Fife breeder and judge is the queen of the shows – and a true personality

Puddledub: Fiona Reed’s dedication to her sport sees her nominated for top award yet again

Few people put as much effort into the Scottish showing scene as Fiona Reed, who runs no less than nine shows each year catering for riders and horses at all levels.

Recognised for her wealth of knowledge of horses and how to produce them, her breeding and judging, and also for her series of Puddledub shows, Fiona won Personality of the Year at the 2017 Scottish Equestrian Awards and has been nominated again for 2018.

Brought up in Aberdour, with a background in pony club and hunting, Fiona spent many years dividing her time working as a freelance cordon bleu chef and gaining equestrian experience in all sort of yards, from showing to racing.

She moved to the 55-acre Bankhead Farm at Puddledub Farm, near Auchtertool, in Fife in 1991 with just two horses including the thoroughbred stallion, Dixi.

Fiona was working in the livestock office at the Highland Show, when Max Abram offered her the chance to buy the 19-year-old Dixi, who had previously stood at Angus Mcdonald’s stud, and then in 1999 she could not resist buying the five-year-old Bollin Terry when he retired from the track.

He became the main stallion at Puddledub until this year, producing youngstock which have sold all over the country into all disciplines.

One of his most successful offspring is a maxi cob, Clantara Shadow Play, out of a Percheron mare. This cob was seventh at the 2017 Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) and has twice won the Royal International Horse Show.

Sadly, Terry died in September at the grand age of 23 and Fiona has no plans to replace him as she is now so busy with judging commitments and running her shows.

It was following a few years as secretary of the British Show Pony Society (BSPS) Scotland in the early 2000s that Fiona started her first show.

She explained: “I felt the BSPS was too west orientated so I persuaded them to run a working hunter show at Balcormo in Fife, which was a huge success and when I handed over the reins of secretary I continued this show.”

Scotland is lacking in qualifiers for the two big shows in the south, the Royal International and HOYS, so when Patricia Lumsden could no longer run her spring show and the Bonelli Bairds gave up their show at DABBS, Fiona decided to run a show with qualifiers to save Scottish riders having to go south and also to encourage riders from south of the border to come and compete in Scotland.

The Puddledub Spring Show has gone from strength to strength since it started in 2007 and was soon followed by a summer show plus five winter shows at venues from Aberdeen to Selkirk and a youngstock show.

The only show not to carry the Puddledub prefix is the two-day Caledonian Showing Championships Show for which there are qualifiers all over Scotland, and it has become a real highlight of the showing calendar with many relishing the opportunity to ride in an evening performance.

The hope is for each show to be profitable, however it doesn’t always work out that way.

The increasing cost of venues, travel expenses and the recent trend for entries on the day can mean a show is badly affected if the weather is poor, and the fact that Fiona likes to bring judges from the south for both the Spring Show and the Caledonian Championships is expensive.

However she said: “There is nothing more satisfying than people being happy, I can relate it to being a chef when you cook to make people happy, and it is lovely when competitors come and say thank you.”

A well-known and respected judge, Fiona is on the panel for Sports Horse GB Hunters, a BSPS Star WHP judge, HOYS level CHAPS and also veterans and seniors.

Although she has judged at top level at the CHAPS championships and the Highland Show, she said some of her judging highlights have come from smaller shows.

She added: “Being a judge myself has taught me to always look after the judges at my shows.

“I also believe everyone who competes should steward, firstly to put something back into the sport but mainly for the experience of learning what a judge is looking for in the ring.”

At home at Puddledub there are still a few brood mares, two of which are daughters of Terry, and a selection of youngstock.

Fiona is particularly pleased with a couple of youngsters out of a Welton Crackerjack advanced-event mare.

Fiona Reed with rosettes from her Puddledub shows. Below left: Fiona with two six-month-old weaned foals, Nugget (lighter colour) and Difday; and below right: Some of the youngstock in Fiona’s fields. Pictures: Mhairi Edwards.