Rory Rustles Up An Unexpected Ticket

Two Connemara ponies set themselves up for a return trip to Birmingham, while a New Forest, a Welsh section A and a section C will make their debuts

- Rebecca Haywood

A CONNEMARA stallion will be making a return trip to Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) after standing overall HOYS mountain and moorland (M&M) ridden champion.

Sophie James’ Shanbo Rory headed the 21-strong qualifier ridden by his former owner Kelly Jones. The 10-year-old also qualified here in 2016.

“We asked Kelly if she’d like the ride on ‘Rory’ today, but she hadn’t ridden him since we bought him over a year ago,” said Sophie who, along with her sister Emma,  has qualified all three of their Connemara ponies for the Royal International (RIHS).

“We didn’t expect him to win his class, let alone go champion, as there were some beautiful ponies forward,” added Sophie. “It was a very emotional day and I am an extremely proud owner.”

Rory scored the highest conformation mark — 48 out of 50 — and finished on a total score of 92 from a possible 100.

“He has the most amazing temperament and it’s extremely hard not to love him as much as we do. He’ll have a home with us for life and we’re excited about his future as we hope he’ll make a great sire,” added Sophie, who is sponsored by NAF.

Reserve went to the winners of the mixed Fell/Dale/Highland and New Forest class — Vikki Smith and Dougal Of Dykes, who finished on a final score of 90. The Smith sisters previously partnered the 11-year-old Highland stallion before he was sold to Andrea Pearman.

“He was initially found in a trekking centre about five years ago,” said Vikki, who rides the grey-dun in flat classes, while her sister Amy rides him in M&M working hunter pony (WHP) classes. Andrea sold Dougal to Amy a few weeks ago and he has now qualified for HOYS in both his classes.