The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Fife duo ready to saddle up for dream appearance at Horse of the Year Show
Friends to ride side by side in Highland pony final of the Mountain and Moorlands
There are few more emotive moments in the equestrian show ring than clinching that ever-elusive golden ticket to compete at the Horse of the Year Show.
Self-proclaimed as the world’s most famous horse show, it is quite simply the flagship event for the UK’s equestrian industry – and riding on the hallowed surface inside the Birmingham NEC arenas is something most riders can only ever dream of.
This year dreams came true, in a truly spectacular fashion, for Fife duo Jo Jack and Elinor Steven, who have both qualified to make the 360-mile round trip south from Largoward, to ride side by side in the Highland pony final of HOYS’ Mountain and Moorland championships this Wednesday.
The pair, who are friends and work alongside each other at the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, in St Andrews, have shared the common goal of reaching this final for quite some time.
“It’s Jo’s fault that I got into Highland ponies in the first place because I rode one of hers, Coney of Carrick, when she was away one weekend,” said Elinor.
For Jo, the native breed has been ingrained in her life since the beginning of the 1980s, when her father’s involvement with the Scout Hut at the Dalbrack Estate, in Glen Esk, led to an opportunity for Jo to ride Gordon and Nancy McIntosh’s pony, Tresta of Dalbrack, at the Royal Highland the following show season.
“They gave me Rona of Dalbrack to back and bring on under saddle and she qualified for Olympia in 1986,” Jo said.
It was not until Jo got the opportunity to ride Rona’s half-brother, Dunedin Harris, that she got her first taste of the magic and lights at HOYS.
They first qualified for the finals in 1999, the year they also won at Olympia, before repeating qualification in 2000, when Harris became (and remains) the only Highland Pony to win the HOYS M&M working hunter pony championship title.
This year Jo shares the magic with Carly Rafferty at Glentruim, riding her dun mare Margaret of Meggernie, more commonly known as Pegs or Peggy.
This eight-year-old, which was bred at the Meggernie Estate, Glenlyon, is out of Riona of Croila and sired by Tower Clyde.
Elinor, in turn, returns to Birmingham to pilot her own 11-year-old Highland gelding, Glenbanchor Somerled, sired by Moss-side Iain Mor and bred by Sally Leslie-Melville, of South Cantray, Croy, out of Glenbanchor Lady Fiona.
Known affectionately as Bo, this pony is responsible for truly cementing the ladies’ friendship, and proving himself utterly unique and versatile.
He has already taken Elinor to HOYS, winning an eighth placing in the 2012 championship final of the Private Driving – but is equally adept with a deer saddle, side saddle and in the dressage arena.