Katie Aims High in the Sport of Eventing

Malton-based event rider Katie Stephens-Grandy is busy producing top quality young horses for her chosen sport.Here she tells us about her progress and how fit and well her horses look thanks to their TopSpec feed regimes.Katie is from a farming family based on the Wolds, where she breeds and produces her own event horses and buys in very green three and four-year olds.Aiming to enjoy the world of eventing, she is busy focusing on producing talented young horses up to novice level. For 23 years she has been trained by well-known rider and coach, Chris McGrann and admits she is very much engrossed in his classical training beliefs.Katie first started using TopSpec after facing problems with her horse Trendy Magic Touch, known as Smurf in the stable. He came to Katie as a very green, nervous and easily spooked four-year-old.But thanks to help, support and patience with Chris and Katie working together to give him confidence progress was made with Smurf showing some good form at BE90 and 100 level which qualified him for the Mitsubishi Motors Cup at this year’s Badminton Horse TrialsDespite all the success Smurf was affected by the hectic workload, becoming worried and stressed which resulted in a number of feeding issues.Said Katie: "Fortunately I asked for advice from TopSpec Equine Advisor, Nicola Shuttleworth who was just fantastic. She suggested I tried Smurf on TopSpec Comprehensive Feed Balancer and TopSpec CoolCondition Cubes or TopSpec Performance Cubes depending on his workload and stage of training."The change in feed was a massive influence and by the time we went to Badminton, Smurf was not only feeling very well but also looking well and we finished in the top half with a fabulous clear cross country."Since then he has gained much more confidence and has been consistent at competing BE100 level and British Showjumping. He is currently in first place in the Cumbrian BE100 leader board which is very exciting."The improvement has continues with Smurf and at Shelford Manor 2 for the BE100 Regional Final, he did a lovely test and was one of only a few double clears to finish second which successfully qualified him for the Mitsubishi Motors Club in 2018."TopSpec really has transformed Smurf, he is much happier, stronger and a more contented horse now with the changes to his diet."Our run of form also continued when Smurf won the BE100 Open Yorkshire Challenge at Frickley Park Horse Trials which was fantastic.”Katie and Smurf will finish the season with a few more runs at Novice before he has a short break to then concentrate on training over the winter ready for Badminton 2018.After such a positive effect thanks to the change in feeding, Katie now feeds TopSpec to her other horses. The homebred, Mr Music is on TopSpec Comprehensive Feed Balancer, and they have successfully qualified on their first attempt for the BE90 Regional Final by winning on a 23.8 dressage and completing a double clear. They are now focussed on moving up to BE100 level.Katie is also busy bringing on Castlesize Go Easy who she also events and is just starting her two youngsters, Belview Bobby and Cheeky Bandit who are about to start competing. Katie’s best horse, Hey Mr Sandman has been off this year but will be making a comeback next season, with the aim of competing at CIC level.