Wow what a scorcher this month has been! We are now desperate for rain, the fields have really suffered and we are missing a green outlook. Most of the horses are not as energetic in this heat and it can be difficult to get good quality work out of the young horses as we are finding them very easily exhausted. To combat this, we have been exercising either really early in the mornings or last thing at night. I think we are virtually becoming nocturnal!
Our first show of the month was North of England Summer Show at Arena UK. Harriet Richardson’s five-year-old lightweight cob, Copenhagen (Teddy), won a very strong novice cob class going superbly. The Ringmaster (Max), also a five-year-old, was second in a huge HOYS qualifying maxi cob class. Max has already qualified for HOYS, but we were taking advantage of running him in a class on a surface as the ground is so hard now at the usual grass shows.
A run out at The Festival of Hunting Show at Peterborough proved successful for Lewis (Formula 1), who won the novice hunter and went reserve champion. This horse is improving every time out. He will take a short break now before contesting some classes later in the season.
Carnsdale Graffiti (Albert) and his owner Rachel Cooper enjoyed one of their favourite shows, The Great Yorkshire Show, where they finished second in a huge class of HOYS coloureds. Albert loved the crowd and really lifted his game to produce some excellent gallops which were much appreciated by the crowd.
The coloured cob Churchtown Minstrel (Sid) has now been sold to new owner Hannah Sillitoe. Hannah and Sid have really clicked and she is super excited for the rest of the season. Sid will stay with us to be produced this season. After a few schooling sessions, it was a case of throwing Hannah in at the deep end, as their first show together was the Royal International Horse Show. With over 40 horses in their class, negotiating the go round was a big ask, but they both remained foot perfect and pulled off a fabulous show to be placed 7th. A fantastic first outing for them. Their next outing will be at the CHAPS Championships and possibly a few more outings before the pinnacle… the Horse of the Year Show in October. We wish them both all the best of luck!
Another of our youngsters taking on the big boys was Teddy (Copenhagen), at The New Forest Show where he won a fantastic HOYS qualifier in the main ring and stood reserve champion. This was a big ask, but we were confident Teddy could handle it. He’s not a sharp or spooky cob and he loved the main ring experience with the grandstands and a full set of show jumps. We were all very proud of him. It was interesting, as the conformation judge had actually judged Teddy last year at the BSHA National Championships in hand where he stood champion. So, for the judge to see him all grown up and now ridden was really lovely. He’s come a long way.
We also welcome a new face to the team, small hunter Tiger Eye, owned by Rachel Cooper. We are all very excited. Tiger is already HOYS bound in the small hunters, and we may contest some intermediate qualifiers too with him. He’s now our son Luke’s new favourite.
