H&H Festival of Eventing favourite: Anna Verrall — why fate brought her and her horse together
Entries are filling up quickly for the Horse & Hound Festival of Eventing in association with KBIS, so it’s time to get to know some of the contenders and hear their stories so far
Would you love the chance to compete in an unaffiliated three-day event with your horse? Now you can at the Horse & Hound Festival of Eventing, which are being held at Keysoe on 25-28 May 2018.
Entries are open so enter now >>
With unaffiliated classes from 70–100cm there really is nothing to stop you and your horse living your dreams and completing a three-day event with a true championship feel.
Find out all you need to know about the H&H Festival of Eventing >>
Each week in the run up to the competition we will meet one of the entrants who can’t wait for the event in our new ‘festival favourites’ series.
Anna Verrall and Ziggy
Name: Anna Verrall
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Horse’s name: Ziggy
Class entered: 90cm
What’s the story?
“I have had Ziggy for three years. He’s 17.1hh skewbald by Amour G out of a Grannex mare. He came to me by chance at the age of five and it was quite a story. The previous horse I had owned for 20 years died suddenly in February 2015 and I thought that it was the right time for me to give up. This ‘giving up’ lasted for about a month! Ziggy’s breeder, Marie was looking for a new owner for him as he didn’t fancy his current dressage horse career path and he became a bit of a handful. I had known Marie for many years, so when the power of social media brought us back together it seemed like fate and I picked Ziggy up two weeks later. We had a bit of a bumpy start as I hunted him to get him going but then he lost a shoe and his hoof went septic resulting in six months off. But now we are flying with our British Dressage area festival qualifications at prelim and novice level almost completed, jumping up to discovery and we love our cross-country with a couple of 80cm one-day events under our belts. I’m a police officer so I work riding around my shifts.”
Why have you decided to enter the H&H Festival of Eventing?
“One of my friends competed at the event last year and said how much fun and what a great event it was, so I thought it could be something for Ziggy and I to aim for. There’s four of us going from the same yard in Maidstone which will make it good fun.”
What are you most looking forward to about the H&H Festival of Eventing?
“I’m looking forward to the whole thing, but probably the cross-country the most. I’m hoping we will go round well and have fun.”
Do you have a secret weapon?
“Ziggy’s boldness is probably my biggest secret weapon. He never says no and will given anything a go.”
Tell us a fun fact about your horse
“He is known as ‘the thug’ at home. He is an angel to ride but due to his size, if he decides he wants to go and eat a blade of grass somewhere in the distance when he is brought in from the field, he will tow the girls at the yard to it — nothing will stop him!”
Have you entered the H&H Festival of Eventing and would like to feature as a Festival favourite? If so please email gemma.redrup@timeinc.com
Entries for this exciting three-day event are filling up fast, so to ensure you don’t miss out, secure your entry today
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Gemma is an experienced journalist, who was a member of H&H staff from 2014 to September 2025. She is passionate about all equestrian sports, including racing and point-to-pointing. She has enjoyed riding out for top trainers Nicky Henderson and Charlie Appleby and took part in a charity Flat race at Epsom in August 2018. Gemma’s has reported from numerous five-star events around Britain and Europe, as well as European championships.