Following each pair’s round, a celebrity panel of Pippa Funnell, impressionist Rory Bremner and none other than Father Christmas gave marks out of 10 for the riders’ performances. The total marks were then deducted from the time, providing the final result.
Check out some of the truly iconic costumes worn by the competitors, and so gallantly carried by their respective mounts.
…His mount was elegantly turned out in silver tinsel too
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Robert Whitaker teamed up with his dad to complete the duo of the Ugly Sisters (with some interestingly placed embroidered hands on his costume!). They finished fifth after Robert stole the “10” scoring panel from the judges.
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(Image credit: creditUnknown)
There were cheers aplenty for a very game Joe Stockdale, who fully embraced his new persona as Cinderella
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(Image credit: creditUnknown)
Joe teamed up with Jodie Hall McAteer, who was Prince Charming, and together they finished sixth
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Representing the eventers, recent Maryland 5 Star winner, Austin O’Connor, quite literally flew around as Peter Pan (with some help from his wings, of course)
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Austin teamed up with Gemma Stevens, who fully embraced her role as Hook. Together they finished third
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Tim Gredley replaced his magic carpet with a horse when dressing up as Aladdin
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While Tim’s pairing was Lily Attwood, who was dressed as Azerbanana. Sadly they finished bottom of the London International Horse Show fancy dress leaderboard in seventh
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Laura Collett and Tom McEwen were brilliant (and quite convincing too) as Snow White and The Queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
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Tom’s “frontage” was a sight to behold, and undoubtedly contributed to their second place
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The winners of the London International Horse Show fancy dress were Harry Charles and Matt Sampson, who, disguised as Dick Whittington and The Cat, blazed around and gained strong marks from the judges
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(Image credit: creditUnknown)
According to the commentators, although the concept of Mother Goose took some explaining to Portuguese rider Duarte Seabra, he embraced it and finished fourth with Shane Breen, who was the Goose
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Former web features editor, point-to-point editor and digital racing editor
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.
