Nick Skelton’s Big Star, who finished third in the recent Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix in Estoril, has sustained a leg injury which will sideline him for at least a year.

The 11-year-old stallion was discovered to have torn his lower suspensory ligament following the competition in Estoril. He will need a considerable rehabilitation period. The horse sustained a similar injury in September 2013, which saw him out of action for nine months.

Skelton had hoped to take Big Star to the 2014 Alltech World Equestrian Games™ in France.