British Open champion Ellen Whitaker says she will not represent Britain this year following a row with world class performance manager Rob Hoekstra. Whitaker, known as the golden girl of British showjumping, fell out with Hoekstra over a row about her schedule, accusing him of “interfering”.
“I am not trying to be awkward, but I cannot work with somebody who will not listen,” said 24-year old Whitaker. British Showjumping said it is fully backing Hoekstra in the dispute.
Ellen Whitaker at the Hickstead Derby Meet 2008. Photo: Stephen-Bartholomew-Photography.co.uk
Photo Credit: www.stephen-bartholomew-photography.co.uk
A spokesman said: “Of course we would like to see her on a British team, but Ellen will need to understand that she needs to give her full support to the team.”
Whitaker, niece of GB showjumping stalwarts John and Michael Whitaker, was originally selected for Britain’s Nations Cup opener in La Baule, near Nantes beginning on 13 May. But she was replaced in the team by Dave McPherson ahead of the event in which Britain finished a creditable joint-third with Germany. The row appears to have started when Hoekstra asked Whitaker to compete with her Nations Cup horse Ocolado in Lummen, Belgium, two weeks before La Baule.
“I only have Ocolado at the moment, and Rob wanted to interfere with the way I do everything,” Whitaker told Horse and Hound magazine.
“I didn’t want to go [to Lummen], as I thought it was too close to La Baule, but Rob would not listen. Then he didn’t want me to jump Ocolado at Newark and Notts County Show before La Baule. In the end, I decided the best thing would be for me to pull out of the team.”
Whitaker has now effectively ruled herself out of seven remaining Nations Cup competitions, plus the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky during September and October.
Read more on the BBC Sport Website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/equestrian/8696111.stm
Photo Credit: www.stephen-bartholomew-photography.co.uk
