Wallace The Great going to the Festival of British Eventing.
© True To You Photography – Wallace The Great – Dressage Mule Facebook page
Wallace the Great, the dressage mule who has captured the hearts of the nation, will be heading to the Magic Millions Festival of British Eventing at Gatcombe Park, held from the 3rd to the 5th of August. His extraordinary journey will take yet another leap this weekend when he will take to the main arena at one of the most iconic equestrian events in the calendar, in the yearly Dressage Display. Wallace and his rider Christie Mclean first rose to fame after winning their first ever British Dressage affiliated competition. The pair were originally told that they could not compete due to the fact Wallace was a mule but he is now fully registered with British Dressage.
This true rags to riches story began when Wallace was found wondering the streets, after being abandoned in a small town in County Antrim, Ireland. His history prior to this is unknown, however, the locals took pity on him and started to leave hay in a local bus shelter. Thankfully, Wallace was picked up by a local rescue centre and was handed over to the Donkey Sanctuary who moved him to their headquarters in Sidmouth, Devon.
Wallace was later loaned to Lesley Radcliffe, a ‘guardian angel’ to Wallace and other donkeys before Christie took over the ride. The pair scored 67.4% in their first British Dressage competition at Summerhouse Equestrian Centre, Gloucestershire and received some lovely feedback from the judges.
The Dressage to Music display will be held in the Main Arena on both Saturday and Sunday and sees ponies and horses of various levels performing a range of different movements. The finale will be a complete Dressage to Music display at the very top level – Grand Prix.
Desi Dillingham MBE commented “We are thrilled that Wallace is able to compete within British Dressage and it is wonderful that he is playing a part in our Dressage to Music Display at The Festival, we can’t wait. We also hope that he might’ participate in a few selfies for his fans so watch this space!”
Source: Festival Of British Eventing press release
