KBF Le Paradis (Mira), with a rider has only sat on the mare three times, and former Price Family reserve supreme Scottshall Aristocrat have taken the hunter and show horse intermediate championships at the Horse of the Year Show (HOYS).
Kinvara Garner says she feels “very lucky” to have the ride on Mira, who is out of HOYS winner CSF Cummer Paradise.
The five-year-old is owned and bred by Simon Reynolds and Michael Cook.
Kinvara qualified her on a chance ride at the BSHA National Championship Show, which was her first time piloting Mira.
Since then, she has had one practice ride at producer Jayne Ross’ yard, before taking up the reins here.
“Team Ross do all the work,” said Kinvara. “I just turned up and got on, so thank you to them because this mare is seriously special.
“Her breeders breed amazing horses.”
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Mira also competes in the riding horse classes with Jayne, and Kinvara says she is a lovely, straightforward ride.
“She is gorgeous to ride. She’s very powerful,” she said.
“You sort of don’t really have too much of a contact – you let her do her thing.
“She’s pretty straightforward for a baby.”
Second in the hunters was Isabella Mason riding Ashlea’s The Banker, a five-year-old gelding.
She says “Banksy”, owned by Shirley Dennison, gave her a lovely ride.
“He loves the job and he always tries really hard.”
Intermediate show horse of the year
Scottshall Aristocrat and Ellis Taverner-Burns are intermediate show horse champions
(Image credit: 1st Class Images)
The winner of the intermediate show horse of the year was Scottshall Aristocrat (Reggie), ridden by Ellis Taverner-Burns.
Also a five-year-old, the gelding was bred by Johanna Foster and was reserve price in-hand champion here as a three-year-old.
He is produced by John Havey, who said: “For him to have won it as a three-year-old in hand and then come back two years later and win, the first time he’s competed here under saddle, is incredible.”
It is Reggie’s first ridden season, and he also competed in the large hack class earlier in the week, where he finished sixth.
Ellis said: “It was a complete shock. We had no expectations.
“He’s playful. He likes to nibble and he likes his treats, but he’s a very good boy.
“He’s lovely to ride. He just takes you round.”
Second to the combination was the 2023 winner, Poppy Carter riding Danni Radford’s Ladies Man.
Another Jayne Ross-produced horse, he also won the small riding horse class with Jayne Ross today.
Poppy said: “He went absolutely mega. He just gives his all every single time.”
