The ultimate all-rounder

Romeo gave Robert Walker his love of showing - and hunting, with a five-mile point and an eight-mile hunt in the afternoon one memorable Boxing Day

- Octavia Pollock

WINNING 62 red rosettes in a year is the kind of thing that can give you a taste for the show ring, and that is exactly what Romeo gave Robert Walker.

“He turned his hand to anything,” remembers Robert. “Fancy dress, jumping, show hunters, show ponies, working hunters – and hunting!”

Romeo’s full name suggests a touch of Welsh Mountain Pony: Cwm Cerwyn Romeo.

“He was Welsh Mountainish,” admits Robert. “We had lots of different ponies around, some we saved from the knacker’s yard, Shetlands for Shetland pony racing.”

Romeo was “part of the family”. Robert’s father Tony produced and showed horses, so it was a busy yard, with mares, foals and stallions.

“If we ran out of stables, Romeo would happily spend a night in the sand school; he fitted in with everything.”

Robert and his brother, Simon, now a Flat jockey, had to do all the chores, although “our mother, who wasn’t horsey, did help plait.”