Rivals Unite | Talented Teddy

Rivals Unite is a 2010 Oratorio gelding bred by Mungrup Stud. Beginning his race career in 2013, Rivals Unite began his race preparation with Simon Miller for three trials before retiring soon after. Following this retirement from racing, “Teddy” was purchased by Tania Yeomans.

Teddy was owned by Tania for several years where he began the start of his off the track career before being rehomed again in 2017. Georgia Homewood purchased the gelding from Tania, with the intention to bring along a young horse through the eventing grades. Georgia was drawn to the athleticism and versatility of the thoroughbred breed, and Teddy proved to be the perfect match for what Georgia was looking for.

Teddy is a cheeky individual, who can often be caught unlocking his stable and sneaking out. Teddy knows how to get his way and likes to keep his family on their toes. Georgia mentioned that Teddy is a bit aloof and will only accept attention from his selected mother and individuals in which he knows.

“Teddy has been far from straight forward to train, but I have loved the journey. He is very opinionated, but I love that about him because I find that when his opinions are on my side, it makes him even better in the arena,” Georgia said.

Being a natural mover, Teddy finds the dressage phase of eventing a breeze, and so enjoys throwing in the occasional temper tantrum to keep Georgia on her toes. Despite this, Georgia comments that the power Teddy holds is incredible to harness and use within the arena. This power aids in the cross-country phase, which helps Teddy to be bold and careful, thoroughly enjoying his gallop stretches. Georgia commented that show jumping is Teddys weakest phase as he can become quite lazy and lack impulsion. This became an area of focus in which Georgia and Teddy worked upon.

Together, Georgia and Teddy have achieved a great deal together. At only their second eventing start, Georgia and Teddy won with their dressage score of 19.12 penalties. This was a huge milestone in Teddys training and gave Georgia a huge boost in motivation. Another achievement that Georgia fondly recalled is placing second in the Eventing Grand Prix at the 2022 Young Horse Eventing Championships. This was a particularly important achievement for Georgia after battling with Teddy to regain his trust and build his confidence.

Unfortunately, last year around Easter, Teddy sustained a degloving injury after a tangle with a fence. Georgia worked tirelessly with vets to help repair the damage, but due to the location of the injury, this proved to be more than a little difficult. Georgia has since retired Teddy from jumping but aims to bring him back into competition and focus on dressage.

“I just want a happy and healthy horse. I am forever grateful for our journey and having him in my paddock is enough for me to remain happy,” expressed Georgia. “I am sad to ultimately be retiring him from jumping, but he owes me nothing and his health is my priority.”

OTTWA wish Teddy and Georgia all the best with their healing and recovery.