Two exciting new attractions are being added to the world’s largest gathering of Shire horses, which takes place at Staffordshire Showground in March 2020.
Coco Bongo proved that her presence under the spotlight is as compelling as her jump when she beat off all the other pony Champions from across the week to be crowned the Ruckleigh School Supreme Pony of the Year 2019. Ridden by Chloe Lemieux, the 10-year-old grey mare is owned by William Calder, and HOYS was their fifth show together. Chloe is riding the pony in 133cm Workers while William’s daughter Jessica is currently in Nursery Stakes classes with her. After a very busy and even more successful week at HOYS, Jayne Ross added to her HOYS story when the stunning Heavyweight Hunter, Twinshock Warrior, was crowned Supreme Products Supreme Horse of the Year. Jayne had four horses qualified for the Supreme final and this was her seventh Horsae of the Year Show Supreme title. In the Showjumping arena, it was Irish rider David Simpson who claimed the Leading Showjumper of the Year title. Speaking after his win with Gentleman VH Veldhof, David said: “To win the final track of Bob Ellis’ time at Horse of the Year Show is a real honour. He is a great friend of mine and what he has brought to our sport is unbelievable.”
Robert Whitaker, blew away the opposition in the first international showjumping class of the day at Saturday’s Horse of the Year Show to win the Accumulator, a class which sees riders collect points for each fence jumped, with the winner claiming the most points in the quickest time. Also setting a quick time was Glain Watkin-Jones who jumped to victory in the Pony Foxhunter Championship with Trevor H. Snaking around the turn to the last line, the crowd were right behind the pair as they flew to the last.
It was a special win for HOYS Supreme Champion Jayne Ross on Thursday 3rd October when she took the Small Show Hunter of the Year title for the first time with the six-year-old Church Rock Cashel. The fairytale endings continued in the show ring when sisters Amy and Vikki Smith took the top two spots in the Mountain & Moorland Working Hunter Pony Championship exceeding 143cm, with Amy and the Connemara Laburnum Richard standing Champions. The Dressage Future Eite Championship has grown in popularity since it was first introduced at HOYS a few years ago and this year proved the quality of future dressage superstars in this country is improving year on year, with Charlotte Dujardin taking the title for the fourth year running, this year partnering Mount St John Valencia.
The first day of competition at the Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) on Wednesday 2nd October 2019 saw champions crowned from showing to showjumping. Always a crowd-pleaser Lucy Richardson’s Welsh Section A Pony Thistledown Van-Der-Vaart, ridden by her daughter Lilly, made HOYS history by winning the Colne and The Feed Shed Mountain & Moorland Mini Pony of the Year for the fifh year on the trot. Continuing the record-breaking trend during the evening performance was Nicole Pavitt, who became the first show jumper to win the Senior Newcomers Championship for the fourth time.
It was an evening of rare treats for the enthusiastic home crowd at the College Equestrian Centre, Keysoe, Bedfordshire on Sunday 17th March 2019. An all-star cast descended upon the venue to do battle in the hotly-contested Equine Construction Grand Prix Freestyle, and though the final scores were tight at the top, British stalwart Carl Hester managed to edge the win from teammate Charlotte Dujardin. Read more
Kent’s Cerys Withey riding Samantha Withey’s Apart EA won the Dodson & Horrell 95cm National Amateur Second Round at Barleylands Equestrian Centre in Essex, qualifying for the hugely popular Dodson & Horrell National Amateur Championships, which will be held at Aintree Equestrian Centre in Liverpool from 13th to 18th November.
Rebecca Hill and Cill Eoghain Lady, known at home as Clover, proved success isn’t reserved for those with experience as they won their debut BE in Section C of the BE90 at Eridge Park Horse Trials. Read more
Harrison Chart riding Direct Cruising won the BE 100U18 at Eridge Park Horse Trials on Saturday 14th July. Cruise, owned by Sara Wick, has competed up to 2* and Harrison who has only been riding for three years expressed how grateful he was to be able to loan such a special horse from a supportive and involved owner. Read more
Hampshire based Jenna Good and Western King won the Pony Discovery Championship Final at the British Showjumping Championships at Stoneleigh on Thursday 9th August. Read more
