SOUTH-WEST

Anna James won two novices with a 13.2hh cob bought on a whim for £300.

Anna, a firefighter from WestonSuper-Mare, was offered the eight-year-old traditional cob Blaze Bear while she was visiting her local saddlers.

“I usually buy a warmblood youngster, but I’m going to stick with this one; he makes me smile,” said Anna, who took both bronze sections at Badgworth Arena.

“I have to squash myself down a bit as I’m rather tall and it’s hilarious when you look at the kind of horses he warms up with.”

Naomi Holland won both mediums at Duchy College on Cor Chapin, by Stedinger, after having a baby just three months ago.

“I had a C-section and so I haven’t many stomach muscles left and was worried about the sitting trot,” said Naomi. “Nicky du Plessis told me the adrenalin would kick in and it did. I thought getting to the show with two children in tow was a major achievement, let alone winning.”

Kay Palmer, who is in training for the Newport marathon in April, headed both novices on Sandy McSweeney’s Haflinger Oxnead Axell, and the Irish-bred The Jack Of Hearts.