Horse & Hound – 22 August 2019

62 Horse& Hound22 August 2019

FELLOWcolumnistRobert

Walkerandmyselfhaveboth

commentedontheissueof

judgespenalisingyounghorses

forbeinga littleimmature.We

havebothreceivedverypositive

commentsfromtheshowing

community.Itseemsthetrend

nowadaysis thatolderhorses

arethenorm,whereasthey

usedtobeunheardofwhen

theyreacheddoublefiguresas

theywouldusuallyhavegone

ontodoanotherjob.

I thinkweneedtorealise

thatwithoutthesefresh,young

horses,wewon’thaveany

forthefuture.A younghorse

shouldnotbepenalisedbecause

ofitsageif it performswell.I’m

alwaysexcitedtoseea newstar.

Forme,negativecomments

abouta littlephysical

immaturitywouldbevery

insignificantcomparedto,say,

anolderhorsethatis verywell

madeupbutmayhavea lotof

wearandtearinthejoints.I

knowwhichanimalI would

soonerhave.

WASTEDONSOME

REFLECTINGonRoyal

Internationalweek,where

wehadintenseheatthat

thenswiftlyturnedintoa

monsoon,thankgoodness

wehadthefabulousfacilities

toaccommodatesucha vast

numberofhorses.

Wemustbegratefulforthe

resurfacingofringthree,the

trackinringfiveandofcourse,

theenormousall-weather

workingarena.Withoutthese

improvements,theshow

couldhavebeenindangerof

beingcancelled.Thankfully,

Hicksteadorganisersmadesure

thiswasneveranoption.

Theamountofmoneythese

improvementscostis sadly

wastedonsomecompetitors,

whoseemtotakeforgranted

themulti-millionsspentto

maketheirexperiencebetter.

It’s sad to see people abusing

thefacilitiesbylitteringand

makinga mess.I dreadto

thinkhowlongtheclean-up

operationtakes.

SECOND-CLASS

CITIZENS

I KNOWtheteamatHickstead

areveryopentoconstructive

commentsandtherehasbeen

muchcompetitortalkabout

perhapsalteringthetimetable

toswapthelead-reinwiththe

cobs.Unfortunately,thecobs

didmakea bitofa messof

theringbeforethelead-rein

ponies went in. It probably does

makesensetoputthelead-rein

animalsinthereandmovethe

cobstoanalternativering.

Itwasa wisemovetobarrier

offthecollectingringfromthe

showjumpers,especiallyaswe

haveveryyoungjockeyswho

maynotbeasawareastheolder

competitors.Thisgavethem

someprotectionandI’msure

theshowjumperswerealso

gratefulfortheimprovement.It

wasgoodstilltobeabletouse

thewholearenatoworkinand

I didseethemajorityofpeople

juststickingtotheoutsideand

thenusingthebarrieredareato

turnandcircle.

It’salwaysbeneficialto

seethesechanges,whichare

madewithcommonsense.

Atsomeshows,the“showing

lot”canbedisregardedlike

second-classcitizens;however,

atHicksteadwearetreated

verywellandgiventhesame

fabulousfacilitiesasthe other

competitors.H&H

‘I know which animal I’d have’

Simon Reynolds looks back at the RIHS and ahead to the next generation

Royalshow

producerKatie

Jerram-Hunnable

NEXT

WEEK

ONLY IN HORSE & HOUND

OPINION

Simonisbestknownforproducing

cobsfortheshowring, including the

prolifi c Hallmark.

SHOWING

LOOKINGTOTHEFUTURE

ITwasgoodtoseeLucyKillingbeckbackina ride-judgingrole

aftera freakaccidentathometwoyearsagoleftherwithmultiple

injuriesandtheprognosisof“neverbeingabletorideagain”.

She madea miracleringcomebackhereintheworkinghunters.

“Iwasobviouslyworriedthatmybodymightthink

I shouldn’tbedoingthis,andafterridingthefirst

horse,I burstintotears,”saidLucy.“However,thatwas

purelybecauseI thoroughlyenjoyed it and I am now

looking forward to the future.”

AGAINST

THE ODDS

ontheflatin 2017 whenpartnered

byGemmaPallett.

“Wehaveproducedhimsince

hewasfour,butheonlystarted

jumpingabouta yearago,”said

Sarah.“Heis a verycheeky

charactertohaveathomeand

keepsusallonourtoes.”

Achancebuyproveda good

moveforRachalFairbairn,who

tookherfirstladies’HOYSticket

withherhome-producedcoloured

mare,DelilahRose.

“Iwaslookingfora gelding,

but ended up buying Delilah from

mytrainerToryCarr,whobred

andhand-rearedherfromfive

weeksold,”explainedHull-based

Rachal,wholastcompetedat

HOYSin2016.

“Delilahcompetedindressage

butshehasmadea smooth

transitionintoshowing;shehas

anamazingtemperament,”she

added.“Weintroducedtheside-

saddleoverthewinterandshehas

takentoit amazingly.Shehasalso

qualifiedfortheColouredHorse

andPonySocietycoloured final at

HOYS.”H&H

Maxi cob Clantara Shadow Play (Avril Bartolomy) is HOYS bound

Tonya Wood and Rebel Moon head the tough senior worker qualifier

STONELEIGH

9-11 August