Meet H&H Festival of Eventing favourite Sarah Friend and her Ascot-winning retiree
Entries are filling up quickly for the Horse & Hound Festival of Eventing in association with KBIS, so now’s the 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.
Entries are open so enter now >>
With unaffiliated classes from 70cm – 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.
Sarah Friend and Pentecost
Name: Sarah Friend
Never miss out on the latest happenings in the equestrian world
Horse’s name: Pentecost (aka Ginge)
Class entered: 80cm
What’s the story?
Ginge is 19-year-old now. I’ve owned him for 10 years and bought him from a racehorse re-homing centre. Ginge had won over £268,000 racing under Rules on the Flat for trainer Andrew Balding. He hadn’t done anything apart from race when I got him — retraining him has been a long road — he couldn’t canter in the school to start with. Ginge is very grumpy and doesn’t like fuss but he loves to work and although he isn’t a fan of dressage, he is amazing cross-country. We have got such a strong bond that we can do anything together — we have hunted, team chased, affiliated eventing and even done some side-saddle. By day I’m a beauty therapist based in Oxfordshire.
Why have you decided to enter the H&H Festival of Eventing?
Ginge is ready to retire now so the H&H Festival of Eventing will be his swansong. I’ve never done a three-day event so I thought it would be a fun last event for him and a great opportunity to meet some nice people.
What are you most looking forward to about the H&H Festival of Eventing?
Undoubtedly the cross-country. I’m hoping we will fly round, although earlier in his career we often found ourselves eliminated in this phase — Ginge hated ditches and water. That was until a friend suggested hunting as a possible cure and after a few outings with the Berks & Bucks Draghounds, we have never looked back.
Do you have a secret weapon?
It’s not so much a secret weapon, but I do have a lucky whip — it goes everywhere with me. I actually stole it from a five-year-old child donkey’s years ago — it is a glittery snowman whip!
Tell us a fun fact about your horse
He won at Royal Ascot and has also run in Dubai — he is very well travelled.
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.