Ros Canter Changes Her Name

HALLINGTON, LINCOLNSHIRE—Never one to let the moss grow underneath her feet, the Olympic team gold medalist, double World Championships gold medalist, and reigning European Champion for Great Britain, Ros Canter, has decided to use her maternity leave “down time” for a bit of rebranding.

“Ms. Canter has decided to legally change her name,” a spokesperson for the British eventer told Horse Network exclusively. “Ms. Canter has long felt that the slower, controlled, three-beat nature of the canter gait hasn’t fully represented her aesthetic in the ring, and certainly not on the cross country course.

“As most of us know by now—given Ms. Canter’s recent back-to-back CCI5* wins at Burghley, the latest while pregnant, not to mention her previous 5* victories in Badminton, Luhmühlen, Pau, and beyond—she does nothing at half-speed.

“Therefore, Ms. Canter and her team have declared that Ros Canter will now be known as Ros Gallop.”

While many women use those coveted, oh-so-brief windows while their newborn is sleeping to lay around in well-deserved sweatpants and catch up on some of their own Zs, Ms. ‘Gallop’ has a reputation for taking a more ambitious approach to maternity “time off.”

In 2019, after the birth of her first daughter Ziggy Grace in July, ‘Gallop’ was back in the tack just 10 days after giving birth. She jumped double-clear with two of her horses in the open intermediate division at Aston-le-Walls in August and, just three months later, ‘Gallop’ and Allstar B won the CCI4*-L at Ballindenisk, in County Cork, Ireland.

In other words, there was no cantering back into competition for eventing’s ‘it’ girl after her first baby, and there likely won’t be again this time around. After bowing out of consideration for the 2025 European Eventing Championships this month due to her pregnancy, ‘Gallop’ will undoubtedly will be eyeing a championship run in 2026.

And, with baby #2 due early next year, that event will likely be the FEI World Championships in Aachen in August. In the meantime, Gallop will be loading up her double-stroller with pacifiers and Goldfish snacks in preparation for potential, 2026 British Eventing Team selection trials at Badminton, Luhmühlen, and beyond.

“As Oscar Wilde so wisely stated, ‘There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about,’” Gallop’s spokesperson said. “Especially where top athletes are concerned, an astute name change rarely hurts a professional athlete’s public image—quite the contrary.

“Just look at football player Chad Ochocinco, or Muhammad Ali—‘the Greatest’—and he was! Ms. Gallop’s choice of sobriquet is not only appropriate, it’s far from unprecedented.”

In related news, Horse Network is currently investigating reports that the notoriously genteel Scottish rider Scott Brash plans to change his name to the more-suitable ‘Scott Modest.’ At press time, this could not be confirmed.

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