The Windsor Wow Factor : 18.05.14

It was a huge relief  to see the sun had remembered to put his hat on as I set off for ‘work’ last Wednesday, for the first day of Royal Windsor Horse Show, especially after all the wind and rain that had battered Badminton the week before.  Only a 40 minute drive from central London and I breezed in to find my lovely friend and The GaitPost Ambassador, Sophie Buckley (@sophiewwbuckley) , ready to educate me in the realms of showing.  Being a Pony Club mum (I promise not the bossy sort!), I am more at home with a gymkhana or one day event, but notebook at the ready,  I was all fired up for lessons in conformation and style.  

We managed to catch the end of the Middleweight & Heavyweight Amateur Hunter class and thrilled for Hampshire rider and school pal, Clare Reid, collect a 6th on Romany King.  But there was no time to dawdle as our Pro Secrets interviewee, Rory Gilsenan, was starting his marathon judging session in the British Horse Society Arena.  

The first class was the Cuddy Lightweight Hunter, which was won by Jayne Ross (née Webber) on Its After Eight.  He had previously competed as a hugely successful Small Hunter but is now competing in his first season as a Lightweight Hunter. Second place went to Oliver Hood on Bridgham – more about him later.   I was notably informed that it was really positive to see that the top 3 were true Lightweights – in layman’s terms that the judges were looking for a horse that could carry 12 stone 7 and not heavier. On to the next class, the Cuddy Middleweight Hunter, which was won by Danielle Heath on Oathill Take The Biscuit, last year’s Royal Windsor Hunter Champion, and second place went to the very successful amateur rider, Polly Coles and Redwood Ash.  Next it was the turn of the Cuddy Heavyweight Hunter class and Claire Oliver on Loughkeen Dancing Lad took the red rosette with Oliver Hood on Act Flyn Lad coming second again.

And finally it was the Championship, which did not disappoint.  Loughkeen Dancing Lad went superbly  to win the Hunter Championship but a surprise change in order to Bridgham, which had been ridden brilliantly by Alastair Hood, saw the judges take the unusual step of awarding him the Reserve Championship.

“Both Champion and Reserve Champion were absolutely superb and gave a terrific display in the main ring, and they were without doubt the two most valuable hunters in the ring on the day.  All in all, I have had the most enjoyable day, a little bit nerve wracking with Her Majesty glued to the judging of  the 4 year olds, but an experience I will always remember,” said Rory Gilsenan commenting on his first experience judging at Royal Windsor Horse Show.

We had a lovely walk around in between classes and everywhere you looked, you could see that this was no ordinary show!  Crimson-coated buglers, Household Cavalry guarding the treasured silverware, even the strawberry and cream sellers were the smartest I had ever seen. And then you remembered whose back yard you were in and the pomp and ceremony was in abundance…but in a good way.  

I left Sophie to watch the 4 year old hunters while I had a meander through the shops – or rather a drool – the Hermès shop was simply stunning with all its wish-list gear that quite frankly you wouldn’t ever want to use in case it got dirty ! I then caught up with Marc Stevenson from Stevenson Brothers Rocking Horses, who talked me through the enchanting  range of wooden friends that they had presented to HRH Her Majesty The Queen over the years.  They were so beautiful and I rather wished my gang were still small enough to warrant ordering one there and then but I swiftly came back to reality and made a mental note to look them up when I become a granny (hopefully a decade or two away!)

After some delicious strawberries and cream, I literally walked smack into my daughter’s friend, Anna Martin and her mother, Hente.  Anna was entered in the Part Bred Arab 148cm class later that day and came 3rd on Broadgrove Showman (Brian), a class she had won two years previously on Showman’s 5 year old brother, when Anna was only 8.  On Saturday, Anna also rode Broadgrove Showman, an eight year old gelding by Cusop Dimension, in the 13’2″ class and came second as well as coming second on 5 year old chestnut Chiddock Time Traveller (Billy), by Chiddock Time Limit, in the 14’2″ class.  As she had two rides in the Championship in the main arena, Anna decided to ride the 14’2″ and leave Brian to his hay net.  What a big week for a ten year old!  I think we will be seeing a great deal more of Anna Martin in the future.  You heard it here first !

Time was getting tight and there was the small matter of the school run to get back to town for, but there was still so much to see. I knew I was going to miss the Land Rover Grades B&C Handicap Jumping Competition but I nipped over to the Castle Arena only to be mesmorised by Michael Eilberg and Woodlander Farouch’s beautiful partnership and winning performance in the Advanced Medium Freestyle to Music.

Forget the X Factor – Windsor – or Royal Windsor Horse Show to be correct in such esteemed surroundings – has most certainly got the Wow factor and I will definitely be returning for longer next year because one thing is for sure, Britain really does have talent.