Australia is a country well known in the equestrian world for its Eventing Teams, especially at Olympic level, where they are currently sitting on 3 consecutive Gold medals and working hard towards a fourth one in Athens in August this year - but showjumping is an area where they have not had the medals to put them on the world stage!

Over the years there have been good horses, but unfortunately when a horse shows that "special something" buyers from around the world descend on the owners and money is offered which is impossible for most to resist and the horses are then sold. These horses are then not seen at the elite end of the sport - they become excellent high amateur horses in many countries or compete on the B circuits where they do very well - why is this?

Could it be because the Australian riders are excellent at their sport and can often ride horses that others cannot quite get the same "tune" out of - well it is hard to know the answer to this question because the horses do get sold on and the Australian riders don't get the chance, generally to prove what they can do.

Well there is a chance now for an Aussie rider to set his sights high and for this rider I have no doubt the Olympic dream has been foremost in his mind since he was a little boy - Andrew Inglis - and now thanks to owners who once featured in the sports elite list for Australia, a life partner who is just as passionate about showjumping as she is about "her man Andrew" and a knackers yard owner Andrew might get his chance to fulfill that childhood dream which has stayed with him through to adult life! Now it just comes down to the "facts of life" - can they raise the money to get the rider and the horse to Europe to continue their bid for the one and only spot available for Australia at Athens Olympic Games?

The story of Andrew Inglis and Cathy and Greg Chapman's horse, Mr Burns reads like the ultimate Jilly Cooper novel - let's hope it has a happy ending.

Let me introduce you firstly to the players in this real life story -
Greg Chapman and his wife Cathy - Greg represented Australia in showjumping some 20 years ago when showjumping was experiencing a huge infusion of money from a group of businessmen who "found showjumping" - it is a time remembered for exceptional horses and riders in Australia who for the first time had the funding to travel overseas and they did well but those hedonistic days did not last and it wa sback to the "grind" for Australian showjumping. Since these heady days of showjumping at the elite level Greg has hardly sat on a horse but wife Cathy was not content with this and whilst going through some very serious health problems, Cathy extracted a promise from Greg that he join her trail riding when she made a full recovery - Greg made her this promise in the hope that she would make that full recovery - and indeed that is exactly what Cathy has done! And so now Greg had to honour his promise so they went to throughbred sales in Sydney, New South Wales to try and find him the "right" horse for the job.

Phillip Burns - owns Burns Pet Food company but is a "knackers man with a heart" from all reports and he will try to rehouse many of the horses which are the sad "throwaways" of the tough throughbred industry. Phillip had just bought a dud racehorse which was a tall and skinny nag called Regency Rake - he had paid the princely sum of AUD350 (approx. euro200) and it was earmarked for the knackers yard.

Mr Burns - the "knackers horse" formerly known as Regency Rake, who although a dud on the racetrack had good bloodlines - but he was a gelding so his future did not look good at the point of his purchase by Burns Pet Food.

Andrew Inglis - Australian showjumper who is fiercely proud of his Australian heritage and who has been dreaming of wearing the Australian flag on his jacket as he rides in to an Olympic Showjumping Arena. In 2000 he was the reserve for the Sydney Olympic Team and this can be more of a torment than a bonus as it is like putting the kid inside a lolly shop and saying "you can look but not taste".

Jenny Sheppard - one of the most passionate women in Australian showjumping. Jenny is the Coach of the Victorian Young Rider Squads, is a well respected commentator on showjumping in Australia and a top level competitor and producer of horses as well as having a heavy teaching load from her and Andrew's base in New South Wales.

So the scene is set for a novel already but add to this the horrendous accident which Andrew suffered in 2001 after a near fatal fall into a post hole auger leaving Andrew with an injury to his hand causing concern as to whether he would ever be able to hold the reins of a jumping horse again. But detrmination must be Andrew's middle name as he went through intensive rehabilitation and physiotherapy and was once again back in the saddle and determined to rise to the top of his sport again just six short months later.

Now while all this was going on Greg and Cathy Chapman had purchased the "dud racehorse" for the AUD350 paid by Phillip Burns and renamed him Mr Burns after the man who turned out to be his "saviour" and five years later after careful and professional training and the horse is up at the top of the sport in Australia and it looks like Greg and Cathy Chapman are about to fulfill their dream of having their horse compete on the world stage.

In May 2003, while riding a young horse, Andrew's partner and greatest supporter, Jenny Sheppard suffered a broken neck and it was then Andrew's turn to nurse her through her recovery - and again Jenny is as determined as Andrew and pulled through with flying colours to again take her place in the saddle.

In October 2003 Andrew took over the ride on this super horse and in just six months they won a World Cup Qualifier and placed in six and they also took out Leading Horse and Rider titles at many of Australia's biggest shows.

So finally it seemed that things were going to work out for these two couples who had long nutured an Olympic dream and who had overcome enormous obstacles along the way - Australia had one spot "up for grabs" for the Athens Olympic Games and Andrew was determined that it was to be his and Mr Burns, thereby fulfilling four people's dream with one horse!

Now none of these four are beginners in the game of showjumping and they realised that to be selected and also to have a chance of shining at the Games, Andrew and Mr Burns have to be in Europe competing at top level against the best in the world, those riders they would be "up against" in Athens - but coming from Australia this is always a tough ask and an expensive exercise so funds had to be raised to make the trip to Athens a reality. Jenny and Andrew owned a great young showjumping horse named Tactics and this horse was to be put on the market to fund Andrew and Mr Burn's trip - but again things were not to go easy for Jenny and Andrew and Tactics was blinded in a freak accident in a local show's stable - what a cruel twist of fate that this super horse which was to fund the "knacker's horses bid for Olympic glory" was now no more than a knackers horse himself!

Greg and Cathy Chapman have resisted huge offers from New Zealand, Holland and Italy for this horse as they are determined to keep him Australian owned with the hope that he will go to Athens and then return home to Australia to begin the work towards the World Championships in Aachen, Germany in 2006 where he would then be the experienced Australian horse. But resisting huge offers is a big ask and it puts financial strain everywhere hence the need to raise funding.

So things looked like going back to being almost unattainable - but Jenny was not prepared to lie down and die and she has been working very hard to raise the funds to get Andrew and Mr Burns to Europe where they need to be by the end of May ensuring that they can compete and do well in at least eleven International competitions to impress the Australian selectors.

The Australian ANZ bank have set up the "Get Mr Burns to Athens" account in an attempt to help raise the funds necessary and if any Australian is not touched enough by this story to help then they have a heart of stone.

This is a truly amazing story and if somebody wants to give it the happy ending it richly deserves then contact Jenny Sheppard by phone on +61 (0) 418 546 083 - and for all those Australians who are currently overseas themselves who have ever had an interest in horses this might be the time to rekindle your Aussie spirit and help a couple of very deserving battlers!

If you don't want to phone Australia but have an offer for this incredibly determined and patriotic pair of couples, email us and we will be happy to pass your emails on to them

We look forward to bringing you the news of this combinations road to Athens and we hope that the story has the happy ending it deserves.

Pictured left - Andrew and Mr Burns take a moment to pose for the camera - is that not the softest and kindest eye on a horse!

Pictured right - Andrew and Mr Burns in "work mode" giving this 1.60m oxer plenty of air proving they are worthy of being "given a chance"!