David Broome CBE has been announced as the new president of British Showjumping (BS).

Wealth of experience

David has been on the BS executive board for 45 years and brings a wealth of experience to the role, both as former competitor and a trainer. He played a key role in Team GB winning gold at London 2012 in his role as international ambassador to showjumping, to which he was appointed in 2010, and has also acted as Britain's chef d'equipe on a number of occasions.

Robert Whitaker has been given a six month suspended ban from British Showjumping (BS) after he kicked a security guard at the Horse of the Year show.

Attacked a man

The incident occurred on 3 October 2012 at the NEC in Birmingham, although no further details about why he attacked the man have been released. 

The riders selected for the World Class Development Programme have just been announced by the British Equestrian Federation (BEF).

Deliver more medals

Funded by UK Sport, the Development Programme works with talented riders in dressage, para-equestrian dressage, eventing and showjumping. It aims to maximise their potential and help Britain deliver more medals on the international stage.

The eighth round of the Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping series was held in Belgium over the weekend (30 December), with Swedish rider Henrik von Eckermann taking the top spot.

Great performance

Out of a field of 40, only nine made it through to the jump-off including Laura Renwick who put in a great performance - riding Oz de Breve - to finish as the highest placed Brit.

Marc Houtzager pulled off a notable double at Olympia, adding victory in the H&M Ivy Stakes to his afternoon win in the Rolex World Cup qualifier.

Good mood

The Dutch Olympic team silver medallist went as pathfinder in the evening class and didn’t let the early draw inconvenience him, setting an unmatchable target of 34.15sec on Sterrehof’s Uppity in the 10-horse jump-off.

“I was in a good mood,” said Marc.

Marc Houtzager, a member of the Netherlands’ silver medal team at the Olympics, won his first ever Rolex World Cup qualifier today after securing victory at Olympia, The London International Horse Show.

Setting the standard

Riding his Greenwich horse, Sterrehof’s Tamino, Marc was third to go in the eight-horse jump-off and his fast clear in 34.67 seconds proved unbeatable.

Ben Maher continued his blistering run of form at Olympia, The London International Horse Show, picking up another two wins on the fifth day of the show.

Milena goes the distance

His third win of the show came in the speed class, the Kingsland Christmas Tree Stakes, riding Milena 8.

Olympic hero Ben Maher enjoyed a golden day at Olympia on Thursday, winning both the Alltech Christmas Puissance and the Earls Court Olympic Christmas Cracker.

Dizzy heights

Ben and Puissance specialist Noctambule Courcelle cleared a height of 7ft 11in to win the evening's feature class. 

He was the only rider to reach the final round, when second placed Laura Renwick decided to retire after the fourth round. Even though Noctambule Courcelle knocked a brick out of the wall, Ben scooped the €5,500 first prize.

The world’s leading animal health and horse sport experts met in Panama last week (11-13 December) to discuss the import and export of horses around the world.

High health

The talks have been organised by the World Animal Health Organisation (OIE) and the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), and were attended by more than 60 government representatives and veterinary and horse sport experts from 23 countries.