Doing the double

‘THE BIGGER THE ATMOSPHERE, THE BETTER HE GOES’

WHEN she dropped her reins during her individual show, Danielle Hughes thought she’d blown her chances of a HOYS placing on her Welsh section C gelding Glynwyn The Living Daylights (Christian), who had qualified in his respective breed class. The eight-yearold, however, proved his star quality by continuing to breeze through his show and be called forward as the winner, a title he also won in 2015.

“We’ve had Christian since he was three,” says childcare worker and homeproduced rider Danielle, who shares pony duties with her mum, Lyndsey Jackson, and nan, Val Jackson. “We’ve taken him from an unhandled companion to a HOYS winner. He was very nervous at the start but now, the bigger the atmosphere, the better he goes.

“Last year, the show involved two canter transitions on the straight, which didn’t worry me, as this is something I would usually include in my shows anyway,” explains Danielle.

“When I was called out into first, shocked was an understatement. I never expected to return to win a second time.

“When I dropped my reins on the canter change across the diagonal, I was mortified, but Christian just carried on. During the rosette presentation, the ride-judge commented that she had seen what happened and noted how beautifully schooled he was just to carry on as normal.”

When asked if she has found competing against producers frustrating, Danielle say’s she has been lucky as Christian can hold his own in the strongest of fields.

“The people who do this for a living spend hours behind the scenes,” she says. “They spend hours prepping, turn up to shows with a wagon full of ponies and run from ring to ring all day. It takes dedication — they deserve their success. I’d like to think I could maybe do the same one day.”

DANIELLE’S TOP TIPS

Self-belief — believe in yourself and your pony but also remember to be critical and always look for ways you can improve.

Work with what you have — you don’t need a fancy set-up or sponsors. We don’t even have an arena at home, so most of our work is done in open fields and out hacking. Don’t over-show — we usually pick a handful of shows at the beginning of the season, usually within a three-hour travelling time. Christian only contested six shows last year including HOYS and I believe that’s why he never loses his sparkle.