BRITAIN’S Gabriella Blake (30) and her half-bred Connemara Pony Strong Beau pushed Ireland’s Michael Murphy off the medal podium in the Grade I Grand Prix and helped Britain to take team bronze at the FEI Para Dressage European Championships in Riesenbeck, Germany, last week.

In Saturday’s Freestyle, championship debutante Gabriella had to settle for fourth place while Murphy won the silver medal.

Strong Beau, bred in Britain by S Amos, looks every bit the Connemara; his pedigree shows his sire is Spinway Blackthorn (by Spinway Comet), out of Bramble Lass who is by Murphy Rebel. His dam is an Irish Sport Horse called Balda Beau who has no Connemara bloodlines but plenty of Traditional Irish and Irish Draught lines sprinkled through. The gelding had evented before joining Gabriella’s string and had to adapt to the walk only test.

Gabby also has a connection to the racing world. Her parents, Gavin and Estelle Blake, were top racehorse trainers in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, before leaving for England in 2015.