Toytown (horse)

Toytown[1] was a British event horse owned and ridden by Zara Phillips.

Toytown
Zara Phillips and Toytown jump the Alterian Hillside during the cross-country phase of Badminton Horse Trials 2009
BreedIrish Sport Horse
SireTipperary Grey (Irish Draught)
GrandsireRiver Bank (Irish Draught)
SexGelding
Foaled1992
CountryBritain
ColourChestnut with blaze and Birdcatcher spots
TrainerZara Phillips
Toytown
Medal record
Equestrian
World Equestrian Games
2006 AachenIndividual eventing
2006 AachenTeam eventing
European Eventing Championship
2007 RomeTeam gold
2005 BlenheimTeam gold
2005 BlenheimIndividual gold

Toytown was a chestnut gelding born in 1992, standing at 17hh and with particularly distinctive markings including a white blaze and white spots. Toytown and Phillips competed together at the highest level of the sport until the horse's retirement in 2011, after accruing 1,421 British Eventing points in his career.

Background

Toytown's exact breeding is unknown. Noddy was spotted as a 7-year-old novice eventer in 1999 by Zara's father, Mark Phillips, when rider and former owner Meryl Winter went to him for a lesson. Zara bought the horse a few months later after watching him jump with her stepmother and dressage coach Sandy Pflueger.[2] Zara has since commented that he "looked a bit like a hat-rack when we first saw him but I got on really well with him."[3] Despite Winter's description of him as a 'cross country machine', Toytown was far from a natural eventer, with a particular lack of respect for show jumps - at the Windsor CCI** in 2001, Zara and Toytown entered the ring in the lead only to finish out of the running with six fences down and 25 penalty points.

However, Zara and Toytown's hard work with Mark Phillips in the show jumping ring and Pflueger in the Dressage arena put paid to these teething problems, and the pair's first real success came with the Young Rider title at Bramham Horse Trials in 2002, followed by individual silver at the 2002 Young Riders European Championships in Austria.

This success was cemented in their CCI**** debut at Burghley Horse Trials in 2003. Competing at this level for the first time, over a particularly challenging course, Zara and Toytown found themselves in the lead after the cross country and missed overall victory by just one fence, losing to then-world number one Pippa Funnell on her way to the Rolex Grand Slam.

Far from being an easy horse to ride, Zara comments that he "doesn’t like performing these days unless it really matters"[4] (something he demonstrated at the 2007 Festival of British Eventing when, according to the BBC's equestrian correspondent Clare Balding, he "went complete bonkers and started rearing"[5] during the Dressage), and that "Toytown, almost always, has to do something to show he is in control."[6]

Olympic contender

A leg injury following Burghley forced Toytown out of contention for the 2004 Athens Olympics and the entire 2004 season, and an injury during final preparations[7] for the 2008 Beijing Olympics forced the pair to concede their place in the British team.

Retirement

Zara Phillips officially retired Toytown from competition on the final day of the 2011 Festival of British Eventing at Gatcombe Park.[8] The popular gelding was paraded to fans and spectators in the main arena before leaving for the rolling Gloucestershire countryside of the Gatcombe Estate. Toytown made a post retirement public appearance with Phillips at Cheltenham racecourse in 2012 as part of the 2012 Summer Olympics torch relay.

Death

Zara's husband, Mike Tindall, announced Toytown's death via Twitter on 27 June 2017.[9]

Major accomplishments

2007

2006

2005

2003

2002

  • Individual Silver at the European Young Riders Championship

References
  1. "Photo of horse and rider/owner". News.equestrianconnection.com. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  2. Richard Ford, Home Correspondent Published 1 minute ago. "Times Online Article, 28th August 2006". Timesonline.co.uk. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  3. Newsum, Gillian (28 August 2006). "How phenomenal Phillips climbed to top of world". London: Sport.guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  4. Richard Ford, Home Correspondent Published 1 minute ago. "Times article 15th September 2007". Timesonline.co.uk. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  5. Balding, Clare (12 September 2007). "Article by Clare Balding". BBC News. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  6. Zara Phillips, quoted in the Daily Telegraph (Issue 47,328:Saturday 4 August 2007 page S23)
  7. Michael Phillips (12 June 2008). "Guardian article". London: Guardian article. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  8. Pippa Roome, H&H eventing editor. "Horse & hound article". Horseandhound.co.uk. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  9. "Zara Phillips' beloved horse Toytown dies at the age of 24". HELLO!. 28 June 2017. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  10. "Games Web-Site". Aachen2006.de. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
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