Cool Cat breezes through to Cuddy
A riding horse breeding champion and a former eventer both secure their tickets to HOYS, while the hunter champion takes the Queen’s Cup
A HOME-BRED riding horse headed a strong line-up of breed types to clinch the Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) Cuddy Breeders’ Supreme in-hand qualifier at the Wadebridge showground, after landing the youngstock championship.
Led by owner Sally Hobbs, Comberton Cool Cat won the top in-hand accolade and will be making his second appearance in the Cuddy final, having been there as a foal on his dam, Comberton Capelia.
The three-year-old, by Up
With The Lark, is hoped to make a small riding horse.
“He’s only had two outings since he went to HOYS,” said Sally, who has bred his line for about seven generations. “He has an excellent temperament and didn’t worry about anything today, even the ponies and traps.”
The gelding also took the riding horse breeding title at
Bath & West and finished in the top six in the Cuddy there, too.
“It was a strong line-up, so we’re absolutely thrilled to bits with him,” added Sally.
With 18 finalists forward, judge Philip Scott said it was a hard task to make his decision.
Philip’s final six were called forward after detailed inspection and included two of the native breeds: Idyllic Guinevere, the Welsh section A champion, who finished reserve, and the Highland champion Bluebraes Merrick.
“There was a lovely turnout with some quality animals,” said Philip, of County Mayo, Ireland. “They were all beautifully presented and it’s such a wonderful show.
“My champion is a beautiful model with a super length of rein. He has good limbs and a super-expressive walk, he’s light on foot with a lovely, flowing trot,” he added. “I have no doubt he’ll go on to be a champion under saddle. The section A was a lovely, attractive, workmanlike pony and was very true to type.”
Idyllic Guinevere, led by 13-year-old Charlotte Kilbey in the final, was being shown for the first time this year.
“My husband Mark and I led the mare and foal in the morning when she won the championship,” said Charlotte’s mother Liz, who runs the Idyllic Stud in Essex. “We thought it would be nice to let our daughter show her in the Cuddy, and we couldn’t have asked for more. It was lovely for me to watch and I was very proud of them.”
Guinevere, a seven-year-old grey mare by Lacy Buzbee, has been lightly shown, but won her class and championship at Bath & West in 2017. “This is her third foal and this one is by Idyllic Entrepreneur,” added Liz.
IT’S THE KING’S SPEECH TAKES QUEEN’S CUP
IT’S THE KING’S SPEECH went through the card to clinch the hunter title before landing the Queen’s Cup, a prestigious award for both ridden and in-hand champions from the first day of the show.
The eight-year-old bay gelding was sourced through Cuddy judge Philip Scott and is owned by Trevor and Marlene Burley, who are based in Cornwall.
Trevor was appointed senior horse steward for the show this year. He went to his first Royal Cornwall Show as a child in 1951 — and has not missed a show since.
His rider Ian Smeeth, who has won with the son of Kings Master at both Devon County and Bath & West this year, said: “It’s particularly special for the owners because they’re huge supporters of this show. He was yet to win the championship at one of these three shows, so to do it here was fantastic. I know it was one of Trevor’s ambitions to have a Queen’s Cup winner, so I’m delighted to make one of his dreams come true.”
Hunter judge Jo Jefferson said: “Our champion is a beautiful stamp of middleweight and is the one I’d like to take home today.”
Despite entries not being so strong in the hunter classes this year (see box, right), Jo added: “It was lovely that all the local classes were well-filled with people from the area supporting the show.”
Annette Buckingham and Designer Diamond were one of the Cornish combinations to come forward for the small division and went on to win the reserve hunter spot.
Back from breaking her jaw at the end of 2017, Melanie Hennah and Anchorman secured their second win of the season in the
working hunter qualifier, having won at Devon County in May. With the pair already en route to Birmingham, the ticket was handed to second-placed Sophie Round and Lord George.
The 12-year-old bay gelding had a pole down, but after scoring well in the ride and conformation phases, he came up to second.
The son of Luidam has been with Sophie for six years and over that time has evented up to novice/ intermediate level with both herself and Jessie Campbell.
“I decided to have him back at home and, after a winter of hunting, he wasn’t looking bad at all, so I decided to give it a go,” said Sophie, a dairy farmer and mother of three. “I hadn’t done a class myself for two years until recently,” she added.
“Our winner could go hunting all day and you could pull it out twice a week — it’s a real proper hunter,” said judge Libby Cooke. “It has quality, substance and is a true middleweight type,” added conformation judge Jane Graham. “Our second horse would also jump across any course and jumped a great round here despite having an unlucky fence down,” said Libby.
Having been hindered by a broken wrist, owner Tracey Veale was grateful to a myriad of helpers who managed to get Red Rock III to the show for her.
“I tripped over some rubber matting in the stable when I was taking his bandages off after getting home from Bath & West,” said Tracey, who was delighted to watch the skewbald gelding lift both the cob and coloured championships with Tierney McKinnon. “I had someone to help him get ready, someone to drive him here and then Tierney to ride him for me,” said Tracey. “It’s always been a good show for me, but to win two championships has been amazing.”
Team McKinnon also took reserve in the coloured championship with Shear Impulse, ridden by Karabel Holman-Luck. The 13-year-old mare is a former HOYS and
Royal International Horse Show (RIHS) winner, but is new on the McKinnon yard this season.
Tierney went on to win the Connemara and New Forest class with Sarah Waller’s Hillview Sandy, a five-year-old Connemara,
and the hairy section with Dalefoot Sunny, a Fell gelding.
Tierney also won the large hack division partnering Elizabeth Roger’s Bezeeka Lady Luck. The eight-year-old liver chestnut mare is in her second season with Tierney and took the intermediate title at BSPS Area 13A. Here, she ended up reserve champion behind Sophie Burrows and her own Penharver Bright Light. The four-year-old mare, by Colbeach Night Light, was bought from the breeder as a two-year-old.
“She’s doing extremely well in her first season and has won two Royal International qualifiers,” said Sophie.
SMALL BREEDS RULE
THE overall M&M ridden championship went to the Dartmoor winner — Langworthy Swift Ghost — ridden by Lizzie Houghton. The nine-year-old mare was gifted to Lizzie by breeder Ken Edwards.
“I gave her to Lizzie as a foal and she does everything on her from riding on the moors, moving cattle and hunting,” said Ken, who helps Lizzie at shows. The pair went to HOYS and Olympia last year. “I gave Lizzie a choice from the foals that year and that’s the one she chose. She’s showed her since a yearling.”
Reserve went to Deborah Murch and Dunkery Shrike, a 15-year-old Exmoor pony. “He was still on the moor five weeks ago,” said owner Jenna Payne. “He’s on loan to Deborah this year, so she collected him five weeks ago and they went straight out and won at Devon County.”