‘Some showing qualifiers are hairy to watch, both figuratively and literally,’ says Bethan Simons

I read Stuart Hollings’ latest column with interest, particularly his comments regarding the working hunter pony qualifiers. It landed in my inbox the very day after my sister had been 26th to jump in her Horse of the Year Show not exceeding 143cm mountain and moorland (M&M) worker qualifier. There were over 40 declared in total.

While this was a particularly large class, it’s not unusual to find at least 30 entered, and similar numbers in the not exceeding 133cm class.

How to differentiate between them? As the marks stand, the only logical way is to build what Stuart described as a “gladiatorial” track to sort the wheat from the chaff. The trouble is, some of the ponies that jump best, won’t necessarily have the conformation desired in the winner of what is, in essence, a showing class.

The solution? I would love to do away with the style marks as for me, they are wildly inconsistently applied. But it is a show class, and so style matters.

Instead, let’s award more marks for conformation and for show, which currently holds a paltry 10 marks in pony classes.

Awarding a mark from 20 for show and 30 for conformation means these phases are of more significant consequence, which if nothing else, makes it more interesting for the second judge!

This way, we can have the kind of tough track necessary to whittle down contenders and keep the adrenaline junkies on board happy, while honouring the class’s roots in showing.

Do we need more junior M&M classes?

With numbers this big, is it time we also had a second, if not a third, junior M&M working hunter qualifier, further to the junior 122cm class we currently have?

The number of children and teens contesting these classes and the popularity of the flat junior M&M qualifiers suggests that there could be appetite.

Meanwhile these flat classes are now enormous, and sometimes hairy to watch, figuratively and literally! Of course qualifying should be a challenge, but even top-notch combinations struggle to find a space, stay out of trouble and shine in front of the judges.

Perhaps it’s time they were split further? This would not only allow more children an opportunity to ride at HOYS, but also surely make the go-rounds a little calmer? Perhaps splitting entries by height – 128cm, 138cm and exceeding 138cm – avoids the repetition of the breed classes, but still alleviates the current problem.

We’re ambassadors for our sport

I sat with my toddler daughter through every grand parade at the Royal Welsh. She was mesmerized, not so much by the gee-gees – she sees those at home – but by the cows and sheep. It made me think that elsewhere in the grandstand, a future showing star may be falling in love with the gee-gees.

It cemented the importance of the county fixture for me, and our roles as ambassadors for our sport and the countryside in general.

It’s also why I’m behind hosting qualifiers at county shows where possible. To be truly inspired, the public needs to see the crème de la crème out in force.

Finally, as usual at this time of year, I hear ripples of discontent over this result or other.

When I was teaching, I loved discussing JB Priestley’s An Inspector Calls with my class, where the playwright explores the differences between legality and morality. Being legally just is not the same as morally just. I would urge competitors to consider this when entering fixtures.

Just because you can show under a judge, doesn’t necessarily mean you should.

● What alterations would you make to the schedule of qualifying classes? Let us know your thoughts at hhletters@futurenet.com, including your name, nearest town and county, for the chance to have your thoughts published in a future issue of Horse & Hound magazine

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