Equestrian
Millar’s tale of grit & determination Aaron Millar is a very successful local eventer, his mother was a keen rider, and he began his career at his local began with his local pony club. At 16 Aaron was faced with the choice to continue in education and go to university then pursue a military career at Sandhurst Royal Military Academy but his addiction to thrills and spills of equestrian life had been sparked at 10 years of age. He chose horses and his career goes from strength to strength, one could say that the most important horse in his career was Henry found by Carolyn Criton, he says he owes his achievements to them both. Henry was an Irish sports horse that took him through young riders and they went on to achieve at the National under 18s and he came seventh at Branham aged just 19. They went on to compete three times at Burghley and once at Badminton and he credits Henry as being his horse of a lifetime. Aaron says that he loves all eventing disciplines equally and that you possibly must, to achieve in the sport.
RIDING HIGH: Aaron Millar belives in determination over talent
He believes in determination over talent, which may rings true throughout Aaron’s story; that determination saw him establish his own business at just 21 years of age, running his yard at Wigginton for 10 liveries, later moving to yards in Exeter and Cattistock as he grew his business. He’s now based in Buckland Newton, and the yard is currently full, with 18 horses competing. Aaron was involved in a serious car accident in 2015 in which he sustained
injuries with a lasting impact. He was unable to work for a year, whilst he was lucky in his recovery-disastrous in a career dependant on full fitness, but once again Aaron’s determination shone through, having invested in a lot of young stock that he couldn’t produce and losing a lot of business; injury was the catalyst for him to strengthen his team and focus on developing a more sustainable business model. Eventing is an expensive
sport, but Aaron’s syndicate model makes it accessible to those with an interest in the sport. Enthusiasts have the chance to become owners, with shares starting from £100 per month (which may be a very shrewd investment, as two or three are likely to reach fivestar level). Stakeholders will be able to visit the yard every month and all events. Their investment will offer them shared owner ship and a dividend on any profits made.
bridleway sign miraculously disappears. This track though, if you can find it, is great.” Niki Elliot, who is a keen mountain biker and hiker, said she had also encountered problems on bridleways and public paths. She said: “I relocated to Shaftesbury last November. During the first lockdown I bought an OS map for the area, thinking it a good opportunity to get to know the local bridleways and trails whilst keeping my daily exercise local. “I found gates bolted and locked
and some signposted bridleways were impossible to pass, including on the Hardy Way and the Wessex Ridgeway.” BHS county bridleways officer Carol Shoopman says Dorset Explorer, Dorset Council’s online mapping app gives everyone access to a huge range of layers and tools, which can be overlayed onto a modern map providing a magnitude of routes for the horse and rider. “Dorset Explorer can be downloaded onto your phone, so you can pick your paths when
Riders urged to report problems using bridleways and other By Kate Smith Horse riders in Shaftesbury say they struggle to find bridleways around the town. Showjumper Charlotte Williams who lives in West Stour, said: “There are very few bridleways in Shaftesbury and sometimes we do encounter problems with locked gates or overgrown paths. I used to live in Surrey and our bridleways officer was fantastic – we fundraised to keep bridleways in good shape and we would often get together to clear overgrown hedges, which 78
are a perennial problem. In many places to ride there are also problems with off-road bikers or herds of cattle, which you are unaware of until you might be half way across a field – this can be quite daunting on horse-back especially if the cattle start to run.” Charlotte told us of a beautiful but little known bridleway near Wincombe Lane, which takes you behind BV Dairy and across to the Coombes. “This is a lovely bridleway but little known, because the
