Home-producers and their horse and ponies battled it out for the 2023 SEIB Search For A Star (SFAS) titles at Your Horse Live (10 November).
Competitors were required to qualify at select shows throughout the season, and only a handful managed to land their coveted tickets. Of the 11 winners, only one can be crowned overall SEIB SFAS supreme champion, and winning combinations will return to the ring tomorrow to vie for the title.
Meet those who won the 2023 SEIB Search For A Star accolades at Your Horse Live:
2023 SEIB Search For A Star winners
SFAS in-hand veteran
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Romany (Play Time), a home-bred mare owned and handled by Heidi Bull, lands the in-hand veteran title. The 18-year-old competed up to elementary in dressage and last term she competed at London International in the senior final.
SFAS in-hand plaited horse/show cob
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Mali Jones’ ex-racehorse Betheholyman, 15, secures the in-hand horse honours.
SFAS in-hand plaited pony
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Phoebe Crutchlow leads her mother Sam’s Rhos Elodie to top honours in the plaited pony final. The pair also finished second in the Pony Club first ridden final later in the day.
SFAS in-hand M&M
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The Highland pony Kirtonian Loch Birnie, handled by Liz Twite, leads the M&M in-hand field. The gelding combines showing with side-saddle work and dressage, and they were also finalists in the SEIB SFAS M&M ridden final.
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SFAS in-hand native and traditional
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Gypsy cob Foxwell Butterscotch, owned by Louise Pepperdine and handled by David Pepperdine, scores the native/traditional crown. The silver dapple gelding came from an allotment on the side of a mountain in Wales when he was 10 months old.
SFAS in-hand heavy horse
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The four-year-old Suffolk Punch mare Holbeache Scarlet, owned by Andrea Hoskins and handled by Brad Auker, tops the heavy horses. Scarlet is in foal and her show ring tally is already extensive, including a victory at Royal Norfolk and a supreme title at Suffolk County.
SFAS Pony Club lead rein
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The Pony Club lead rein spoils are presented to Thistledown Edison and Ross-Shire Pony Club member Ianna Grant, led by mother Mary-Jo Grant.
SFAS Pony Club first ridden
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The first ridden honours go to Rufford Pony Club member Millie Croft piloting Desarbre Sparrow Hawk, a 13-year-old Welsh Section B gelding.
SFAS open Pony Club
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Tregaire Tiger Lily, owned by Eloise Chugg-Martin and ridden by Rose Chugg-Martin, is the best of the open Pony Club pony line-up.
SFAS M&M ridden
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Top honours in a competitive M&M ridden championship go to the Dales pony Nipna Outrageous, owned and ridden by Nicola Clarey, who bought him as a foal.
SFAS open veteran ridden
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Sarah Grindle’s 20-year-old Saffron XII, a former eventer who has competed in the Badminton Grassroots championships twice, is crowned open ridden veteran champion. The horse has also competed up to advanced medium in dressage.
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Former H&H showing editor and deputy features editor
Born and raised in the Lake District, Alex has grown up on the showing scene. She has qualified and competed ponies at the Royal International, Horse of the Year Show and Olympia and has first-hand knowledge of the current issues in the showing world as well as the horses, ponies and riders who compete in the sport. Alex joined H&H in January 2018 as showing editor, cementing its place as the leading equestrian publication for both showing reports and current showing news in the UK. She moved on in October 2024 to pursue other opportunities, but continues to write for us on a freelance basis.
