Foxhunter and Llewellyn are the only horse and rider to win the King George V Gold Cup three times (in 1948, 1950, and 1953), and won 78 international competitions during their joint career.[1]
Llewellyn bought Foxhunter, a golden-baygelding, in 1947 following a search that began by studying the records of every registered showjumper on file with the British Show Jumping Association.[2] The horse, who stood 16.3 hands (67 inches, 170 cm) high, was sired by the Thoroughbred stallion Erehwemos out of the half-bred mare Catcall.[3]
Death and legacy
Foxhunter died in 1959. His skeleton was preserved and donated to the Royal Veterinary College, where it was put on permanent display in the college's Anatomy Museum.[4][5]
Foxhunter's hide was buried on the Blorenge mountain, between Abergavenny and Blaenavon.[4] A memorial plaque listing Foxhunter's achievements marks the Blorenge site and a car park is situated nearby. When Sir Harry died in 1999 his ashes were scattered around the horse's memorial.[6]
The Foxhunter Championship for novice horses at the annual Horse of the Year Show was named after Foxhunter,[1] and was first held in 1954.[7]