The 150th Balmoral Show (16-19 May 2018) in Northern Ireland saw visiting horses and riders winning several championship titles, while a Cheltenham Festival-winning racehorse bagged the Racehorse to Riding Horse title.

But who else turned heads at this annual show?

1. Retaining her crown

Robert Fallon’s Frederiksminde Mellow II retains her Connemara mare championship.

2. Elegance

Robin Catterall and Carnsdale Irish Times on their lap of honour after winning the side saddle championship.

3. Royal Encounters

The Princess Royal congratulating Dessie Gibson, who was in-hand hunter breeding champion with his yearling, Legacy.

4. Picture perfect pair

Overall coloured champion is Courtney Stuart on Helens Gypsy (right), while reserve is Bethany Murray on Teeshan’s Blue.

5. Flying high

Paulette Cooper’s MJM Laslo continues his winning streak by adding the working hunter title to his already impressive 2018 tally.

6. Horse and hounds

Declan Feeney and the East Down foxhounds treat spectators to a parade.

7. Leaping to the red

James Hogg and Intuitive winning the Dengie six-and seven-year-old showjumping championship.

8. Lovely Cassanova

Rachel Moore and her small hunter winner Birchill Cassanova.

9. Tough decisions

Youngstock judges Anne Leaver and Simon Somers deliberate.

10. A grey affair

Judge Sam McAteer with his champion and reserve cobs Randalstown Cromwell (left) and Randalstown Raffles.

11. Who needs a horse?

The donkey display provides a spectacle of bygone days.

12. Galloping to victory

Judge Norman Williamson gets a good gallop from Sizing Australia, who won the Racehorse to Riding Horse championship. Sizing Australia is a former Cheltenham Festival cross-country winner.

13. Quality Clydesdale

Julia Wilson and Roeview Andrew land the ridden Clydesdale class.

14. We did it

Phoebe Beaumont and Edie, who have qualified for HOYS, had two wins and also stood working hunter pony champions. (Credit: Prime Photography)

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday.

In this week’s edition, out on 24 May, don’t miss our “cob special”, including how to find the perfect cob, meet champion cob Our Cashel Blue and more.

Suffolk-based Debbi Cox had a highly successful day in the 80cm class of the H&H Festival of Eventing, run in association with KBIS.

The BHSII instructor posted not one, but two great clear rounds across country to sit in first and fourth place.

Holding top spot is nine-year-old mare Molly, owned by Sue Thompson. Debbi and Molly stormed around the cross-country to finish inside the optimum time and go into tomorrow’s showjumping on their dressage mark of 29.25.

“Molly was so good today,” said Debbi, who has taught Sue on this horse for the past five years. “She only started eventing this year so this is a big achievement for her.”

Debbi explained that when Molly first walked into her life she came with a reputation of being awkward and quirky.

“When Sue came to me with Molly the first time, the mare had Sue off twice in the first 10 minutes,” said Debbi. “She was so cold backed and I said to Sue that Molly needed re-backing and starting again.”

Debbi was full of thanks for Sue and her fourth-placed ride’s owner, Tracey Cutting.

“They are both so supportive and we’ve had a great time this weekend.”

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Debbi is pragmatic about her chances of holding onto top spot in tomorrow’s showjumping phase.

“Molly is renowned for having fences down, but we’re so proud of her, we’ll both give it everything and even if she has every fence down, it doesn’t matter.”

Beccy Belcher and Sugar IV hold second place on a score of 31 and just 6.3 penalties separate the top 10.

Don’t miss the full report from the H&H Festival of Eventing in Horse & Hound magazine — on sale Thursday, 7 June and follow online at www.horseandhound.co.uk

Vicky Davis, a competitor at this weekend’s H&H Festival of Eventing, run in association with KBIS, has endured an interesting past few years.

“I had a fall from a youngster three years ago resulting in a slipped disk in my neck and trauma to my left eye, which is being operated on next month,” says the mother of two, who describes herself as “the wrong side of 50”.

“I was told the injury might put a stop to my eventing but then Guss turned up.”

Vicky bought Guss without going to see him two years ago.

“I was tagged in a Facebook post advertising an unbroken Dutch two-year-old by Numero Uno,” explains Vicky, who ran a livery yard in Kent for 18 years before switching to a job selling stock of bankrupt companies on eBay. “He was up in York and I just didn’t have time to go and look at him, so the owner sent me lots of videos and pictures of his hooves. I decided to buy him and he turned up at my yard shortly afterwards.

“He was fluffy, wild and small and it took me three hours to catch him in the stable at first,” laughs Vicky. “He’s quirky but talented. He has a disgusting temper and I have to lull him in to doing what I want him to do and that it has been his idea.”

Vicky has produced Guss to now event and despite doing a quick U-turn when leaving the start box at Munstead Horse Trials recently — “Guss decided he didn’t want to go past some parked cars!” — they have enjoyed a great clear cross-country round in the 70cm class at Keysoe today (27 May).

“I’m absolutely thrilled with him,” says Vicky. “We got held at fence five for quite a while and the course had plenty to look at, but he was great.”

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Vicky, who trains with Sharon Richardson and James Burtwell, says that she is keen to keep eventing to see how far she can get with Guss.

“In the long-term I will probably move to dressage, but until I’ve got the eventing bug out of my system, I will keep going.”

Don’t miss the full report from the H&H Festival of Eventing in Horse & Hound magazine — on sale Thursday, 7 June and follow online at www.horseandhound.co.uk

This bit connector is an interesting alternative to traditional pelham roundings, commonly used to prevent a rider having to cope with two reins. The difference here is that it allows the rider to adjust the amount of pressure to the upper and lower part of the pelham, influencing the amount of curb action felt by the horse, while allowing the rider to use a single rein.

How can they help?

Walsh Harness & Saddlery is among those manufacturing these bit connectors. The company describes this piece of tack as “ideal for getting the response necessary from a two-rein bit without the hassle of holding two reins”.

Each leather connector has a few holes and a buckle so that you can adjust the amount of action you want on the curb. For example some people might tighten the bottom buckle and loosen the top for more leverage on a pelham, or you can leave them on both the same holes for equal pressure between the snaffle and curb.

Ema Odlin-Baxter, senior bitting advisor at The Horse Bit Shop, which supplies these connectors in the UK, explains why they are growing in popularity.

“Traditional leather roundings don’t provide a fixed position for the rein, which means they aren’t very accurate when it comes to how much curb action you would like on a pelham,” she says. “Bit connectors are more precise thanks to the double buckle system which means you can play with the strength of the curb action you require, gaining more accurate results with pressure down the rein.”

Scott Brash uses these roundings, as does event rider Pixie Thomas. She said: “They offer finer tuning than standard roundings as you can adjust how much you’re using the snaffle vs. curb action. I didn’t have an issue with rein position and they are an ideal alternative to going cross-country with two reins.”

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Where can you buy them?

These bit connectors can be bought online from a number of suppliers including British company The Horsebit Shop, where they cost £28 and are available in small, large sizes, in a choice of black and havana.

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday

In this week’s edition, out on 24 May, don’t miss our “cob special”, including how to find the perfect cob, meet champion cob Our Cashel Blue and more

Although she is currently smack bang in the middle of her GCSEs, 16-year-old Nieve Baker, is making the most of her time at the H&H Festival of Eventing, run in association with KBIS.

Based in Hertfordshire, Nieve was riding Marley Blaney, who she found four years ago in Maidstone.

“I went to try another horse but saw Marley in the stable and we just clicked,” explains Nieve. “He was so nervous to start with and we couldn’t even get a headcollar on him, but I’ve produced him up to 90cm/1m showjumping.”

Nieve said she almost sold Marley, but navicular diagnosis prevented this from happening.

“Marley was diagnosed with mild navicular so we decided to turn him out for a year and then see how he was,” says Nieve. “He ended up coming sound and so we brought him back into work, and he has been fine so far.”

But last summer disaster struck when Nieve fractured her lower back while competing in a showjumping class.

“I got back on as soon as I could and rode with a brace for a while,” says Nieve who is competing in the 70cm class this weekend at Keysoe with her 11-year-old 15.2hh.

“My granddad has inspired me this weekend, as he is 82 and has come over from Ireland to support me — he’s staying in the back of our lorry!”

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Nieve says Marley “made up some of his own moves” in their dressage test, but stormed around the cross-country clear and inside the time.

“I was so proud of him across country — I just wanted to get round the course.”

Don’t miss the full report from the H&H Festival of Eventing in Horse & Hound magazine — on sale Thursday, 7 June and follow online at www.horseandhound.co.uk

Horse & Hound Festival of Eventing competitor Kerry Lockwood was actually looking for a donkey when she ended up with a yearling 10 years ago.

The retired police officer had wanted a companion for her horse at the time and was planning on buying a donkey.

“A friend of mine is a farrier — he was driving near the M25 when some people flagged him down and asked him to tend to their horses’ feet,” explained Kerry who rides Boxer V in the 80cm class.

“They gave him Boxer and another pony in lieu of payment.”

Kerry added she took Boxer on and “never thought” he would be big enough to ride.

However the horse kept growing and blossomed from a nervous youngster into a smart 15.2hh cob.

With the help of her trainer Lisa Clarke-Spence, Kerry has brought on Boxer and the pair enjoy eventing and hunting.

In a bid to try and find out more about Boxer’s origins, Kerry had the gelding DNA tested.

She found he shares bloodlines with a traditional gypsy cob stallion named King Arthur, who has won numerous titles including the 2011 supreme champion traditional of the year at the Traditional Gypsy Cob Association National Championships.
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The pair have hunted with the East Essex since 2007 and their aim for 2018 is a double clear at British Eventing BE80(T).

“He is intelligent — a cob with a brain,” laughed Kerry, who also runs her own herd of pedigree Aberdeen Angus Cattle in Suffolk.

“My trainer is always pushing me to do things that are out of my comfort zone, I was terrified before the dressage, but after that it was a big relief and now I can enjoy it.”

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday

The full report from the H&H Festival of Eventing in Horse & Hound, run in association with KBIS, will be in this week’s issue of the magazine — on sale Thursday, 7 June

Racing at Cheltenham, hopping Leicestershire hedges and competing at a three-day-event — while it reads like a bucket list, this is actually the CV of star 13.2hh Little Sundance.

The pint-sized equine is contesting the 90cm class at the Horse & Hound Festival of Eventing (26-28 May), run in association with KBIS, with owner, 13-year-old Poppy Field.

Known as “Sunny” to his friends, the pony’s arrival was a complete surprise to the owners of his dam, a riding school pony, who was not known to be in foal.

“One morning, his then owner looked out into the field and he was there — skipping around in the August sunshine, which is how he got his name,” said Poppy’s mum, Fleur Field.

The family bought Sunny, who they fondly refer to as a “British sports pony”, as a recently started four-year-old and he has turned his hoof to everything they have asked of him.

Poppy took part in a Pony Club race day at Cheltenham racecourse aboard Sunny in March, finishing sixth in the novice 138cm and under division.

Poppy, a member of the Meynell Hunt branch of the Pony Club, said the feeling of speed and galloping past the world-famous winning post was “brilliant”.

She added cross-country is her favourite phase and is particularly looking forward to tackling Keysoe’s water complex.

The pair compete in all Pony Club activities and are looking forward to camp this summer.

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Poppy and Sunny made their British Eventing debut this year and finished ninth at Solihull BE80(T) in April.

The pair jumped double clear, but picked up 4.8 time faults for going too fast, so are hoping the move up to 90cm — and a stopwatch — will help with their timing.

The also pony hunts with both Poppy and Fleur and over the winter can be found following hounds with the Readyfield Bloodhounds as well as the Quorn and Meynell.

“He is the boss of the yard,” added Fleur.

“Out hunting he thinks he can keep up with the 17hh horses — and he does — he has also been known to give leads to them as well!”

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday

The full report from the H&H Festival of Eventing in Horse & Hound will be in this week’s issue of the magazine — on sale Thursday, 7 June and follow online at www.horseandhound.co.uk

Two Dartmoor ponies demonstrated their impeccable temperaments, helping a group of diasadvantaged teenagers to complete a 15-mile moorland trek when their team leader suffered a sudden leg infection.

George and Smartie, who belong to the Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust, were taking part in the “Fresh Tracks” walk, which forms part of the British Army-organised Ten Tors challenge.

The Fresh Tracks programme caters for students who cannot tackle the full 35-55 mile, two-day hike but do not face the complex challenges of those taking part in the Jubilee Challenge, which is aimed at disabled teenagers.

“We were asked to set up the special Fresh Tracks category,” explained Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust spokesman Clare Stanton. “It runs as part of our Ponies Inspiring People programmes.

“We exist as a charity to promote and raise awareness of the ponies on the moor and show people why it’s important to keep them there and why we shouldn’t lose them.”

The programme invited 12 students from two local schools “with no pony experience or enthusiasm” to undertake a ten-week course in pony skills, moorland skills and first aid.

“We took 12 youngsters with no self-esteem, confidence or belief they could walk a mile let alone 15 miles across a rugged moorland landscape and also got them to camp out the night before,” said trek leader Dru Butterfield.

“Last Friday night (11 May) it was pouring with rain and cold and they were not in the best spirits. My night-before briefing was more of a bawling-out saying I was in doubt whether they were going to succeed.”

But it was experienced team leader Dru who nearly could not complete the challenge, as she nearly lost a pony and was then struck down with red and painful legs at mile four.

“We started out with helicopters giving us a wonderful display, eight paratroopers came down with Union Jacks and there was canon fire, and then nearly 3,000 very fit, well-trained and motivated teenagers leaving for the Ten Tors,” Dru said. “The two ponies had been incredibly well-behaved with all of that going on

“George did start side-stepping when the bagpipes started and I was thinking ‘I hope I can hold him’ when the halter decided to unclip. Fortunately with some help from our chairman Judy I managed to hold on and clip it back.

“We then led out the whole of the Jubilee Challenge with parents applauding, the local TV filming and bagpipes playing,” she said.

But as her students “started to get stronger”, Dru found herself getting increasingly weak.

“I know now I had a major infection in my legs,” she said. “Four miles in I had huge red swelling start but despite constant helicopters above us, the ponies kept us going.

“What we have on Dartmoor is a pony that evolved over many centuries a temperament and tenacity to deal with the terrain, an ability to deal with all sorts of environments and an ability to work with people. That particular day it got me ten miles in a lot of pain,” she said.

“I worked with a young man who held my hands last four miles while I was leaning across George and it got me through. I was in doubt if the kids would do it but on the day it was actually their trainer who nearly gave up. I’m normally chivvying them but in the end everyone was chivvying me.”

Not only did the normally tough Dru go down with an infection, but photographer Malcolm Snelgrove, who had been chronicling the programme, also suffered a low blood sugar episode.

“Malcolm had a stroke in November and it was his longest walk since recovering — he went low on sugar and had a blood pressure crash, so the two people who should know better made the whole thing much more dramatic!” Dru said. “He trains with the Bear Grylls team and is a real hard man and I’m usually pretty tough really!

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“I just want to pay enormous thanks to the ponies.”

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday.

In this week’s edition, out on 24 May, don’t miss our “cob special”, including how to find the perfect cob, meet champion cob Our Cashel Blue and more.

Wave goodbye to a summer of unpredictable British weather with this luxury villa for sale in Seville, Spain. 

Owned by Joanne Hearst Castro, granddaughter of William Randolph Hearst, the press baron who inspired the main character in ‘Citizen Kane’, this incredible villa is 15 minutes from Seville’s international airport, two hours and a half from Madrid by train, and two hours from Costa del Sol.

The impressive 3000m² cortijo was built in 1929 by Spanish architect Aníbal González and underwent some updates in 1999.

Offered for sale by Sotheby’s International, it is on the market for €13.5million (£11.8million)

Set in 376 acres, the estate has been home to a stud started in the 1980s, with a stallion from the Marquis of Salvatierra ranch and several mares from González-Barba.

At present, the yard features this large courtyard of stables, and there are currently nine employees working on the estate to help with the mucking out…

The horse-drawn collection includes the carriage used by the Infanta Elena, Spanish Emeritus King’s daughter, during her wedding day in Seville.

The estate also offers a bull ring with Mexican hand carved wood works as well as two other on-site dressage arenas.

Other fun features include a hermitage for religious celebrations, a leisure pavilion that includes a Mexican decorated bar, an Andalusian cellar and a large swimming pool.

The house has 15 bedrooms, a cinema theatre and a billiard are. 

Dine in style in this grand dining hall…

…and make the most of the Spanish siesta with this plush living room.

Don’t forget, the price includes all furnishing, décor, livestock, saddlery, carriages, antiques, and costumes…

… what a bargain. When can we move in?

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday

Opinion

Being sidelined through injury gave me a new perspective on Royal Windsor’s supreme. It’s always interesting when you have judges from outside the discipline, but I think Carl Hester and Charlotte Dujardin were spot on — and, of course, Charlotte started her career as a show pony rider.

Rob Walker’s lightweight hunter winner would have been my choice, too. This horse has everything you could ask for in a show horse, and full marks to the judges for recognising that.

Walking into the ring with The Queen’s Barbers Shop to retire him officially was an emotional experience.

It was when we loaded him to come home and I realised he was saying goodbye to showing and all that goes with it that it really got to me.

He won’t be retired to the field, as many people have assumed. He will keep his main yard box, be looked after in the same way and enjoy hacking and schooling. If my rehabilitation goes to plan, then in November he will be the first horse I get on.

He looks amazing and is fit and enjoying life. I strongly believe that older show horses should retire from mainstream showing when they are at the top of their game, not when they start slipping down the ranks. I hope to do some dressage with him and I hope we’ll still be invited to raceday parades to publicise the work of Retraining of Racehorses.

‘Offer so much’

Royal Windsor is always a wonderful experience, which is why so many competitors and spectators flock there. Moving the riding horses to the last day was a good decision and I hope it stays in place, as it was a nightmare trying to organise hunters and riding horses on the same day.

It was encouraging to see so many contest the SEIB working show horse class. These classes offer so much to so many and I’d love to see more in the schedules.

Unfortunately, dates clashed with Newark and Notts and South Suffolk. I love South Suffolk, but haven’t been able to compete there for several years.

Can’t show organisers liaise and avoid clashes, not only to boost revenue but to safeguard qualifiers? We’re in danger of developing a vicious circle, because if qualifiers don’t get enough support, shows will lose them.

Get online

On-the-day entries have become essential. The argument that they must be made in advance to allow catalogues to be printed doesn’t work: for a start, how many people buy them? Everything else is online, from schedules to entries, so start lists should also be posted — and final, printed versions could be available on the showground.

Special shows do, of course, need souvenir catalogues. I struggled to find one at Royal Windsor and ended up buying one at the main gate on the last day. It was worth the walk, because there’s so much in it.

The moral of the catalogue story is that if you’re going to print one, make sure it’s worth buying and easy to find.

Ref Horse & Hound; 24 May 2018