FAILING TO PERFORM

“I NOW appreciate the importance of the HOYS junior M&M classes, introduced in 2016,” said Stuart Hollings. “They provide a much-needed stepping stone from the first ridden section to open ranks at HOYS level, giving jockeys (aged 10-14 in the small breeds and 10-18 in the large division) more time to develop their ringcraft.

“It also helps them develop confidence within their age groups before taking on both the highly competitive band of professional and adult riders (sometimes their instructors) who are a force to be reckoned with when a qualification ticket is on offer in the ‘open arena’.

“With this in mind when judging performance, I’m looking for a polite pony who is a step up from a safe mini ride, but is definitely not an overexuberant blunderbuss,” said Stuart. “However, on the day, many of the 49 forward let themselves down by failing to maintain the spark and rhythm throughout the simple set show.”