Horse & Hound – 01 August 2019

38 Horse&Hound1 August 2019

Pictures by Lucy

Merrell,

Margaret Shaw

and

Peter

Nixon

wheretheycertainlyputona

supremedisplay.

Startingoutwitha floatingtrot

acrossthearena,thefollowing

canterserpentine,extensionsand

freewalkwereperfectlyexecuted

bythepair.

IndiakeptclosetoAnn

Brickell,BobEllisandHolly

Smithateverypaceandher

rewardwasninemarks from each

of those judges.

“Alfie hasfourgoodpaces

andfora showponyhecan

reallygallop.WhenI saygoon,

offhegoes,andhewasonsong

alltheway,”saidIndia,who

is inhersecondseasonwith

Alfie andplannedhershowwith

producerKatyCarter.

“Itworkedperfectly,”shesaid.

KatyboughtAlfie unbroken

andherdaughter,Poppy,

firstcompetedtheTurberryTop

Catsix-year-oldbeforeIndia

tookover.

India and Alfi e certainly

SPORTINGoneofthebroadest

smilesoftheweek,IndiaTill

clinchedtheDeLaHeyFamily

supremeponytitleridingher

motherHenrietta’s138cm

reigningshowponyoftheyear,

DrakemyrePuttinOnTheRitz

(Alfie),toclaimthecovetedDick

Saunderstrophy.

Just 24 hoursbefore,Indiaand

Alfie hadopenedtheiraccount

bytakingthepart-bredArab

tricolour,andtheyaddedtheshow

ponychampionshipjustbefore

contesting the supreme ride-off ,

SHOWING

LONGINESROYAL

INTERNATIONAL

Ponies

A 138cmshowponyis unstoppable,theworkinghuntertrackproves

challenging and one rider becomes a Hickstead champion onherdebut

Ritz provides the glitz

ByMARGARETSHAW camehereingoodform,having

recentlytakentheshowponytitles

atMidlandCountiesandGreat

Yorkshire,andtheytopped

thatoffbyclaimingtheNorth

ofEngland£1,000supreme

Arabchampionship.

Alfie wastheonlyponyinthree

showponysectionstobepulled

topandstaythere.

“Thechampionwasa very

mannerlyponywhosatupand

hadthatlook-at-mepresence

rightfromthewordgo,andhe

ticked every box for me,” said

IndiaTillandreigningshow

ponyoftheyearDrakemyre

PuttinOnTheRitz,who

continueshisrunofgood

form, secure pony supreme