Welcome new arrivals
COB exhibitor and professional stuntwoman Nina Armstrong Finlay has given birth to her first child, daughter Allegra, who arrived on 26 January weighing 8lb 5oz. “My pregnancy was a closely guarded secret because I wanted to carry on working,” Nina explained. “Luckily I’m quite a ‘curvy’ girl, so not many people clocked it — I worked until my seventh month doing car chases on the new Johnny English film and also a Disney movie.”
Allegra was left in no doubt about her future — within 24 hours of her birth she met Nina’s beloved cob Miramax, and was in the saddle with grandparents Vic and Wendy Armstrong the next day.
Meanwhile, reigning British Show Horse Association (BSHA) home-produced hack champion Lucinda Haines has had a son, named Oliver. He arrived five weeks early, weighing 6lbs 12oz.
“There weren’t even any warning signs,” said Lucinda, who triumphed at Addington with Colbeach Mark Of Respect. “I’d run a BSPS clinic the day before and was planning my last day at work when my waters broke at 5am. I had to have an emergency C-section as he was breech.
“He must have heard me saying that I wanted to be back in the saddle for the start of the season.”