Blog 21 – “A Star is Born”
Mac winning the qualifier for Search for a Star |
Our first visit to The Horse of the Year Show was when Mac
was 5 and had qualified for the final of the “Search for a Star” class as a
Show Hunter. At the qualification show
he was the clear winner but we caused some controversy amongst the judging
panel (one of whom was the husband of the professional that I had taken Mac to
for advice…) because he was barefoot and although they all wanted him to win they
were not sure whether a barefoot horse would be allowed to go to HOYS and when
the trophy was presented I was told, “Shoes for HOYS”.
At home I made a lot of phone calls and did my research
and eventually established that there was not (yet) a rule to prohibit a
barefoot horse from competing at HOYS and that some judges might disapprove,
but that was purely discretionary. So I
took my chances and went and, to quote one of the judges, “He won it from the
moment he set [bare] foot in the ring”.
It was a day I will never forget. We were not sure at that stage whether Mac
would settle in stabling away from home so loaded up at 2am and arrived at HOYS
at 5am. On arrival we moved all the
partitions in the horsebox so Mac could roam around, have his breakfast and
settle in. I took him for a wander
around outside and was told my Michael Whittaker, “Nice horse”!!! and at
10.30am we were in the tiny collecting ring ready for our class to start at
11am. The atmosphere was electric, other
competitors in our class were fighting with their horses and their grooms and
for space to get warmed up.
Loud music and
voices could be heard over the p.a. there was a lot of cheering from an
enthusiastic crowd in the adjacent ring but Mac was super cool and listening to
me rather than being distracted by our surroundings. The ring steward lined us up in the tunnel,
Mac and I were supposed go in 3rd of 20 or so horses in the class
but as the curtains swept back and the Coloured Horses from the class before exited
at the gallop the two horses in front of us and one or two behind
understandably turned tail and made for the car park too. Naturally Mac thought about joining them but
I asked him to stand still and wait and then we walked in to the ring and he
was magnificent.
Now re-joined by all competitors Mac was pulled in first
after the initial ride around and was foot perfect for the ride judge, in the stand
up and trot up for the conformation judges.
The judges announced the results in reverse order, starting with 8th,
through to second as Mac and I waited to find out whether we had indeed won or
were unplaced – it was quite a buzz. My
parents, one of my sisters and numerous clients were there and we made some new
friends too on that very special day.
Thank you all for your love and support of The Big Ginger Horse.
Mac and I enjoy our moment in the Grand Ring at HOYS. |
Next time "Son of Red", published 16th April.
For those searching online for more “instructional” resources than offered in these blogs please make use of my video downloads www.ashenec.co.uk
For those searching online for more “instructional” resources than offered in these blogs please make use of my video downloads www.ashenec.co.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment