, entry fees, vet bills everything was left for Peter to cover and now that the horse is worth something she is taking back her deal that she made. He has been up front about that from the begining.
ReplyDeleteOh man, I saw the title of this post and was terrified that one or both of of them had had some accident in training! Ever since the 2008 eventing tragedies (and Teddy O'Connor's accident), I worry about getting too attached to particular horses, though I love Henny.
ReplyDeleteDespite the unfortunate event of this dispute between trainer and owner, I am very glad that no tragedy has taken place and as far as we know, both are alive and well.
-Haley M.