South of England, Royal Cornwall and Derbyshire Festival
Show ponies from the same team are unbeatable, a Fell pony claims two native victories and staying local pays off for one breeder beyond the fuel savings
JOHN HARVEY and his team have had good days here in the past, but even they could never have dreamed of going home with four tickets to the Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) and both show pony championships.
Their winning run began in the mini pony section, where Beatrice Taverner-Jordan and Small-Land Toy Story won their HOYS leadrein qualifier before returning to stand champions ahead of the equally diminutive pairing of Poppy Allen and Cornashton
Sky Wishes.
Beatrice and Toy Story now have the chance to defend the title they won at HOYS last year and the five-year-old rider is already practising individual shows.
“She’s totally obsessed with showing and does walk, trot and canter all day on foot. She even makes me judge conformation using invisible ponies,” said John, whose team then won every ridden show pony class.
The 128cm class was headed by the new pairing of Isabella Sharifi and Pip Baker-Beall’s Whiteleaze Secret Charm. Isabella, 11, sat on this pony for the first time the previous evening, but gave an exemplary performance.
The 138cm class also went to Team Harvey, courtesy of Olivia Turner and her mother Catherine’s Barkway Chit Chat, while Amelia Hayes and Wilderness Early
Bird then made it three out of three when they won their 148cm class and returned to take the title from the 138cm winners. Fourteen-year-old Amelia lives near Stonehenge and Early Bird is her only pony.
“I bought Early Bird to take Amelia into 148cm classes and she spent the winter with us,” said Amelia’s mother Lisa. “She went back to John only a month ago, so he’s done wonders.
All John’s winners were mares and he said: “This has always been a lucky show for me, but I’ve never done this well. I seem to have a team of mares this season, but I get on with them well because I like their characters.”
LOCAL LUCK
LOCAL breeder Jane Townshend is another who has reaped rewards at this show in the past and, for the second time in three years, one of her horses is off the Cuddy in-hand final at HOYS. In 2016, it was a broodmare who went on to finish fourth in the final and this time it was Jane’s three-year-old Classictop Up & At It (Kelvin) who beat a starstudded line-up to his ticket.
It was already a red-letter day for the team after the son of the eventing stallion Up With The Lark out of a thoroughbred