A pony has proven that age is no boundary as he netted the 12th Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) ticket of his career. The 18-year-old show hunter pony Annandale Motivator won the HOYS 133cm class at Stoneleigh Horse Show with Leah Major.
Annandale Motivator, who is known at home as Fluff, is owned by Kara Arnold who rode him at HOYS when she was just 10 years old.
“Fluff made all of my dreams come true when he got me my first HOYS ticket back in 2014 and finished fourth at the final,” recalls Kara, who was ringside to watch Leah ride Fluff to her first-ever HOYS qualifier win at Stoneleigh.
“Fluff is so full of life and has a character like no other. He always stands with his ears pricked in the line-up watching all the other ponies go. He is a real pony of a lifetime.”
Fluff is home-produced and he resides on the Arnold’s family farm in Lincolnshire.
“He hunts in the winter and shows in the summer,” Kara adds. “Even now at 18 he stands prancing on the spot waiting to launch his way onto the horsebox. I’ve never known a pony love his job like Fluff does. He is a total legend.”
On his appearances at HOYS, Fluff has netted several placings including a third, a fourth, a fifth, a seventh, two eighths and a ninth.
“And he’s not finished yet,” says Kara. “Leah also deserves so much recognition for her hard work. This is her first year competing in the HOYS and open classes, and she has achieved so much, including winning her first-ever HOYS and Royal international (RIHS) tickets.
“Her family have helped her chase her dreams, too, driving through the night and losing sleep to get the pair to where they are now. But it has all paid off as we get to watch Fluff and Leach walk into the TopSpec arena at HOYS.”
During her partnership with Fluff, Kara stood Pretty Polly supreme at the RIHS in 2016: “He’s had five owners in his life and since we bought him at age nine, we’ve decided he’s never going anywhere.
“He is proof that it doesn’t matter how old your pony is; if they look and go well enough, anything is still possible. The compliments from the judges this year have blown me away and I can’t thank my physio, chiropractor and farrier enough for their hard work in helping to keep him in tip-top condition.”
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